Prodigal child....

you may have been on my FB site tonight, and if you have, you may not want to read this blog (of course, i'd be honored if you would, but don't feel pressured!) Katie Davis is from Brentwood, Tn., and just turned 20-years old. when she graduated from high school she wanted to take a trip to Uganda and check out some American orphanages there. her mom went with her; needless to say, she was not very impressed. well, make a short story long (ooppps....got that backwards....well, maybe not!)she met a pastor while she was there who was building a kindergarten for the local children, none of whom went to school. he told katie she was going to be the teacher. "huh, well that's very kind, but you see I just graduated high school, and I'm going back and going to college...." so the pastor said OK, but just reminded her that the Lord had told him that katie would be the teacher.

katie returns to Brentwood, TN., and guess what! you guessed it! the Lord would not leave her alone. so, back to Uganda she goes....she teaches not the 40 or so children she was told to expect the first day but 150+, never knowing the language, or anything. Well, you'll have to read her blog to find out all the details. suffice it to say she is not married, her family is here, and she is there and the legal mother (did you hear me? she has legal papers stating she is the M-O-T-H-E-R of 8 children, maybe more by now!) As in, FOREVER their legal mom!

she just returned there after being here since august, fulfilling a promise to her dad to try college (guess who won that one! THE LORD!--she said she's just not cut out for college). i believe she is getting a "Kingdom Business Degree", but that's just my opinion! she was also trying to fund raise--to get sponsors for 200+ children at $300 each per year; she got almost all that covered, less the 40 or so she already had covered BEFORE she arrived here. however, there will likely be more needing sponsoring...plus there is overhead cost, her water bill is astronomical, because 150+ children get a hot bath twice a week at her house....OK.....i'm rambling!

because of her incredible obedience to the calling of God on her life, and her amazing spiritual maturity, unbelievably supernatural things are happening. not without pain and tears, sometimes, but things only God could do. one of those painful learning experiences happened this week for her.....so without further ado, i give you katie in her own words at (please notice the link on the side of my blog, as well, where you can follow her if you like or, better yet, subscribe to her blog!) and, oh, by the way, please subscribe to mine, too, so i'll have a reason to write!

be incredibly blessed this weekend and in the coming week,

lisa (aka "Lolli)

so I’m just sittin’ here thinkin’ ‘bout somethin’! when God created man “in His own image”, He created us as human beings, right? and I believe it states in the Word that He also created us for fellowship with Him, right? in my 20’s and 30’s i was about as involved in church work as a person could be: i was church pianist, sunday school teacher for youth girls, I taught the preschool choir, sang in the adult choir and was a soloist with the choir; i taught adults in sunday night classes (called “church ?---can’t remember, but it was part of the Southern Baptist Convention programs); i was on the pastor search committee once; i was weekday education program director AND 3-year old teacher (are you impressed yet?) eventually my husband became youth pastor, so i often did things with the youth program, including summer trips and youth mission trips! i mean, it makes me tired typing it all out. but I knew at the time i was really racking up on those “brownie points with God”. surely He had to be impressed with my sacrificial acts of service, wouldn’t you think? when i told my pastor i was getting married, guess what he told me? (THE NERVE of him!) he said, ‘well, Lisa, you need to pray about all you are doing in the church, and narrow it down to one, maybe two things, because you will now have a different priority-a husband-and that’s where God wants you to spend more of your time. wait a minute! you mean to tell me i had to quit doing all these things i was doing and was pretty sure i was good at, all for the Lord, for a husband? maybe i should reconsider this marriage deal (just kidding!) but….who would do those things if not me? then my pastor had the gall to tell me God would find someone else to do those tasks. talk about a blow to the ego! fast forward a few years….i went from the ridiculous to the sublime, and was doing nothing in a church for several years. but guess what! that was just fine, because i was happier and more fulfilled than i had been in a long time. wanna know why? because our sweet Lord finally revealed to me (rather, i finally shut up and heard Him!) that He created me to be a human BEING, NOT a human DOING! WOW! what a revelation! the world would go right on without me! how freeing! all God has really ever sought is an intimate relationship with me, His daughter, His princess, His pride and joy…and nothing i have ever done or will ever do can or will make Him love me any more or any less! He loves me for ME! i realized then that i had been making a ‘god’ (little ‘g’ god) out of doing things in the church for GOD (big ‘G’ God)! yet, His Word says that “thou shalt not have any other gods before Me!”. now, let me put a little disclaimer here lest anyone think i am totally off my rocker: God has given me talents, abilities, and gifts that He DOES want me to use for Him in furthering His kingdom; He does have some things for me to do. yet, only when I am walking daily with Him and in right relationship with Him, can and will He use me to do those things He has planned for me to do! i guess it boils down to priorities and choices, now, doesn’t it? i’d love to hear your thoughts on this….just wonderin’!

friday shop talk

so i’m sitting here pondering a question some will think odd, others will feel uncomfortable thinking about it, and some may jump right on it! you go! so here’s the question: do you believe in demons/demonic forces? if not, why not? if so, why so? how do they present themselves? how does one discern if a demonic force is present or if it’s just the ‘natural man’ doing what he/she knows is not God’s way? ponder with me and then please share your thoughts…..

