A Penny For Your Thoughts

The month of September rolled in with a bang for me.  I spent Labor Day weekend with a terrible stomach virus which was followed up by a miserable cold/sinus infection, which was followed by my best friend receiving some devastating news about her health.  Oh yes, and did I mention that I turned 40 in between?

Now that I am starting to feel like I am back in "the land of the living," the hubby and I left for our annual trip to Memphis to attend the Cooper Young Festival.  There's always lots of great music, food, and arts and crafts, along with lots of interesting sights to see:

A man draped in fruits and vegetables - Dinner anyone?

Chairs made out of old skis

Fencing

 

Where would you hang this?

We even found some great Mexican food there.  This  food vendor actually has three restaurant locations around Memphis:  Las Delicias, Las Delicias Bar and Grill, and Las Delicias Tortilleria.  Hands down, they served the BEST guacamole I have ever eaten!  I can't wait to try their food in one of these restaurants.

My favorite artist booth this year was Ornament Home.  I found this really cool hand stamped "Redeemed" Penny ring. 

I copied this picture from the Ornament Home Etsy Shop.

The ring came with this great story that I would like to share:

We are all like pennies…designed beautifully & minted into a shiny work of art. Over time, left to ourselves, we tarnish. Pennies…maybe dropped on the ground, lost & forgotten; maybe damaged, stepped on, dirty or abandoned.

Most of us think a penny is worthless. We may not even spend our energy to bend over & pick one up off the street. Most pennies are forgotten about, staying in the bottom of our purses or pockets & being tossed aside for lack of value.

But I know Someone who goes up & down the streets, searching high & low, looking everywhere for these “worthless” pennies. He finds value in each one. He rejoices, with great excitement when He finds just one! It doesn’t matter where that coin has been, what date is stamped on it, if it’s scratched, stained, or who held it before. When a penny is found by Him, it is no longer lost! He takes that copper coin & stamps REDEEMED on it. He cleans it, polishes it & makes it shine, & then puts that penny in His care.

Some definitions of redemption: 1.To rescue from a dangerous place; 2.When someone pays a debt, so that a prisoner can be free; 3.To get back by paying a price; 4.To have help out of a problem.

See, left to myself, I sin. Sin is what makes me unacceptable in God’s eyes. I’m stained, dirty before Him. But thankfully God doesn’t want me to stay that way. So, He gave me Jesus Christ, his perfect, sinless Son, who sacrificially took my ugly sin on Himself & paid for all sin by being nailed to a tree & dying.

Wonderfully, Jesus didn’t stay in death. He was raised back to life! Because I know & trust this & turned from sin, I am redeemed & forgiven. I really deserve to have to pay the price for my own sin, but no matter what I do, I can’t. Jesus willingly paid it for me with His blood payment. He loves me. He is the real definition of redemption. He “rescued me from a dangerous place” & “paid the debt so I could get out of the prison” of sin and escape the death penalty. This is great news! So, I want to live a life shiny & clean for Him, joyfully aware & thankful for what He did for me. He gave me new life! What a gift!-  copied from www.etsy.com/shop/Ornamenthome

Needless to say, this penny looks a lot different than the other coins that I carry around in my purse.  It makes me wonder, do I look different from non-believers?  Am I shining like a "newly minted' penny for Him?  I certainly am going to try!

Isaiah 43:1-4

Titus 2:12-14

Psalm 107:1-2

Psalm 49:15

Humility Shoes

Now that the month of August is FINALLY over, it seems as though we have settled into a familiar school year routine.  We are all back in school.  David is a senior at Ole Miss and Collin is in the 7th grade.  We have already had two Jr. High football games (out-of-town) that resulted in one win and one loss, Open House, and school pictures.  ...And not to mention HOMEWORK - lots of it!

Go Mustangs!

I have been thinking a lot about change throughout this past month.  There have been a lot of transitions taking place that I was not expecting to find quite so overwhelming, both personally and professionally.  It all started with a pair of shoes.  Collin and I had completed our back to school shopping, with the exception of a new pair of sneakers.  He had found a pair that he really wanted , but I told him he would need to wait on the new shoes and could make do with his "frat cleats" and sneakers we had bought at the beginning of the summer.  Well, I don't know how your kids are, but when that boy gets an idea in his mind he will not let you rest! I really wanted to get him those shoes, but needed some sort of "financial blessing." After all, what parent doesn't want to provide everything he or she possibly can for a child?  One night as we were eating supper,  we were watching the news.  (Yes, the TV was on during supper. - I know bad parent award!)  The reporter was interviewing this African woman that had been suffering with her children because of the famine there.  She and her children had walked 5 DAYS just so that they could find food, water, and shelter.  Not only that, she had brought another young boy with her that she had found on the way that had been orphaned due to the famine.  I just broke down in tears!  Inconsolably!  My kids looked at me like I was crazy!  I cannot describe to you how that moment changed me from the inside-out.  I had been worrying about something so trivial, like, am I a terrible parent because my child has to go back to school without a new pair of shoes? And, there, on the other side of the world, people are just hoping they will live to see another day!  I felt so guilty that I have been blessed, while others suffer and have so little. 

ABC News Famine Relief Report

My mom gave me this devotional book for teachers.  I opened it up to "Accepting God's Abundance."  The author writes about the tenth chapter of John, in which we are reminded of the abundance that can be ours through Christ.  Jesus was not referring to material possessions or financial wealth.   His is a spiritual richness that extends beyond the boundaries of this world and is available to all that seek it and claim it.

God's riches are beyond anything we could ask

or even dare to imagine!

If my life gets gooey and stale, I have no excuse.

~Barbara Johnson 

I pray that all of those suffering in Africa will have all of their physical needs met.  I pray that they will hear the message of  God's abundance.  I pray that I will seek more spiritual riches and less worldly riches and material possessions.

Well, here's the shoe update.  The "financial blessing" came through. The shoes were ordered and delivered to our door on Tuesday.  I hope Collin learned a little about patience and worldliness from having to wait on these shoes.  I know I certainly did. I am so thankful for these shoes!  They have proven to be a spiritual life changer for me!  Who would have thought that?

The Shoes

How to donate to famine relief:

Doctors Without Borders

UNICEF

Save the Children