*sigh* technical difficulties

I don't seem to be able to get blogger to let me copy and paste my text from word anymore. So please go to www.screamofcontinuousness.wordpress.com to see my lastest two devotional posts.

wanting the microphone

I’ve been wishing for a chance to speak publicly about some recent events in my life, and at the same time I’ve been ashamed of that desire. Part of my southern upbringing is to suppress all hankering for publicity. So every time I caught myself wanting to speak up about some recent blessings I would firmly squash the desire by telling myself that it was rude to brag. But what I was failing to comprehend was that the publicity I wanted was not for myself. I don’t want to brag on my own accomplishments.

I earnestly yearn to brag on my God.

The God who brought my family through the struggles of infertility. The God who abundantly blessed us during both my husband’s layoff and my recent job loss. The God who has showered me in loving mercies during a time that most would see as a severe trial. Sure, I do have a public forum. I write a blog, but most of the folks in my church don’t read blogs and I find myself wanting my congregation, my home church to hear about my God and the wonderful things He has done for me.

Even the psalmist had this same longing. Look at Psalm 116:17 – 19

To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call upon the name of the LORD
I shall pay my vows to the LORD
Oh may it be in the presence of all His people
In the courts of the LORD’s house
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem
Praise the LORD!

So, in an effort to break out of my overly-southern, rigidly-polite heritage and offer public praise to my Lord, I now submit a sacrifice of praise in the form of a psalm. I'm not a poet, so forgive me if this is a little rough. It is from the heart and that is all I was trying to accomplish.

When I cast myself down and wept
Lain down on a bed of sorrow
You comforted my heart
Your peace, O LORD flooded my mind

When I wandered in darkness,
angry and filled with bitterness
You sent words of comfort
you gave a song to my throat
and fierce joy to my limbs

My God will fight my battles
You allowed earthly powers to triumph over me for a day
but granted me the grace to look
mine enemy in the face and
bless Your name

My oppressor has acknowledged
You O my God.
The power of Your hand has been visible
even unto him who has struck me down
You caused him to weep
in bitterness and to bless your name

You have allowed my oppressor to see
Your favor for me.
He has witnessed the outpouring of
Your blessings on my house and my lands

O LORD my God
May Your name be praised
May my speech and the labor of my hands
Be nothing more than a window to You

Protect me LORD from everything
except Your Glory.
May I never cease to sing Your Praise.



Try writing your own psalm to God during this Lent season and see what happens.

my new mission

my new mission is simple

smile more.

what? you ask. Well I just had a very humbling experience.

I think of myself as a fairly cheerful person. Fun to be around, etc. And photos of me pretty much bear that out.

See? lots of smiles.

But….that is only what happens when I look at a camera and deliberately smile. Apparently my normal, neutral face doesn’t smile very much at all.

How do I know this?

Well I just got home from a solid hour of video taping. My dear, darling wonderful husband got the joy of hearing, over and over and over again a short (3 minute long) piece that I had written at the request of our pastor regarding my job layoff and some of the things that came out of that.

The piece is full of joy and hope and purpose. Or at least the TEXT is full of joy and hope and purpose. But if you turned off the sound and just watched my face you would think I was announcing the death of thousands or something. Seriously, I looked bleak. And I had THOUGHT my expression was pleasant.

So we did it again. This time I will try to smile, really.

and again.

and again drat it.

I finally got it right after 5 takes.

It gave me a whole new appreciation of just how much attention I need to pay to my physical expression and the impact it can have on my message.

But wait, I’m not a pastor. I’m not a paid speaker. Why do I have to worry about this stuff?

Well the folks at my work and in my family and friends know I am a Christian. They know that I profess to have God in me. So shouldn’t that show? Shouldn’t I look different? If I say I have the Joy of Christ Jesus in me, doesn’t it follow that my face would show it? At the very least it should show when I am actually talking about the joy of Christ.

So that is my new mission – to spread the joy of my Lord by smiling more.