Friday, April 17, 2009

Abiding in Grace

Sometimes, the opening and closing of the back door with the grandchildren going in and out, in and out, in and out, can make me get TJs (as my children would know......tight jaws). I don't get TJs like I used to when there were four children of my own, plus all their friends, making incessant demands on my time. So, it is kind of surprising to me that in the past three minutes of sitting here at my desk, the patio door opening and closing at least 10 times, has me wanting to write about this. To make matters worse, the door sticks and so it is an exaggerated opening and "slamming" that is creating the TJs.

I always thought that by the time I would be in my 6th decade of life things like that wouldn't bug me!! But it goes to show me that the old sin nature..........of wanting things done my way.........never dies and never improves with time. I still need the grace of the Holy Spirit to empower me to let things slide that don't really matter. The four girls playing in the back yard are way more important than not being bothered by slamming doors!!

So......while thinking about all of this, I find myself searching my heart...........or rather the LORD shining His light into my heart to show me what other"issues" are in my life that show me I need His grace to make it. It is all of life!!.

Yesterday we finished our Bible study on grace. And when I was asked last night if I could define what grace is, I heard a voice that sounded just like mine uttering something I could grasp and not forget. Grace is the power of God by His Spirit that saved me, that will one day take me to glory to be with Him and that now sanctifies me, empowering me to do things He has prepared beforehand for me to do. That is the one major thing I saw in Scripture........ that those three words can be used interchangeably for grace.

And then this morning I was reading in I Sam 16 when Samuel anointed David to be king in front of his brothers and father, long before he was ever crowned as the king of Israel. And there were those three words...........well two of the them were written and one was obviously there in between the lines. 16:13 "So David stood there among his brothers. Samuel took the olive oil he had brought and poured it upon David's head; and the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him and gave him great power from that day onward." And clearly, it was by grace that he was chosen by God.

So, back to the TJs. Just as David failed, even with the power of Jehovah' s Spirit upon him, so do I sometimes, even with His grace, his power, His Spirit at work in me both to will and to do His good pleasure. And much like David, who did not repeat his sin but forsook it, I desire to live with a clean heart that will choose to walk uprightly and have right reponses to children who are slamming doors. "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

Saturday, April 11, 2009

He Is Risen Indeed!!

Well, I am back home after our wonderful 10 day trip to Rota, Spain and surrounding areas, only to find myself going through my 68 emails, some of which I read while there, but others had to wait until now.

On Thursday night in Rota, (the night before Good Friday) we tried to get some sleep before our 5:00 a.m. wake-up-time to begin what turned out to be a 24-hour awake time before getting in our own bed at home. It was sometime during one of the three plane rides that I thought about the Thursday night before Good Friday over 2,000 years ago that Jesus had to endure..........sleepless, beatings, scourging, mockery, being "on trial" illegally ..........before being nailed to the cross!!! And then during that 6 hours on the cross, He took the punishment of my sin and became sin for me that He would bear the separation from the Father so that I would not have to be eternally separated from Him. Praise be to Him for His indescribable gift of grace that was secured when He arose from the grave!! Hallelujah! What a Savior!! And it is in Him I believe and move and have my being!!

And if you want to read, see, hear what is going on around the world this Easter that is so exciting, this is a site you will want to visit, with a very interesting video. And here is an article about how more ex-Muslims will be celebrating Easter this year.

We are living in exciting days. And my prayer is that you aren't missing any of it by being ignorant of what God is doing!!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

One Final Day in Espana

April 9

This is how the beautiful day began.........sitting on our balcony....watching Monty gaze into "his" ocean one last morning.

After that he rode the bike and I walked the four miles along the beach and then back through the town of Rota, stopping to peak into the local cathedral as they were making final preparations for the Holy Day tomorrow. One interesting observation I have noted, while being here, is that everywhere we have gone this week you see only images of Jesus as a baby, on the cross, or as a dead body in the arms of Mary and the other women. There is not much about His life, or His resurrection!!

I am so thankful I worship the risen LORD Who is Victor over death and lives victoriously in me!!!

Then for the afternoon, Monty, Stacey and I left Lanny and the children here at the Villa, picked up their friend Elena Parker and headed for Jerez for a wonderful tour of the Gonzales Bodega Tio Pepe, which is where Sherry and Brandy and other wines are made. We learned more than I will ever remember, but one main thing is that authentic Sherry, to be called "Sherry", must come from one of the three-cities-triangle here in Espana. These barrels are stacked four high and go for rows and rows and rows, in bodgea (cellar) after bodega. And the fragrance was wonderful!!

As a part of the tour, we chose to enjoy an equestrian luncheon which entertained us with a Flamenco dancer whose "partner" was a horse, a very impressive horse and his caballero. It was quite a show! They served us a light Spanish traditional tapas of cheese, jamon (cured ham) little breads and, of course, samples of two different types of Tio Pepe Sherry. You can also see behind us barrels with flags representing all of the 115 countries who receive their exported Sherry, one of which is the USA!!


