HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Today Billy and I are moving to Rockwall! We have a new job, a new house and a new town. God is breathing a new song into our hearts and we are thankful. So thankful......not just for the move and the job. We are thankful that He is faithful to bind up the brokenhearted. We are so thankful that a strand of three is not easily broken. We are so thankful to you our brothers and sisters in Christ who are our crown and glory. And we are so thankful that there are no good-byes with Christians. Our location may change but our spiritual bonds are as close and tight as ever before.

Wherever you find yourself this Thanksgiving - home or traveling; with family or without - know you are deeply loved and appreciated.

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us

Give thanks

Fall Daze

I took this picture while we were in Virginia and couldn't help but share it with you. We don't often get such magnificent foliage in Texas and it truly was breathtaking. Aren't you glad that God created seasons for us to enjoy? He could have made a black and white world and we would have never known the difference. He could have chosen to make perpetual summer or winter and we would have been none the wiser. But in His omnipotent creativity He gave us seasons to marvel at His artistry.

We happened to be in our nation's capitol on election day and it was interesting to see how diversified our country is. I saw few people who 'looked like' me and heard very little English spoken. At first I was annoyed. I groused about our country being un-American and then I began to realize that our country really looks like its roots. We are a melting pot. We are a place for people to come for a better life. We were always diversified. We were always a mixture of languages and cultures. I was humbled.

Just as God gave us seasons to enjoy diversity; so He gave us one another. Even as a nuclear family, we are different. Same parents; different temperaments. Same household; different experiences. If we can't emerge from one family identical, we surely can't expect a nation of multiple countries of origin to be very similar. Same goes for our churches. We are family because of Christ Jesus and the blood He spilled for us on Calvary. I guess that makes Heaven the ultimate melting pot.

In the garden on that fearsome night when Jesus prayed for our unity the disciples thought their world was falling apart. It surely looked that way. Many Americans have expressed deep fears and apprehension over the election results. But the cross was God's means to the greatest remedy for mankind since creation began. He was totally in control those dark days. He is no less in control today.

With all its flaws our world is beautiful. Stop and savor its beauty. Take in the creativity and artistry of our Creator and pause to thank Him for all He's done. Especially take joy in the diversity of His people. There is no one like you. As good or as bad as you may think that to be - take joy in the knowledge that He created you uniquely and wonderfully for His good purposes - just as He did every other human being. Whether they - or you - choose to cooperate with Him, His plans are not thwarted. Relax, sit back and enjoy the ride.

The Plans I Have For You

I thought I would catch you up on the Kulwicki's.   Billy started a new job in September using the skills that he gained as the general manager of Lamar Electric.  We believe it was a gift to us.  Looking back on the last seven years we see God's hand from his job loss and our move to Paris to meeting Walter Cooper at FBC, Paris who hired him at the co-op to this new position as a regional vice president for Cooperative Financial Corporation.  Because of this new position we are moving to Rockwall where we will be on the interstate, closer to the airport and within 20 minutes of Brandon, our oldest son and his wife, Kylie.  

We began looking for houses in Rockwall and found an area we loved and eventually found 'the' house.  Since our house had not sold we began to pray about what to do and believed that it was the time to buy all the while knowing it was a risky time to sell.  We believe God opened and shut doors of opportunity and we walked through them fulling trusting that He would take care of us - as He has always done.  

So we are preparing to begin a new adventure in our lives and I am feeling the flutterings of a new hope.  It would be an understatement to say that the last 7 years have been horribly hard.  It is not the fault of Paris or the people of Paris.  I have the greatest friends here and will always come back for them and for the precious one we buried here.  But all the same - I am so ready to start fresh.  To have no memories.  To make new ones.  

