Take Up Thy Cross

Lu 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Mt 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Jas 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Lu 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

I hope this blog will make sense.

It's so interesting how periodically, we find ourselves at a major crossroads. (Appropriately named.) It's like, the Lord seems to bring things into our path that just seem SO PERFECT. And we think, "This just HAS to be the will of God..." because it just seems to fit every answer to every prayer of the heart, that only the Lord hears. You know - the ones you pray silently at the altar, hiding the petition in your heart before the Lord, not sharing it with anyone. I'm talking about THOSE prayers. Well, the Lord had answered one of mine, I had thought. But it turns out that He had other plans in mind. During the course of the last few weeks, I began to feel as though the Lord was leading in a different direction than I had originally thought. At first, I must confess, I was crushed in my heart, and I whined before the Lord about it. I cried so many tears, I didn't think I had any left. My heart was so heavy, and so disoriented, because I just didn't understand. It just didn't make sense to me whatsoever. Then, I began to realize...

If I'm not willing to give something up - no matter what it is - for the Lord, then I really don't need it in my life anyway. When Jesus asked Peter, "Lovest thou me more than these?" Jesus was really asking, "Do you love Me enough and are you willing to lay it all down and follow Me wherever I am leading you, no matter what it may cost?" Basically, the Lord is asking me, "Shanna, lovest thou Me more than _________?" Of course, He knows the answer. He knows whether or not when I arrive at the next docking station of my spiritual walk, whether or not ________ would keep me from being fully, 100% dedicated to Him and only Him. Only He really knows. But obviously, He sees fit for His will and good pleasure for me to lay it at His feet as a sacrifice. And no matter how uncomfortable the sacrifice may seem:

2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

I'm telling you, if I have ever needed the grace of God working strongly in my life, I surely need it now. I mean, I REALLY need it RIGHT NOW. But, isn't that what being a servant of the Most High God is all about? When Jesus ransomed me, it was not with some obsolete foreign currency that has no value in the world's monetary system. It was with His own blood. He gave His best for me, so what's a little sacrifice of my self will in comparison? If I'm not willing to give up the simplest thing for Him, then I am not a faithful steward of my life anyway, and who knows what else I'd be willing to hoard in exchange for my soul???

I feel very strongly that the Lord is calling each and every one of us to this level of sacrifice. Because when Jesus challenged Peter about his level of love toward the Lord, it was the beginning of a new level of power and anointing for Peter and the Church as a whole. Somehow in that exchange between Peter and the Lord, it was made known to Peter's heart that his degree of surrender and sacrifice to the Lord had to go deeper. Sure, he walked with Jesus as a disciple, witnessed His power, felt the agony of His crucifixion, but even still, he had a deeper place to go. Jesus was pulling for Peter, and wanted so badly for him to make it - as He does for all of us. No doubt, that's why he could say:

2Pe 3:9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

The Lord places us in these valleys of decision; these crossroads; these Gethsemane's - because He wants us to make it. Not only does He want us to make it, He wants us to have power and victory all the way, not just to slide in by the skin of our teeth. Though our natural mind can't conceive the divine purpose and plan behind it all:

Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Every single thing the Lord does in our lives knits together and forms this awesome picture of what the Lord calls "good." The Church is called to perfection. We are all called to perfection as individuals. That's His purpose. So He knows what it will take to accomplish that purpose. I was so blessed by Brother Smith's article in the Evening Light this month, "Purity Before Power." Part of being pure is being rid of self will. It's our own will that contaminates us and leaves us defiled before the Lord. And the Lord knows that, which is why He ordains our steps the way He does - so that we are walking in His divine protection from the corruption that our flesh and the enemy would love to destroy us with. It is always in our best interest - excuse me, let me talk to myself for a moment - it is always in my best interest to follow the leading of the Holy Ghost, because He is the One who knows the will of the Father, and can reveal it to my heart, and guide me in it. He's the only One. In moments where my natural mind wants to question, or my flesh wants to resist, that's where I must fall to my face before the Lord and allow His grace to abound more and more.

Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

There is more grace to be given. Thank the Lord He is an ever present help in trouble. Thank the Lord I do not have to walk this road alone, even though it may feel sometimes as though I am alone. Thank the Lord that He is not a man that He should lie, that He cannot lie, and that it is IMPOSSIBLE for Him to lie. His Word is settled forever. My expectation is from Him. He alone is my rock, salvation, and defense, I shall not be moved.

So I say to all of you - take courage. The Lord is fully aware of every season of our lives, and nothing catches Him by surprise. He knows exactly where we are and where we're headed. His grace is more than enough for us to make it along the crossroads, and to stay there as long as He sees fit.

*Shanna*

It's 64 Degrees!!!!

I have on a short-sleeved blouse today.

*sigh*

I suppose it does feel pretty good, but usually this means some super-icy temps are dead ahead. Yes, Sister Smith, we are a long way from snow at the present moment. Maybe in January??? :o) Or it could be in March like it was in the "Blizzard of '93." Not sure I could do that again. Funny thing, I've heard a few complain about the weather in Tennessee, how the temperature fluctuations are so wacky during the month of December. But probably once January rolls around, we can say goodbye to warmth until April or so. We'll see.

Anyhoo - you guys are blessed to hear from me yet again during the weekend! :o) Hope you enjoyed your Christmas!

*Shanna*

Mad Props to the Popcorn...um...Treats

My Dear Blogging Comrades,

It was brought to my attention that I failed to mention the popcorn...um...treats that we had for our HQ goody day. So, I thought I would mention...

We had popcorn, um, treats, for our HQ goody day on Monday. They were intended to be popcorn balls, but a minor snafu kept them from maintaining their round shape. They were very sweet, but very good. So sweet, as a matter of fact, that if I had eaten more than two, there's no doubt I'd spend Christmas bouncing all over the place from a serious sugar high. :o) And since I'm at my mom and dad's, I'm sure they are grateful I only ate one. :o) At HQ we were joking about their color because it looks like a pea green at first. But of course, their maker informed us that the correct color is "Christmas Green." :o) Since that's the story, and she's sticking to it, that settles it, I suppose. :o)

As for today, I am at my mom and dad's at the moment, listening to some awesome Oscar Peterson jazz Christmas CD. and we're all feeling pretty Christmasy around here. Just need one more thing - SNOW! (To all my friends in the west - I'm still waiting for you to send some...)

Well Merry Christmas yet again! I may have another chance or two to blog over the weekend, so I guess you'll be hearing from me again soon. ;o)

*Shanna*

I Only THOUGHT It Was Cold...

All together now...

***Brrrrrrr!!!!!!***

When I went outside this morning to start my car and feed Blue, the temperature was officially 14 degrees. I just KNEW I would arrive at work with icicles hanging from my ears and stuck in my hair. But it wasn't that bad. After all, I am able to type this blog, right? Anyway, it was a brisk start to the week, to say the least. But Sister Smith's homemade cider sure made it all better! As for our goodies this morning, today's spread included tostadas, potato soup, cornbread, chicken cheese ball, veggie tray, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, sandwich rolls, Sister Smith's cider, and of course, there may be something I'm leaving out. But it was all very good. Well, I should say it IS very good, because we usually munch all day long. (As a matter of fact, I'm going to go back downstairs and grab a quick snack before returning to work.)

Our Christmas program last night was a real blessing. Our local church congregation is relatively small, with an average attendance of perhaps 10-15 people, if that. But with the Zion Hill Church also in attendance, I believe every single pew was completely full. It really did my heart so much good to hear all those voices singing. Imagine what heaven will be like!

I suppose my lunch hour is over, and I should be getting back to work now. (Gotta get that snack!) Thanks for stopping in! I'll try to blog again tomorrow before we close the office for Christmas, or maybe during the holiday. But just in case I don't get the opportunity, I surely hope your holiday is very special and richly blessed. Until next time!

*Shanna*

The End of the New Week...Already

Well...although I am tickled to greet you with...

HAPPY FRIDAY!

