The Florida Marchman Act Saves Lives!

Something that you may not know but should if you are a parent or grandparent in the State of Florida. The Marchman Act is a life-saving tool for many families. Here is a link to an interesting new blog I discovered that explains The Marchman Act best: “The Florida Marchman Act is not a legal sword to punish addicts with incarceration for refusing care. Instead, the Florida Marchman Act is a legal shield to protect addicts from the criminal justice system and incarceration; but, most importantly, from ending up in the morgue.” http://www.marchmanactblog.com/2012/04/open-letter-to-addiction-professionals.html

Donna Trivia and this and that scriptures

Donna trivia: 24 years ago I was in a labor and delivery room all day long birthing my second daughter, Amber. That was a long day! There are 21 years difference between Amber and my daughter Regina. My body was in real shock after that birth although I did it drug-free without so much as an Advil; walked the halls of Holmes Hospital in Melbourne, FL all day long. I was really hungry afterwards. Ate my supper right there in the delivery room. Bill went home and ate a whole pizza by himself, you know all that coaching really worked up an appetite for him. I can still hear him saying in a sing-song voice, "Push, Push, push, like your are going to the bathroom!"
I get really quiet during labor but another woman might have slapped him:)
I would have to say that Amber is the most complex of my daughters:) Prayed eight years for her to come so the Lord must have a mighty purpose for her:) 

A  much wanted and prayed for daughter 

M ysterious as her crystal blue eyes

B eautiful as the jewel she was named after

E namored with Ryan, may they live happily ever after 

R are and resilient; may the Lord make all her dreams come true

Isaiah 64:4 "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.The Bible being at the top of my must-read list: 

Prayer to Be Reckoned With from James 5:13-20 Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out. 

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again. 

My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.

'Tonight I will break a Parent's heart" 7 people die daily from pill overdose in FL

I was reading Hebrews 13 in The Message and some of the verses made me think about the meeting of The Substance Abuse Task Force. I am always struck by the pain of the parents that have lost children to the disease of addictions. One man introduced himself as the father of a dead child; in this case it was not an addiction problem but kids celebrating their graduation.  How heartbreaking, and yet how many of us can say, "There but by the grace of God go I ?"  Many of us realize and try to prepare ourselves for the possibility of loss in our families, with recreational pills so prevalent in the younger generation. If you are in the Daytona area, please check out the Substance Abuse Task Force monthly meeting. I am asking people of faith and more from the Faith community to show up and start praying that our city will be a light on the hill that shows a different way to live. If you are a church leader who wants to help please post or message me and I will let you know who to contact:)

 

Hebrews 13:13-16 So let's go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This "insider world" is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come. Let's take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus' name.

 Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of "sacrifice"—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets. Hebrews 13


I met the (still grieving a year later) father of this boy after the meeting. I didn't want him to leave that meeting thinking that his son's death was in vain. I knew it was hard for him to make the effort to come to the meeting but I was so glad he came. The only comfort I could give was to say I would pray for him, give him a hug and the words that seemed to help, "I know when your son woke up the morning before he didn't think or plan, 'Tonight I will break my father's heart.'" Although that was what happened it was a horrible accident, of kids using one drug, one time too many. Young people are not thinking when they use recreational drugs; they are just doing it to fit in with their friends. In some small way, please get the word out, "One time may be one time too many."



 Sometimes seeing a real face to go along with the story helps; this was someone's son: http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/southeast-volusia/2011/06/02/new-smyrna-teen-taken-off-ventilator-dies-police-look-into-drug-connection.html

Who Could Make Normal out of This?

Do you sometimes look at your family and think, "Who Could Make Normal out of This?" Does it require faith to live a normal life in the world we live in? I believe it does!

It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (MSG)

Do you have a “normal family”? What does normal look like to you? Do you have to be happy to be normal? I’m about to come to the conclusion that there are no normal families, because what makes one person happy in the family doesn’t always make the other person happy. And when you have a large family it is a miracle if you can get anyone to agree on anything. Unless you are the Walton’s, and sometimes Mama wasn’t always happy with the kids, especially when they got older and sassier. 

