What's Up With Miss Laurie?

Dear Readers,
It is time to have a chat. I've been partly putting this chat off because I didn't know what to say and partly because I've been too busy to think of even what to say to y'all. Forgive me for my long absence and not keeping up with some things I should have kept up with better.
Below are answers to some questions I am pretty sure y'all would ask me if we saw each other in person. So let's just chat, okay?

What's Up With Miss Laurie? Are You Alright?
The short answer is yes, I am alright. The longer answer involves a recap of the last three years.
So many of you may remember me mentioning that I was a live-in caregiver for my great-grandmother (Gram) starting back in September 2013. My dear Gram passed away in January 2016, shortly after Christmas, and after that my life was in great upheaval. Moving from NY state back to live with my parents in KY meant not only grieving for the loss of Gram but also breaking the ties with family and new friends that I have formed over that time. The rest of January and February my posting increased because I was out of work and had more time to enjoy blogging. In March I began working at Noah's Cafe inside the Creation Museum. It was lovely to be working with my dear friends again and I learned a lot but still had an unsettled feeling like God had something more for me to do. So I applied for a new job and God opened the door much wider and blessed even more than I could have ever expected.

Where Is Miss Laurie Working Now? 
When I applied for the new job I was initially told "no" but given an opportunity to work for the same place in a lower ranking position (still good just less money and responsibility). I accepted the position and decided to step out in faith and see what God had in store. Not even two weeks later I was contacted again and offered the supervisory position I had initially applied for. I accepted the position and life has been a whirlwind of craziness ever since! So you're now looking at a new Supervisor of Food & Beverage at the Ark Encounter, a full sized Noah's Ark themed attraction in Williamstown, KY opening July 7th, 2016! It's lovely and crazy at the same time because I get to help open the restaurant there at the Ark Encounter. My new position means a lot of changes in my life including a possible move to be living closer to my workplace. It also means a crazy busy summer with unfortunately very little time for posting here at Old-Fashioned Charm.

Are You Closing Old-Fashioned Charm? Will You Still Post?
No, absolutely not! OFC will remain right here as long as I can keep it open. Posting at OFC has been a lovely almost 8 year adventure! When I started I certainly wouldn't have believed all the amazing people I would "meet" and all the things God would do through this blog.
I will definitely be posting in future but I can not promise when. After this busy summer I may have more time to devote to my writing but I am unsure what the future looks like right now. Games are the easiest for me to post so hopefully you'll see some of those even during the summer and maybe film reviews.

What About The 2016 Period Drama Challenge?
The Period Drama Challenge is still going on and it is lovely to see your reviews pop up! I am hoping to post a recap post soon and at the very least I'll be posting an ending post when the Challenge ends in July. I am most disappointed with myself for not reviewing the amount of period dramas that I had set as my goal (really the amount of half written reviews in my Blogger account are many and sad). Y'all are doing amazing though, I am so proud of everyone! Please keep up the good work and keep sharing your love of period dramas!

Whatever Has Happened To Miss Laurie?

Dear Friends,

Please forgive my long absence and general lack of interesting posts over the last few weeks. This summer has been super busy with work, weddings, church activities, etc. But last weekend something happened that is shortly to change my life completely.

A couple weeks ago my mother's 90-year-old grandmother had a nasty fall and broke her shoulder. She's needed lots of help and her extended family had been bickering about how to best care for her - nursing home or in-home care. My grandfather and the rest of our branch of the family favored in-home care - which is where I come in. With my 6+ years experience of working with dementia patients and my healthcare skills and my state of singleness I am the perfect candidate to care for Gram. The family asked if I would go to New York to care for her and...I said "yes".

Saying yes was easy but then the hard part began. Going means quitting my cafe job here, saying good-bye to my wonderful work family, leaving my caring church family, uprooting my life from my immediate family (who I've never lived away from), packing my belongings for an extended stay and moving the 9 hours away from Kentucky to New York state. At this time it is uncertain how long Gram will need me - until her shoulder heals for longer as her memory fades.  I can't quite accurately describe the emotional roller coaster I've been on for the last week. Monday when I told my boss and co-workers I was leaving I got so many hugs and near tears it felt like it was actually my last day of work - but then I had two weeks of work to get through. I will miss the folks at the Creation Museum more than I can say, they have been so very special to me!

God keeps confirming my decision to go by working out the details and also working on my heart through scripture, sermons and songs. I know moving to care for Gram is what He wants me to do but at the same time it is hard to leave my life here in KY because I love it so much and was really looking forward to lots of things this Fall/Winter and beyond.

Please pray for me as I continue to make my preparations for the move. Pray for the drive up to NY with my family scheduled for September 6th. Pray that I will have wisdom in how best to care for Gram. Pray that I stay healthy and well from sickness. Most of all please pray that my words, actions and attitudes will be a testimony to God's faithfulness and to the joy that comes from serving Jesus. There are a lot of people watching me right now and I want to show them how much I love them and love the Lord..

While I have these plans ahead of me it looks very much like I shall be forced to take a break from posting at Old-Fashioned Charm for a while. Please bear with me during this silence that I hope will break towards the end of September.

Thank you for your patience and your prayers!

God Bless,

  

Something Special For You

I was introduced to this video earlier this week and knew I had to share it with all of you! The style of the video is really cool but the message contained in it is so truthful and meaningful!