One of the bodegas had barrels signed by famous people who had visited there throughout the decades. I put a photo here of one signed by Picasso (who was Italian by birth, but a Spaniard in life). Others were signed by Winston Churchill, Prince Philip and Lana Turner....to name a few.

This was a perfect ending to a perfectly wonderful vacation to Rota, Spain, thanks to Lanny, Stacey, Caleb, Katie Jo, Seth, Bethany, and Joshie Groves!!! Hasta luego!!!

More of Espana!!

April 8

This was a day for local sights and experiences. First it was a trip to the gypsy market here in Rota that happens every Wednesday morning. The 9 of us walked down to the market, where Lanny and Stacey were surprised by the crowds. Since it is Spring Break here, there were way more people than usual (so they said). SO it was a little tricky keeping track of the 5 kiddos....and your purse!!! Bethie was typically enthralled with the snails!!!




Later we went to a local restaurant which is a favorite of the American military. We loved it!! The atmoshpere and food were the best so far!! It is called Las Tinajas (pronounced 'ten-a-haus"). The skewers were fantastic chicken and pork tenderloin ka-bobs!! Such great presentation!!! So much yummy food!! It required an afternoon siesta for Monty and Lanny and a bike ride down to the beach along the pasaeo for me. (No photos of that....I was too busy pedaling the four miles or so!!)

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

One more for the day


I just had to add these photos. This is how I start my day, sitting on our balcony, reading my Bible while taking in this beautiful view. This is a little natural harbor here in Rota, Spain.
Cadiz, where we visited today, is out there in the distance off to the left. (top right)

Cadiz

April 7
Well, today was another venture out for the four of us, trying not to act like the American tourist that we are!! But after dropping off the 5 kiddos with another friend, it didn't take long for us to show our true colors. We sat at the place to catch the ferry to ride over to the peninsula of Cadiz (pronounced Ca dith) for a bit too long before we found out it was not going.............it was broken!! No wonder there was no ferry there, and it was supposed to leave in five minutes!! Only American toursits would sit there that long before finding out .......No Ferry Today!! So, we drove the 45-60 minutes.......well by "we" I mean Lanny!! Of course, parking was the concern, but my favorite verse proved true once again..."The LORD preserveth the simple."
Our first stop was one of the plazas, but this one was at the Cathedral de Cadiz, which was being set up for something big for Passion week. Here are a couple of the photos there with Monty and Stacey and Lanny. It was a bit chillier than what we had been experiencing and so we worked really hard to stay in the sun and out of the wind.





Cadiz, Spain is fascinating; it´s the oldest city in Europe. Almost entirely surrounded by water, the city appears isolated. It stands on a peninsula jutting out into the bay, dramatically defining the surrounding landscape. It is approximately 3,000 years old, settled initially by the Phoenicians in 1100 BC. The Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans have all settlled here at one point over the years. One of the places we visited today was the Museo de Cadiz which displayed the oldest sacarphogi from the Phonecians, many Roman statues, and other ancient finds.





The old central quarter is probably the most beautiful part of the city. It´s famous for its picturesque charm. Here you´ll find some spectacular buildings, and all just a few meters from the coast. The narrow and cobbled streets open out onto pretty little squares. People sit outside in cafes all day long enjoying the heat, and gazing up at the Moorish architechture.


Without a doubt one of the unique experiences was in the market place in the older part of the city. It is exactly like you would imagine the outdoor market to be.............open tables of fresh fruit, produce, and lots of fresh fish............all kinds, eyeballs and all!! Too bad there is no smell on here. But just a few photos to give you an idea. That is an eel, skinned!!


However, don't feel sorry for us!! We found the perfect way to end a perfect day!!!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Seville

April 4
Today Lanny, Stacey, Monty and I drove an hour and a half to Seville while a friend of theirs from the Bible study came with her two children and stayed with the 5 Groves kiddos. It was such a sweet sacrifice for Krista to do that. (If you ever read my blog....Thanks so much!!!)

Seville is the fourth largest city in Spain. The population is around 710,000. The good thing about going there on a Saturday is that they all leave for the week-end to go to place like Rota, where we left. So, it actually turned out to be an easy day for getting around the city. We had an easy time parking, even....which made Lanny very happy indeed!! He was pleased with the stress-free drive in the city!!

We first visited the beautiful Plaza de Espana that was built only in 1927 for the Expo '29. The tile work was beautiful. Stacey and I bought some black and white etchings from the artist himself there in the Plaza. We also bought some scarves from the vendors there for the bargain price of 5 Euros (anyway, she told me it was a bargain!!!).

From there we walked to the Cathedral of Seville, where the remains of Christopher Colombus are in a fancy sarcophagus held by four statues. It was pretty impressive!! Of course, it dates back to the early 16th century. I laugh when I visit "historical" places in the USA on the East Coast where things are 200 years old!! Big deal!! We saw things that dated back to the 1100's!! In fact, they have trees in the parks that are older than America!!