I must concur with Patsy Clairmont, who said, “Normal is only a setting on your clothes dryer.” May your day be blessed, and don’t worry if your family isn’t normal; God loves them anyway! And you, too:)
A little addition:  Something that I posted on my granddaughter's FaceBook concerning "voice and using it" I think may apply to some others of us, myself included: Don't stop singing your song ever! You have a strong voice and need to be heard; the world has never experienced anyone like you and never will again. You are unique and you are loved and cherished even on those days that it doesn't feel that way!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXH0MjGe10s
A song and a prayer is what I offer today
Part of this was a repost but for those new, I hope it helps:)

Somebody’s Mother may need to read this today

 Somebody’s Mother

Somebody’s mother is crying,
Fearing her daughter or son is dying.
Dreading the next phone call
Drugs may have ended of it all.

A beautiful life is no more
Cocaine, pills and alcohol opened the door,
Each time led to one time more,
Innocence, can you be restored?

Oh my child, cannot you see?
Your lifestyle affects more than me?
You try to cover your pain,
But it keeps recurring again.

There is another way out,
Oh yes, it makes me want to shout,
A savior to redeem the sin,
Who can make you feel clean again,
He can make all things new,
He loves and is waiting for you.

He gives you a chance for new life
He knows you are sick of the strife,
Of living in this Hell on earth,
He came that you would find true worth.

He sees not as others see,
He remembers the sweet little child,
Who made her mother’s heart whirl,
The songs you sang even in night
“Some day it’s gonna be all right.”

So don’t make her cry any more,
Turn and walk through a new door,
To wholeness, happiness and more,
You can reach a new level, I know
 Today
Donna Collins Tinsley  9/6/11 revised version (original copyright 2002) 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/119408188089314/

Aerosmith and Senior Citizens; Smile:)

Aerosmith, and Senior Citizens,

 A Match Made in Heaven

I was nearly fifty-five years old when I became a fan of Steven Tyler. That’s when I went to my first Aerosmith Rock Concert with my then fifteen-year-old daughter, Shiloh. Trying to give her a great birthday present I agreed to the trip to Tampa, Florida and the induction and introduction into the Rock music genre.

On the trip over she indoctrinated me to the sort of music we would be hearing. I wasn't sure I knew but a couple of Aerosmith's songs, and wasn't sure how I was going to deal with all that loud music. But, it was her birthday trip and I was going to be a good sport about it. I was thinking I needed to get my groove on, but as it is with teenagers, just when you think they want you to act like their friend, they will surprise you with another response.

“Mom, you aren’t going to wear that are you? You’re my mother, not a teenager!”

We arrived early only to have to wait for hours outside, as the opening act was canceled. This conservative stay-at-home mom was way out of her normal comfort zone.

Then suddenly the doors were open and we were ecstatic to see that our seats were really close to the stage!  I looked around and was surprised to see there were more people there my age than Shiloh's. I was seated beside what looked like three generations of Asian women and a few couples that looked older than me, were on the aisle seats. There were big college guys standing behind us with huge glasses of beer, "Oh Lord, please don't let them spill that on us, I don't want to smell like a brewery.” Sheltered woman that I was I didn't even know they served beer at these things.

When Steven Tyler got out there singing and shaking his booty that couldn’t really be me screaming that loud? Or was it? Shiloh looked at me real funny.  This was supposed to be her concert, her birthday present.

“Mom!” she said as she tried to figure out some way to pretend she really wasn’t with me after all. When I embarrass her at the drive through restaurants she can slump down in her seat in the van, but she had no way of escape here. Besides I had always heard it was part of my job description as a mother to embarrass my kids!

That was the most exciting and energizing concert ever! It was a good thing we were sitting in the middle of the row of seats or Shiloh would’ve been totally embarrassed by her mom dancing in the aisles. As it was, I could only do the Paula Abdul, American Idol, thing and dance where I was. In fact, I had to scream my critique of each performance hoping it would reach the stage and my new BFF (best friend forever), Steven Tyler. How could someone with that much energy be older than me?

     Words of their songs gave me a glimpse of heaven on earth and the lyrics from “Dream On”* encourages even the seniors among us to dream, aspire and really rock, too! “Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year
sing for the laughter, sing for the tear
sing with me, if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

 Dream On, Dream On, Dream On
Dream until your dreams come true”

As the concert was winding down and the haunting strands of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"* started playing, every older woman in my aisle jumped up, singing, and yes they were screaming, too. I was the first one out of my seat.

