There's Only Grace...

There's only grace.

There's only love.

There's only mercy,

and believe me it's enough!

Have you ever worked at something just to be told that there is no grace? That all the grace was used up on the person who worked this task before you? Maybe you haven't been told it, only made to feel that way?

On the way home yesterday, I heard this song. I don't know who sings it, or even what CD it's on. But I do know this, I can sing every word of the chorus. It resonates with me. I have actually been told by a former employer that no grace was available to me. Do you know that it's impossible to work without grace? Maybe it's just me, but I am incapable a perfect performance! This is not to make you feel sorry for me! Not at all! Just to let you know that there are folks out there who truly expect perfection.

Our Lord and Saviour is NOT one of those folks! Just think, every morning, every dawn, there's a fresh batch of grace and mercy! It's like those biscuits both my grandmothers used to make. You don't have to do anything to deserve them, they are just there for the taking. All I had to do, was walk into the kitchen, pick up the bisuit and eat it. All we have to do is walk up to Him, pick up all that mercy and grace and carry it with us. We can't help Him whip it up and we can't use so much that there's no more. He doesn't get so tired of forgiving me, that He can't forgive you. There are no penalties for using more than you did yesterday.

There is nothing we can do to over use or use up

His grace!!!

Pretty freeing isn't it? I may need to read this in a few days, just to remind myself!

Happy 2008!

Lara

Family at Christmas

Last night, Lisa & I were able to give something to our Liberty Church Family. Our parents were able to attend the church Christmas meal & the variety show afterwards. Even better, we were able to share some of our own family Christmas traditions with our church family. My father, Papa to those of you who know him, sang O Holy Night. I was bursting with pride and had to wipe more than one tear from my eyes. Then, as a gift to Liberty, my mother took the stage and read the beginning of Luke 2. We arranged a chair for her and had all the children in the audience come and sit around her. I have to say that my mother was made to be surrounded by children! It was truly a beautiful way to prepare for the days before Christmas.

I so enjoy sharing my birth family with my church family. They both are sweet gifts from God into my life! As Paul so eloquently said, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you..." May you have a rich, beautiful and merry Christmas whether you are with the family you were born with, or the family that has been given to you.

Lara

Music

Of the many beautiful things that my parents have sowed into my life, music is one of the greatest. My father has one of the best tenor voices I've ever heard. And no, I'm not biased, why do you ask? Honestly, though, people are have always loved to hear him sing. Lisa and I both sing. Richard can, and very well, but prefers to preach. Mother has sung in each of my father's choirs, but listens, smiling, from the audience as we sing. Growing up, I believed that music had no color or race. I grew up listening to Christian music from Andre Crouch, Truth & Bill Gaither. My father brought music from all of these artists to Baptist churches in Mississippi and Louisiana where they might not have been heard otherwise.

Shown here is the official Moore Christmas favorite! As children, each school morning in December, our mother woke us up with the first song on this album. As each one of us went to college, she couldn't do so each morning, but on December 1st, the payphone in the hall would ring. Sure enough it was our mom, playing 'Ching-a-Ling'! Now, with part of the family in NY, it's still played over the phone on 12/1. Those of you who know us, know that we are a bit fanatical about Christmas, with each room decorated. Yes, even the bathrooms! This is one of our precious traditions. May you hear our 'Ching-a-Ling' someday! Merry Christmas!

Lara

Where Do We Get Off?

This is from a young man in Bible college in south FL. His family are members of my church, Liberty. Cam was in our youth group and has participated in just about all of my dramas and drama classes. He's always been a great kid, but this level of maturity is a beautiful thing to see. Especially in someone I've watched grow up!

"Where do we get off?

(American Dream)
11:47pm Monday, Dec 10

So I've been doing a lot of thinking lately.

And one thought keeps coming to mind...

Where do we get off?

Where do we get off complaining about not getting an iPod for Christmas?Where do we get off complaining that we don't have an SLR camera?

Where do we get off complaining that the food in the school cafeteria tastes like filth?

Where do we get off complaining that the coach section of a plane isn't comfortable enough?

Where do we get off complaining?

Period.

How many times have you seen a video of people in Africa jamming to an iPod or taking artsy fartsy pictures with an SLR?

The kids in Sudan.

Uganda.

Darfur.

Mexico.

Bosnia.

On the streets in America.

Wherever.

A lot of them are lucky to get one meal a day.

Lucky to have one shirt.

A pair of shoes.

A mat to sleep on.

Any kind of shelter.

Where do we get off?

This is what I challenge you to do.

Watch Invisible Children.

Think globally.

Think about the homeless.

Think about others.

Your money.

Our money.

It is a blessing from God.

We are blessed.

Why don't we share the wealth?

Why don't we bless others with what we have excess of?

But let's remember what we have.

Let's be thankful.

I go to the best school on the face of this planet.

I get 3 meals a day.

I am going to have an amazing Christmas.

I am 19 years old and have never gone without.

I have a Savior who loves me more than life itself.

Literally.

Let's look at what we have.

Let's thank God for what we have.

Let's be happy.

Let's help others.

Let's be used of God.

Let's reach out.

Let's be a blessing instead of a mass of consumerism and selfishness.

Let's do what we were called to do.

Let's fulfill the Great Comission."Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned"(Mark 16:15-16)

Let's do what we were meant to do.