...I regret to inform you that nothing spectacular and exciting has happened, that has kept me too busy to blog. But just to keep you up to speed, here have been the week's happenings:

Tuesday - the Headquarters staff had our Christmas dinner. This is only my second one, since I've only been here almost two years. (Can you believe it??? My, how the time does fly.) I really enjoyed it, though. We did a gift exchange, well, sort of. It's more like, as our name is drawn, we just pick out a wrapped gift. Only those who wrapped them know what they are. And guess what I got? An electric griddle! How cool is that? I have always wanted one, because I think they are so awesome! So you know what that means, right? Yep, I'll actually be cooking every two weeks now, instead of only about once per month. :o)

Wednesday - a pretty typical day. Ate, worked, went to Church, slept.

Thursday - another pretty typical day, except my computer at work was having SERIOUS issues. I was working along, just minding my own business, when suddenly - it appeared - the blue screen of death. And every time I restarted, within 10 minutes, it had returned. This happened three different times before I called for help. And THEN...I couldn't get it to operate in what's called "safe mode", because it would act like it was going to work, then take me back to a utility menu. Goofy machine! So that knocked me out of getting anything productive done while here at work. So Brother Kryss worked like crazy to try and get it back up and running again. At first, it was thought that I had lost everything on my hard drive. So I took an early lunch, in hopes that everything would be back to "normal" upon my return. Not so, not so. Whatever was going on, my computer basically decided it just might give up the ghost. At the end of the day, Brother Kryss had done all he could do, and tried again this morning.

We did have our weekly VLB Bible study, also, about idolatry, with some really good discussion. Then it was off to the house for some shut-eye.

And then we have...

Today - as I said in the beginning, HAPPY FRIDAY! Brother Kryss was able to restore my hard drive, but the prognosis is not good. It probably doesn't have much life left. Poor thing. But at least I can get some good work done today!

As for Blue - he is Blue. Nothing new to report with him. He is just as entertaining as ever. By the way - our neighbor with the Rottweilers has relocated them all to another location. Not sure where that is, but at the very least, we can all rest more easily now.

So that's it, in a nutshell. This weekend's plans? I'm meeting a few friends I used to work with on Saturday for lunch, and Sunday evening is our Christmas program at our local church. Then Monday is yet another great goody day at Headquarters, and for this one, I'll be making pigs-in-a-blanket, chicken cheese ball, and maybe something else. But we'll see. :o)

Have a wonderfully blessed weekend!

*Shanna*

A New Week

I can't believe another weekend has come and gone. On Saturday, we had a going-away shindig for the roomie that is moving out. My sausage balls turned out o.k., I suppose. I think I went a little Bisquick crazy, because that's all I tasted. Of course, everyone else thought they were fine. I guess that means they were fine. :o)

On Sunday morning, our pastor preached about Jesus being the bread of heaven. What a powerful message that was. His main passage of scripture was taken from John chapter 6, where Jesus is explaining to the Jews that He is the bread of life. Their fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died, but He is the bread sent down from heaven that is alive. Part of our pastor's exposition on that verse - "He ain't just any kind of bread." :o) But what really touched my heart, though, was verse 67, when Jesus asks the twelve, "Will ye also go away?" I can only imagine the heartache Jesus must have felt in that moment. Earlier, He had quite a following, but it was determined they were only following Him for the food. And then, Jesus was really trying so hard to help them understand who He is, and to give them the spiritual food they needed, but they couldn't get past eating of His flesh and drinking His blood. So they just up and left. Then, the rhetorical question (don't you just LOVE those?) was posed to our congregation - will we become offended and murmur against the Word of God, and leave everything behind?

What a question.

I don't know about anyone else, but I felt such a fear of God overshadow me. It's almost as if the Lord was reminding us of how important continuing on with Him really is. In spite of how our flesh may not necessarily want to hear what the Word says, it is still for our good, and ultimately determines where our soul will end up at the end of our lives.

On Sunday night, our local church went to the Zion Hill local church to watch their Christmas program. It was really good! Every one on program did an outstanding job. I can't remember what the title of the play was, but it was narrated in poetry style, and each character had a small speaking part, and there were a couple of songs in between narrations. I'm not sure I'm doing any justice to this play in my description of it - but anyway, it really was good. (By the way - good job on the costumes, Sister Smith!) Then afterwards, we enjoyed some good food and fellowship. It was a great Sunday.