Don’t want to close my eyes
I don’t want to fall asleep
I don’t want to miss a thing

     Now, I’ve decided I want to try more Rock Concerts and take my ever-loving hubby with me, too! It was really invigorating and made me feel like a teenager again to go. Seriously, aren’t we all still teenagers in our mind’s eye? I had decided since I am getting my groove on maybe I can compete to become a judge on American Idol? But then they hired Steven Tyler; you can be sure I will be watching him this season. Who would’ve thought this grandma would start wearing feathers in her hair like Steven did last year on Idol? And even though my kids aren’t too cool with it, my hubby loves it. He even called me his own personal Native American at Thanksgiving!

Now that we all are getting older I’m wondering when they will start offering a “senior citizen” rate for tickets?
Donna Collins Tinsley
You may not recognize my writing in this one; different than most of what you have seen so far:) It is posted on this link, too.
http://www.divinecaroline.com/22088/126181-aerosmith-senior-citizens-match-made

FWC, A church with a heart for the community

Family Worship Center in Port Orange Florida is a church with a heart for the community. They have many outreaches such as the one where they give hundreds of backpacks to children each year, Celebrate Recovery, an awesome Youth group pastored by John and Cathy Mazza and so much more. But yesterday, for the Easter services, Pastor Ray Dubois who had been preaching of the power of one changed life recently, took Easter to a higher level. He showed a video of many member’s lives that had been changed and then those families came up and stood before the church; a living lesson that touched so many. From former gang members, couples on the verge of divorce, former drug-addicted and prisoner to just your “normal” previous dysfunctional family.There is hope for all and that is what Easter is all about; resurrection life that we all can aspire to attain.

Easter wasn’t the day of total joy for our family as it was for some others, but there were blessings among the pain and I am grateful for those. Attending church with my family was the highlight of the day for me and I had an added blessing of some who don’t normally attend, coming for Easter. Having a daughter in the hospital in pain for the past week surely made it a difficult day, but for these things we have Jesus, our Hope.

May the Cross ever be before us today!

A Constant Image

For my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Galatians 6:14

The Message

In the front of my mind

In the back of my mind,

 To the left and to the right,

There’s an image of a man on a cross.

Dallas Holm

These are the words to a song written by Dallas Holm that really moved my spirit. This is how I want to live my life, with the Lord in the front of my mind and in the back of my mind. As I go to the left or the right, may his image never leave me. May this picture in my mind help me to walk differently in the world I live in. I need to walk worthy of the calling God has put on me.  Let me walk in a way that would not shame the one who is my Lord and Master. Jesus was born in a stable---yet He is the King of Glory.

     He lived a simple life. He amazed His mother, confounded his neighborhood, (could anything good come from Nazareth?) called together a group of outcasts to disciple and write about His story.

     He carried a heavy cross on which He was crucified for my sins and yours, years before we were ever conceived. He knew what pain was like. He understood how it felt to be rejected by friends and family alike. He wept. He understood what it was like to lose a loved one. But for the joy set before Him, he endured the cross. That joy was giving life to us.

Lord, please keep the picture of what You did on the cross for us, ever before us. And remind us that what we think on may control my day for good. We think of You and what You did on the cross today. Thank you, Jesus for your blood and Your love.

The Lost Art of Foot Washing

For today's post I am putting an article that was published by The Bible Advocate in 2011:

The Lost Art of Foot Washing

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

John 13:3-5 NIV

     Why, in the body of Christ, is foot washing such a rare occurrence when Jesus himself said, “We ought to wash one another’s feet?” Ought means duty, obligation something we owe. When was the last time you washed your brother or sister’s feet? Or have you ever? Perhaps you feel it something to be done only by the Pastor or his wife as a church ordinance or tradition but I challenge you to think of it in a new way.

      Try to imagine how you would feel if the Lord was washing your feet, as he did to the disciples. Close your eyes and picture this in your mind. Feel the soothing warmth of the water, the strength of His strong hands massaging your feet and toes. The texture and smell of the soap is rejuvenating. You felt so weary and tired but now your feet are tingling. You are refreshed and humbled by His touch. Your soul feels restored by His service of love to you.

