JANUARY BLESSINGS

I have mentioned several times to different friends that I feel like 2009 is going to be a very special year, a year that shows GOD'S GLORY in huge ways. I am not psychic, nor have I had a "vision". And I don't think I am WEIRD. I just have a "sense" about this year. Which leads me into this post about January Blessings.

I started this month committing ( with Beth Moore and over 2000 other Siestas) to memorize 2 scriptures a month. Each person picks her own verses to memorize and these are mine for January.

Jan. 1 LUKE 1:45 (NIV) Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.

Jan. 15 Philippians 4:4-5 (The Message) Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean revel in Him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

January 11th brought the celebration of 100 years in our present sanctuary at First United Methodist Church in Lexington. After the "split" our congregation experienced in the last few months of 2008, I am sure some wondered if this celebration could be "pulled off" . Maybe those who worried about the service had not yet heard that 2009 is a year for God's Glory. The sanctuary was filled with God's presence and the worship service was incredible at that Sunday celebration.

January brought a new Beth Moore Bible study into my life. I am studying Esther with my Siestas for Him forum friends. On Jan. 13 my mother called to tell me that she had just attended her very first Beth Moore Bible study. Her voice was bubbling over with excitement as she surprised me with this news . A big January blessing in my life is the simultaneous study of Esther with my mother.

January also brings our Baby Boomer retreat to Gatlinburg. Ernie and I just returned today from a weekend of fun, food, shopping, sharing, singing, and worshipping with 27 of our dear friends. This trip started 26 years ago and Ernie and I joined in in 1989. We have watched our children grow up and some now are grandparents. We have shared our joys and our sorrows together and we are bonded together for good. The Gatlinburg trip also brought an unexpected blessing in 2009. I was able to meet one of my online Siestas in the flesh for the first time. Debbie lives in Seymour Tenn. and she drove down to Pigeon Forge on Sat. Ernie ate lunch with us and then Debbie and I shopped and talked, explored the countryside and talked some more. It was like meeting an old friend. We already "knew" each other...we had just never met! What a joy to spend time with you Debbie!!

The theme song Dulaney picked for our program this year in Gatlinburg was from the musical WICKED. I am posting the words in hopes that you will read them closely and KNOW that because " I KNEW EACH OF YOU, I HAVE BEEN CHANGED FOR GOOD..... Love, LINDA

FOR GOOD by Stephen Schwartz

I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing

something we must learn and we are led to those who help us most to grow

if we let them and we help them in return

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true but I know I'm who I am today

because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun

Like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you I have been changed for good.....

It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime so let me say

before we part so much of me is made of what I learned from you

You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart and now whatever way our

stories end I know you have re-written mine being my friend......

Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind off the sea, like a seed dropped

by a skybird in a distant wood who can say if I've been changed for the better?

but because I knew you I have been changed for good.....