LIFE IN BLOOM

Learning How to Flourish in God's Grace


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Worship Wednesday

I love my church, and I feel blessed to go to have access to a church where I get good, biblical teaching.  I also LOVE our praise and worship.  While church is not just about the music, praise and worship is an important part of the service, and it sets the table for the word that we receive every Sunday and Wednesday.  Having been at churches where the music was less than desirable, and having to learn how to appreciate the words of a song over the sounds that I hear, I’m SO grateful to be at church where the music is both anointed AND good.

What really resonates with me is that the music is fresh, and it gets in my spirit in such a way that later in the week, I find myself singing or humming or replaying the songs I heard during service.  It’s amazing, and truly helps me to get through days that may be challenging.  I wanted to include the three songs that our praise and worship team have sung that have personally blessed me over the past few weeks:

Hopefully these will bless you as they have blessed me!

Be encouraged! Peace and Blessings!


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Be Aware

This past weekend, I was in Walmart picking up a few groceries.  I was exhausted after traveling to Carowinds with Preacherman’s school, attending a marriage seminar at my church, and going to a friend’s bridal shower.  I couldn’t wait to get home and just go to bed.

As I headed to check out, I detoured (not at all unusual for me in Walmart or Target) back to the produce section to look at celery.  I have been wanting celery to pack in my lunches as a healthy snack, but have been unable to find small prepackaged bags of celery.  I was hopeful that Walmart would have what I was looking for (if you can’t find it in Walmart, it may not exist), and sure enough, they had the exact item.

I checked the expiration date (which read 04/27/2013), and was all set to add it to my cart.  In my mind, I thought, “Man, those celery are gonna be fresh for a long time.”  I was just about to drop it in my cart, when I realized that the expiration date was actually a week prior.  My fatigue and my lack of awareness almost had me make a choice that could have been detrimental (slightly to my wallet, but moreso to my health).

I think we are all like that sometimes.  We can get so caught up in the doing of life, and get so into a routine (and so rundown from that routine) that we lose our sense of awareness.  When we lack awareness, we can make decisions that seem to be good on the surface, but could have detrimental effects.  Not only that, a lack of awareness can cause us to fail to recognize the goodness and blessings that surround us each day.

Let me encourage you to be aware- of the choices you make each day and their impact, of the blessings that surround you, and of your life and daily routine.  Be aware of ways that you can serve and assist others.  Be aware of your areas for growth, and seek tangible ways to improve.  Life is too short to be numbed from your busyness and your technology.  Imagine how much better our world/country/state/city/town/home would be if we each took the time to unplug and be aware.

My challenge to you: don’t let another day go by where you’re lacking awareness.  Find the good in each day, in each person, in each situation.  Search for the good, and be grateful for it.

Be encouraged!  Peace and Blessings!