'It'

I’ve been meditating on John 16...the Lord’s response to his disciple’s question of ‘Where are you going?’ My aunt had somewhat of that same “?” yesterday…Lord, where are you? I don’t feel you, sense you, see you, etc…

Vs. 6 “Your hearts are filled with sadness because…but I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away.” Better that Jesus go away? How could that possibly be true? I guess that’s why the Lord began that sentence with the ‘tell you the truth’ bit. I do that sometimes like when I told the gopher story cuz it seems unimaginable that it actually happened. It’s not that I’m necessarily in the habit of lying. Jesus couldn’t lie so He’s not saying ‘I tell you the truth’ for that reason, either.

I believe Him, but my quandary is what am I missing? If having the Holy Spirit is “better” that having Jesus Christ in the flesh then something is amiss. Now, duh, it stands to reason that one of the ‘betters’ of the Spirit is omnipresence. Jesus was limited by space and time with the whole being in one-place-at-a-time issue…just ask Mary, Martha and Lazarus. But, I’m talkin’ about the one on one—Jesus & me Vs. Holy Spirit & me. Man, I long to see Jesus face to face—but am I missing ‘something’…orrrr…‘Someone’ in the here and now? Yeah, I’m sure of it!

So, I asked Him to show me the better and a few minutes later He did…

Oswald Chambers wrote, “This type of experience,” sounds familiar, I might add, “is not supernatural nor miraculous…not stamped with the hallmark of the Holy Ghost; it has not the mark on it which makes men say, as they look with awe and wonder—‘That is the work of God Almighty’.”

Lord, I want that mark, that print, that impression…that inexplicable, undaunted evidence that you are all over this ‘type of experience’ called my life. How do I get it? Oswald goes on and explains that even though prayer and devotion are necessary they don’t cut ‘it’. A pious pose can be obtained through these practices, but to reach the further still kind-of-stuff is out of MY reach! Only the arms of Christ reach that far and He stretched Himself to the limit. It cost Him everything and me nothing! And yet, I work like a maniac to obtain the proverbial ‘it’. And ‘it’ ain’t gonna happen…

…until…I quit trying and just reach out to His reach and take 'it'! Then and only then, is the ‘it’ mine! I don’t deserve ‘it’! I’ve been slothful, lazy and evil. But, in the same breath, I’m pure, right and blameless because of the Blood. That’s who I am in Him…with or without a ‘quiet-time’, a fast, a size 14, a_______...fill-in-the-blank.

The Holy Spirit does in me what Jesus Christ did for me!

I got ‘it’!

The sad side to holidays...

Above are snap shots of family that I don't get to see this Turkey Day. That's the sad-side! They are very special to me and I miss them lots and lots. Just looking thru the pix make me yearn to see 'em, but can't let myself go there emotionally and get down. sooooo...I want to take this chance to tell them that I love them, miss them and wish them the grandest Thanksgiving ever! I am thankful to have each of you in my life!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I give thanks for all

my bloggin' buddies.

a day in the life of me and my cat...

kc_shumate: HOWDY

Tammie Trainham: heyyyy

kc_shumate: what are you up to

Tammie Trainham: whut r you doin? i'm finishing up on payroll

kc_shumate: im just checking emails.

Tammie Trainham: did i tell you about the surprise that boots brought in thru the front door yesterday?

kc_shumate: no

Tammie Trainham: just a sec
Tammie Trainham: ok i'm back
Tammie Trainham: well, ya see i was on the pot and the front door was wide open
Tammie Trainham: and you know how our top screen is out right?

kc_shumate: yeah

Tammie Trainham: anyway i mention the being on the toilet part so that you realize that there is absolutely nothing i can do about boots waltzing up to the door with a gopher

kc_shumate: your joking

Tammie Trainham: sooo you guessed it....no i'm not joking....he hopped on the door and thru the top opening fast as you please
Tammie Trainham: the gopher is still alive mind you
Tammie Trainham: i'm screaming and kent is running
Tammie Trainham: i can't just stop mid-poop, soooo
Tammie Trainham: all i can 'hear' is claws scratching on the linoleum and kent grunting...not like me of course, but you catch my drift
Tammie Trainham: you still there?

kc_shumate: yea im here

Tammie Trainham: are you ok?
Tammie Trainham: i promise i'm not making this up

kc_shumate: yess just laughing

Tammie Trainham: ok well do you wanna hear the rest?

kc_shumate: i believe you its funny

Tammie Trainham: or read the rest?

kc_shumate: yea

Tammie Trainham: the phone rang and kent answered it in the middle of the whole thing...

kc_shumate: how did boots get a live gopher

Tammie Trainham: who knows....anyway

Tammie Trainham: i was still indisposed and kent is on the phone and boots let the thing go to play with it
Tammie Trainham: it takes off towards kent back towards the living room
Tammie Trainham: and kent tries to kick it across the kitchen...
Tammie Trainham: but it's massive claws stick to his sock
Tammie Trainham: kent shakes it lose and it goes flying all the way to his bathroom door
Tammie Trainham: all i can hear is him hollerin'
Tammie Trainham: then boots grasps the rodent all over again
Tammie Trainham: and kent drags boots by the tail out the back door~gopher and all

kc_shumate: it sounds like yall had a heck of a day lol

Tammie Trainham: i finally get finished with my business and find that i've missed the whole thing and by then dawg has the gopher and is playing around with it in the backyard

kc_shumate: thats just too funny. the funny thing is i can see it happening in my mind lol

Tammie Trainham: "heck of a day at sea, sir" (quote from the movie Overboard)
Tammie Trainham: are you still sure you can't have a cat?

kc_shumate: im sure

Tammie Trainham: you may need to spice up your life with a cat and a busted screen door...you never know what will happen next

kc_shumate: lol thats too much spice for me lol

King's Kids @ FWFriends

Well, you all aren't gonna believe this one...I lost my voice!!! Yes, yes tragic, I know! I'd been praying all day and conserving my words as much as possible but the vocals just wouldn't flow. And when I went to review the FWF lesson for the day I almost fainted like Kellen @ Kidmo yesterday. The lesson instructed me to "whisper" the teaching to the kids. Ummm, not a problem! Cuz' that's ALL that came out! Ya see, the story was about when Elijah was down in the dumps and couldn't sense God. And God didn't come to him in the wind, fire, or earthquake, but He came to Elijah with a "whisper". Sooo, from the moment the kids tromped on the van until the last goodbye...I was a walking, whispering object lesson! He soooo has a sense of humor. And I sooo need to slow down, jump outa the whirlwind and listen uP!

King's Kids @ Kidmo

Yesterday at Kidmo our lesson challenged us to use the imaginations God gave us to come up with ways to encourage those around us who are hurting or having a hard time. We practiced the verse that says, 'He inhabits the praises of His people."

First we pretended that the President of the United States walked into the room and we rehearsed comments and reactions accordingly. Then, the 'real' thing happened...we sang praise songs to God and reacted as if He was standing in the middle of the room. Kids are sooo 'real'! Based on their reactions, they knew their response to God should be equal if not better than their responses to the president or even the Moguls on Friday night. We were passing out, shouting, clapping and saying 'we love you', to name a few, because He was there, really there. And King's Kids don't doubt that fact for a minute!