History will soon be made!

tomorrow Barack Obama will be sworn in as the "first African American President of the USA." history will be made. isn't history being made every second that passes? I'm just sayin'.....

now, having said that, is he REALLY the first African American President? heard of the book by J.A. Rogers called "The Five Negro Presidents"? written in the 60's and only 19 pages long, most have not even heard of it....even most African Americans. Rogers supposedly presents evidence that 4 other America presidents are from mixed ancestry (Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Warren G. Harding). On the cover of the book is a picture of Harding, resembling European ancestry, with a picture of his his paternal grand-uncle, Oliver Harding, who looks of African ancestry.

from an online article (http://racism-politics.suite101.com/article.cfm/significance_of_sen_obamas_run) we find these words:

"One of Rogers’ underlying themes is that these presidents avoided or went beyond the race issue when they campaigned. For example, he indicates that during Lincoln’s 1860 campaign under the then recently formed Republican Party (1854), his opponents, mainly southern racists, frequently called him “Abraham Africanus” among other things. They always tried to force him to publicly admit his African heritage. Lincoln never acknowledged their accusations.

In fact, the major message of Lincoln’s campaign was “Free soil,” not the race or slavery issue. He focused on protecting the rights of individuals who chose to make a living on America’s newly acquired western territories taken from Mexico after the Mexican/American War (1846 – 1848). Although much of Lincoln’s campaign rhetoric was assuring the South that he would allow slavery to continue, his name did not appear on any southern ballets during the 1860 presidential elections (Boyer et al 429). He won the presidency anyway, but after the elections, the South left the United States to form the Confederate States of America. Although most American historians say that southerners seceded because they did not trust a northerner (Illinois) as president, it appears they may have left because they believed Lincoln was African American and would end slavery and the suffering of his brethren.

According to Rogers, democratic opponents put out reports that Warren G. Harding was of African ancestry during his campaign. They claimed that Harding’s father, George Tryon Harding, was a “mulatto,” describing him as having thick lips and dark skin. Harding’s mother was White. Harding neither addressed the charges nor did he say anything about “race” while campaigning. Rogers makes similar claims about the other two presidents, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson."

so, who knows...and should it really matter? Barack Obama is only half African American, having a Kenyan father and an American mother. so is he more African American than he is Caucasian? again, does it matter? only as each of us allows it to matter.

here's what I think matters: as a believer i am called to pray for the leaders of our land. so, from prayingscriptures.com please join me in daily praying the following:

Praying For The Government

1Tim 2:1............Heavenly Father, I give thanks for our government.
1 Tim 2:2...........I pray for all men and women having authority over us in any way.
Prov. 1:23..........Pour out Your Spirit upon them and make Your Word known to them.
Ps 25:21...........Cause them to be men and women of integrity, obedient concerning us,
1 Tim 2:2...........that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty.
Prov. 2:10..........Let wisdom enter their hearts, and let knowledge be pleasant to them.
Prov. 2:11..........Let discretion preserve them and understanding keep them,
Prov. 2:12..........to deliver them from the way of evil and from evil men.
Psalm 1:1..........Make their hearts and ears attentive to godly counsel,
2Chr 20:32.........doing what is right in your sight.
Prov. 2:21..........Let the upright dwell in our government.
Heb 12:27..........Cause there to be a shaking in all areas.
Prov. 2:21..........Let those complete and blameless before You stay.
Prov. 2:22..........and cut off the wicked. Let the unfaithful be rooted out.
1Cor 4:5............Bring to light what is hidden in darkness,
1Cor 4:5............and expose the secret aims of the hearts.
Rev 2:5.............Let this nation remember from where they have fallen,
Rev 2:5.............repenting, and returning to doing their first works,
1Chr 22:19........setting their hearts and their souls to seek the Lord,
2Chr 7:14..........humbling themselves, praying, and turning from their wicked ways.
2Chr 7:14..........Then hear them, O Lord, and forgive their sins and heal our land.
Acts 26:18........Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light.
Heb 3:13...........Soften the hearts that are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Ps 107:20..........Deliver them from their destructions.
2Pet 3:9............Father, You have been longsuffering toward us,
2Pet 3:9............not willing that any should perish,
2Pet 3:9............but that all should come to repentance.
Isa 49:22...........Raise up a standard in this nation.
Zech 10:1..........Cause the rains of Your Spirit to flood this land
Hab 3:2.............and revive Your work in the midst of us.
Isa 59:16...........Raise up intercessors for this nation
2Cor 10:4..........to pull down strongholds over this land.
Isa 40:5............And let the glory of the Lord be revealed!

your thoughts?

What's In a Name?

ok…ok…ok…so you need me to explain the title of my blog “lollipop and pearls”!
well, hear ya’go!

when we were expecting our first grandchild, carleigh, we pondered what she would call us…..
feeling “too young” for something like “granny and grandpa”, or “grandma and granddaddy”
(not that there’s anything wrong with those names…they just didn’t fit us)….

i wanted to be “mimi already took that one!dadgum her!

so I thought ‘pop’ would be cute for rodney and as quickly
as I thought that, ‘lolli’ came into mind….get it? ‘lollipop’?
……so I’m lolli and he’s pop!

Now the “pearl” part comes into play because my children and
my ‘grands’ (children, that is!) are priceless pearls to me….and even more so to jesus!

so, on this site, you likely will see many posts about family memories, issues, concerns, frustrations….
.......joys, sorrows, questions, etc.

one thing’s for sure…..i’ll keep you on your feet in suspense!

but let me say on the front end, it is my desire, my hope and my goal that this blog and it’s contents will honor my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ….

….my redeemer, my savior, my friend, the lover of my soul, my Creator, and the author and finisher of my faith!

amen!!!!!!!!!

p.s~the reason for the lower case font is: 1. laziness and

2. creativity (not necessarily in that order!)