Divine Accidents

It has seemed strange to me that for years, sometimes, not always, just sometimes, when someone calls the church office and no one is there to answer it, the call is forwarded to my cell phone. With no  warning, I get a call that looks like is from the church office, I answer, and it is a stranger who was calling the church office and has no idea that he is reaching a personal cell phone of someone. Since it only happened occasionally, I assumed that everyone on staff was on some kind of rotation so that we all received some of the calls. Last week, I asked and found out that no one else gets those calls, only me. NO one confessed to having any knowledge of how this has happened.
So, anyway, I get calls sometimes, I say, "Hello", and after a moment of silence, someone will say, "Uh, is this the church?" and I change into my professional voice and say, "Oh, yes, this is Cottonwood, I'm Jeannette, How can I help you." Then, I answer whatever question the person has.

Last week, I received on of those calls. It was the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday, so I was really surprised to get the call (it turns out MariLea had gone to the bank and set the phone to the recorder). The call turned out to be from a woman who recently began to visit Cottonwood. I met her the first day she came and she said that she felt accepted, she loved being there, and that she usually did not feel wanted in churches. That makes me very sad, but very happy that Cottonwood is the kind of place where everyone is welcome and wanted. The woman was very timid about calling the church, but had a specific need that we could easily help her with. I was so glad that somehow that call came to my cell phone. If she had reached a recorder, I don't think that she would have left a message and this simple need she had would have not been met. Because I was able to answer her call, and make her feel comfortable, her feeling of worth was increased.

This morning, I had another one of those calls. I was in the car and the phone rang. From the caller ID, I assumed it was MariLea calling from the church, but it wasn't. It was a long time member of Cottonwood, calling because she desperately needed to talk to someone. I listened to her, talked with her, and prayed with her. I could tell she felt better after we talked. She told me that she had been very nervous about making the call, and she told herself that if I didn't answer, that would mean she wasn't supposed to call me! O MY! To think that if the church phone had not mysteriously decided to forward the call to me, my friend would have spent the day struggling and hurting.

Thank God that he sometimes chooses to intervene in unusual ways in our lives, and, in my life, He sometimes uses a strange phone system!

Thanksgiving Meal Thoughts and Tips

Can you believe that this week is Thanksgiving? Not me, it really snuck up on me this year.
We are planning a much smaller celebration that usual. We normally have at least 30 people here, with my entire extended family and several "semi-family" type folks. This year the family is just not up to that, with my Mom now in a nursing home and not able to make the trip from Ft.Worth to Stephenville. So, our celebration will be just the girls and their families, and a few others, probably 22 in all. It will be  sad to not have all my family here, but, we are also looking forward to a more relaxed day, to visit and play with the kids.

I love that we have a day set aside to remember to give thanks. That is awesome. (I know, it has become about football and shopping a lot, but don't remind me of that. Let me enjoy this thought.)
My mind is filled with thoughts of what I am thankful for, from the great mercy and grace of God down to the soft comfy tennis shoes on my feet, and a thousand things in between. I am truly grateful.
I also love all the traditions of Thanksgiving; turkey and dressing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes...
Now for tips. I am no Martha Stewart, not even a Paula Deen. But, I have hosted a bunch of Thanksgiving meals, and I will share a few things I have learned.

Turkey... there are a million ways to cook it, and I have tried a bunch...bake, brine, smoke, slow cook...but, the last few years I made it REALLY easy. I cook the turkey in the oven a couple of days early, just bake it according to any easy method, basically at 350 degrees for 3 to 4 hours.Let it cool a little bit, then take all the meat off the bone, put the meat in a large plastic bowl with a lid that seals. Mix some spices with chicken broth, whatever your taste is; cajun spices, mexican spices, traditional poultry seasoning, then cover the meat with chicken broth and refrigerate. Thanksgiving morning, put the turkey meat in a large pan (I use my roaster oven so that the oven is open to cook other food) and heat it slowly and thoroughly. This makes the most delicious and moist turkey.

