Faith | Real Life on Rocky Top

Christmas on Rocky Top

Dec 24 2015

Every morning of Christmas season, preacher walks out of our bedroom and the first things he does is turn on the Christmas tree lights. Preacher loves Christmas….the lights, the sounds of squealing children opening up presents, the smells of the good food. When our children were little, he would stand outside their bedroom windows after they went to bed on Christmas Eve and shake bells, throw small rocks on the roof, and shout “Ho-Ho-Ho”! He would snuggle with the children while watching Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer and if you watched him closely, tears would come to his eyes as Clarice sang, “There’s always tomorrow…”

Christmas has just always been his favorite time of the year……..truly!

Some may think it is because Preacher is just a big kid at heart. Nope that is not why!

Preacher truly believes in CHRISTmas.

He believes when the mommy of a 15 year old boy, killed laying down his life to save the lives of three teenage girls, sits by her Christmas tree tonight that GOD WILL BE WITH HER!

He believes when the daddy of a very sick little boy, sits by the hospital bed awaiting surgery on Christmas that GOD WILL BE WITH HIM!

He believes when a precious widow sits by a Christmas tree tonight aching for her husband that GOD WILL BE WITH HER!

He believes when the world seems to be spinning out of control and evil appears to be reigning and there is little hope for our precious grandchildren’s future that GOD WILL BE WITH THEM!

When Mary went to Elizabeth’s house to share the news the angel of the Lord had given her, Elizabeth said to Mary “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord as said to her will be accomplished.” Luke 1:45.

Christmas is coming tomorrow morning! Even if the baking is not done, even if all the presents aren’t wrapped or if the house isn’t cleaned.

Christ is simply asking us this Christmas……Do you believe? Do you believe that I will fill that empty hole in your heart? Do you believe that I am in control? Do you believe I can be your hope, joy, peace and love when there seems to be absolutely no way?

So Preacher turns on the Christmas tree lights every morning to remember……..Christ came, He is with us today no matter what the circumstances, no matter the storms, no matter the darkness.

Preacher believes HE IS WITH US……..EMMANUEL!

And my question to you as well as to myself: What do I truly believe?

Merry Christmas from Rocky Top!

The Christmas Party on Rocky Top

Dec 17 2015

Eight pies made…Check! 10 dozen cookies made…Check! Gifts for 35 under the tree….Check! House cleaned…..check! House decorated……check! Red Christmas sweater on……check! Candles lit…….Check! Christmas lights……..Wait! No Christmas lights coming on??? This can’t be happening. Everything is perfect…..and a breaker blows and I have no Christmas lights. Really??? This is not how this picture perfect, successful staff Christmas party is supposed to go down!

About to have a major melt down…..and I hear a whisper in my ear? Who are you trying to make famous tonight, Donna? Is tonight about you? Or is tonight about ME? Are you checking your list off tonight for your glory? Or for MINE? OUCH!

Let’s keep it REAL up here on Rocky Top! Christmas can be a crazy time of year with our To-do lists long, little sleep, sugar induced hyped up kids, and just everyday life thrown in. It’s hard to think about wrapping 20 gifts when you have 10 loads of laundry to do!

How do we as wives and moms keep Christ in Christmas without having a major melt down?

Make Jesus famous! After all it really is HIS birthday! Ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing……..whether it is baking a pie, wrapping your gifts to all color coordinate, or shopping for that perfect gift? Are you checking things off your list to make HIM famous and celebrate His birth or is to make yourself look good?
Simplify! How many gifts does each child really need? How many Christmas trees does your house really need? Does every room in the entire house need to be decorated in a Christmas theme? Does everything have to be homemade? And how many Christmas parties does one really need to go to? Sometimes a quiet night at home is the best party of all!
Worship! It is Jesus’ birthday! This is not the season to skip your time with Him because you are so busy! Make the time every day to read His word and worship Him. Attend worship services to actually worship! Your clothes don’t have to be the latest trend in Christmas attire. Little Johnny doesn’t have to be the star of the Christmas play! Again, make HIM famous!
Love on someone who is hurting. Christmas can be a really hard time for people. People who have lost loved ones; people who are sick; people who don’t have a big family; people who are financially struggling. Make Jesus famous by doing what Jesus would do……..He always looked for that hurting person to love on. Let’s do the same.

