YOUR KINGDOM COME...

My church just went through a 21-day fast (January 2016) using the Lord's Prayer as devotionals throughout. The following was written on Matthew 6:10a by one of our members, Mike Sisson. It really blessed me and I would like to share it with you . . .

When we think of Kingdom, what images immediately pop into our heads? Perhaps because I have two princess-crazed daughters, my first thought was the castle at Disney, turrets soaring into the sky and pennants snapping in the breeze. Kingdom has to be more than an imaginary castle and crown though. Reducing the Kingdom to plywood pageantry makes it a facade, devoid of power. When Jesus says that we should pray that the Lord's Kingdom come, there are two different thoughts entwined in those three words. The first thought is of ownership. As God's Kingdom is realized in us, then He is the Owner of us. 
Our plans become subject to His plans, our goals are sublimated to His goals. Our desires submerged in His.

As we pray "Your Kingdom Come," we ask for God to be not just Savior but Lord, ruling the new territory that is our heart and mind. While this may sound like we fade to nothing in the Kingdom of God, nothing could be further than the truth. God's Kingdom provides local autonomy and personal agency to its subjects, guiding the overall path but allowing us great personal freedom, even to the point of abdicating our citizenship and leaving if we so choose.

The second thought within the phrase is that of citizenship, for that is exactly what we are within the Kingdom. In fact, we are not just citizens of God's Kingdom but adopted sons and daughters, heirs to the Kingdom with full rights. As citizens, we willingly hand over Lordship of our personal Kingdom, only to receive it back in freedom, this time with instructions on how best to extend that Kingdom and with plans tailored to our specific abilities, talents, and gifts received from our Sovereign Lord.

By praying "Your Kingdom Come," we hand over a ravaged war-torn ruin and are given back the fullness of God's Kingdom, along with purpose and a loving Lord. Instead of a petty sovereign ruling an ash-heap, we become the trusted steward of a piece of God's grand design. 

RHONDA

by Aunt Dannie (Danna) Shirley

“Listen here, young lady. They’re beginning to stink. You’ve got to let them breathe and air out!” Rhonda turned over and faced the wall in a huff.

Mom came down the stairs annoyed and appealed to Dad, “I can’t get Rhonda to take off her cowboy boots. Her feet are going to shrivel up if we don’t get some air circulating. She insists on sleeping in them.”

Mom walked in the kitchen and banged a few pots around. “Wasn’t there an old movie, ‘They Died With Their Boots On?’ or something? What are we going to do?”

 “Yeah, I know that movie. I can’t get away from that movie!” Errol said exasperated as he put down the paper. “Let me give it a try.”

He climbed the stairs and gently opened the door, breezed in and sat beside his little girl. Rhonda turned over and looked up at him innocently like she didn’t know why he was there. He could see the hard bulge at the foot of her bed.

“Listen, honey,” Dad said softly. “Isn’t it uncomfortable trying to sleep in those boots?”

“Maybe, but I’ve done it before,” she insisted. “It’s not so bad.”

“Have you ever s-m-e-l-l-e-d your boots when you take them off?” Rhonda got a surprised look on her face and Dad knew he had her.

“How about we take them off and give them a good whiff?” 

Rhonda wasn’t so sure about this. Dad was sneaky. Once she got them off, he could grab them and run.

“Honey, I promise I won’t do anything without your permission. Let’s just see what they smell like, okay?”

Dad moved the covers over and helped her sit up. He sat close to her and hugged her shoulder for a long time. Then he lifted one leg and put it on his knee. “We okay doing this now?” he asked.

She nodded and he pulled on her boot. It wouldn’t budge. “Honey, I think you’re going to have to help me.”

Rhonda yanked and kicked and pulled until finally the boot came off. Dad took the boot and held it at arm’s length away from them. “You ready?” She nodded. “Okay, then. Here goes!”

They put their heads together as Dad brought the boot close under their noses. They gagged and coughed and yucked until Dad threw the boot in the corner. He ran across the hall and got the air freshener from the bathroom, came back, and sprayed down the boot and the room until there was a cloud of light mist hanging in the air. Dad looked at Rhonda and commanded, “Smell your foot!”

She screwed up her face and pinched her nose with her fingers. “I don’t want to,” she cried.

“Okay, then. Let’s get that other boot off and go jump in the tub?”