And here we are on Monday already. Unbelievable. And tomorrow evening is our staff Christmas dinner. Christmas day and 2009 will be here before the lamb can even shake his little tail. :o) Hope each of you have a glorious day. Until the next posting!

*Shanna*

Friday Sunshine

Woo hoo! It's Friday, the sun is shining, my dog is no longer tied up...

I say today's a GREAT day, what about you?

:o)

Seriously, after two straight days of torrential downpours, it surely is nice to see the sunshine again. Of course, with the clearing skies comes colder temperatures. This morning, I left for work in 32-degree weather, and tonight's forecast is 20-25 degrees for the low. I'm sure glad I'll be indoors.

Oh yeah - tomorrow, we're having a little get together at our house, for which I'll be making sausage balls. Piece of cake! Like I said, I'm always encouraged to make things that I know I can do, and that people actually like. What a concept!

Anyway, hope you all enjoy your afternoon, and your weekend. :o)

*Shanna*

Happenings

It has rained nonstop over the last two days. Right now, it is absolutely pouring down rain. But rain is a usual occurrence that isn't really worth blogging too much about.

However...

On Wednesday morning, I awoke after a long sleepless night. I am typically one who has no trouble sleeping, mind you. So I decided I was going to sleep an extra hour before attempting to go to work. The PLAN was to arrive at work just before devotions at 9:00 a.m. Well, it turned out that I was not able to get into the bathroom to begin getting ready, as our other roomie beat me to it. As I was waiting my turn, Audrey (owner of the house) knocks on my bedroom door, and says I need to go outside right away and bring Blue into the house. Here's what had happened - the two rottweilers at the end of the street were loose. They are a male and a female, and the female rot had just killed Scotchie, a.k.a. "Blue's Girlfriend." So here I go, outside, trying to help nab my already shaken up pooch and lure him into the house. Needless to say, it had been raining all night long, the ground was super muddy, he was super wet, and our attempts to catch him were unsuccessful. So Audrey drove up to her grandmother's house, and he followed her there (thankfully), where the rottweilers' owner's dad was trying to catch the male, who was still on the loose.

I found out later that the male is relatively calm. Of course, when you SEE a 250-pound muscular rottweiler face to face, "calm" is not quite the first word that pops into your mind to describe him, right?

So, I just went into the house and proceeded to get ready for work. The clothes I was wearing were all wet and muddy, thanks to Blue, so of course, they went straight into the laundry. I finally arrived at work around 9:40 a.m. - not too far after my projected time of arrival. Audrey called me a little later, and informed me that they were able to finally catch Blue. Her mother just called him, and he went right to her. That little stinker! She also told me that someone else shot the female rottweiler. I remember, as we were trying to catch my pooch, we did hear gunshots in the distance. So I suppose that's when it happened. Apparently, someone called the police and animal control, so Audrey's mom tied Blue up, and I'm glad she did. He will probably be tied up for a few days, until all of this clears up. By the way - as far as I know, the rottweiler owners were gone while all of this was taking place. So I'm not sure how all of that panned out.

And there you have it. It was quite an eventful morning Wednesday, to say the least. But at least no humans were hurt, and things seem to have returned to some form of "normal."

Whatever that is.

Ode to the SUCCESSFUL Pasta Salad and the Great Weekend

Can we all say, "Praise the LORD!"

I'm sure most of you probably have nailed making great pasta salad, but you must remember, I am a chef-in-training, and must rejoice upon accomplishing anything deemed a success. :o)

It turned out I didn't have to make sausage balls, which was perfectly O.K. with me. I did make a pasta salad, though, and by all accounts, it was very good. The funny thing is that even though I was pleased with it, I really didn't care too much for its flavor. Can you believe that? Am I wild or what? :o) I finally make something that everyone likes who has tried it, and I don't like it. I think it was the over abundance of Parmesan and feta cheeses. I feel if I had added something like artichoke hearts, and perhaps a little oregano or basil, it may have been perfect. Oh well. At the very least, I know I can do it, and will definitely be trying it again. So the final word is, it was a success, as far as I'm concerned.

