Making It All Fit...

Often times I find myself so consumed with "stuff" that it seems God is simply not listening when I pray... Ever been there? When the bills are due, the car needs serviced, the laundry needs to be done, the work duties completed, pick-up my nephew from school, prepare dinner, visit with the family, etc., then try and squeeze in some prayer time and bible reading just before bed! Isn't that the way we live our lives? This agenda just doesn't seem to work and/or it leaves me SO exhausted that by the time I start my prayer, after the, "Dear Lord, I pray..." I am waking up to discover that I nodded off! If we are totally honest, we rarely give God even a tenth of our lives as a whole! However, when the tests and trials of life seem to surmount, God is the first thing that comes to mind!! So, I wanted to share a visual description with you that I heard a few years back, and I hope that this will help you to put life into perspective order! I have tried it myself and it really works!! Here it goes...

Imagine if you took a water pitcher:
1) Place about 3 or 4 large rocks inside of it.
2) Now, pour in some small gravels. They will fall into all the open spaces to make the volume of the container appear full then, huh?
3) Then, get some sand. It's granules are so tiny that you could shake the pitcher a little and get quite a bit of sand between the gravel and the rocks! Now the pitcher is filled!! Wait, not so fast!
4) Lastly, (just when you thought you couldn't get anything else to fit), you can take a glass of water and as you pour the water into the pitcher it will press away the air bubbles left from the sand and fill them up making the container finally completely FULL, yet contained without overflowing!!!

If you tried this illustration, literally, then way to go! However, you can take the same pitcher and try these steps backwards. What happens? It doesn't work! The contents spill over the edge! The only way to get all of the objects and substances to fit, you have to put the large rocks into the container first! WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH LIFE? Okay, I will tell you! Your life is symbolized by the water pitcher. The large rocks represent God. All of the other things can be the important things that you have to get done. If we start our day, first and foremost with God, then there is always room for the other "stuff" to fit!! It may be a full day, but it will all fit! However, when you try to put the "stuff" first (the water, sand and gravel) and then try to squeeze God in last (the big rocks) the contents overflow!!!!! Strange analogy, but I think God designed it that way! If you put Him first in your everyday life, then you will find that there is ALWAYS enough room left to fit the "STUFF"!

TST's Cruising to Mexico!!!

Just 11 more days and TST will be setting sail for Cozumel, Mexico!!! "Es muy bueno!" (...dear Lord I hope that says "this is very good!" ) We are very excited to be cruising aboard the Carnival Holiday! We leave port in Mobile, AL on Monday, February 11 and will return to port on Saturday, February 16...that's 5 whole days of cruising and singing!! TST would love to have you be a part of our Western Carribean Cruise for 2009, if you didn't get to sign-up for this year; so keep in touch with our website as this information will be uploaded very soon! Keep us in your prayers as we travel and we will do our best to post some pics as soon as we return!! Bon Voyage!!!! I really should stick to English, huh?

Our New Friend "Bonnie"

TST is proud to announce a new addition to their ministry!! Her name is Bonnie Maps...she is a very smart, innovative and very talkative Portable Navigational System!! Yes, Bonnie is our new "Road Manager"!!! (Sorry, Dedra...just kidding!) During our travels this past weekend, to South Carolina, Bonnie was a constant reminder, "right turn in 1 mile...right turn in 800 yards...right in turn 700 yards...right turn in 600 yards...RIGHT TURN NOW!!!!" Needless to say, other than 1 minor error that lead us down a dead end driveway of sand (that's an entirely different post - ha, ha), Bonnie has officially become the newest Shadrix member!! Her accompanying the trip was very helpful despite our trying to follow our own path a few times!

I found that Bonnie's taking leadership over our trip was a reminder, to me, of how God leads us in our everyday lives. I know it probably sounds crazy to compare God's leadership in our life to an On-the-Road navigation system, but it's really true! Once our point of destination was keyed into Bonnie's data bank, we could have taken a course 500 miles in a different direction, seemed like we did at times to find fuel, but she could pinpoint EXACTLY where we were at and would put us right back to our path of travel...isn't God the same way? Many times in our lives we may find that our direction may become a little blurred or that the need for getting things done has, in a way, side-tracked our course. However, no matter where we are and regardless of how confusing lifes twists and turns seem to make us feel, God knows our "final" destination!!! HE is faithful to keep us on our course of travel toward our eternal home in Heaven! May be a crazy concept, but hey, it works for me! So, thanks Bonnie for keeping us on course and reminding us of God's leadership in our ministry! May we travel many miles until we reach our final destination with our God leading the way!!!!!

Welcome aboard, Bonnie!!