As Dad tucked her back into bed, he asked, “How about we give those boots a rest? I’ll put them out on the front porch to air out and we’ll wear something else for a while.” He saw a lightbulb go off over her head as she ran to the closet and pulled out her baseball cleats. Dad sighed and thought Uh, oh, these could hurt!

 Rhonda woke the next morning and donned her cleats to run to the front porch for her boots. Gone! They were gone! She burst into the kitchen crying so that she could hardly get the words out. “Mom, Dad, my boots are,” eh-eh she sobbed, “g-o-n-e!”

Errol glanced at Hildy innocently and mouthed, “Not me!” Dad reached down and pulled Rhonda into his arms as she cried herself out. He had talked Rhonda into letting go of those boots and now they’d been stolen off the porch. How would she ever forgive him?

“Honey, I’m so sorry. I had no idea they wouldn’t be safe out there.”

“Can we go shopping right now and get me another pair?” she begged.

“You know what?” Dad said. “Why don’t you just wear your cleats since you’re playing baseball right now and we’ll think about it in a few months?”

That seemed to satisfy her and she grabbed her mitt and went outside to play.

******************

Even though Rhonda was new at this thing called sports, she was pretty good at anything she tried. Baseball was no exception. After a season of playing she hadn’t given much thought to her cowboy boots until she was over at GrandPa’s garage one Saturday and noticed them hanging from the rafters over his workbench.

“Pa, Pa,” she accused, “you stole my boots!” She glared at him with her hands on her hips waiting for, no demanding, an answer.

Pa was lovable and could get away with anything if he smiled. He winked, picked her up in his arms, and lifted her high above his head so she could retrieve her boots. She promptly plopped in a chair and pulled and yanked on them, but try as she might, they just wouldn’t come on. She looked up questioningly, “Why don’t they fit anymore?”

Pa stooped down and gave her one of his best hugs. She just couldn’t stay mad at Pa. “Honey, you’ve grown out of them. You’re getting to be a big girl. But I’ll keep them safe for you and you can have them back whenever you want.”

She returned his hug and said, “Lift me up.”

Pa lifted her back up to the rafters and she hung her boots back where they belonged. She was one happy little girl again.

******************

Rhonda is my niece and although she loved her cowboy boots, she did take them off at night and they definitely DID NOT stink! J

She also played baseball until she was 45 and had a couple of knee surgeries years later from her years of sliding into home. Now she wears golf spikes and works at a golf course in Fairfield Glade, TN.

 Right before Pa died at age 89, he returned Rhonda’s boots and she now has them hanging in a place of honor in her garage, along with some of Pa’s tools and one of his restored Model A’s.

HELLO SUNSHINE

by Danna Shirley
The following short story was submitted in the Creative Writing Class at Bartlett Senior Center, Bartlett, TN. The assignment was to use the random words below (or any form thereof) and write something interesting. 

addict     chair     assimilate     truth     unless     sunshine

fragrance     shop     clothing     stimulating

            Brad had been an addict since he was fifteen. Now at age 40 he was in his third rehab. Would he ever be cured of this awful disease? Yes, they called it a disease because of his chemical makeup that was passed down the line through his ancestors, whoever they were. If he could go back in time, he would find out who the culprit was and  . . . and what? What would he do; help them not to become addicted or kick their butt for being so weak? Yes, he was weak, too. He had no room to talk.

            Now he sat in a chair with all the other addicts in front of the counselor who was supposedly helping him find himself. Ha! All they wanted was for him to assimilate back into society and out of their facility . . . another success story, another notch on their chart for future funding.

            Okay, he’d play along, but the truth was he really did want to be free of this debilitating, life-threatening, destroying worm that was eating him from the inside out. There was hope for him, wasn’t there? Unless he was beyond hope. After all, it had been twenty-five years of jails, homelessness, lost jobs, lost family, lost self-esteem, loss, loss, loss.

            Would he ever again feel the sunshine warm his heart, smell the fragrance of a garden instead of a back alley behind a dumpster, shop for nice clothes instead of digging in bags of throw-away rags?

            Was that all it would take to stimulate him to sobriety? Sunshine, sweet smells, and clean clothes on a clean body? He had known that life before with his family. He’s the one that chose this life; not them.

He put all pretenses behind him and all the excuses he’d used in the past by blaming everyone else for his problems. He raised his hand and the counselor nodded, “Yes, Brad. You have something you want to share with the group?”

            “Yes, I surrender all.”