And by the way, the staff party was successful. As preacher said on Sunday during worship, success is achieved when Jesus is made famous. Jesus was made famous at that party but not because of pies, cookies, food, gifts or decorations but through hugs, smiles, shared laughter, shared joy and prayer! As a dear friend said when the lights blew, “Honey, Christmas happens on the inside…not on the outside!”

May Jesus be made famous this Christmas in your home!

“And angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ” Luke 2:9-10

Joy, Mamma, Joy??

Sep 04 2015

With much “joy”, I welcome Amy Daniel to my brown rocking chair on the back porch at Rocky Top!

Amy is my middle daughter! Yep……..middle child says it all about this beautiful young woman!

Amy is wife to Joseph and mommy to Addy…….the most beautiful 22 month old little girl in the entire world….don’t even try and disagree with that one! When Amy is not singing, reading, swinging, or playing with Addy or washing clothes, cooking meals or helping out at Mom to Mom (a ministry for and to moms), you will find her in the N.I.C.U. at the University of Tennessee Hospital caring for some special littles! So, my precious daughter, what is God teaching you lately???

You know those summer rain showers…the ones where it’s pouring down rain but oddly the sky is sunny. That is a perfect metaphor for my life lately. My sky is sunny…amazing husband, great family, beautiful little girl…but I feel like I’m getting drenched in a rain storm of gloom. I find myself having pity parties over little things and stuck in this gloomy mood.

Nothing huge has gone wrong in my life lately but happiness seems to elude me. Maybe you have found yourself in my shoes or maybe you have big reasons to be feeling down, either way…how do we drag ourselves out of the mud and into the Son?

Well I recently learned this important lesson from my little girl. She is 22 months old. Her favorite song, as of late, goes like this “I’ve got joy down in my heart, deep, deep down in my heart. J-O-Y down in my heart, deep, deep down in my heart. Jesus put it there and nothing can destroy it!”

She comes up to me daily and asks “Joy, Mamma? Joy?”….. wanting me to sing this song to her. It dawned on me during the thousandth time singing this song that I do have joy deep down in my heart…. even when my emotions are telling me otherwise. His name is Jesus!! Proverbs 17:22 says “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

So when I am feeling stuck in the gloom of my own pity…I remember my daughters sweet voice asking me “Joy, mamma? Joy?” I will choose to answer “Yes, baby girl, I have J-O-Y down deep in my heart!”

I will choose to not dwell on circumstances or emotions and dwell on Jesus and what He has done for me. Every time I start to feel the gloom creeping in…I will choose Joy.

It’s pretty hard to stay in the muck when you meditate on His glory. So if you are stuck in the rain today…whether the sky is sunny or stormy…decide to choose Joy! For His joy…….NOTHING CAN DESTROY IT!!

Was Sunday Real? or Was It Just Emotion?

Aug 28 2015

Ok…….let’s be real with each other. It is the middle of the week after a Sunday in which the Lord really moved in my heart and in many other’s hearts. I dealt with some personal sin in my own life. I prayed and called out for the Lord on behalf of my family, my church, my friends, our nation, and our world as Preacher led us. I sang at the top of my lungs………”There is Power in the Name of Jesus to break every chain.” P I fell on my knees in brokenness and stood up to walk in His freedom, joy, and forgiveness.

But now it is the middle of the week and some of those chains are rattling in front of me. I see them and I hear them. The enemy is taunting me and the feeling is fading. So what do I do???

Preacher said, “Revival is renewed passion to know Christ, love Christ, share Christ and serve Christ!” So I decided to………

Run to the Word! The best way to know Christ is to be in His word. To read it, study it, memorize it. There is no shortcut on this. If you don’t choose to run to His word, well you might as well just quit reading this blog right now. So I ran to His word and the Lord began to teach me even more about Revival and how to sustain it in my own life. Here are some practical things that the Lord said to me through thru the following verse:

“The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon my high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.” Habakkuk 3:19

Make sure He is my Master. The word “God” in Habakkuk 3:19 is “Adonai” which means “Master”. Unless He is my Master in every area of life…..meaning I choose to obey Him every time He speaks to me ……..He will not be my strength. When I was a little child, I was told that when God speaks to you that you should take the first step in obedience and then His strength will carry you through. I know this is truth for every directive He has ever given me………from choosing to hold my tongue to moving across the country to serve Him in a new ministry. The first step is my obedience, and then His power enables me!