The Cathedral is now reckoned to be the world's largest church. There are steps from inside the Cathedral to the top of the 90m high Giralda which is the minaret of the former Mosque. The climb to the top provides some great views but they warn some to stay at the bottom and buy the postcard if you've got a weak heart! But we climbed it........and Monty made it all the way up and down!! Praise the LORD! It was quite a climb.....for all of us!! But what a great view of the city. (You might remember that his cardiologist told us that he could make this trip at his own risk!! He wasn't telling us not to come, but couldn't give him a clean bill of health either!!) So, for those of you praying for him.........THANKS!!

There is nowhere else in Spain that complies so closely with the foreigner's perception of stereotypical Spain as Seville. For it is here that flamenco, bullfighting and fiesta are a way of life, none of which we personally experienced. Much of it begins the two weeks after Easter. We saw them setting up chairs all around the cathedral for upcoming parade for Holy Week. So, we are thinking we came at the perfect time..........before all the masses arrived!!

view of the largest bullring in Spain from the Tower of Giralda

Friday, April 3, 2009

Our Trip to Rota, Spain

April 1, 2009
As I sit here in O’Hare airport in Chicago waiting for our departure flight to Madrid, Spain, I cannot help but think about how small our world really is. Flying here just a short while ago from OKC and looking down over the city of Chicago, I was just thinking about all of the people in all of those houses, in all of those skyscraper offices and hotels along Lake Michigan, all of the cars, trucks, vans, buses going to and fro across the city………….and how HUGE God is!! I began to multiply the facts of the lives of the people in this one city by the six billion people around the world. And He knows the number of hairs on every head!!! For God SO loved the world that He gave…………….!!

Monty and I watched a fantastic video recently called The Privileged Planet that was done by scientists who had discovered, through a solar eclipse in India, that we are the only planet that could possibly have life. I am not a scientist (not by any stretch of the imagination) but I was able to track with them how this is so. And it was fascinating. Check it out. But, that piece of information, along with another movie clip I mentioned several posts back, that was referenced in Francis Chan's book Crazy Love on how small we are compared to the other galaxies of the heavens, have all been stirring in my mind about how significant the resurrection really is.

Paul stated it well in I Cor 15 when he said that if there were no resurrection of Jesus, then we are, or all people, most miserable (my loose paraphrase)and to be most pitied. But, instead, because I believe completely in the reality of the resurrection, I am to be envied, not pitied, because I have the amazing assurance of what will happen to me when I die. Such great peace floods my heart because it is all by His grace that I am His and He is mine. It puts all of this smallness of the world into perspective. I am significant to God because His Son died for me and His Spirit dwells within this temporary body that will one day be resurrected because 2,000 years ago the stone was rolled away and the tomb was found by many witnesses to be empty. He is risen!! The LORD is risen indeed!

11 hours later…2:00.a.m. Oklahoma time and 9:00 a.m. here, in the Madrid Airport waiting for our next flight to Jerez, which I have learned to pronounce correctly after several corrections when I asked about check-in and gate information. I will try to spell the pronunciation phonetically…………gggghhhhareth……that is a guttural gggghhhh, by the way!

Anyway, what a beautiful airport ~state of the art!!! Very classy looking people, shops, and clothing!! Not exactly like Will Rogers WORLD Airport in OKC!! We have about three hours to kill, so wwe can do a lot of people watching!!

On our flight from O’Hare to here we were accompanied by six blind people with their seeing eye dogs, which were the most amazing animals!! Very impressive.....I am thinking that is the best kind of dog to have!!! It was a Spaniard airline, Iberia, and the majority of announcements, given in both Spanish and English, were not understandable to either of us. It made me think of how God forced the people to populate the earth as He had said for them to do after the flood. Remember how they disobeyed that command and huddled together to build their own tower to heaven (Gen 10&11)!! So God confounded their languages. And now the world is populated, with lots of different languages. And the interesting thing about that is that we (believers) are now trying to conquer those languages in order to get the gospel to the uttermost parts of the world .... to every tongue, tribe and nation!!!

April 3
Rota, Spain at Victory Villa
We finally arrived here yesterday afternoon at 2:15, which would have been 7:15 A.M. in OKC.........about 21 hours after getting to Will Rogers World Airport!! It was a sleepless night of travel, but well worth it to be here with Lanny and Stacey Groves, and their five children: Caleb, Katie Jo, Seth, Bethany, and Joshua, ages 8,7,5,4,15 months at their beautiful beach front home that overlooks the natural harbor, just around a small peninsula in the Atlantic Ocean. I have mentioned Stacey before and her blog. You can read more about their ministry here (http://www.victoryvilla-spain.blogspot.com/) with Cadence Int, which offers this Hospitality House to US military overseas, which happens to be to those stationed at Rota Naval Station, right next door. We are looking foreard to meeting some of them when they come tonight for dinner and Bible study time when Monty will get to share with them how helpful the Hospitality House was to him when he was flying rescue helicopters in Thailand during the Viet Nam War in 1968-69!

This is so beautiful we may never go home!!