THE WONDER OF WOMAN

By Danna Shirley
We had three concepts to choose from for a story idea:
A Character ~ A Setting ~ A Genre

My character was Wonder Woman; Setting was elementary school; Genre was romance

Olivia had been a daredevil since she could walk. She climbed on steps, then stools and kitchen drawers, and finally tall trees. Her mom got exasperated to find her on the kitchen table or the top of the refrigerator and she would say every time, “Livi, you are unbelievable! Get down from there!”

Mom and Dad decided they needed to channel Olivia’s energy so they signed her up for gymnastics. It was the perfect thing to give her an outlet and teach her how to fall and roll without breaking any bones. She learned the cartwheel, the front tuck, the gainer, the hand stand. She would race and run and jump and twirl. Her feet barely touched the ground. She could almost fly!  

All the teachers and staff were cautious around Olivia, afraid she would cause a lawsuit, but her peers admired her cleverness and were in awe of her antics. On the playground she climbed to the top of the monkey bars in record time. She could dodge any ball and swing the highest of anyone. She was fearless! As she moved through her elementary school, each teacher would warn the next, “Watch out for Olivia. She is a curious spectacle of wonder.” By fifth grade she had earned the name “Wonder Woman.”

Most boys would have been jealous of a g-i-r-l who could do such things but Oscar was fascinated and proud to call Livi his friend. As she moved to middle school, her romps were perfected through her gymnastics skill and by freshman year she was no longer haphazard in her movements but structured and methodical.

“Os,” Livi asked one day as they met at their lockers. “Why don’t you join gymnastics and we can practice together?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he replied. “I’m sure my folks can’t afford it and I’m probably too old now to get started. Besides, I’m busy with baseball.”

“But I can teach you. I’ll get you caught up and maybe we can do things as a team.”

“I thought gymnastics was an individual sport?”

“Well, yes, but I can make us a duo if you’ll be my spotter. Kind of like figure skating without the skates. What do you say?”

Oscar wasn’t sure about this but he definitely wanted to stay close to Olivia. His crush on her had started in kindergarten and grew through all their years together as classmates. Now he was taller and stronger and knew he could lift and carry her through any moves she wanted to make. Maybe it would work. “Okay,” he said. “We’ll give it a try.”

Practices began but they weren’t as smooth as Livi had hoped. Os didn’t have the grace he needed. After all, he was used to running and sliding into base. Lots of falls took place on both sides and it was a real challenge to schedule time together between gymnastics and baseball. As they plugged along through sophomore year, they became very close and a romance ensued. By junior year they were quite confident and comfortable with each other and thoroughly in love.

No one knew of their clandestine meetings until a Talent Show was announced during their senior year. They signed up to perform and worked diligently on a routine. Now they needed costumes so Livi asked mom to design and sew something for them. Everything was hush-hush and no one was the wiser.

The night finally arrived and their talent was announced:

OLIVIA and OSCAR ~ ACROBATICS

The gymnasium floor was perfect as they moved from corner to corner, across and around from side to side. Os lifted and carried Livi with ease. Everyone was awestruck at the grace and agility of these two as they twisted and twirled, and tumbled and curled. the finale brought a roar of cheer and applause.

Oscar held Livi in his arms and kissed her gently in front of the crowd. "Marry me," he said.

She kissed him back. 

THE AFTER LOSS CREDO

Found this on my hard drive today. Someone may need it now...

Author: Barbara Hills LesStrang
http://www.tiffincompassionatefriends.org/Poems%20for%20Web%20Site/poetry1.htm

I need to talk about my loss.
I may often need to tell you what happened -
or to ask you why it happened.
Each time I discuss my loss, I am helping myself
face the reality of the death of my loved one.

I need to know that you care about me.
I need to feel your touch, your hugs.
I need you just to be "with" me.
And I need to be with you.
I need to know you believe in me and in my
ability to get through my grief in my own way.
and in my own time.

Please don't judge me now -
or think that I'm behaving strangely.
Remember I'm grieving.
I may even be in shock.
I may feel afraid. I may feel deep rage.
I may even feel guilty. But above all, I hurt.
I'm experiencing a pain unlike any I've ever felt before.

Don't worry if you think I'm getting better
and then suddenly I seem to slip backward.
Grief makes me behave this way at times.
And please don't tell me you "know how I feel,"
or that it's time for me to get on with my life.
I am probably already saying this to myself.

What I need now is time to grieve and to recover.