Our church dinner on Saturday was really good. We had a turnout of about 3o people, and served turkey, dressing, sausage balls, cakes, pies, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, green beans, rice/bean/cheese casserole, and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. But we had quite a spread, and really good fellowship. But boy, was it cold. Yeah, yeah, I know...cold for us here in Tennessee is anything cooler that about 45 degrees. I believe it was about 28 when the sun was setting on Saturday. Not only could I see my breath, but I could feel my ears and fingers detaching themselves from my body. Brrrr!!!! And by the time I got home, I'm sure it had dropped to about 25. Again - Brrrr!!! There was a time when I could stand frigid temps. But I have noticed that every year it becomes harder to cope with. I will maintain, though, that I would much rather have cold than the horrible humidity of the summer. There's just no relief from that stuff!

Our services on Sunday were wonderful. In the morning, our pastor preached "Beware of Ravenous Wolves." The Lord placed this message on his heart many months ago, even before he came to our local church. Essentially, it was that we still need to be careful, as the ravenous wolves that the Bible talks about can still enter in, and even are in the fold right now. We should each be careful not to be one! It was one of those messages that we really need to hear, and really pricks your heart at the same time. What stood out to me the most is that the devil comes in with deception just at the moment things seems to have "settled down." So of course, that's when we should be on our guard the most. The Lord is so good to us! He really does want each of us to make it, and I know that's why he inspires our ministry with such anointed messages. Even so, Lord, prick my heart.

Our evening service was so sweet with the presence of the Lord, as we celebrated a communion and feetwashing. Personally, I have never felt such gratitude in my own heart for the sacrifice that the Lord made for us. My prayer is that I will never take His love for me for granted.

Well, it was good to fill you in on all the latest. I suppose someone will comment at some point, and at least let me know you're still alive and kicking. I'm sure most of you have other more exciting things to report than I do, but you can't say I haven't been blogging! :o)

*Shanna*

Happy Friday

There's not much to report around these parts today, except that today is Friday.

Yay!

Hope you have a great one!

*Shanna*

There Shall Be Showers of Dressing

Thanksgiving dinner was an enjoyable event. My dressing did turn out at least edible, but not exactly what I was going for. I know, however, what my error was, so I'll just have to try it again. One of my other roommates also made dressing, and although it had a different taste, it was all right. And that's all I'm saying about that. The sweet potato casserole turned out great, except the poor marshmallows were burned to smithereens because they were also cooking in the oven with a squash casserole and macaroni and cheese. I asked someone to watch them for me while I dolled myself up for our company, but the poor "watchperson" had other things to tend after at the same time, that made keeping an eye on my marshmallows a little difficult. Bless her heart. It really was a stressful day, so I can understand how those things happen. But the sweet potatoes tasted wonderfully! But I'm going to try cooking it again, this time watching the marshmallow myself, just to get a feel for how long it takes for them to get done. As for the collard greens, I think they were the best. I found a really good recipe and used it as a guide. Apparently of all that I had made, that was the favorite. So I'll definitely be making those again some day.

Notice I said, "some day." I believe I've had my share of cooking for at least a couple of weeks, anyway. Of course, this weekend is our church's Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner. We'll just be having finger foods, which is right up my alley. I have volunteered pasta salad and sausage balls, which I know beyond the shadow of a doubt I can make! So it will be a breeze.

Well thanks so much for all your encouragement concerning the cooking thing. I'm just going to have to get more practice in, or else my poor future husband and children just may starve! :o)

Enjoy your day today!

*Shanna*

Welcome!

Hi everyone!

Since I've already blogged about it being the week of Thanksgiving...and you all already know I'll be making cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, and collard greens for Thursday's dinner...I'm not sure what else to say except...

Welcome to my new blogspot! :o)

Since for some reason, I was unable to import all my postings and pictures from the other location (even though Blogger told me I could!), of course it's practically as if I'm starting from scratch. But I guess that doesn't really matter, right? The point is that I'm still blogging! :o)

So I'll be in touch again soon. Enjoy your holiday!

*Shanna*