This morning as the pastor stood to preach his sermon I noticed he was casually dressed.  The outfit was very nice, but there was no suit, no tie.  I leaned over and commented to Gary that I wondered what was going on with the pastor?  As the sermon began on the screens behind the pastor appeared the title, "Managing My Legalism" and the scripture taken from Galatians, Chapter 3.  Gotcha!  That's all I could think...I leaned back over to Gary and said, "he's dressed like that to make a point and I walked right into it." 

How many times in life do we judge others based on a preset, unwritten list of rules that we deem to be correct?  Numerous, I would guess.  I have always been taught to dress up on Sunday mornings....in fact, we "dressed up" whenever we attended church.  It wasn't for show, it was because my mom and dad believed you needed to look your best and wear your best when coming into the Lord's house for worship.  Nothing but our best effort for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that thought process.  However, we need to welcome others into the Lord's house that may dress differently, look differently and/or act differently. 

Jesus spent a great deal of his three year ministry tour with those outside the Jewish faith.  He came to seek and to save those who were lost and that included the Samaritans (the woman at the well), the Greeks (the Syrophecician woman), Gentiles (the demon possessed man on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee) and all of life's outcasts and outsiders.  Should we do any less?

We need to remember that life changes, but God doesn't.  Our hymns may be in the form of more upbeat worship choruses that are shown on screens, our times of services may even include Saturday evenings and not just 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and the dress attire might be jeans when we would like to see suits/ties or dresses with stockings.  Whatever our "hangups" we need to ask the Lord to break down the walls of our own personal legalism and work through us to be His mouthpiece, His arms, His legs, His sight to bring others to the foot of the cross.  Thanks, Pastor Greg, for wearing your casual attire this morning presenting a visual lesson I'll remember for a long time! 

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."  Galatians 3:26-29

I love the weekend....and this weekend is no exception; however, the rain is getting old.  It doesn't take more than two days in a row for me to long for the sunshine.  Even in cold temperatures, the sun shining always brings out the "sunny" side of my personality.  I'm a sunshine girl, what can I say??

The analogy is simple....I need the "Son" of God in my life....I can't go two days in a row without praying or reading from God's Word without feeling tired, sluggish and energy deprived.  Just as my car needs gas and my body needs protein and large amounts of water....I need to constantly be filled with the living water and feed on the word of God in order to be sustained as a Christian. 

Days such as this one point me upward toward the sky....beyond those clouds and rain the sun is always shining....every single day....and the Son of God is always there for us 24/7!  God bless, my friends....have a wonderful time in worship on Sunday.  My prayers go out to all those who are suffering with the flu and colds and various other ailments.  Please get well soon!!!

Reading over my Facebook entries this morning, I discovered a nugget from a friend of mine who is now living in Roanoke, Virginia.  She sent me a UTube video of one of my favorite Pittsburgh Steelers, Troy Polamalu, giving his testimony about his life in Jesus Christ!  I so enjoyed hearing his words and realizing that he is fully aware he has been given an opportunity by our Lord to share his belief in Christ on a national platform.

Whatever platform God has built for us, we need to be about the business of employing our gifts and talents to spread the word about our Savior.  Playing football is the forum in which God has given Troy to serve and he is thankful every day for that privilege.  Let's use our platforms, whatever and wherever they may be, to do the same.  God bless, my friends...have a wonderful Friday!

I can't believe the weather....it's in the 40's when the normal highs are supposed to be in the 60's!!!  It's rainy and cold and on and on.....guess I shouldn't complain.  We've had some beautiful weather up to this point.  These rainy days make me want to grab a blanket and a book and cuddle up!

I did get motivated and went to my body sculpting class.  By the time we finish with the class I feel energized and it makes the trip to the gym well worth it.  After three days of subbing I think tomorrow I will work at the house.  God bless everyone....

October  14, 1969, Robert Eugene Garbee burst onto the scene!  My eldest brother's only child, "Robbie" (as I affectionately continue to refer to him), rocked our world!  It's hard to imagine that Rob is celebrating his 40th birthday.  This sweet soul embodies what Galatians 5 lists as the fruit of the Spirit; "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

Rob has been more like a brother than a nephew to me since he spent every other weekend at our house from the age of 2.  On those weekends we took him to church and as a result I had the awesome privilege of praying with him when, as a young boy, he invited Jesus into his heart.

Upon graduation from high school, Rob joined the military and served in the United State Air Force and currently works with ITT Night Vision as a computer technician.  What a blessing this occupation is for the entire family as we frequently call upon him for technical assistance.

Being a Garbee, Rob LOVES music and plays the guitar in a praise and worship band for his church.  In fact, he unofficially is gathering members for a group he jokingly calls the "mid-life crisis band."  Needless to say, I am sure they "rock".....there isn't a Garbee alive that doesn't play, sing or dance....music is in our bones!

