Teresa's Treasures

I am reading this morning from a book called Mother Teresa No Greater Love . In it she expounds upon truths in a way I've never looked at before. In the chapter entitled On Jesus she says, "Chastity does not simply mean that I am not married. It means that I love Christ with an undivided love. It is something deeper, something living, something real. It is to love Him with undivided, loving chastity through the freedom of poverty." I have had to read that paragraph so many times, and that's one of the easiest I must say, because the concept is just so foreign to me. I must confess I had thought about the poverty of poverty but never the freedom of poverty. What I'm getting ready to say, has put a whole new slant on the words "the love of money is the root of all evil." To grasp what she means by the freedom of poverty, I've had to think about it by, I guess, a process of downward thinking. I've had to take those words "freedom of poverty...

I know it's just been a few days since posting my last blog, but I have to share with you something very special that's happened to me over the last two days. Last Wednesday night I gave my class the assignment to go out of their way to "serve" someone this week. I didn't care if it was a stranger, they just had to go out of their way this week to help someone. I even said to them, when it happens, you won't have to be looking for it. You'll just know it when you see it, it'll be so obvious to you. Plus...............................for several days I have been asking God to give me more ways to serve Him outside the walls of our church building. And He has answered! Yesterday, when I returned home from doing my daily shopping, there was a message on my answering machine, from a girl I had not heard from in months or even years. I do remember when I last saw her was right before I filmed the video series in 2005. I had seen her in a shop she owns dow...

Okay, so those of you who've known me for some time, and that's most of you, are not going to believe that on February 7, 2008 I joined Bowling Green Parks & Recreation. Ruth had been wanting to exercise with me for some time and so I finally agreed. Because there is no sign up fee, we decided to join Parks & Rec. to see how long we'd last. So far I've been six times. Not bad for 15 days. You know, if you've read my first blog, I keep a gratitude journal everyday, which I've done for the last three years. It has become something I do every day, and is something that shows me what I'm thankful for as well as keeps track of what I'm doing. I want to use some of my journal entries that relate to joining Parks & Rec. that I think are reflected in the Christian life as well. February 7 Went with Ruth to Parks & Rec. Joined P & R Mike, the trainer -- thank-you God!!! Somewhere I have read that most members of a given church, go there the fi...

I hope you don't think that I think discerning God's will is easy. I don't, which is probably the reason I've written so much about making the right decisions. In no way, do I want to imply that I know how God thinks. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8, 9 My intentions in writing about God's will is more to let you know how I've struggled with making decisions, rather than imply I have the answers. I don't. Until I see Him face to face, I will always struggle with understanding God's will in making decisions, because only then will I have perfect knowledge. To continue answering the questions, How do you know when something is God's will?" "How do you know you're making the right decision?" "What if you make the wrong one?...

Having two close friends who've had to make life-changing decisions lately, I'd like to answer the questions, "H ow do you know when something is God's will?" "How do you know you're making the right decision?" " What if you make the wrong one?" "Then what?" First of all, in order to answer these questions, I believe our answers to the next questions will be indicators of our knowledge and relationship with God... whose will we want to know. 1) Am I in the Word of God? Being in the Word of God is so important because... [His] word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105 In the Greek, light and lamp are two different words here. The word for light means "illumination or luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etc.) bright, clear, + day, light (-ning) morning, sun. In other words it's THE LARGE LIGHT. The word for lamp means a candle, lamp, light or gleam...the gleam of a f...

I really didn't know anything about the lady that crossed my path Monday morning. When I asked if I could take her home, she told me that she lived on Park Row, which was very close by and Jennifer, the postal clerk, told me she walked to the Post Office often. Jennifer also told me that she was a nice little old lady, and hesitantly, but kindly, said, "I don't know what it is, but something's wrong with her, something's missing...she's just not quite right." And I nodded and silently agreed. It was obvious that she had had a very difficult life. Just by looking at her, I think anyone would agree. She walked really slow. I mean really, really slow; as slow as my granddaughter Bella walks at 8 1/2 months, when she holds my hands and I use my legs to help move hers. She wore a crocheted tam, had straight, gray, unkempt hair, and only one noticeable tooth in the top of her mouth. In her small metal shopping cart, like the ones I saw in London, England, was a ...

I saw her walking across the street as I entered the parking lot and debated whether to let her cross in front of me. I was in a hurry to mail a package that should have gone out on Friday, but it was Monday morning and I was still determined to get the package there by Wednesday. I stopped and allowed her to pass in front of my car, even though I knew it would seem endless. Sure enough, she tottered along with her portable shopping cart, which looked like she used it frequently, if not every day. I parked my car and watched as she entered the post office. There were maybe 15 people in line and she was approximately 5 people in front of me, so with several minutes to wait, I looked out the window to see that the rain had stopped, but by the time she got to the front of the line, it had started again. I said to the people behind me, "I wonder if she knows that it's raining again and how far she has to walk home." At the same time that I was speaking to the people behind ...

Yesterday was the Super Bowl, at our house, as well as Home Bible Study. We usually meet at 5:30 for singing, prayer, and a short lesson and dismiss around 7:00, but last night we met at 4:30, and had an abbreviated session, so we could eat appetizers ( you know, like little smokies, meatballs, and touchdown taco dip) and desserts (like buckeyes, oreo cookie balls and cupcakes and then more cupcakes) and gather in the den to watch the New England Patriots and the New York Giants battle it out. AND IT WAS A GREAT GAME!!! PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST GAMES IN THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL!!! We watched and yelled and then we really yelled when Eli threw the, now infamous, pass that ultimately won the game and made the Giants victors over the Patriots. Oh what a memory that game will be! However, even in watching a game that made history and will be remembered for decades to come, these are not the Giants I will remember. The giants I will always remember were the ones sitting on my couch, in my h...

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I could create a blog all by myself...but I did. There's been so much talk, lately, about blogging, that I felt I had to join the club and keep in touch with you, myself. It's a privilege to read what so many of you are writing. I hope you enjoy Teresa's Treasures as much as I've enjoyed reading yours. Treasures is what life is all about. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matt. 6:21 Let me tell you where my heart is right now. I treasure my granddaughter, Bella, for being my first grandchild. I treasure my son and daughter-in-law for being such great parents. I treasure my husband for staying with me for almost 33 years when the ratio of what he gave and what I gave was definitely not 50/50. I treasure my friends "who have stuck closer to me than a brother" and there are many. Every night, before I go to bed, I right down five things that I am thankful for that day. It has...