The last do
16 Feb 2011 1 Comment
Yesterday I had the privilege of going with my friend to assist her as she gave her sweet client the last do. She was very nervous because this was her first time. It took me back in time when my precious Grandmother had passed away my senior year. I had rolled and set her crown of splendor each week for two years. I knew when she passed the Lord was urging me to give her that final do. I was a little nervous as well. Approaching the casket the first thing I saw was a little smirk on her face! I used to ask her to come back and tell me what it was like. And that smirk seem to say it all. “I’m there Janice! I finally made it to the arms of my heavenly Father.” As peaceful as one could look, my Grandma looked that way.
As I curled each piece and had it looking just right, peace ran through my core as I ministered to my Grandma. No doubt she was peeking down watching me and I could hear her saying, “Good job Janice Mae.” It might sound weird to you to think I could find such joy doing hair in the funeral home that day. But I have found that joy every time I’am asked to perform the last do. Somehow that hair represents who they are and it is an honor to put the finishing touches on the shell that held the soul of a saint.
As we finished the final touches yesterday, we smiled because as we ministered side by side we felt another side. The side of the Lord Jesus hanging out with us as we did what He had called us to do.
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21
Love Me, Love Me Not
14 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
I’am overwhelmed by the Lord’s love today. I declare His faithfulness in my life yesterday, today, and forever more. When I was 9 years old, I knew I had to have His love. As time went on I strayed from His love and tried desperately to find it in others. My earthly father could not give me the love I needed. He had it but only on the days that he was sober and those were few and far between. Sadly the loss of love from him made a wide gaping hole in my heart. As I look back I know that the Lord allowed that hole to get so big that the only place I could come and have it fixed was at the foot of the cross.
I have learned things about the Lord’s love. Not only through reading the Word and all that it says about His love, but experiencing His love. I know that He does indeed love me. I don’t have to play the game with the daisy, “Does He love me or because of all the things I’ve done, Does He love me not?” He reached down and lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
If today, you find yourself with that big ol’ gaping hole in your heart, I pray that you will crawl to the foot of the cross if you have to. Trust Him to love you with His love that never fails. Trust Him because He is faithful. He does not love you based on your performance. He loves you based on who He is. He is LOVE!
Zephaniah 3:17 says,
“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Mustard seed
06 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, `Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. (Matthew 17:20)
What mountains are in your life right now? They seem so big and that there is no way you can ever get over them. Here in this scripture it says that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we can say to the mountain, “Move!” Seriously Lord?
How big is a mustard seed? About the size of a poppy seed.
Thank you Lord God for the visuals that you give through your Word. I pray Lord we will take you at your Word and trust in you. That is what faith is all about. Lord without you nothing is possible. We need you Lord.