Let's wake up the church.

Let's wake up America.

An America that cares for its neighbors.

An America that cares for the needy.

An America that cares for the suffering.

Let's start a brand new American Dream."

Cam Harless

I can't think of anything that I can add to this.

Lara

All Things

I'm pretty wiped out today. We, Lisa & I spent the weekend making the house 'Christmas Ready'. We decorated 2 trees, pulled up boxes out of the basement, unpacked them, then took the empty ones back down. While decorating the living room tree, I thought about all the stories I've heard. You know the ones, where the tree falls, breaking all the most precious ornaments. And guess what? That tree fell this Monday. I kept thinking about our special ornaments. The ones that 'mean' something. Lisa's Waterford ball. The glass ornament from Baggins' (our dog that died a few years ago) first Christmas with us. The blown glass ornament that I always try to hang by a light so it will glisten. Okay, so maybe I'm just a tiny bit materialistic! I just love those ornaments! And the nativity scene underneath the tree. Lisa's pieces that are limited editions, and hard to replace.
To put these material things into perspective, grief is blanketing Blount and North Jefferson counties, here in Alabama. Seven cheerleaders of Hayden High School ran off the road and down a ravine on Thursday night, 11/30/07. Whitney, Sarah and Courtney were killed. What are these ornaments compared to the loss of three girls just at the start of their lives? Which one of their loved ones would break every memento if it meant bringing the girls back?

I am connected to them through co-workers and patients in my doctor's office. And only one question is on every one's mind, "Why?" I can't answer that question. There is no answer. But I can tell you this. At the close of each funeral on Monday, there was an altar call. Bonnie, my co-worker who was at Sarah & Whitney's combined funeral, couldn't count the number of people who went up for salvation. Does the salvation of these people make up for the loss of these girls? Some might not think so. But, because of them many now know Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. We will see Whitney, Sarah, and Courtney again. We will be together in eternity with them, as well as those who pledged their lives to Christ at their funerals.

We know that God causes all things to work together for good

to those who love God, to those who are called

according to His purpose.

Rom. 8:28 NAS

May the comfort of the Holy Spirit be felt by those loved ones who are grieving today. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Lara

The Sista's

In the previous post, I made mention of The Princess Sista's. There may be a few of you who don't know who these incredible ladies are. There are six of us. Among us, we represent two single mothers, a grandmother and a great grandmother. Three have struggled with infertility and had hysterectomies. Three have overcome childhood struggles that are not mine to tell. One is a breast cancer survivor. Three have lost fathers, while one has lost a mother. One of us is a new bride, while the other five remain single. We represent two decades in age. Four of us are extremely close to our families, while all six struggle with the irritants and joys that family brings. We have our differences and our similarities.

Five years ago, we went on our first trip to Orange Beach, AL. While there, our friendship was forged through laughter and Weight Watchers. We decided that, when we were together, nothing we ate contained WW points. Thus, The Pointless Sisters were born. After a year or so of misunderstandings of our name, we became The Princess Sisters. Too many people thought we were saying that we thought our lives were pointless because of our single status. NOT!! Our new title is in reference to the fact that our Father is the King, and we are and will always be His daughters.

We have found ourselves sisters in the truest sense over these past five and a half years. We discovered that a yearly beach trip was not enough time together. We have eaten at just about every restaurant in Birmingham. We have attended high school and college football games. We celebrate birthdays, Christmas, the Iron Bowl, and just about anything else we can think of. When one of us misses church, we all miss her. This summer, we adopted a practice (Kathi's idea) that we meet at least once a week. This does not include Sunday morning's service or our Wednesday night classes. Can you tell that we are all just a little bit obsessive? We are planning a cruise for this summer. We talk, e-mail and pray for each other regularly. Although blood connects only two of us, we are truly 'sisters'. God has forged a connection that none of us can explain. I can't imagine my life without them! I am richer because of these women. May you all have friends like these in your lives! I couldn't love them more if my own mother had given birth to them. To list them:

• Marlene Lawley


• Kathi Davis


• Deb Shaw Stark


• Tina Parkhill


• Lisa Moore


• Lara Moore

Rest

For the past several years, Lisa (my sister) and I have been planning to spend a week in the mountains this fall. My fortieth and her forty-fifth birthdays fall this year, so we decided it would be a good way to celebrate. Thanks to good friends, we were able to stay at their lake house and enjoy the foothills to the Smoky Mountains. This is the view from the deck and I must say that it's just as beautiful at night when you're wrapped up in a blanket and sitting in a rocking chair. How do I know? We did just that, at least twice. Lisa surprised me on Saturday, by secretly flying in my sis-in-law, Janet, for the weekend. Two of the Princess Sista's, Marlene & Kathi spent time there, also. We talked, napped, ate, and worked a mystery puzzle. Can I just say that I don't like puzzles that don't show you the complete picture on the box?!

There is something to be said for times like this. This place was almost a sanctuary for my friends and me. Janet returned from her rest to a sick husband and a report of head lice in her children's school. I'm so glad that she had a short vacation. As a wife and mother, rest is a hot commodity. Even though I could have stayed days more, I didn't dread coming back. I feel refreshed. That's what I wish for you. A place of sanctuary, where you can be refueled. If you need somewhere to go, I can recommend Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman County, AL. It truly is a beautiful retreat.

A rested Lara