Most Sundays, we wake up early to prepare for church service at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship church. My husband has been attending here since 1985, when he was about 15 years old. I began attending in 2000, when I was... Eh, you don't need to know all that!
Anywho, Sunday is our family day. After service we hang around and fellowship with our small group members and other members who may happen to pass our way. If we have a chance, we visit with our senior pastor or staff reverends and joke with our favorite musician who happens to be a Pittsburgh Steelers' fan. (We pray for him to convert to the Cowboys Nation, but he just won't budge!). Then off to visit my mother-in-law who is also a member of the church and faithfully serves in the choir. I love visiting with the choir members. They are a diverse group of men and women whose spirit of praise is not only during the worship service but continues as they fellowship with one another during their break.
Sometimes after service, we attend bible study, if there's a class or small group in session. However, during football season, we rush home to change into our fan gear and head over to our favorite places, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili's, or Applebee's, or a family member's home so we can share in the victory, and sometimes, defeat, of our favorite team. During off season, we may go enjoy breakfast at iHop, Cracker Barrel, or Denny's or head over to a family member or friend's house to visit. Today, we're heading over to my in-laws for our uncle's famous gumbo. Mmmmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmm, good! I've been wanting some gumbo since New Year's Day so I can't wait!
When we get home, we prepare for the week ahead. Sundays are usually pretty quiet and peaceful. Some people may think it's boring, but I think it's a good day to take time to reflect on how great God has been to us throughout the week and pray for His continued mercies for the coming week. We don't deserve His grace and mercy but He gives us His unmerited favor anyway.
Last week one of the reverends passed on to glory early Sunday morning. While I know he's in a better place now, I'm sure his family is very sad to not have him here physically. He was a great guy. A sincere man of God who I remember as "cousin" because we shared the same last name. I'm glad I had a chance to speak with him to see how he was doing right before Christmas. He always had a word of encouragement for me, always asked me how the kids were doing. Just a very big heart for people. I learned that he led a gentleman to Christ from overseas and discipled him for over a year via phone. That is just so amazing. I'm sure the Lord welcomed him with open arms saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Very well done".
So today, when I reflect, I think about how every morning when we open our eyes, we have been granted favor. The Lord doesn't have to wake us up every morning. We could have passed on to glory like our dear brother did last week. He doesn't have to wake us up in our right mind. Our limbs are moving. We can see, smell, touch, feel, hear... Who gave us those senses? The Lord God Almighty! We can kiss our loved ones and tell them how much we care. Because of the love and compassion He has for us in spite of ourselves.
Everyday in our life is a blessing from God. Every moment we take a breath, we are blessed. I'm grateful to God right now for another day in the life to be able to just say thank You, Lord for ALL you have done. Thank You for your compassion, Your love. If you never do anything else for me, You have done enough!
No comments:
Post a Comment