Posted on by kellyyarborough

An Evening to Remember

The most important lesson I am learning from writing my “thankful, grateful, and blessed” series is that gratitude and pride cannot co-exist. Gratitude in its truest form brings an unexpected heart of deep humility.

Over the weekend, we had an amazing opportunity to see Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, and Cece Winans together at The Fox Theater.

I feel so incredibly grateful, thankful, and blessed that we were able to share in such an incredible night of worship and music.

This time last year, it was the YouTube prerecorded Christmas concerts that God used to help me through my deep grief. One song particularly touched an area of my heart like no other, and it’s called Freeze the Frame. As I listened to the words, the etchings of Christmases past flooded my mind. As I recalled these to mind, gratitude overwhelmed my soul, and the feelings of deep grief turned into joy. Joy in knowing how precious these times were, and the hope of looking forward to new ones.

In May, we were looking for a concert to attend. We desired to go back to the Ryman Auditorium; but we weren’t finding anything we wanted to attend. Then, Terry looked at Fox Theater because we prefer smaller venues, and discovered this concert. Knowing how powerfully it had touched me during last year’s Christmas, he bought us tickets. Just another reason I know how deeply he loves me.

The whole time I was under the impression we were just going to see Michael and Amy. (Not a bad thing.) On Saturday as we were driving to Atlanta, he said Cece was going to be there as well. What a wonderful surprise I got that day!

I am so thankful, grateful, and blessed for the gift of music and for these incredibly talented musicians who use their gifts to magnify and glorify the Lord.

And I’ll just be real here, my mascara is not waterproof, and I had black eyes at the concert’s end. #thankfulgratefulandblessed Cece Winans, Amy Grant,, Michael W Smith

Posted on by kellyyarborough

A Solid Foundation

Do you know you can learn a lot from Children’s books? For example, The Three Little Pigs. In the beginning, the three little pigs go off into the world to build their own homes, and live independently. However, there’s always a constant threat of the Big Bad Wolf, who’s looking to tear down their homes and devour them.

As the story unfolds, we learn that the first two little pigs don’t put a lot of time, effort, energy, or thought into the foundation or building of their homes. When Big Bad comes calling, it doesn’t take much effort on his part to destroy their homes. However, the third pig was more thoughtful, prepared, and diligent. He builds a good, solid, and sturdy foundation. When Big Bad shows up to his house. “He buffs and he puffs”, and he can’t blow the house down. Frustrated, but determined, the the wolf climbs on the roof, and down the chimney he plops right into a pot of boiling water.

Can I just be really honest? There have been so many times throughout the course of my life that I’ve fallen into the category of the first two pigs. I’ve not put a lot of time, effort, or thought much about building my hope on a solid foundation, and when the winds of change have come, my little kingdoms have been knocked down and brought to ruin.

My hope was built around temporary and non-permanent things. You know what? I’ve been terribly disappointed and disillusioned. Want to know why? Because this life is temporary and the things of this life are temporary. My primary purpose in life is to bring glory to God. If I am fixated on temporary things of this world, that can be snatched away in a moment, I am going to have times of disillusionment, confusion, and loss. Like the first two little pigs, when the enemy comes knocking, he will blow my house down, because there is no solid foundation.

However, when my hope is built on the Lord Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, the very one who holds all things together, I can rest assured that when the enemy comes knocking; my foundation is steady, sure, and strong. The walls will not cave in, the enemy cannot destroy my home because Jesus has already defeated him and my real home is in heaven with Him. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the children of Israel, “You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’” Deuteronomy‬ ‭3‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬. He’s reminding the Israelites that God has already given them the land and they do not have to fear their enemies. It doesn’t mean the enemies won’t come and try to steal, kill, or destroy them, but God is fighting for them. In the same way, we do not have to fear the attacks of the enemy because Jesus has already won the battle on Calvary’s hill.