Righteously Redeemed

HOLD MY HAND   At first, I didn't really know what to write for today's blog. Most weeks God has given me the opportunity to watch things happening around me which in turn allow me to "SEE" God in the midst of it.   While there wasn't any one specific thing that I was seeing this week, there  WAS one  common theme that seemed to be echoing all around me. . . Uncertainty, with maybe a little combination of fear.  Although we are certain that tomorrow the sun will rise.   We aren't certain about what challenges this life will bring when it does. Likewise, even though we have been reminded many times by others that there are 365 occurrences in The Word to "not fear,"  if we are honest, we can admit sometimes that's easy to read and not so easy to walk.  I may not know what your current world looks like. . . what your circumstances, your trials, or through what valley the Lord may be allowing you to walk. And while, each of our cir

Have you ever noticed that the first two words that Jesus prays when he is asked to teach the disciples how to pray is "Our Father?" Notice that Jesus didn't say "MY Father," He said "OUR Father."  Meaning Jesus' Father is also the father of me and you.  Jesus saying OUR means he included us with himself, as brothers and sisters.  Wow! Do you know what that meant for the disciples?  No longer was there going to be a need to go through another person to pray, because of Jesus they would now be able to pray directly to God.  That same privilege given to the disciples has been given to each one of us.  We can pray directly to OUR Father!   The more I read the words that Jesus spoke throughout the Bible, I realize that there aren't any that he just sort of casually "said."  Every word he spoke had a purpose, had intentionality.  The words of the Lord's Prayer are no exception. They are only one of the many

SISTERS IN CHRIST SATURDAY “How do you eat an elephant, Kim?” My father-in-law has always asked me this. I still call him my father-in-law even though his son is now my ex-husband. I still consider him a father figure, and we still have a great relationship to this day. So, these particular words of wisdom still echo in my mind any time I have a seemingly unattainable goal that lay ahead of me. “How do you eat an elephant, Kim?” The answer? One bite at a time. Of course, we don’t really eat elephants. But if we did, it would seem like that would be the meal that never ends, right? I mean, elephants are these ginormous, incredible creatures. Their size is overwhelming to us humans. The thought of even attempting to eat one is ludicrous. Aside from the obvious fact that we would never even want to, for the sake of this metaphor (or should I say “meta-phant”) let’s just say this: IT CAN’T BE DONE! If I had a dollar for every time I have said that or some version of it in

Grateful Like Jarvis  Would you consider yourself grateful ?  More than others ? Less than others ?  How about “grateful like Jarvis?”  “What’s that?” you might ask.  I would encourage you, as you are reading this, to take a few moments to grade how grateful you are of a person?Ask yourself how often do I give acknowledgement of the things or people for which I am thankful? I know I don’t do it as much as I should.  This blog post topic is brought on by watching one of my sons.   Jarvis, my youngest is 4.  He has the most thankful spirit.  It doesn’t matter if I bring him a simple bag of MnM’s from the store, or if he gets the birthday gift for which he asked, he appreciates it.  How do I know?   He tells us.  Then he tells us again  And yet again In fact if its a non consumable item, almost everytime he touches it, he reminds us how much he loves it, and thanks us for getting it for him. Sometimes, he thanks us so much it will bring me to tears of joy.   

SISTERS IN CHRIST SATURDAY What Makes a Mother? While searching for inspiration for what to write today, I blindly opened my Bible to see the name Solomon. I was immediately reminded of the story of when King Solomon had to judge between two women who both claimed to be the mother of one baby. Perfect for Mother’s Day, I thought! I located 1 Kings 3:16-28 and read through it and thought, “Wow this may be a little too gruesome to talk about here. But I feel in my spirit that this is what I am supposed to write about. So, sparing all the gory details, I shall summarize: Two women brought a baby before King Solomon, both insistent that they were the baby’s mother. It was up to Solomon to judge which woman would be given the baby.  Sidenote: King Solomon is the wisest man who ever lived. That’s facts. Periodt. If you have never truly studied the book of Proverbs, you are missing out on some real nuggets of applicable wisdom. 31 short chapters. 31 days in most months. Ch

The Parking Garage By Brandi Bell  We live just south of Memphis, TN and love it!  It’s so neat to be able to go downtown to take in the food, the sites, and the sounds of the city.  Our whole family enjoys it!   One of the things you will discover about downtown Memphis, or any larger city for that matter, is that you will encounter parking garages.  You know those large, towering, concrete structures, that allow you to park your car while you are visiting or working downtown.   The process is pretty simple.  At the entrance, there’s an attendant, either a live person or machine, waiting at a guard like station behind gate arms prohibiting your entrance. In order to gain entrance to the garage you must stop at the gate and pay.  In exchange for that payment, you receive a ticket, that you are to put inside your car, showing proof to anyone you have access to be there.  It’s a glorified permission slip. Then the attendant will lift the gate arms and you may drive in to a

Sisters in Christ Saturday “I don’t know what to write about today,” I said to my sister this morning.  “Write about Spring cleaning,” she joked, as she carried blinds from her bedroom outside to wash. I thought, “Nah.” Still I had no inspiration, so I conceded and started Spring cleaning of my own.  I tend to hoard clothes. I will hold onto an article of clothing forever, in hopes that one day I might like it or fit into it again. I literally think, “But if I lose weight, I won’t have any jeans to wear, so I need to keep these, just in case.”  The problem with that is, they take up space that could be utilized by more useful items. So, by the time I finished purging my closet, I had filled four huge garbage bags to max capacity for donation. Now, the clothes I do wear are more organized, and I can actually find the things that I do want to wear.  What does this have to do with anything? Well, I’ll tell you. As I was purging, dusting, vacuuming, and scrubbi

We literally did the other day.  I had purchased a few kites for us to fly as a family a few weeks ago, and last week it was finally pretty and windy enough for us to be able to participate.  I assembled my Paw Patrol kite and the Iron Man kite for my middle son, Cooper.  We went to an open spot in a parking lot, and after testing the direction of the wind I let the kite take its flight.  I was trying to keep the line taught, and also give it enough string to go higher and higher.   I was loving being outside in the sunshine and the wind that accompanied it.  Cooper and I just love the wind.  If it’s windy outside he will always comment about it, and we will close our eyes to really feel it beat into our face. I thought to myself. “I remember flying kites with my Dad during my childhood, and now I am doing the same with my own children.”  What a simple, inexpensive, yet memorable activity with which to make memories.  It turned out to be one of the best days I had ha