Many years ago I sat by the bedside of my middle son, Matthew as his little middle-school heart was broken by some little girl and I quoted to him the words of God that are so meaningful to those of us who are called by His name.  "For I know the plans I have for you," thus saith the Lord.  "Plans to prosper you and give you a future and a hope."  I have wondered for 3 1/2 years if there was any hope for people like us - people who have buried a child - on this earth.  It seemed for far too long our only hope was in the world to come.   But today I am standing on His word - believing.   Thank you for loving me in my pain.  Thank you for helping me to believe when I couldn't believe for myself.   I am looking forward to what God has for MY future.  

Taking Care of Business

Just a few short months after losing my dad, my mom (who has been chronically ill with diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and Addison's disease) fell during physical therapy and shattered her right shoulder and hip.  They were able to do a hip replacement but the shoulder will just have to heal on its own.  I spent 10 days in Temple helping her and my stepdad while she was in the hospital and dealing with finding a good rehab center for her.  Folks, I'm here to tell you - it is more than difficult to be old in our society.  I sat in the rehab center during lunch with my mom and looked around at the elderly people as they ate lunch and thought "my mother doesn't belong here."  Then I looked at her and she looked just like them!  It was sobering and sad.  I am so grateful that we have lots of family in Temple to help them when my siblings and I can't be there.

Notwithstanding the circumstances in my family, there is the political and economic climate swirling all around us with messages of doom and gloom.  As believers we have the hope that is within us - Jesus Christ our hope of glory.  He is still God.  Nothing is impossible for Him and nothing is too hard for Him.  

To fret and worry, to allow circumstances to threaten our peace is lack of belief.  I read a quote this week that said 'the greatest gift humans can give God is to believe Him.'  That would be to believe that the hearts of the kings are in His hands, that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, that within Him we have a sabbath rest.  

When God rested on the seventh day of creation it was not because He was tired - it was because the work of providing mankind's every need was finished in six days.  That is why the Christian is to have a continual rest in his soul - because we believe Him that it is indeed "finished."  Everything we need has been provided.  Everything we most deeply desire is prepared for us.  

While it's hard to not dwell on the negative and plan for the worst - the deepest desire of God's heart is that we would trust Him and believe Him that He can and will take care of us.  I have chosen to rest.  My personal mantra these days is "I believe You."   The byproduct?  I have peace and He has my trust.   

Family Reunion!

Our family just celebrated our 40th reunion! My mother is one of ten siblings and her mom, my MamMaw started our family reunion in 1968. She began them and eventually her children took over and so every 10 years one of us has to step up to develop a theme and put the whole shebang together. It is a BIG deal. We have a theme with a backdrop, a coloring contest for the children, a dessert contest for the adults and a silent auction to raise money for the next year. Oh! and a magnet to mark forever on our refrigerators the year of our Ledger Reunion. I have over forty cousins and believe it or not, I know every single one of them and most of their children. Our family has grown like crazy. We are scattered all over Texas but we really try to get back together for the reunion. It accomplished what my grandmother purposed when she started it - we have stayed connected.

It was so much fun in the early days to watch my cousins fall in love and get married. And oh my gosh! when we started having babies - it was insane. There were playpens, highchairs, walkers and diapers everywhere. Now the grandchildren are starting families and we are down to only 5 of the original 10 siblings. My mom couldn't make this reunion - and it was the first of 40 she's missed. I have to admit - it was sobering and a little disconcerting to look across the room and see my aunts minus my mother. Especially considering that we just lost our Daddy.

You can't have a family this big and not have a lot of drama. We've had our share of divorces, marriages, births, deaths and bad decisions. But one thing about family is - you stick together. That's how the family of God is supposed to operate. Every Sunday should be a family reunion. And despite the drama of life, we need to stand by one another. Sometimes we'll cry and sometimes we'll laugh. There will be times we want to yank someone's hair out and other times when we just need to give someone a hand up.

