St Patty’s Day

Well the weekend was good. I worked all day Saturday..except I did go to a movie with Rob.  We watched OZ. It was pretty good. I have to say Glenda the good witch was really pretty. but you know she reminded me of a young Kim Bassinger. Pretty eyes..or something? I don’t really know what it was.

Friday night was game night at church of course…we had a great time but I could tell we were all kind of dragging along. We all barely made it to 9:00 pm and then started cleaning. LOL We have all had a long draining week. But the sermon on Sunday was so good and powerful and I think it just helped rejuvenate all of us. We all rejoiced. The name of the sermon was ” Can your past sin Glorify God?” answer yes!

I love this type of lesson/sermon. It just confirms that God can let his light shine through your cracks…and that he uses us all of the time. The bible is full of stories of sin and redemption. Why? So we can learn by example. That is also why I am in love with the Movie “Les Miserables” It displays it all so beautifully….I am sure that is why the play has done so well all of these years. We can all relate.

But our Pastor put it so simply…that whatever our past sin is….that then becomes our ministry. If you were a drug addict and you are clean..you can help other drug addicts. If you were a pregnant teen and you have grown up and see the error of what happened….you can now minister other young moms..or teens going down that path. What is the battle you have experienced in your life? Divorce, death of a loved one, having a special needs child? a troubled child? We have all had battles and it is up to us to use those battles for good. I feel like I try to do that pretty regularly. I come from a bad family, I had a bad mother and I can relate to other people with crazy moms. I can also relate to people who grew up in drug addicted homes…or children of domestic abuse homes. I have geared my life towards this….and helping others.  I could dwell on these things and ruin my own life in the process of thinking about where I came from..or I can switch it around and say to someone else..”Hey I get it..I understand…I have been through that…here’s a hug and let me tell you what I did” Not that my way is the way…but it’s an option. I think getting an education helped cure alot of things for me….as far as my self worth and confidence. I also happened to study that very thing…women’s studies and human development make you dive into all sorts of  areas of the heart and mind.

But I say all of that because I know so many people ask me how to find their ministry. I think God doesn’t make us focus on all of our bad traits or characteristics. I think we don’t need to focus in all the areas we are lacking. Yes..we get convicted and he refines us as we go along in life. But there are to many things wrong with all of us to dwell on that. I think he uses our best qualities and lifts them up to use.  This is gifts and talents..he gives them to us to use…not dwell on the gifts that he gave to others. This is why we need to surround ourselves with others so we can all work together to complete the tasks at hand.   So we were handed our ministry long before we knew it was to be our ministry.  When we are going through those hard times (growth lessons) ..we are really building a ministry. I don’t know about all of you..but that really helps me to think of it that way.

There was actually a lot to learn in our sermon..but I kind of honed in on that aspect.

St Patty’s was also our small group dinner …we were hosting this month. No corned beef and cabbage here. I am not a corned beef and cabbage kind of a gal. I can just remember the yucky smell in the house when my mom or grandma would make that every year and it was torture to have to eat it….and then hash. I would actually eat has as a kid with eggs and what not..but I can’t as an adult. I will make corned beef every now and again…so my family can eat Reuben sandwiches..it’s a fav around here ( except for me…I don’t eat them). :)

So last night we had so many YUMMY things! I made grilled chicken, salad ..with lots of veggies, mashed potatoes…we also had bacon wrapped shrimp, deviled eggs, rolls, cupcakes, pineapple empanadas…..everyone went all out and made such yummy food! We had a great time..talking and laughing. Can’t wait until the next dinner.

Well it’s time for work…I hope you all have a wonderful day!