Proud of him?  You bet I am.  I look with great expectations to the future and what God has planned for Rob and his beautiful family.  He has filled our lives and hearts with blessings immeasurable and memories innumerable.  Not only did God give us Robbie, God gave us his wife, Cherie, and our two sweeties, Nichole and Jonah....this is a day the Lord has made....we will be glad and rejoice in it!  Happy Birthday my handsome nephew and thanks be to God for the man you have become!  I love you....Aunt Cookie

Gary and I enjoyed a great day together on Monday.  We usually go out to breakfast and find time to ride bikes on most of these holidays.  Monday was no exception as we enjoyed Eat 'n Park's lovely "smile" breakfast and later in the day we rode our bikes approximately nine miles. 

After checking out furniture stores with Nicholas, we came back to our local dealership to pick up my car that had been in the shop.  On the ride back home I noticed that the car wasn't right....something just wasn't right in the feel of the steering (a gear in the steering was the reason for the appointment).  Frustrated, I made a mental note that I needed to get by the dealership following school today.   Then Gary and I put our cars in the garage and soon afterwards heard a big noise as if something had fallen in the garage.  Unfortunately, it was the garage door spring....broken. 

Usually, it's easy to unlatch the door from the automatic opener and lift the garage door to get the cars out; however, it didn't work this time and we didn't know this until we went out to go to work on Tuesday morning.  So, now we have a broken garage door, a car that needs looked over again and I'm subbing all day.....

Okay, back to the blessings....1) our wonderful neighbor came over this morning after a quick phone call and helped us get the cars out of the garage so we could make it to work on time.  2) the guys that work on my garage door when it breaks, came during the day and fixed the door.  3) I went by the dealership with my car and they immediately took it and fixed the problem.  4) Subbing was a breeze and I got to study my Sunday School lesson for teaching this week!

Talk about blessings....sometimes we need to take a deep breath and just let God work on the little ant hills that we think are mountains!  God bless, everyone!

It's been a great weekend and now Gary has the day off....I just love government holidays!  We are headed out to breakfast, errands and riding bikes or walking the trail....hopefully the rain will hold off!   I got the new devotional posted....the second in a series of four dealing with my breast cancer in 2003.  These are not easy writings....brings back lots of memories.

 

Hope each of you has a wonderful day!  God bless!

This is another wonderful Fall day in the south suburbs of Pittsburgh!  Although a little cooler than normal for this time of year, we bundled up and went for a bike ride on our local trail.  This was following a time of worship at our church and Bible study which I was privileged to lead in our Sunday School.  Now we're watching our favorite NFL football team, the STEELERS play the Detriot Lions. 

Singing this morning in worship was an uplifting time for me.  Since I began writing about my cancer experience on the website, I have heard lyrics that have drawn me closer to the foot of the cross.  Music always touches a part of me that quickly ushers me into the presence of my Lord.  Check out the song by Casting Crowns, "Praise You In This Storm."  It will bless your soul, especially if you're wading through unchartered waters!  Hopefully your Sunday will be a time of feasting on God's Word and giving Him honor and praise through song!

Good morning, my friends.  It's a Fall-like day with temperatures in the 50's.  I started the day with a body sculpting class and then a big breakfast with lots of protein....makes a body feel good!  Now, I'm getting ready to go SHOPPING!  Don't you just love to shop?  I have gathered coupons from lots of stores and now I'm going to investigate the bargains.  Hopefully I will be successful, but it will be fun, none-the-less....

Gary and Nicholas drove to Penn State last night and are currently getting ready for the noon start of the game.  Gary graduated from Penn State and Nicholas got tickets for the two of them to go as a birthday present for Gary.  It's a wonderful thought to know your husband and son are enjoying some quality time together and making some awesome memories.  God has been good to Gary and I.  We have two fantastic children and a wonderful son-in-law.  Spending time with them especially when they have arranged the event is simply the best!

A shout out to my "favorite mother-in-law" as she has begun to read my blogs.  She's a powerhouse lady with energy levels that puts us all to shame.  I love her dearly and welcome her to the world of blogs!!!  God bless, everyone!

I spent my Friday with teens again.  It's homecoming at our high school and the kids are way over the top excited about the weekend festivities.  It helps me reflect back to my high school days and those special Friday night football games and our annual homecomings.  Of course, our homecoming dances were referred to as "sock hops" and they followed a Friday night football game.  After we'd worked on making those flowers out of crepe paper to decorate the float of whatever club we belonged to at the time, 
there'd be a parade down the center of our little town of Rustburg on Friday afternoon following school. 

Wow, what fun we enjoyed on those occasions and during our Friday night football games.  So when I'm in the presence of teens at the high school on Fridays and feel all the excitement shining in their eyes, I'll reflect back on my own years as a teen in high school.  Those were the days, my friends!  Have a wonderful weekend...whatever you do!  God bless!