Sunday Night Reflections

It's Sunday night around 10 PM, and I'm sitting in my lazy boy pulling on my Mississippi Mullets Fantasy Football Team. I'm up 11 points on the Gray Hairs (A.K.A. Larry McDaniel Sr) but he's got Roddy White going on MNF. It would be a major upset for me, the GFFL Defending Champ, to go down to the rookie, underdog, Gray Hairs in the first round of the playoffs. Oh well, 99.9% of you do not care about the Graystone Fantasy Football League (GFFL), so let me move on to some much more important thoughts.

Today was a great day at Graystone Church...

- Kyle and the band rocked an acoustic set. How about Brian Bernhardt on the violin? AWESOME! If I was a single girl, I would take notice of a single, agile, mobile, and available guy playing the violin. And I feel good enough about my manhood to point that out. BB could be one of the most eligible bachelors in Grayson...not sure how many there are...eat your heart out Matt Shirley.

- I was proud of all of our young families dedicating their children to the Lord. Parent Child Dedication is nothing to be taken lightly. This is a huge commitment for each of these families. I'm claiming Proverbs 22:6 for each of their kids...just like I am for my own. Being a parent has to be one of the most challenging and highest callings in the world. Parenting is a major trust God situation. I had breakfast with a good friend yesterday who had to put his 21 year old son in rehab last week. He said that it was the most difficult situation he has ever been through. Please pray for him and his son. I'm actually preparing a sermon for January titled: What to do when a good kid goes bad. That's going to be a tough and emotional one. We need to join all our parents and pray for God's leading in their kid's lives. As many of us know, it can be rough out there.

- Speaking of drugs and addiction, I'm incredibly proud of a few of my friends at Graystone who through the strength of Jesus Christ are overcoming addictions. A good friend called the other night to tell me that he has been narcotics free for 9 months. PRAISE GOD! I talked with another friend this week who is a recovering alcoholic who has not had a drink in 11 months. PRAISE GOD! God is doing a great work and changing many lives. I'm praying about getting a Christian-based 12 Step Program started at Graystone called Celebrate Recovery. Please pray for this ministry to become a reality because I know that there are many others in our church and community who need to be released from the bondage of addictions. This talk of drugs and addiction with people in the church may surprise some of you, but our church is full of real people with real issues. Hey, Jesus came to heal the sick not the healthy.

- Wow, this blog got real serious real fast. The Mississippi Mullets are now beating the Gray Hairs by 12 points. It's probably not enough.

- Today as an application to my message, I challenged Graystone to get behind our Christmas Project 2007, which is a home renovation for Mike and Christi Umans. And man did Graystone respond. We had 65 adults sign up to help out with the home renovation next Saturday. I love the people of Graystone Church and your willingness to SERVE and be used by God. May HE have all the glory!

- Weight Loss/Gain Update... I dropped to 214 pounds by Thursday morning and moved back up to 222.5 tonight. That's a net loss of 7.5 pounds in two weeks! Hopefully, many of you will see me sweating bullets at BodyPlex this week. By the way, these Christmas parties are not helping out my cause.

- My attempt to go Clark W. Griswold on my outside Christmas decorations was semi-successful (I will post a picture soon). This is the first year that I have hung any outside Christmas lights, so I've come a long way from nowhere. (Wow, that was a deep thought or was it? It's getting late.) I'm planning to hit some after Christmas sales and stock up on Christmas decor for the future. I have a 5 year plan to win "Best Lit House in the Hood" in 2012. I'm not sure why everything has to become a competition for me.

- I shared with the church today about some of my struggles with being "Called" to be a pastor and a few of the criticisms that I have received recently. My motivation for doing this was to be honest, open and real with you. Some people think that it was my way of getting a little extra love and support. That was not my intention, but I will say that I do appreciate ALL the kind words and encouragement.

- YOU truly can do all things through Christ who gives you strength! What is God calling you to do? What is your LIFE FOCUS? Before you die, what do you want to BE, DO, HAVE AND HELP?

Well, it's time for me to go horizontal. The MS Mullets are still only up by 12 points. I will be hoping and praying for Roddy White to have a terrible showing on MNF.