No Doubt About It

:Tea with honey and lemon - early grey, english breakfast, peppermint and ginger - 8 pots

:Sicilian lemonade - 48 ounces

:Chicken noodle soup- 96 ounce

:Tomato soup with goldfish crackers - (they really make all the difference) 36 ounces

:Sugarfree Jello water (lemon, orange, cherry, raspberry) Didn't keep track of those ounces

:Halls Honey and lemon menthol- 100 lozenges

:Advil Dose after dose, waiting for the next one

The dreaded three word sentence, more a resignation than a pronouncement, as I turned the corner as I sneezed and then had to say "God bless me" because no one really knew how I felt:

"Mom is sick."

There is no down time, and it is simply a cold, but it brought the achy feeling and slight fever that is enough to sap your strength. I am the speaker in the pulpit tomorrow morning and my head is resonating with congestion and my throat is husky and provocative sounding. So the best I can gather is I will sound like a cross between Elmer Fudd and Lauren Bacall. Pass the tissues, if you don't mind.

Thank you so much, you are very kind. God bless you!

Anyway

The words of the blessed Mother Teresa reach through the pages and bring me inspiration, motivation and fresh strength today. Her words are printed onto my "Wall of Calm" in my office, right next to my computer.

"People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable.
Be honest and transparent anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People who really want help may attack you if you help them.
Help them anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt.
Give the world your best anyway."
~Mother Theresa

"So let us not let ourselves get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. Right now therefore, everytime we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.

Galatians 6:9-10, The Message

Dearest Lord, encompass me in Your love and plant within me the divine stamina to see others with the eyes of Christ. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In the Penalty Box

Mist slowly rising off the frozen rink -
Charged, chosen warriors meet at center ice.
Eagerly waiting, poised on the brink:
Their race to the puck, their moves are precise.

Slamming! Jamming! Shooshing! Whooshing!
Barreling! Speeding! Whew - a narrow escape.
Zipping! Whipping! Whirling! Blurring!
Thrashing! Crashing! How much more can he take?!.

The whistle’s shrill blast, the official stops play.
For a revenge-full, avenge-full intentional aggression.
10 minutes is determined what the player will pay
For the bone-crushing penalty – a major transgression.

The penalty tender slides open the locks
And swings open the door to the penalty box.
You must wait. You must stay.
For your transgression you will pay.

A heart in deep freeze, chained up link by link
Charged, chosen anger takes center court.
Eagerly waiting , poised on the brink
Each side is defended like a combat fort.

Lying! Defying! Stealing! Concealing!
Breaking! Forsaking! No love to be found.
Self-protecting! Self-reflecting! Ripping! Whipping!
Never forgiving – frozen, empty and bound.

The spiritual conviction – sin filled heart, sin filled life.
This revenge-full, avenge-full intentional aggression.
Eternity is weighed on the edge of a knife:
There is nothing enough to pay for this compelling transgression.

The penalty tender has the nameplate engraved
For the heart lost in sin, with no hope to be saved.
But Jesus has frozen the punishment clock
Jesus takes our place in the penalty box!

Not for sin He committed
But through grace He is permitted
To pay the price for the debt.
Before we knew Him, He took our place -
Jesus’ love for the human race
Is a gift that is complete and set.

Faith in Christ Jesus brings an assurance we can know:
Faith in Christ Jesus takes the sin-debt away.
Christ Jesus paid the debt He did no owe
To pay for the debt we could not pay.

He took our place
Because of divine love and grace,
In the Penalty Box.

jsi

“No member of the human race except Christ ever gave to God, by dying, anything which that person was not at some time going to lose as a matter of necessity. Nor did anyone ever pay a debt to God which he did not owe. But Christ of his own accord gave to his Father what he was never going to lose as a matter of necessity, and he paid, on behalf of sinners, a debt which he did not owe.

It is in dying Christ gives something that he does not owe. The death of Christ offers something of infinite value and something that is not owed. In so doing, Christ gives God what is necessary to pay for all human sin past and future. Christ, the God-Man, made an infinite payment, that He did not owe, to God for the sins of humankind.”
Anselm, Cur Deus Homo?

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 8:5