Thursday Mornings

For the last 14 years, I have spent my Thursday mornings at Community Bible Study. It is a great part of my week, that I look forward to. A big part of our CBS, is our leader, Penny. I have teased her by saying,  it is like we are at church and she is the preacher when we sit in there to hear the lecture she teaches.  She knows her Bible and never misses an opportunity to share with us, or anyone else she comes in contact with outside of church. We love to hear stories of how she talks with once strangers, but usually friends, once they sit beside her on the plane or stand next to her in the grocery meat department She will most certainly get to the point in the conversation where she mentions Jesus. Love her!!So, today, as I walk in and see her greet me in the hall, she is glowing in a pretty lime shirt and a very familiar scarf draped around her shoulders. You see, 6 years ago, I had given her a box of special scarves that had belonged to Mother. Mother loved scarves. I guess that is where I get my love of them, and Penny loves scarves. So, when I was going through Mothers things after she died, I had a big plastic box full of them. I carefully sorted them out and found many that I thought Penny would like. and shared them with her. The  one she had on today was one of the last ones that Mother had bought.... from her beloved Chicos... LOL..... as Penny hugged me good morning,  I acknowledged that I recognized the scarf and told her that it made me happy to see her with it. She said this one was one of her favorites... That was a sweet way to start my day, with memories and smiles....Our speaker for the opening today was James Spann, the weatherman. As he started speaking. I fumbled through my purse looking for something to write with because I just do that, so not to forget things I hear. Of course, I did not have my pad but luckily found an old receipt that had a blank back!!I tried to write as quick as I could as he was talking to us. He was talking about three ways he tries to live his life... Now, let me add that he shared when he was 7 years  his father left home, leaving James and his mother all alone. He never heard his father tell him that he loved him.  He could have grown up to be bitter and angry and his life would have taken a whole different direction. But GOD......He says the first thing to strive for is to follow your PASSION, do what you love.  Find that passion that He has burnt in your heart.  Chronic negativity is just like a cancer.... it can kill you..... if you are called to do something and when you are doing it, you will love it...INTEGRITY-  when you have integrity failures, take mistakes and learn from them...and... don`t do it again... James works with young people every week and he hears a lot... He says that the biggest integrity failure is heroin, addictive pain prescriptions and also pornography.  If  you suffer from these, the greatest sign of strength is to get help ..  Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking.SERVANTS HEART- is the last one he shared with us. He spoke about the story of the Good Samarian. Luke 10 talks about the man on the side of the road had been beaten badly and just lay there for dead. The first two men, a priest and a Levite,  walked close to him, looked down and saw and then walked by. The third man was a Samaritan, and he stopped to take care of the injured man.   To be successful, you have to have a servants heart. If we are God centered, we look after others.  Did you know that how you spend the next 24 hours in your day, determines who you are.?He encouraged us, like many before him have, to keep our eyes open and be aware of opportunities that God places in our lives. To pay it forward and pay for the person behind you in line next time you go to a fast food window.So, with his words fresh on my mind, I glanced in my rear view mirror when I got in line at Zaxbys to get my diet coke and good ice, and it was a guy. A GUY?!! why did I have to have a guy behind me who would probably order a big lunch...   But as soon as that thought came to me, I pushed it away. We had been challenged not to be a Priest or a Levite, and pass by someone, but to be Jesus to them. So, almost embarrassed that I had thought, when it was my turn, the words came out of my mouth, to take care of the guy behind me too.  The girl was not impressed, which was a good thing to see.. It was not for her but for the guy waiting.....but she said that will be $9.54 plus mine... I will never know the words exchanged as she told him that he didn`t owe anything.. but seeds of a servants heart were planted and I hoped that he would receive and pass it along to someone else.It was a good morning....Love,Jane