Most of all, thank you for being my friend.
Thank you for your patience.
Thank you for caring.
Thank you for helping, for understanding.
Thank you for praying for me.
And remember, in the days or years ahead,
when you may have a loss - when you need me
as I have needed you - I will understand.
And then I will come and be with you.
------------------------------

Online Support

Much support is available through the internet. The following websites offer information and self-help resources for survivors coping with various losses:

·        www.griefnet.org

·        www.webhealing.com

GOD IS LOVE

by Danna Shirley

The following short story was submitted in the Creative Writing Class at Bartlett Senior Center, Bartlett, TN. The assignment was to use the random words below (or any form thereof) and write something interesting. 

sickness     heritage     charity     prayer     love    
faith     hope     different     death

First John 4:8 tells us that “God is Love” and if  we believe nothing else, we can hang our hat securely on that scripture. And if we know “God is Love” then we also have “Hope in God” because where our faith is, there is hope.

It is no different to have faith in God than to have faith in the chair you sit upon. You know that chair will hold your weight and you sit down confidently that you won’t fall on the floor. When you come to God in faith, you can confidently rest in His care, knowing He will work everything out for your good and His glory.

We can confidently pray for the sick and we hope for their healing; but even if it is their time to go home and be with the Lord in death, they are healed for all eternity. It is a win-win situation and God does work things out for good.

I claimed my inheritance as a child of the Most High God when my mother-in-law fell to her knees and started praying for her heathen daughter-in-law. It took twelve years after I entered the Shirley family before I entered the Kingdom of God but I am so thankful she prayed me in.

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (1Cor 13:13) The original Greek word for charity is agape, which means affection, good will, benevolence, and brotherly love. God wants us to abide in His love.

PRO-LIFE ANNIVERSARY 2016

by Danna Shirley

I want to preface this writing by saying if you’ve had an abortion and therefore think you must continue to be pro-choice to justify your decision, rest assured you no longer have to remain there because God is Love and God Forgives. All He requires is that you accept Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior, confess and repent of your sins (not just the abortion but any and all sins…for we all have sinned), and ask for forgiveness. God loves you and when God forgives,

“He has removed [your] sin as far from [you]

as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12)

Satan cannot condemn you any more with guilt or fault, blame or shame, grief or regret. You are now a child of the Most High God and He loves you as His very own.

My personal story: I was the third and last daughter. I was not planned and a total surprise as my mother had already seen the doctor about birth control. It didn’t work! They hadn’t made the first payment on the diaphragm before she got pregnant with me (1948). She told me a few years ago, “If abortion had been legal then, you wouldn’t be here.” Now, at age 96, she swears she never said that. How would I know if she hadn’t told me? If she had aborted me I wouldn’t have met my wonderful husband, had my three beautiful children, or my three precious grandgirls. However, I would still be in heaven, just a lot sooner than I will be now. 
                            

This month is the anniversary of the event that took place on January 22, 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the right to an abortion was part of a woman’s right to privacy. The law has protected the killing of unborn babies ever since.

 In 1973 I was not a Christian and the question of abortion was something that floated out there beyond touching my life. I didn’t have an opinion one way or another. I was already married and had my first child. All the arguments for abortion at that time made sense as presented . . . dangerous pregnancy, the baby would be deformed, or wouldn’t live, or would be a vegetable, etc. Now it's done for convenience. 

I became a Christian in 1980 and God opened my blind eyes. 

The Pro-Life / Pro-Choice question has now been in a battle for 43 years.

Pro-Choice advocates view their opponents as baby worshipers who ignore the rights of the mother and want to interfere with their private lives.

Pro-Life advocates view the opposite position as a very profitable money-making business of convenience, seeing the baby as tissue to be discarded and thrown away, with no thought or concern for the life of the child or the safety of the mother.

So what have we learned after 43 years of struggling with this question? 

1.  If abortion is about women’s rights, what about the rights of the unborn females?

2.  If the mother is removing unwanted tissue, why does she grieve and mourn and regret her decision even years after the abortion?

3.  Science has progressed to the point of successful surgeries being performed on the baby in the womb. [In 1999 Samuel Armas as a 21-week-old unborn baby underwent surgery for Spina Bifida.] http://michaelclancy.com/

4.  According to Dr. Mehmet Oz (2009), “The embryonic stem cell research debate is now dead.” Why? “Because embryo cells can become any cell in the body [therefore] they can become a cancerous cell just as easily. There is new science of induced stem cells made by reverting skin and other adult stem cells into an embryonic-like state without the destruction of human life.” lifenews.com/2009/04/07/bio-2820/

 

5.  We didn’t know in 1973 what we know now. We can no longer deny it is a baby because advanced technology has moved us closer and closer to seeing the baby in the womb. Fascinating!     

