It sure is hot here!!!

Ok, my Texan is about to surface. I'tis sho nuff hot here!!! I mean to tell you as I drove home from the First Tee I glanced down at my temperature gauge and I thought well, it will change. 25 minutes later I still saw this....are you ready?................................................

Seriously, ya'll, do you see that????? 107 degrees Fahrenheit!!! This was...again are you ready?....7:00 PM!!!

I think I became one with the sun today and let me tell you this is NOT my life's or my heart's ambition. So this brings me to what is.

Are you getting hot where you live? How is your heart, mind, soul? What are you one with tonight?

BTW did you see this.................................................

Ok, back to the point. In this heat lately I have felt one with the sun and I do not think this is what the Father meant. When I am one with sun I get stinky, gross, sweaty, and grumpy. Is anyone feeling this or am I all alone in this?

Amen or oh me.

When you are one with SON, you glow! You are warmed but not overheated. You might get shiny but not from sweat. You get all full of gloriness not grodiness. And you are most certainly NOT grumpy!!!

Wow, what a difference the SON can make!!!

Thank you for listening to the ramblings of one hot and overheated Texan.

Ps. I have a friend who is really really white and I told her that the next time someone says she needs SUNlight to tell them she gets her daily dose of SONlight thank you very much! tee hee. snicker snicker, snort snort (yes I snort)

Be one with the SON today! Chel

FUDGE!!!

…..and when do you want it???

We want it now!!!!!

Boy, women and their chocolate. Personally, I am not all that big on chocolate (I got big with other food groups ha!) but I do love old fashioned homemade, handmade fudge. My mother always made the old fashioned Hershey's cocoa fudge. It is not as creamy as some out there today but it melts in your mouth!! just delicious!!! yum..........

About 5 years ago the LORD gave me a wonderful acronym due to my love of FUDGE and dire need of forgiveness and it is Forgiveness Under Divine Guidance Everyday - want a little FUDGE sent your way today? I am praising the Lord of His unfailing love and endless ability and willingness to forgive us our sins. And just like having to have chocolate the minute it is craved, we desire forgiveness the minute we stumble. But see the old fashioned fudge must endure high heat in order to get to that right state (the ball state), then and only then when the fudge is spread will it harden properly. Just a thought here, but do we really see the need for forgiveness unless we really feel it and get to the soft ball state ourselves?

There are so many ways of looking at this word and we just had the best sunday school class over this very topic. Our teacher was so transparent and open regarding his recent trials but this lesson hits home in every home and every heart.

He loves to go Greek on us and I don't mean in the fraternity or sorority sense, he literally writes in Greek for us then translates it. Just beautiful....Forgiveness has three different words in the original text that support this one English translation, forgiveness.

First: Apoluo - to let die, pardon, release, relieve, dismiss, and is often used for divorce in scripture...verses Malachi 1:19; Acts 28:25; Luke 22:68; Mark 6:36
Second: Aphiemi - to send away or let go of....verses 1 Corinthians 7:11-13; Matthew 15:37 & 27:50; Hebrews 6:1
Third and last: Charizomai - Ephesians 4:32, "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (New King James Version)
You see, we look at forgiveness from our perspective and what did HE say about leaning on our understanding? hmmmmm. I don't know about you but I have always thought of forgiveness with restoration. Just take a moment to think about this, how many people has Christ forgiven, all of them. Yet, there is a gap and what fills that gap? The people's lack of receiving it, first confessing and repenting then accepting of the Lord Jesus Christ, without those you are not saved, but you must accept it.

To take note from a classmate....

If someone is loved but perceives they are not...are they loved? They are not accepting the love you have given them so they are not loved in their eyes. Plus, they are expecting love from their point of view.

We are called to forgive everyday by divine example and not keep count of how many times we forgive. According to all the definitions of forgiveness, there are times when you just pardon or let go of . Of course absolute resolution is preferred and desired but it is not commanded. When one will not accept your apology or your forgiveness, you simply pardon or let go. Have you ever known someone who would never admit they were wrong? In Christ, you have forgiven them but they do not receive it because they see no need...clear as mud or sweet as FUDGE?

I see the different sides of forgiveness now. We apologize to people and it is up to them what they do with it. We extend forgiveness to others but it is up to them to see the need or become convicted to see it. We can not force reconciliation upon people but we can all be kind and tenderhearted and forgive just as Christ has forgiven us.

Oh, the way rain smells

It is a terribly funny statement to me and has been since I was little, "Oh, I love the way the rain smells."

Even in the beginnings of a concrete jungle at an early age, I knew it was wet concrete or mud in the making I was smelling, but isn't it funny how those things sound so unappealing yet we say, "Oh, I love the way rain smells." A little bit like trials and tribulations, when allowing God to work it out, it smells better when done.

Tonight, I said it and boy does it smell good! It has rained! We have endured 100+ temperatures for days upon days. Yesterday after 5:00 PM it was still 105 then about 10 minutes later it went UP...106 degrees Fahrenheit at 5:xx PM! I could not believe it and I took a picture of my temperature gauge and sent the text to Chel's Leaving a Legacy.