Another benefit to this method is that I don't have a turkey carcass to deal with. All the mess was taken care of before Thanksgiving day. Of course, this means that I don't have that beautiful brown turkey sitting on the table with the head of the house carving it like on TV shows. Actually, this system ended a point of conflict at my house. My usual helpful husband refused to carve the turkey. I had to beg someone to do that and it caused stress right at the time I was trying to get the food ready to serve.

Sides...don't make food that noone likes because you think you should. One year, I made cooked fresh sweet potatoes, FOR 30 PEOPLE. I bought a huge bag of potatoes, peeled them, cut them, and steamed them because I thought they would be so much healthier and tastier. Most of the family prefered the mushy canned yams with brown sugar and marshmallows. OK, lesson learned, cook what the family likes. So what if it isn't as healthy, it's only one day.

Don't stress. For several years, my extended family has come to my house for Thanksgiving. My parents and sisters and their families live in the Fort Worth area and they only come to my house two times a year, for Thanksgiving and for Easter. Because of that, I really wanted the house to be perfect when they came. I would clean everything, floors, windows, even curtains, and expect that my husband and daughters help me do it. I was stressed and irritable by Thanksgiving morning. That's not the way to start a special family holiday.

So, let's relax, enjoy the day, don't try to make it the picture perfect.

Respect our Leaders?

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men...Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. 1 Peter 2:13-15,17

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Romans 13:1

Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 1 Timothy 2:2

I believe that these verses are very clear. God says that our government leaders have their authority by God's own divine appointment, and we are to respect them and pray for them. Why does that seem to be so hard to do? I hear Christians complain, criticize, and insult our leaders. I am embarrassed by the language that I often hear, the crude jokes, the outlandish stories repeated, the false accusations.
Let me be clear. I voted this election, and the person I voted for was not elected.
So what is my response to be? I am to be respectful. I am to pray. I am to have faith. I can do this because of a few things that I know are true.

1. America is a democracy. The majority of our people have elected officials that they believe to be the best ones. I must accept that.
2. God is in control. God rules and reigns. He is the Lord of the Nations. He is the King of Kings. I can rest and be at peace because I know that He is still in control,
3. This world is not my home. This is a temporary dwelling place, I was made for eternity. Everything about this world system will end.
4. My hope is in Christ, not a political party or a politician. No matter what happens in the government or the economy, I have Jesus. I have the Holy Spirit of God living in me, giving me joy, peace, confidence, and hope.

So, we are to respect our leaders and pray for them. If you think that this is too hard to do now, it would have been MUCH harder when these verses were written.
Nero was emperor of Rome, and Rome ruled the entire middle east and Europe. In AD 54, when Nero was 17 years old, his mother had his father poisoned, and Nero was proclaimed emperor. Nero was selfish and calculating and incapable. He became paranoid of the rumors about plots to kill him. In AD 55, he had his brother killed, and in 59, he had his mother executed, and three years later, he had his wife killed.
In July 69, a fire blazed uncontrolled for days and destroyed much of Rome. Rumors spread that Nero started the fire because he wanted to rebuild a grander and better city. In order to turn attention away from himself, Nero charged that Christians had started the fire, and he began a time of terrible persecution, killing and torturing Christians by dreadfully creative means. Both Peter and Paul wrote letters during this time, both while expecting to be executed by this government. They wrote to respect and pray for their leader, who was an insanely wicked man with absolute power.

Does God expect any less of us? Our lives are not threatened. We are not hunted down and thrown to wild animals for entertainment. We are not covered with wax and set afire to light an emperor's garden. Being a Christian may have been more acceptable a few years ago, but it's not that hard now. No one is keeping me from praying in my home. I can spend as much time as I want to reading and studying the Bible. I can love my neighbor as commanded, and I have freedom to share the gospel any time I want to. I attend church without harassment several times a week.

I think God's command to respect and pray for my leaders is not too much to ask.