What do Blue Jeans and Jesus Have in Common? - UPDATED

I have to tell you something wonderful!  My new classy bluejeans that I got for Christmas...the jeans that replace my only old pair of saggy baggy worn out jeans that are ancient and totally out of style...my new jeans think I'm gorgeous! They also think I'm beautiful, sexy, glamorous and stunning!!!!  I had no idea until I was sitting in the you know where and happened to notice that my jeans pockets had writing all inside of them!  As I sat there wondering what on earth could be written all over these pockets, I looked a little closer and found these amazing affirmations over and over again!  Imagine how this made me smile?  I mean...how often do you ever have anyone (or anything) tell you at this stage in life (senior citizen) (and while you are sitting in the you know where) that you are gorgeous, glamorous, sexy, beautiful and stunning?  I must tell you this really put a smile on my face and a little skip to my step! I couldn't wait to get out of there and tell my hubby!  Of course, he said that he already knew that...Ha ha!!

Ha ha Ha, so now that I've got your attention and hopefully also have you laughing, I am certain you are wondering where I am going to go with this question at the top...

"What do blue jeans and Jesus have in common?"

Well, relax...I'm not going to tell you that Jesus thinks I'm all of those descriptive adjectives above...but I can tell you that He does delight in me! I can tell you that He thinks I'm pretty special...and that He loves me so much that He was willing to die for me!  And He died for me so that He could one day take me to heaven as His beloved Bride, and that we could live happily ever after for eternity!    And you know what?  He feels the same way about YOU!  Yes He does!

This morning the devotional that I read in "Jesus Today"  (#111) by Sarah Young said the following:

"You are a delight to Me! (Jesus).  

I know you find it difficult to receive this blessing.

It is based on the unconditional Love I have for all of My followers.

I love you more than you can begin to imagine, 

so just relax in the

Light of My Presence--

take time to soak in this luminous Love. 

Relax with Me and listen while I

rejoice over you with singing...."

"Remember that My delight in you is based on 

My finished work on the cross.  

So don't fall into the trap of trying to earn My Love.

Instead, live as the one you truly are--

My beloved--

and let your gratitude keep yo close to Me,

eager to follow wherever I lead.

I delight in you!"

God's Word tells us in Zephaniah 3:17  (NIV) the following:

"The Lord your God is with you,

He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing."

Don't you love that verse?  I sure do.  Especially as I begin this new year...and as I seek to find REST in God...I love that He tells me not only that He is WITH me, and that He is mighty to SAVE me, and He also takes great DELIGHT in me...but He also will QUIET me with HIS LOVE...and then He actually REJOICES over me with singing!!! How lovely...how precious this makes me feel.  These words are an affirmation from God that He truly enjoys spending time with me...and that makes me all the more determined to set aside that special time each day to spend time with Him...to hear Him singing over me and quieting my anxious heart as a mother sings a lullaby to her beloved child.  These words are much more precious to me than all the sweet "nothings" that were written in my blue jeans pockets! God's words give me HOPE, and Blessing, and great comfort.  And that truly puts a big smile on my face!!!

POST UPDATE:  OKAY GIRLS, SINCE SEVERAL OF YOU HAVE ALREADY ASKED ME WHAT KIND OF JEANS THESE ARE, THEY ARE LEE CLASSIC FIT 1889, PURCHASED AT JCPENNEY!

And here is gorgeous,beautiful, sexy, glamorous and stunning me, wearing my new jeans!!!!

How's that for a good laugh?  I know Jesus must be smiling...because He loves us so much...and He KNOWS we are beautiful because He created us in His image!!!

Quick Change Artist (Rerun)

(This is a "rerun", originally "aired" on 9/20/13, but nothing much has changed...I'm still that same "quick change artist"...and these thoughts are still right-on for me and my situation...and maybe yours as well! Read on...and if you didn't comment the last time, feel free to do so this time!)

Been kicking some thoughts around in my head this week, and never got around to putting them on paper, so now I will try to remember what they were.  Usually when I think I've got something really good to say, by the time I get around to saying it it no longer seems quite so special.  Perhaps things have happened to change my viewpoint, or to draw my attention to other topics even more significant. (In my mind, that is)

Earlier this week I was thinking about how I sometimes feel like the female version of Superman, not in the powerful superhero sense, but in the quick change of clothes in the phone booth from Clark Kent, Newspaper Reporter, to Superman.  But my quick change is just the opposite...like when I come home from my job as a church business administrator everyday, dressed semi-professionally, (dress pants, shoes, top/jacket depending on the season, etc.), the minute I walk in the door of my house at the end of the day, off come the shoes, the jewelry (why is it I feel naked when I go out the door if I don't have on my watch, rings, earrings, bracelet, necklace, but the minute I walk in the door of my house I suddenly feel like I am being strangled by too many "chains" around my body?)...and then I peel off my slacks, top, and grab the most comfy, loose fitting, somewhat stained and grungy t-shirt and capris, and slide my feet into the softest, lighter than air shoes (my new Skechers Go Walk shoes)
and then I breathe such a sigh of relief...I am home.
I am the real me again.  Not that I don't feel I am
the real me at my job, but that's the other me.  The
professional me who has to think, make decisions,
figure out problems, deal with weighty issues, sometimes financial, sometimes supervisory, sometimes unpleasant situations that fall on my shoulders because "that's your job".

Of course, I often have similar issues to deal with when I get home...make decisions, figure out problems, deal with weighty issues, OFTENTIMES financial, sometimes "supervisory"...and even deal with unpleasant situations because that's my job as a mother, wife, homemaker, cook, bill payer, etc....but when I'm home I'm on safe ground...I know I am beloved, treasured, and secure. I am not in danger of losing my position because I didn't handle something right, or forgot some very important deadline, or called in sick too often.  When I am home, I am free to be me. I can breathe...I can laugh, I can cry, I can get angry and be forgiven...I am loved unconditionally.

Now please don't get the wrong idea here, especially if you happen to know me at my place of employment and wonder if something has triggered all this...No, nothing has happened. I am just making general observations here...probably most people who are employed can relate to this no matter where they work.

I don't have any astounding revelations here or answers to these questions...just thinking out loud. One thing I do know for certain...even if I wasn't exactly beloved, treasured and secure in my home, I am beloved, treasured, and secure with my Lord.

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!"       I John 3:1

"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  I John 4:10

"But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, 

Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear..." I John 4:18a

Therefore, I do not fear that I will not be loved or accepted by my Heavenly Father...He loved me before I was even born...I am highly treasured by God...no matter what position I am in, what clothes I wear, or what I do to try to make myself appear righteous and noble...He loves me...just the way I am. My righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)...without God, I am nothing. But in Christ, I am precious in His sight.  And so are you, dear friend, if you belong to Jesus.  And if you are not certain about that...ask Him to show you how much He loves you. You may be surprised at what you will discover.

This is the real me, taking a walk in the woods and loving that feeling of freedom
from pressure and deadlines...
On the journey of life...precious and beloved...as are you, my friend.

UPDATED PICTURE 6/18/15...This is the real me today, except I still have on my jewelry...but I can't
wait to get home and sit in my rocker on my front porch and "RELAX", like it says in the sign above my head!