It's all about love. Love binds us together. Love makes us family. Love never fails. Our health does. Our patience does. Our endurance does. But love doesn't. Don't get me wrong. As much fun as our reunions are - we gripe about them up to the moment we walk through the door. But once we start seeing each other.....well, it's worth all the time, expense and trouble. The body of Christ is like that too. Sometimes we just don't want to do it anymore. My MamMaw knew that - that's why she set aside a special day to celebrate family. My Father knew that too - that's why He gave us Sunday.

With the loss of my sweet Daddy and the very poor health of my mom and stepdad, I left the reunion this year so very grateful that no matter what my future holds, I have a family that knows and understands. I am confident our reunions will continue and as elaborate as they are, they are only a faint reflection of the wonder our Heavenly Father has planned for us when we all 'reunion' on streets of gold at a heavenly banquet table. So until that time comes, let's take care of each other. Let's love more and criticize less. Because after all - we're family.

John 13: 35

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

This weekend was my ten year anniversary retreat. It was the first time I have ever done a retreat where I was in charge of the whole thing and it was a little nerve wracking. There is the whole money thing. The registrants. The room assignments. The food. The decor. The scheduling. ETC. Then you worry - yes, speakers worry - will anyone come? Can I juggle it all?

God be praised it was the sweetest retreat. I stopped counting at 12 churches represented and we only had 40 women there! Yet there was the sweetest spirit of love and unity. Women helping one another. Visiting with one another. Finding points of common interest in their lives. Praying together. Breaking bread together. Studying together. It was a foretaste of heaven.

Our goal for the weekend was to return to our first love. To come back to the understanding of all that salvation meant for us - all that Jesus had done for us for love. He was a smashing success. I have heard from woman after woman that she was washed and renewed. And I give Him all the glory for that miracle.

If you weren't there I want you to know I thought of you. So many churches throughout the years have allowed me the immense privilege of opening God's word to them and especially in those early days, I'm sure I had much less to say than I thought I did. But you are in my heart and I count myself unworthy to have been in your churches, retreat centers and "in your face."
I love you girls. You have filled me with such joy and love as I ministered to you in His name. I do not esteem that lightly.

I don't know what God has for the future of FPM and I frankly don't think about it much. He's done a great job so far despite me. I think I will trust Him to write the rest of my script.

I love you all. God bless your week.

What To Say?

What do you blog about after last week? I spent Friday night in a hotel in Tyler amidst shell-shocked evacuees who had no idea what to expect from their homes on the coast or even when they could go home. I see pictures on the television of the devastation and hear the predictions of months without electricity, running water - much less safe water and the dire predictions of gasoline shortages and price-gouging. Life is so hard.

And yet this morning the sun is shining, a cool breeze is blowing and it seems to whisper, "It's going to be OK. I am still on the throne."

How do you respond to the challenges of life? What do you say when the world seems to be falling apart? There is one plus to aging and that is experience. The longer we live the more we experience the faithfulness of God. There is a wonderful old hymn that says it best:

Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

It is ours to trust Him. Just as the fury of Ike swept through our state on Saturday - Sunday brought the sunshine. Just as the destruction of wind and water reduced buildings to rubble, they will be rebuilt. Just as our hearts sink in fear, they will again sing praises. Why? Because we are created in His image and He is a God of redemption. He makes all things new - including hearts and spirits. As long the human spirit is renewed - so will manmade things be rebuilt.

But we must be obedient. We have to live lives that are pleasing to Him walking in His ways and by His precepts. Therein lies blessing. It's not always easy. Sometimes we want to stay in our own safe corner of the world and pretend it doesn't affect us. But God's word says that when one hurts we all hurt. When we feed or bring water to the least, we do it unto Him.

What to say? Trust God. Obey Him. Do good. Love others. Help where you can. Reach out to those who are struggling. Show them Jesus. You may not know what to say but you know God loves them. You may not have much to give but you have yourself.

Maybe Hurricane Ike will turn out to be a blessing in disguise as we rise above our own complacency to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a hurting world and the world will know that we are Christians by our love.