Tonight we sit here working on our computers and I just finished my college assignments, then the satellite went out. Boy, were we perplexed, then my little Princess jumped up and said, "WOW! It's raining!" A post just came across her myspace and sure enough the beautiful sound of rain was upon my roof. It does not usually simply rain here the storms are ferocious and damage always remains in the form of fallen trees and branches. See, in the Christian world there a lot of fallen branches because they play so close to the storms and the heat. We need the presence of the Holy Spirit and every inch of HIS reign in order to endure and stay attached to the VINE.

~BTW I love the sound more than the smell. But today the smell hit me in such a way that my mind began to be flooded (no pun intended) with refreshing thoughts. ~

This intense heat has taken the lives of innocent children by way of neglect or otherwise; the air is a sauna and the ground a griddle. I even had acquired burns on the soles of my feet while camping at a local state park. We were lakeside and I walked from my lounge chair to the water and was in tears by the time I reached the waters edge. It is ever loving hot here...glad I am insured!!! lol and Praise Jesus!! {No matter the heat in our lives God's reign brings refreshing to us.}

I did truly say all that for a reason and I have arrived, I sure hope you are still there!!!

The rain creates mental imagery for me instead of the physical scent of the effects of rain. I am reminded of fresh starts, revival of the parched, and a sense of newness. Much like what Jesus gave us when He washed us with His blood. We adore the smell of rain even though it is mere wet concrete/pavement/ and mud we are smelling, because it reminds us of how things are revived or made clean.

Tonight I feel revived. I receive a 100 on my second exam in class and have begun to plan my approach with my new job. Our ministry, WOVEN, has taken some sharp but worthwhile turns albeit scenic routes. And God, in HIS reign, has provided confirmation and a revival in me through several channels, namely a Christian writers conference in Plano.

We received no remnants from the hurricane that dissipated earlier this week and then finally today it rained. I just knew it would rain and come to find out princess, who has always been my weather channel, announced that it would rain today. IT DID, IT DID, IT REALLY REALLY DID!!!

Oh, how I praise God for HIS reign and I am so grateful for the rain my little town has received this late night. I pray that you will sniff out the rain around you and feel the revival that the fresh clear new beginnings offer for you deep within.

even though my little pieces is at camp without me...but that is another story...

My Little Pieces

Speaking of snails…let me tell you about my little boy, “FORE he is a jolly good fella!!!!”
My little pieces is a joy to have around, I could put the little ditty of what little boys are made of but mine started opening my car door for me at the age of 2. Yes you read that correctly, he was two and opening doors to be sure he treated me like a lady. And yes, I have had offers to hold him for some little girls already…no way, not even going there, he is mine now and girls are gross…I like it that way (FORE now).

You must be wondering now why I keep misspelling for, I am not, he is my little golfer. A golf club in my hand looks a little like an ax that will not split one log but in his hand it is poetic. His swing is graceful and his accuracy astounding. On 9 holes at age 9, he is already shooting within 5 over par and has hit 2 over a few times. He is 6th in the area with Junior PGA and climbing.

The thing is it doesn’t get to him, he has bad days of course but for the most part when he plays he can blow a hole which would send most golfers into a frenzy of disasters but not him. He recovers well and finishes wonderfully. Finishing well in golf helps because where there is a tie the last few holes are the ones considered for the tie breaker. Yea, Pieces!!!

He is looking forward to having cars like Jay Leno, he is a boy and knows Jay Leno because of his car collection at 9 I was like “Johnny who? Oh that guy!” Well Jay Leno has some amazing cars and my little Pieces is crazy about them and has already taken my order…Asten Martin…woo hoo!

Anyway, he has provided some very relaxing moments for us and he is very protective of us all. My little princess makes you want to get up and dance and my little pieces is calming like lavender. This protective trait showed early on when my hubby and I were in the kitchen chatting over something exciting and we were loud but having fun. This little guy ran in there and demanded that he be nice to his mommy…yes I am praying for my future daughter-in-law, I want this to transfer over to her when he marries.

Just a short time after the gentleman and protector appeared this little determined fella showed up. One day at church he asked me for the “speaker thing” (that would be podium to us) because God had told him to talk to the people. He climbed upon a chair and put his little 3 year old hands on this “speaker thing” and said AMEN with all the fervor his little body and voice could muster. It was the mostly awe-dorable thing!

Now, he loves to cook too and his sissy, the Princess, says that his wife is going to love him. Oh my babies have their flaws but I am sharing those with them in a private journal where one day they will ask me, “did I really do that????” that will be fun then even if there are moments that are not so fun now.

Just keep watch in the future for this little guy with his game face on looking to honor God with one dimpled little white ball. All FORE Him darlin’ all FORE Him!!!

It sure is quiet in here....

The Entertainer....

My daughter is at camp right now and I only have 3 more years of high school left with her. I am still not sure if she will be staying home and going to school locally or if she will indeed go away and leave us quiet and unentertained. She had announced about 3 years ago she would go to school locally because she really enjoyed having a meal every night and was afraid of starving in a dorm. But after a year in high school I think she is ready to leave. This last year had her home a lot but that is another post!!