6.  Women are still dying from abortions and babies are being thrown away like garbage. The most horrific case is that of Kermit Gosnell. If you still have any doubt about this practice, please read this Washington Post piece:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/04/15/the-gosnell-case-heres-what-you-need-to-know/            

7.  Recent events have revealed video of Planned Parenthood selling baby body parts. There is "spin" of explanation from both sides on this issue but the bottom line is: How far down can humanity go?

"There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers." (Proverbs 6:16-19)

A quote by John Calvin came to my attention recently: “When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.” Even this year, Congress voted to continue to fund Planned Parenthood with our tax dollars. What is wrong with our government that we’ve allowed this for so long? 

Pro-life America has been trying to reverse Roe v. Wade for over four decades. The cost has been unfathomable: 

54 million babies! 

http://www.politifact.com/new-jersey/statements/2012/mar/18/chris-smith/chris-smith-says-more-54-million-abortions-have-be/

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatever a man [nation] sows, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7)

Could it be our nation is reaping what we’ve been sowing for 43 years? There are no more excuses for us as a people not to see what we’re doing to innocent children and the innocent mothers who are believing the lie or are choosing not to accept the truth. We are destroying their future and our own, and God will not be mocked.

Could we be killing the doctor who would find the cure for cancer, or the financial giant that would lift people out of poverty, or engineers, scientists, inventors, pastors, teachers, or just the average husband and wife who would devote their lives to raising godly children…respectful, honest citizens for America?

When did this self-serving, self-centered culture appear? Maybe it was in 1973 when we considered human life as disposable and inconvenient? If you’re reading this right now, aren’t you glad your mother did not exercise “choice” and abort you?”

I AM!

THE WORD GOES FORTH

by Danna Shirley

The following short story was submitted in the Creative Writing Class at Bartlett Senior Center, Bartlett, TN. The assignment was to use the random words below (or any form thereof) and write something interesting. 

Donations   God   Chair   Computer   Protection   

Scatter   Saved   Idiotic   Vacation   Help

Ever since I got saved at age 32 it has been a desire of mine to take a vacation to the Holy Land and walk where Jesus walked. It fascinates me to read the scriptures and wonder what Christians thought a hundred years ago about how God would fulfill His Word that every creature on earth would hear the Gospel and then the end would come. It has now become a reality with the computer age and the continued technology that is developed almost on a daily basis. 

Even with mankind scattered to and fro across the earth the Word cannot be hidden or silenced through the airwaves. It is protected from terrorists who can’t stop it even though they think killing Christians will kill God and His Word. 

It’s idiotic to think God can’t accomplish anything He wants to but He uses His people to do it. He plants the desire to help and we donate to the cause. And there are so many causes! Where one may have a burning in their heart to work in the Pro-Life ministry, another may be called into Evangelism or Preaching/Teaching or even Politics. 

No matter where we hang our hat or whatever chair God would have us sit on, it’s all to His glory.

CANVAS OF LIFE

by Danna Shirley

The following short story was submitted in the Creative Writing Class at Bartlett Senior Center, Bartlett, TN. The assignment was to use the random words below (or any form thereof) and write something interesting. 

help ~ blank ~ cheerful ~ family ~ Whippoorwill ~ fantastic
procrastination ~ cesspool ~ joyful

The new year has arrived and as I ponder the areas in my life (faith, family, and friends), I desire to put the cesspool of stress and anxiety behind me and seek out a cheerful attitude and a joyful result for 2011.  No more procrastination!  My future is a blank canvas and with God’s help I will paint a new work in my life using His fantastic array of colors . . . 

Caring and Compassion is a cool azure and turquoise spraying across the sky

Creativity is a splash of red rose and scarlet in my garden

Dependability and Discipline is a strong tree of taupe and greens

Faith and Forgiveness are sweet spring yellows and gold flowers

A heart of Gratitude and Thanksgiving bursts out with plums and violet

Hope and a bright Future is a brilliant magenta

Justice sprinkled with Mercy are laid down in royal purple

Humor breaks forth with lavender and lilac mirth

Love and Kindness are welcome pinks and pastels

Patience and Silence are subtle oranges and amber

Wisdom is a copper tan Whippoorwill fluttering into view.

Lord, when I come to the end of myself, please let me 
be complete as one of Your beautiful works of art.