Beverly Joy Roberts

2017 is days away , h ave you decided ...how you 're going to change the world this year?  It's time for the  New Year's Challenge!    I may...or may not be challenging myself.  After all, I've never been one to push myself beyond my comfort zone.  In fact, in high school I only chose classes that I knew I could ace.  I was number 25 in my class of 303 students.  If you're a math wiz you will figure out quickly that I was in the top 10% of my class.   I'm sure student #26 would have been peeved, if he compared his class schedule to mine--swimming, creative writing, listening and discussion, independent reading, typing, band, cooking, family finance...I think you get the picture.  It was more important for me to do well at what I did -- than push myself beyond my comfort zone.   That's part of the reason I dislike the whole New Year's resolution thing.  We are being challenged to do more, push ourselves, committee to stuff we probably wo

I sneezed the other day and a stranger passing by said, “God bless you.”   I really didn’t want anyone to acknowledge my nasal outburst, but his comeback was obviously conditioned within him as was my reply. “Thank you.” We are fully immersed in the cold and flu season which means there will be a lot of "God bless yous" out there.   We just finished expressing our thankfulness for all the wonderful things we enjoy on a daily basis and now we take two steps forward and it's Christmas--this is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Immanuel--God with us. Ministers lament over finding those cutting edge sermons for the weeks leading up to Christmas hoping to wow their congregations with a new and deep revelations no one else has discovered.   I was feeling a bit the same way as I prayed and asked the Lord to give me an amazing devotional to share for Christmas week.  I read Luke 1 in the Living Bible and my eyes locked on this phrase.   “ for God has deci

When Bob and I married in 1975, it was the merging of "Yours & Mine."  The optimal goal of the merger was to arrive at  OURS .  The best way I can describe this is...Christmas. The first few Christmases at the newly established Roberts' home could best be described as "Yours & Mine." Here were a few of our differences:   Should the big meal be on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? When will we open presents?  ( Growing up , our families did it on different days) Who is this Santa you speak of? Why is the table covered with plates of peanut brittle, popcorn balls and fudge? Live Tree vs. Fa ke Tree o r c an we even afford a tree?  Our 2nd Christmas we had a cardboard fireplace we bought for $4.95.  Those were the Bible c ol lege years. Birthday cake for Jesus vs. cookies and milk for Santa. Can we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus ? After we (I) decorate the tree , lets sing carols, dr ink hot chocolate and eat powered donuts in the

While working in the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning, I heard one of the grandkids cry out. I left my Thanksgiving preparations in a hurry to check on the afflicted one. As I rounded the corner into the living room, I came face to face with an obstacle course of toys separating me from the wounded.  (actual photo) We have a kid-friendly, family room for all these obstacles (toys), but one by one the grandkids bring them upstairs and skillfully place them in the high traffic areas. They are so talented.  What can I say? I spotted the crying grandchild across the room and made the split second decision to maneuver through the toys to comfort him. (A bit dramatic, but I'm making a point--People! )  I scooped him up in my arms and after a few minutes of hugs, he was ready to get back in the game.  While passing back through the toys to the kitchen, my heart was quickened with the thought of obstacles .  They block us, slow us down, make our way difficult...but this determ

Things they are a changing.    I'll let you decide just what those things might be in your life.  In mine--it happened 5 days ago.  I had a birthday--a big one.  I'm 60.  I say it with pride--I've earned every minute, hour, day, week, month and year.  I wouldn't go back--not ever.  A few weeks ago, I posted on Facebook a funny thing that happened while I was watching my five year old granddaughter.  She was looking at my wedding album. (The pictures are 41 years old.) When I told her that those two young people in the pictures were Grandma and Puppa, I could see the confusion on her face.  She studied the images.  ...And--nope--she was not a believer.  She flat out said, "No.  That's not you."  She would not believe that these two people were her Grandma and Puppa.  She studied the photo while I tried to convinced her.  Then after much debate she conceded with this exception.  "Grandma, I like you better now." Did I mention

Most adults have heard or said these three powerful words... "Say Thank-you!"   When we were children we were taught to be thankful--and when we became parents we taught our children to be thankful.  Round and round we go...   I've heard the words "Thank-You"...   spoken through tears yelled in sarcastic anger whispered in breathless surprise politely repeated by a child and expressed with heartfelt gratitude I've heard toddlers struggle to put the sounds together in a sweet baby voice, "ank-ou."  And I've seen the words mouthed by an elderly person without the strength to speak. YES--those are two very powerful words! Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving.  It's America's official day of thankfulness.  It may be a tradition at your Thanksgiving table to say something you're thankful for this year.  Most of us can come up with our "Thankfuls" around the table once a year.  But how can we limit it to just

I'm busy--at least I think I am. This morning, I stood in front of the microwave and set the timer for 1-minute.  I placed my 1/2 cup of coffee on the rotating plate and watched it go round and round as the microwave  tried to do its work, but after 34 seconds, I popped the door open, grabbed my cup of coffee and headed for the computer. I took a sip.  The temperature wasn't quite what I was expecting--it was warm at best.  It must be because my microwave is too slow! My husband and pastor, has said on many occasions that we live in a microwave society.  We want things now --the way we want them or "heads will roll." When our children were young, whenever I found the service of others to be unsatisfactory--I could see my children sink into there seats as they pleaded, "No, mom...it's okay.  It doesn't matter that my food order didn't come--I'm not hungry."  Or... "I really want that shirt with the missing button."  They

The hand-print on the glass door caught my attention.  I've seen hand prints on these doors before, but this time as I walked down the church hallway my eyes were drawn to the glistening imprint on the exterior church doors. On closer examination, the door was spotted with fingerprints of all sizes.  Above the door bar there were adult hand-prints and under the door bar, there were tiny hand-prints. I thought of all the little people who had been at church that day and left behind their calling cards. When our first grandchild was 15 months old, she came for a visit.  On this particular visit, she was old enough to explore about every inch of the house.  She left her tiny calling card on the doors, windows, the bathroom mirror and various walls.  But one place she touched became precious to me.  In the dinning room there was a perfect little hand-print on the glass door of the grandfather clock.  That day in the church hallway, the memory of my granddaughter's hand-prin