     How shocked the disciples must have been to see their Master coming to them girded with a towel and carrying a basin. He was their Master yet He was doing the work of a servant. “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this, (John 13:7)” was Jesus answer when Peter questioned Him.

     “So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.”

As a Church Ritual

     There are churches that advocate “foot-washing” as part of a Christian’s walk. The “Church of God” includes the practice as an Ordinance. The “Old-line Primitive Baptist” and also “The True Jesus Church,”* a non-denominational church that originated in Beijing, China in 1917, believes in “foot washing.” It is an act of humility and love and this practice as a church ritual may be done once or twice a year or along with communion services. Some churches only do it on Maundy Thursday.

    

 As a Personal Gift of Love

    There have been times the Lord had told me to serve in this way. Once to prepare a sister for her wedding day, I washed and perfumed her feet. Another time, a conflict arose in a relationship and the Lord impressed upon me I must humble myself and serve by foot washing. This was part of the restoration of the relationship. Several times the Lord has sent me purely as an act of love.

     I had the privilege of washing the feet of a saint who was about 95 years old. Her walk in this world had been long and hard. She lived through the days of having no civil rights and many injustices. When the Lord sent me, He gave me specific scriptures to read. We had a wonderful time of fellowship, prayer and praise. She said to me when I came in, “Do whatever the Lord told you to do, I know He sent you!” This experience bonded us together in a way that I would not have imagined. Now that she has passed on to her heavenly home, I will always treasure ministering to her in that way.

Biblical Exhortation

     In the book of 1st Timothy, Paul gives examples of godliness, “…well reported for good works; if she has brought up children, if she lodged strangers, if she has washed the saint’s feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.” (1^st Timothy 5:1) 

A New Version of the Practice

     Husbands, have you considered washing the feet of your wife? Could it go along with the exhortation:  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27 (New International Version)

      Ladies, have you considered washing the feet of your husband? It may be the last thing in the world you want to do for him. But would you consider blessing him in that way? Our lives are too hectic. This could be a time for to help him to slow down and reflect.

     I was once very burdened for a friend and I didn’t know what to do for her. I decided to visit her, and as I was leaving my home I felt I should take my basin, towel and soaps with me. What my friend needed was someone to spend time with her. She didn’t need my words or someone to try to “fix her,” she needed someone to listen and be obedient to the Holy Spirit. Although foot-washing did occur there is also such a thing as spiritually washing your friend’s feet just by giving your time and love. One time a friend felt uncomfortable with me washing her feet but she let me massage soothing lotion on her hands as I prayed a blessing upon her. It is a gift you give that cannot be purchased at a store.

Tools of the Trade

     Practical things to keep on hand if you feel the Lord is calling you to serve the Body of Christ in this way are special liquid soaps, lotions and clean towels in a basin or plastic tub. You might want to keep them handy in a closet or in your car. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, yet the Lord can make the experience very special by His Holy Spirit. If time and water are limited I’ve found that washing with lotion can be refreshing to friends. I wasn’t sure if that qualified as foot washing until a sister whispered to me at her wedding reception how renewed she felt after I had washed her feet with lotion several days before the wedding.

Let the Spirit Move

     I am giving examples of private situations, but never restrict the Holy Spirit. I witnessed my husband wash the feet of a man he barely knew in a small group meeting. This man had come to a deep relationship with the Lord through serving time in prison. The look of joy on his face amidst tears streaming down is something I will always remember, as I looked on. In turn, his wife was prompted to wash her mother’s feet, a woman who has mentored hundreds of people. Much blessing came that night as the Spirit moved.

    When Mary washed Jesus’ feet it was a public display of adoration and preparation for His death. People were reproving the act of love she gave, but Jesus said, “Let her alone; why are you troubling her? She has done a good and beautiful thing to Me---Praiseworthy and noble. And surely I tell you, wherever the good news  (the gospel) is proclaimed to the entire world, what she has done will be told for a memorial of her.” (Mark 14:6&9) The Amplified Bible

     Jesus said, “…what you do for the least of these, you do for Me.” I can’t be as Mary, and wash His feet with my tears, but the Lord can and will use my hands to wash the feet of members of His body. What about you?   

 Donna Collins Tinsley

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Jesus_Church#The_ten_main_doctrines_and_beliefs