This past weekend Eric and I attended a chapel service at Williams Memorial Chapel on the campus of College of the Ozarks.  We were there to hear our niece, Rebecca Andrhea Stephenson, play with the College of the Ozarks Concert Band to honor the veterans.  It had been between 25 to 30 years since we had attended a service there.  At the time we went Eric was a student and required to attend a certain number of chapel services per semester.  I would occasionally attend with him.

Coming from a Pentecostal background the services, which are very structured, seemed very boring to me.  I remember thinking that it was a waste of time since I was superior to them because we didn’t plan out our services so obviously God was more pleased with our way of serving him. We left it open so the Spirit could move.  There’s nothing wrong with that it’s just I thought  if the service was planned out that God wouldn’t be pleased and wouldn’t ever be present!  Oh the foolishness of youth!

This past Sunday my thoughts were much less judgmental.  The music the band played honored both veterans and God.  The song the choir sang honored God.  The sermon topic was on marriage and how to honor God’s definition of marriage and therefore honored God.  The scriptures read were from the same Bible I have used my whole life to honor God. There was a quiet, reverent moment when the congregation was singing:

I love you, Lord and I lift my voice

to worship you, Oh my soul rejoice,

Take joy my King, in what you hear

Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear

that I could feel God’s approval.  I don’t know what the denomination of Williams Memorial Chapel is, but I know that at that moment in my heart I felt that if we set aside our “superior” ideas, we can honor God wherever we are and that is what matters most.  As long as we are serving the God of the Bible and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ as our path to Salvation, the style of the service doesn’t matter.  It only matters if the substance honors God.

After chapel we had a wonderful brunch at the Keeter Center and then had a Stephenson family photo session.  Here is one of the photos and believe me all the others are even better than this.  It is one of my favorite yearly photo sessions.

Just a word on the Paris Islamic terrorist attacks…..pray for healing for their country.  Pray for our country to be protected from these Islamic extremists.  I encourage you to listen to President Obama’s speech at the G20 Summit.  My impression is that our President seemed weak and insulting.  He has more anger toward Repbulicans and is saying some very undiplomatic things about our country and the Republicans while at the same time trying to appease the terrorists.  I am proud of America, and I know that God blessed us with this country and I pray for an awakening that will remind people that if we turn God away, he will not bless us or our country.  Pray for our leaders, yes, even our President that God will turn his heart toward Him.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  We will be proud of America’s heritage of being a light to the world.  We will TAKE A STAND and call evil for evil.  We will help others in need, while at the same time protecting our country.  We will continue to pray for our country and try to live a life that honors God.

Have a great week and find a way to Take a Stand.

The following pics are of my beautiful Erica.  She and her daughter will be leaving in a few days to join Shawn in Florida.  It is going to be hard for me to see them move, however it is an exciting adventure for their little family and I am praying God’s protection and blessing over them all.

The last picture is of Tamara to replace on I took of her right after she got off work.  LOL.   Love you, Tam.