My message two weeks ago was about getting into the Christmas spirit, and I used two Christmas songs to make my point.One song wasa traditional song Let There Be Peace on Earth and the other one was from my favorite country singer Alan Jackson. I received a number of positive comments from folks who were unfamiliar with one or both songs and who liked both songs very much.
The other point I want to make is that I have learned to trust God that he always places the next TGIF message on my heart at the right time. Sometimes, I may get a topic early, like a week or two before it is needed, and I like getting a message early! Sometimes, He doesn’t alert me until the week it is needed, and sometimes not until midweek – those opportunities sometimes create a little heartache for me!
Right after I sent out this Christmas message two weeks ago, I visited a good friend of mine who has been a member of Covenant Church for quite a few years. However, she hasn’t been able to attend church for about a year now due to health issues and having to move into a nursing home. This week’s TGIF message came to me during the visit with my friend.
We had a wonderful one-hour visit in which I learned so much about her life. I learned that she spent her whole life in Alachua County, and that she had many wonderful memories about growing up with loving parents, siblings, and grandparents. I also learned about her long marriage, the birth and raising of her two sons, and how her sons were supportive of her needed care in her new home. She shared lots of pictures with me of her family and life experiences.
Listening to her reminisce about her wonderful life made me think of one of my two favorite Alan Jackson songs. The first song is titled Remember When which he released in 2003.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do when I think about all the blessings God has shared with me on my life’s walk.
Then near the end of our conversation, my friend mentioned to me that although she does not have the freedom anymore to be on her own and has to depend on others to assist her in her daily living, the one thing she still has are all the wonderful memories of her long life. Her comments to me made me think of my other favorite Alan Jackson song titled The Older I Get which he just released in 2021.
Again, I hope this song reaches your heart the same way it did mine in remembering all the life that God has given me and continues to give me.
We are all so blessed in the long successful lives we have had. We need to reflect on our lives and all the blessings He has given us throughout all the years. Not all the memories will be happy and positive memories because life threw us curves. We are blessed with all the experiences we have had that have challenged us and also rewarded us so we won’t be sad, but we’ll be glad for all the life we had. Oftentimes, we can and should learn more from some of our negative experiences than we can learn from positive experiences, because there was joy and there was hurt.
My dear friend helped me think again about my entire life and remember many things I had not thought about in a long time. It helped put God’s hand reaching out to me again listening to all of her stories, and remembering how blessed my life has also been, and how if I found the fountain of youth, I wouldn’t drink a drop and that’s the truth … as I listened to her tell the story of her life to me.
Romans 15:13 – Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, I promise you this will be the end of my reporting of my Alan Jackson love affair for a long time!!!!