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What matters more "Presence" or "Perfection"?

9/5/2018

My Sister-in-love came to visit. She is a bookworm. We can always strike up a conversation about a good book. The other things we have in common keep us close. We both love young people, women's ministry, God and family, and my brother! So, she told me about this book called Present over Perfect by Shauna Niequist. I ordered it and couldn't be more pleased. I have decided to be more present and less perfect. For those of you that know me this can be hard if not impossible for me. I am a firstborn. I am Choleric. I am OCD. I am flawed so I try hard to be perfect. That being said, Shauna and I have a lot in common. So she tugs at my inner being. I let her in. She is helping me, well....be more me!

I must say I am throughly enjoying the read. It was slow getting started, but by chapter three she had me. I could see me putting my face under the red slurpy machine. We all get busy, but at times business overtakes me and leaves me feeling empty, and alone. Perhaps, this is why I am so passionate about helping others--maybe, I am still trying to help myself. God knows us inside, and out, and still He loves us, and loves others through us.

Here is a little bit more about Shauna:
Shauna Niequist is the New York Times best-selling author of Cold Tangerines, Bittersweet, Bread & Wine, Savor, and Present Over Perfect. She is married to Aaron, and they live in Chicago with their sons, Henry & Mac. Shauna is a bookworm, a beachbum, and a passionate gatherer of people, especially around the table.

If you are looking for a great book to end the Summer Frenzy with before starting a more settled Fall--give this book a try.

Action Step: If you decide to read the book and do a Facebook Page on this book, invite me. I would love to hear what others are saying about the book too.

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Happy Labor Day

9/4/2018

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Many of us celebrated Labor Day yesterday. We celebrated in various ways. Some of your had a picnic, others of you visited family, still others I am sure worked. Many in America have lost sight of what Labor Day was meant to be. So today, I thought I would share a little history with you.

A Labor Day parade on Main Street in Buffalo in 1900. President Grover Cleveland made Labor Day a national holiday in June 1894, as he faced a crisis of railway workers striking in Chicago.

In the late 1800s, many Americans toiled 12 hours a day, seven days a week, often in physically demanding, low-paying jobs. Children worked too, on farms and in factories and mines. Conditions were often harsh and unsafe.

It was in this context that American workers held the first Labor Day parade, marching from New York’s City Hall to a giant picnic at an uptown park on Sept. 5, 1882.

“Working Men on Parade,” read The New York Times’s headline. The article, which appeared on the last page, reported that 10,000 people marched “in an orderly and pleasant manner,” far fewer than the organizers had predicted would attend. The workers included cigarmakers, dressmakers, printers, shoemakers, bricklayers and other tradespeople.

Because it wasn’t yet an official holiday, many of the attendees risked their jobs by participating in the one-day strike. On their signs, they called for “Less Work and More Pay,” an eight-hour workday and a prohibition on the use of convict labor. They were met with cheers.

The American labor movement was among the strongest in the world at the time, and in the years that followed, municipalities and states adopted legislation to recognize Labor Day. New York did so in 1887, and The Times reported that that year’s parade was larger than ever, even amid political tension over the role of socialist groups. Parks, shops and bars in the city were full.
“The barrooms were never more resplendent,” The Times wrote. “Liquidly, the first legal celebration of Labor Day may go down to history as an unqualified success.”

But it took several more years for the federal government to make it a national holiday — when it served a greater political purpose. In the summer of 1894, the Pullman strike severely disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest, and the federal government used an injunction and federal troops to break the strike.

It had started when the Pullman Palace Car Company lowered wages without lowering rents in the company town, also called Pullman. (It’s now part of Chicago.)
When angry workers complained, the owner, George Pullman, had them fired. They decided to strike, and other workers for the American Railway Union, led by the firebrand activist Eugene V. Debs, joined the action. They refused to handle Pullman cars, bringing freight and passenger traffic to a halt around Chicago. Tens of thousands of workers walked off the job, wildcat strikes broke out, and angry crowds were met with live fire from the authorities.

During the crisis, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law on June 28, 1894, declaring Labor Day a national holiday. Some historians say he was afraid of losing the support of working-class voters.

For more on this go to the article below from which the above was taken from:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/01/us/what-is-labor-day.html

I believe in giving credit to whom credit is do. Today lets give credit to Karen Zraick for all of this information.

Action Step: Regardless of what you did yesterday, take time today, to thank God for your job and for this great country. Let's not forget the why's and how's of what we have here in America. We must preserve what others have fought for, or...we just might lose what we have. Be grateful!

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God uses "Cracked Pots" and "Broken Vessels"

9/2/2018

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If God always used impressive vessels, we may find ourselves magnifying the container rather than Christ who is to fill it.

God has not required us to be sinless to be used. If He did, He would be without any vessels but Christ. Even the noblest saints were far from perfect. God uses us, earthen vessels—clay pots—to carry that which is beyond value.

The Broken Pot A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on an end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the masters house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his masters house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.
"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your masters house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts." the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the masters house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the Pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pots side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my masters table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."
Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table. In Gods great economy, nothing goes to waste. Don't be afraid of your flaws.
Acknowledge them, and you too can be the cause of beauty. Know that in our weakness your strength is made perfect.
(2 Corinthians 12:9)

Action Step: Allow God to use you in whatever state you are in. Believe that you do not have to be perfect in order for God to use you. Believe the best of others. We are all flawed from the fall but praise God He has come to restore us! Leave a beautiful path for others to follow.

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