Author: Kathy Stephens

Hopefully I just got your attention. That was the title of my Pastor’s sermon yesterday. Let me ask you a question that was ask of us yesterday. “do you really trust GOD to bring forth the things in you that He is trying to accomplish and develop?” What has God been trying to work out in your life? My life? How long will it take for you to DELIVER? When Pastor spoke those words yesterday it was like an ICE PICK jamming me in the chest.
Looking back it appears I’ve fought my entire life to NOT DO what I felt God calling me to do at 15. Now for those of you who have problems with math like me, that’s a 46 year problem. That’s 6 years past the 40 spent in the wilderness. What about you? Could there be something in your own life that GOD has been asking you to do or something He wants you to accomplish that you’ve turned your back on?
How long will you Labor? The good news is, It’s NOT TOO LATE…. Life can definitely get you off track. Too busy, too costly, too demanding, what might people think and the list goes on. GOD however is standing still just waiting for you to SEEK HIM OUT. He has the plan, he is holding it in HIS hands and He is simply waiting for you to DELIVER……
In John 16:21 scripture says “It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world.” The scriptures prior to this one talk about being in anguish and grief and coming back to JOY…. Something I”m learning now.
So are you holding back from GOD? Are you in anguish over that “thing” He has pricked your heart to do but you’ve never done? I can relate cause in my own life i’ve used every excuse whether I did so willingly or unaware. WILL you join me in 2016 and SEEK GOD with your whole heart? It doesn’t mean being perfect, it doesn’t mean we still won’t slip from time to time, it doesn’t mean you have to give up living… IT simply means you have to DELIVER…..

I’m not a coffee lover. Caffeine and I just don’t mix but my sweetie loved coffee. TRUTH is every morning I would slip out of the bed and head to the kitchen and put his coffee on. After many coffee pots and all the new gadgets oh…. about 2 years ago he settled on an old percolator type coffee pot. He said it made the best coffee ever. I do know that I use to love to hear it percolating. Just a cool sound. It would let you know when it was ready to pour because the blue light would turn to a green light. That was my signal. WHEN that took place I would walk back slide in behind him in the bed and give him a nudge, or a pat and say, “honey your coffee is ready”. He would begin to move around and normally he would reach around and pull me in close for a big ole hug. ( missing those). I would make my way back to the kitchen and he would follow shortly behind me. THEN we would share breakfast and have our morning conversation and kick off our day. ( miss that too) …
WELL shortly after Dennis died I changed a few things in my kitchen. Nothing major, but one of the things I did was to put the coffee pot away. I didn’t drink it so why leave it on the counter … WELL here we are about 13 months down the road from that last morning (November 12, 2014) that I made him his last pot of coffee. That’s the morning I took him to Jackson to catch that last flight to Trinidad. ( little did I know that at the time)
Yesterday I hosted Bridge Club. It was such a treat. I got to bake a couple of cakes and welcome some sweet ladies into my home. They had ask for coffee SOOOOOO Out came the perfect percolator coffee maker and as I was filling it with coffee and plugging it in and as it began to make that noise my heart was overtaken with emotion. Haven’t heard that noise or smelled that smell aroma in quite some time. It was a GOOD FEELING THOUGH. Not one of sorrow. It was a FAMILIAR feeling and emotion. WEBSTER says familiar means” an intimacy that suggest a long association between persons.” How cool is that. That’s exactly what Dennis and I had. WE were familiar with one another. I loved having that sweet aroma in my house again
2 Corinthians 2:15 says “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” Would you stop for a minute and ask yourself “Am I that sweet aroma”….. I hope that something familiar tugs at your heart today.

It is JUST crazy the way GOD does things. Things that we only really realize and understand AFTER they happen. Couldn’t see it coming for anything.
Last Sunday after church a friend and I made a quick trip to Jackson to Stein Mart for her to exchange something. I’m truthfully not a huge Stein Mart Shopper so I just sorta strolled around looking at things. I did end up grabbing a pair of pants but enjoyed watching the others that were shopping more. ( go figure) Somewhere between the Michael Korrs purses and the rack of the newest evening wear, I noticed this little elderly lady. She was well put together.. Makeup on, hair did, dressed very nice and her fingernails were well manicured. She was shopping with purpose and sifting through the finer knitwear with style. She had such a sweet face and I looked at her thinking, “this lady is WISE, classy and has been through some stuff.” She just sorta stood with independence.
TODAY…. I had a little window of opportunity to run back to Jackson to take back the pants I purchased last Sunday. I went right to the counter, returned my item and then went to make a quick sweep to see if I saw something that I just couldn’t live without. WELL…. guess who was there. Much to my surprise was the little elderly lady that I had seen on Sunday. Hair DONE, nails done, dressed well, makeup on and smiling. She walked right up to the rack where I was and then she began to comment to me about the sweater I had in my hand. She started telling me what to put with it, how it would look with boots, etc. etc. etc. SHE HAD STYLE… I began to talk to her and I actually told her , ” I just saw you here this past Sunday”. She said, “yes, I shop here at STEIN MART ALOT”. She continued with “I think I’m a preferred customer”. I chuckled…..
WELL ….. I began to talk to her and she told me that TODAY was her 87th Birthday. WE talked about her lunch with her granddaughter and her precious great grandson and the conversation continued. She finally shared with me that she had lost her husband 4 years ago. ( they were in a bad car accident and both spent weeks in ICU and He didn’t make it) She began to tell me about him and about moving in with her daughter AND HOW good her life is still. TRUTH IS, I wanted to just break down and cry at the very moment she began to share her story with me. I eventually told her about losing Dennis and here’s what she then said, “well Honey, you get up everyday and you do what you want to do. Ask God to show you what your purpose is”. She then said ” Today is the day the LORD hath made let’s rejoice and be glad in it”… and then SHE SMILED SO BIG…. I reached out at that very moment and ask, “can I hug you?” She giggled and was like, well yes. At 87 She is still out talking about God and loving on folks. OH HOW I HOPE that is me one day. My own little Stein Mart Angel. I so hope God lets our paths cross again.
Romans 12:8 “If it is encouraging, let him encourage… “Be a living Example of God’s goodness.