My Friend and I had a talk.

Every morning before my banana and cold iced water I have a talk with my friend. Sometimes my friend talks to me in a whole chapter, some times just a few verses. Some how it seems to fit my thoughts for that day or perhaps my thoughts seem to fit it. I do not know.

Today my friend and I talked in 1 Corinthians 10 verses 25-33. In this section of scripture Paul tells the Corinthian church not to worry about what they eat. He says "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness there in".

This verse always strikes a cord with me. What this says in no uncertain terms is, I am at liberty to eat or drink what ever I choose. He continues on though to instruct me that I have that liberty as long as I do so with thanks to God. God should be glorified in what ever I do. This carries great responsibility with it.

Paul goes on to say, that if some one comes to me and is pricked because of what I am eating or drinking, that for their sake I should stop. So if I am eating pork and a sister is hurt some how feeling I should not be eating pork I need to stop for her sake.

Is it wrong for me to have pork? God says no. However it is wrong for me to act in a manner that is disrespectful to another. Disregarding how another feels is disrespectful. Later once this sister begins to understand the liberty we have in Christ to do or not do, that may change.

I have always heard these verses. Usually when some one is arguing about drinking alcohol. Yes we have that right. However, what is more important? MY rights or the soul of a sister who is not convinced of our liberty? If by drinking that glass of wine I hurt her, is the price really worth it? Paul says no. If my job on earth is to represent Christ who did no harm to any, what does it say about my conviction to follow Christ if I am willing to disregard the thoughts of another?

Now I do believe that a solid discussion of scripture is called for. Because a religion deciding we can not do that which God says we can, is false religion. They are adding to the law of God. However that is no excuse for doing something unneeded just because I can.

There are many instances of this. Look at the brouhaha over "holidays". No where in the New Covenant are we told to celebrate feasts or special days, other than the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread. Yet every year around October folks get all antsy and riled because of the up coming festivals and holidays. If the earth is the Lord's, then surely so are the days. Personally I do not celebrate any day as holy. Other than Sunday. I do have a feast and gifts and all on Christmas, and I do a feast on Thanksgiving. The rest I do not mess with. Colossians 2 is very explicit in it's instruction. Judge no one for any respect of any day. We have liberty to do or do not, as long as what ever we do, we do with thanksgiving to God.

I am not sure why my friend brought this to my attention this morning, but he did and he asked me to share with you when I talked to him afterward.

Have a blessed day ladies!

hugs y'all

Something I have discovered lately

I know it seems odd. I have however just realized that one thing I keep doing is learning. I enjoy learning, but I keep learning things I thought I knew. I mean I know the skills but new ways of using them keep surprising me. For instance, cooking. I love cooking ( the clean up afterward... not so much but cooking yes) However food became a whole new realm for me when I began reading this blog by my friend Jess. Homemade with Love
Jess adds a whole new dimension to food and cooking for me. Plus her pictures are more drool worthy than any cookbook I have EVER read!

Being self sufficient is another area that I thought I had at least some ideas about. Then I met my friend Cat. Cat is a person like I want to be when I grow up. She is a true Proverbs 31 woman. She cans, gardens, keeps livestock, and innumerable other things. She inspires me to relearn gardening, I mean REALLY learn. I may even study on keeping chickens...You can read her adventures here Ten Things Farm

Crafting is another area of new exploration for me. I mean real crafting not gluing glass beads on a jar or something. I mean from scratch crafting. I have been awed, shamed and inspired in this area by 2 awesome women. Also friends of mine. One is doing wonderful work making art in cross stitch here at Tea Kettle Corner

The other is encouraging me to find time to sew and make wonderful things for my family here at Calico Prairie Another awesome crafts person is Leah. Leah is a world class quilter. You can see her garden of work here at Stitched With Love

A person who influences me to have fun in life, is Klutzy Mama. I adore the humor she pours in to her stories. My favorite of the moment is "Repenge". You can read about that adventure and many others here
Klutzy Mama

I would be mournfully remiss to not inclue a woman who shines such joy on family for me. I love reading her posts and one day I hope to be able to be a "Sunny" to some one else. My cousin Christy (I think we may have been sisters separated at birth...) blogs about rural farm life here at Our Simple Lives.

Last but by no means least is a woman who may just encourage me in the most important learning experience of my life. Ella faces life with such a giving spirit and with so much love I have never seen its equal. No matter what confronts her family, her faith and her love for our Lord shines through. Her trust in Him is unrivaled. She KNOWS He will come through for her. If I never achieve any other thing in my life, it would serve me well to mimic this lovely lady of God. You can get to know her here At His Feet.

I know this may seem like an odd first blog post. However these women, and many others, have inspired me to post my learning journey on these Texas Prairies. These women, and many others have played a huge role in who I now am and who I am becoming.