Acknowledge my high places and REPENT! High places aren’t fun, pretty places. In the Old Testament “high places” referred to where people sacrificed to idols. Many times people sacrificed their own children on high places. High places are strongholds of sin in my life. A stronghold is the area of your life that the enemy has a grip on; an area that the enemy can count on your response. It can be an addiction to food, alcohol, drugs, approval, gossip, anger, greed, shopping, pride, laziness, self-centeredness and the list goes on and on. God’s power can’t enable you to walk on your high places unless you are willing to acknowledge you have them. If I excuse my “sin” because of anything or anyone, then the chains can’t be broken. One can’t repent and turn from sin unless, one acknowledges and agrees with God that it is sin.

Have the feet of a doe! Yep, that’s what the Lord said. Hind’s feet are the feet of a female deer. I believe God specifically used “hind’s feet” for a reason. The feet of a male and female deer are different! As I researched this some experts say that a doe can go higher than a buck because they are more agile and because their feet are different. One study said that doe’s nails are longer so they can grip the rocks better and therefore are more agile in rocky environments. The Lord doesn’t want strongholds in our lives to pulls us down or weigh us down. He wants to give us hind’s feet to move powerfully and effectively through them.

Worship! Habakkuk, the prophet, began chapter 3 with a musical term “shigionoth”…… a musical term that meant to sing with delirious joy. The prophet closes chapter 3 by reminding us about worship. Worship when the chains are rattling! Worship means to declare God’s worth. Fill your heart, your mind, your life with music which glorifies Him. Speak words of His worth! The moment I begin to sing His praise, the noise of the rattling chains disappears.

And finally Serve others and Share Christ…..Revival is only revival as Preacher says when it leaves the church building. So this week when I began to “lose the feeling” I asked the Lord to put others in my path that I could serve and share Christ’s love with. After having several opportunities to just love on others, God begin to fill me with His joy.

So up on Rocky Top I have seen a lot of deer. I haven’t been quick enough to snap a picture of one.

But a dear friend of mine has! She actually took the above picture of a doe on my high place…..yep right outside my window. See that precious doe peeking up over the rocky top! When she sent me this picture I had so much joy in my heart. Thank you Lord that you will send Your power into my life to walk right through any stronghold/high place in my life if I will just run to your Word, acknowledge you as my master, worship you and then love and serve others!!!

Sunday was REAL! “There’s an army rising up……to break every chain, break every chain.”

Generations of Love

Aug 01 2015

I’m sitting on the back porch today at Rocky Top contemplating the last 35 years! Whoa…that is a long time! Yet, that is the number of years I have been married to Preacher.

Remembering our first date at Wendy’s and a movie, this blonde haired, blue eyed guy caught my heart!

After sitting on a swing at Baylor University for several hours talking, I knew he was “The One”! I ran upstairs to my dorm room and proudly announced to my roommate, “I’m going to marry, John Avant.”

And two years later, we walked down the aisle of Miller Chapel at Baylor and pledged our lives to one another and began a wild adventure.

During those 35 years we have lived in four states, eleven apartments/houses, served seven churches and one denominational mission agency, been on mission together in 7 countries, raised 3 children who are now all married, and have two adorable grandchildren. Wow……I’m tired.

We have also in those 35 years experienced death of parents, a grandchild and dear friends; experienced sickness and surgeries; and there were times that we might have called our marriage quits if not for the fact Preacher would lose his job if our marriage failed. Does that shock you?? It shouldn’t!

A good marriage is hard work! BUT a good marriage is full of joy and fun!

It is fun to dance with my husband knowing he has chosen me over and over! It was a blast to dance at each of my children’s weddings with the man who helped me bring them into this world and helped to parent them. And it is a joy to watch my husband throw his grandchildren up into the air as they laugh and squeal with delight.

But I do have regrets and there are things that I want to grow in as a wife to this blonde haired, blue eyed guy who I truly adore…even after 35 years.

If we don’t grow, we regress and eventually love grows cold.

So in celebrating 35 years of marriage I want to leave you with some wisdom from some women who have been married longer or almost as long as I have.……..collectively this wisdom comes from almost 150 years of marriage being represented! Here are some great ways to grow in your marriage!

Love Jesus first…..He is the only one who can truly meet all your needs!
Show affection to your man and have lots of sex!…….Get over your body image…he chose you and thinks you are beautiful. But do choose to take care of yourself…he wants you around!
Keep dating…….choose to have time alone each week without kids!
Go on adventures together…..experience new things together.
Keep communication lines open……..talk it out!
Never forget the bigger picture…working on your marriage is about creating……..GENERATIONS OF LOVE……..and that will ultimately change the world!

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