She has always been so humorous from feeding the VCR (that ancient device) her little troll dolls and declaring all things disgusting because she finally learned a big word. Once, at age 4 she sat alone at a table looking very sad after a baby shower for a friend. I went to her and asked why she was sitting there looking so sad and she plainly asked, "When are we going to wash the babies?" We still laugh about that one.

I keep waiting for the day that she will become a Veternarian Barbie Doctor. She could say the word right but would get fantasy and reality mixed up, much like her teen years now. She was in a video at age 5 which should have landed her right beside Bill Cosby on kids say the darndest things. From the Barbie doctor comment to the wanting a tatoo at her tender young age I have never been bored with her around.

The other night at dinner my son announced that it was sure quiet without sissy around. And boy is he right! She keeps us in stitches with her candor and entertained with her singing. I believe she was born with a song in her heart. Choir teachers have always loved having her in class because she learns so quickly and she still learns a song word for word the first go-round.

This poor child has painted her feet and hands with red polish, painted her play pin with an unmentionable product, climbed before she walked - no really, escaped the house to go to the neighbors to eat milk and cookies, announced at church that her mommy has the yield sign buddy, asked me if I danced for a living or if it was me singing on the radio - awwww NOT, had the day care asking me if I had trouble keeping her on the ground, told her Kinder teacher that she had been swimming with sharks over the summer and climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty, you name it she has dreamed it or said and NOW SHE IS GOING TO DRIVE? PLEASE JESUS HELP US ALL....

This child of mine is so much fun and has a lot of me and her father in her to make her one interesting piece of work and she gets the insanity from him......

What can I say to this....She is gorgeous!

She has now taken up golf because the club is one of the many things that has wacked her in the head..she is hoping to play golf and get into a college of her choice in order to become an orthodontist. I admire this child who is wise beyond her years and I thoroughly enjoy my little Princess who leaves not one boring moment for any of us.

I miss her and it is truly very quiet here!

What is with the Branch?

I started thinking people reading this may want to know why on earth I chose the name "Abiding Branch".

For those of you who know school house rock and remember the tune to how a bill goes to Capital Hill to become a law...sing it with me "For I'm only a branch, an abiding branch and to the vine I am attached." Ok, that was fun. I became a Branch the day I met my Lord Jesus Christ as Savior but I did not realize its meaning until I went to Brazil on mission trip last year with Macedonia Baptist Church in Longview. I learned what it is to simply abide in the Vine and allow Him to do all the work.

This does not mean that I just sat around and moved as if with a remote device or puppet strings. The branch does hold the fruit out there after all. But see the BRANCH does not produce the fruit it only bears witness to it...do you see where this is headed? Jesus, the Vine, and God the Vinedresser are in the fruit making business. We as branches get to hang out with these awesome fellas and show off their produce.

I saw this while in Brazil when our schedules went by the way side and appointments changed or cancelled, yet over 700 brothers and sisters were added to the Kingdom that month. The first two weeks produced 480+ in Caxias, just outside of Rio, and the others are now your kin from a place called Natal.

I truly saw the sap flow from the Vine that July of 2007 and I praise God for every soul saved. There was nothing in us or even in our control that produced this outcome but if we had not rested and abided in HIM then there would have been less. The branch still has a job to do and that is to abide so closely with the Vine that you can't tell them apart. Well I would not give myself that much credit ever but I did get a huge life lesson that will stay with my heart forever.

Tough as Snails

Have you ever had to do something you knew was right but dreaded it to the core? Did you notice how slow you were to act in obedience (eh hem, if it is not immediate is it still obedience? ~ probably not)

Seriously, abiding does not mean doing nothing at all. Also, when you abide in HIM (Jesus) you must adhere to His desires and not your own; this does call us to action. I had to do such a thing today. I had waited thinking it was all going to work itself out but that is the way it is with human nature, it is so volatile.

For those two of you reading this, please pray for the other person and for me that healing would come quickly and consequences are swift and precise. God has so much planned for each of His children, much like we do for our own. We hate to see them stumble but when we do we pray like crazy that they do not lie there but get up and dust off and start again. I pray this for my sister in Christ tonight.

I know the consequences for my snail like ways have wreaked havoc inside of me and through the phone lines to my sister and best friend. I thank God for each person in my life but this gal holds a special spot untouchable and unfillable upon the face of this old and fading earth.
I have truly learned what it is to be held to a higher accountability ~ still wondering if it agrees with me (cough cough). The love of Jesus is so deep and so wide and we are told that this love covers a multitude of sins. I have only ever dismissed two people from life in all my XX years and each time it was for my health, my sanity has long been gone, and it was better overall in my life.
We must guard our hearts for they truly are the well spring of life but also keep in mind our hearts are so deceitful. If I always listened to my heart and left reason by the shore then I am not certain what my days would look like now. Oh sure I might “feel” better but would I be?
I guess that is enough of my ramblings now. I pray that your decisions are easy and your footing firm so that you can make the tough decisions and soar like with wings of eagles. Remember all we have to do is realize HE is Tough as Nails and that forgives our snail-like ways all the time.

In Christ, Chel