Catching Up

1. My daughter and I went to Charlotte this weekend for a girls night with my sister (celebrating my 45th B-Day). We saw had dinner at a Spanish grill and saw the movie Bella. Neither the movie nor the dinner disappointed! Bella is image and metaphor rich - a story that is definitely worth any one's consideration.

2. On Saturday morning I was at my desk checking email when the phone rang. The caller ID gave the name of a church similar to the name of the church my ex-husband attends. I thought it might be him or my son (who was spending the weekend with his dad) so I answered. It was a recorded message from a different church inviting me to attend the grand opening of their new family life center today. The message promised Brunswick Stew after the service - and a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to Myrtle Beach! The message ended with the church's name, "where your dreams become a reality."

Wow! If this isn't the pinnacle of consumerism,I don't know what is. Not only will they feed me lunch, and I could maybe win an all-expense paid trip to Myrtle Beach, but my dreams will become a reality!

What about God's dreams? I wonder why we feel we have to lure people into church with a promise that their dreams will come true? When I read the Bible, I don't see a God who makes people's dreams come true. I see a God moving His plan forward inexorably. I see a God who implants His dreams into the hearts of men and women - dreams that often lead them down roads they would never choose for themselves.

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." If you delight yourself in the Lord, what will your desire be?? The Lord Himself , and He will give Himself to you.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching this church's message hits hard. This is the season when folks either feel gratitude or grief. Gratitude is the secret of happiness. Gratitude in an acknowledgment of what is. God really has blessed me beyond anything I should expect or anticipate, but I miss the reality if all I can see are my unfulfilled dreams for myself.

May God grant us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand the abundance of His grace and the greatness of His dreams for us.