Reverse Thinking

Isn't that neat? Gives me goosebumps every time! So good! :)

Immutability

One of the neat things about working for a Christian ministry is starting our work days out with a devotional and prayer time. My co-workers have taken turns giving devotionals on the Attributes of God and a couple weeks ago it was my turn. The Lord brought to my mind the interesting subject of His immutability and I'd like to share a bit of what I talked about with my co-workers.

Attribute of God: Immutability

Definition of Attribute: Not capable of or susceptible to change. Unchanging, constant. 

Bible Verses: 

Psalm 90:2 "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God."
God is the same as He was before He created the world.

Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." 
These words from God's mouth, He is Lord and does not change. Because He does not change we are not consumed but sustained.

II Timothy 2:13 "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."
God does not change even if we don't believe in Him. He is the source of absolute truth and is not dependent on people believing in Him.

James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
There is no fickleness in God or even the shadow or inkling that He will ever change.

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
God the Lord Jesus is never changing, I can trust Him as much today as I did yesterday and trust Him as much tomorrow as I am today. 

Why I chose this attribute and why it's important to me:

• Life is so crazy, mixed up and ever changing for the bad. People change their minds all the time, what they say one moment they will just as easily change their minds on the next moment. God is different. God is the one unchanging, stable thing in this world. He stands firm in the test of time and does in fact uphold all things. 
• Because God does not change this means that His attributes will never change. He is always going to be loving, good, merciful, everywhere present, all knowing, all powerful, all sufficient. His promises will never change either because He will not change His mind.
• Because God does not change I can completely put my trust in Him every day. I can cling to Him and know that He will always stand firm although my world is spinning out of control. 
• Although God does not change He is changing me to become more like His Son, Jesus Christ. He takes me as I am but He doesn't leave me as I am. 1 John 3:2 "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."
• God does not change but as we learn more about Him through reading the Bible our view of Him will change and become more rounded. 

"Consider what thou owest to His immutability. Though thou hast changed a thousand times, He has not changed once; though thou hast shifted thy intentions, and thy will, yet He has not once swerved from His eternal purpose, but has still held thee fast." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 1856

"Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,

When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?

When the strong tides lift and the cables strain,

Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?

We have an anchor that keeps the soul

Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,

Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,

Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love."

- We Have An Anchor, Priscilla J. Owens, 1882

Easter Contemplations

I'm not sure if it's just because Easter falls so early in this year, or that I've been so busy lately but this Easter took me by surprise at how fast it was approaching. Of myself I haven't had time to consider Easter or the story of Christ's Resurrection but reflecting on this past week there's several thoughts on Ester that the Lord has given me (from chapels, Bible studies and songs) that I'd like to share with y'all. 

Romans 11:22 

For the last two weeks my pastor has been teaching on Wednesday night Prayer Meeting about the Goodness and Severity (or Judgement) of God. He mentioned how a lot of people only want God to be a kindly grandfather in Heaven who continually gives good gifts. Other people only see God as severe, a grumpy old man sitting high in Heaven judging them. The truth is that God is both Good and Severe / Just. His Holy nature is so far above our sinful natures that He must Judge us fairly to be guilty, but God is so Good that He created a way for us to come to Him. He sent His only son Jesus Christ, who was both Holy God and a Perfect Man, to take the punishment for all of our sin by dying a cruel death on a cross like a common thief! This is what Good Friday is all about, Christ's death was because of our sin, his death was for us! 

Friday one of my co-workers mentioned Romans 11:22 in devotional time and the Lord brought this thought to my mind: When Jesus died on the cross God showed both His Severity and His Goodness - His Severity was poured out on Jesus Christ so that His Goodness could be shown toward us!

If you've grown up in church like me this concept is not a new one but the connection of this verse to the Easter message had never occurred to me before. It's almost an unbelievable thought that a Holy, all-powerful Creator God could give such a good gift to sinners who have rejected Him, but this just shows how much God loves us!

Smitten, Stricken and Afflicted - hymn sung by Fernando Ortega

My sister got Fernando Ortega's hymns CD Beginnings for her birthday and I've enjoyed listening to the peaceful arrangements of classic hymns played on piano, violin and guitar. The hymn Smitten, Stricken and Afflicted really stuck out to me because the words tell of Jesus Christ's death on the cross and in particular the depth of pain he received when dying for us. He was indeed rejected, groaning, disowned, insulted, wounded and pierced and as the hymn says "Was there ever grief like His?". 

But what was it all for? In verse four the hymn explains: "Lamb of God for sinners wounded! Sacrifice to cancel guilt!"   

The hymn also issues a warning to unbelievers (just as Romans 11:22 does):

Ye who think of sin but lightly, 

Nor suppose the evil great, 

Here may view its nature rightly, 

Here its guilt may estimate. 

Mark the Sacrifice appointed! 

See Who bears the awful load! 

’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed, 

Son of Man, and Son of God.

It's All About The Resurrection 

In all this talk about Christ's sacrifice and death it's very important to remember the real reason we celebrate Easter. Yes Jesus Christ did die but three days later he came alive again and rose from the dead! I was reminded of this in chapel at work this week when a writer for AiG spoke about the Infallible Proofs we have for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (you can read his interesting series of blog articles about the Resurrection here). He mentioned that whenever the gospel is preached by the apostles the Resurrection is the focal point of their message.

Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 - "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." 

The good news is that Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the dead, he was seen by those who knew him after he rose and later his disciples saw him ascend to Heaven where he lives to make intercession for us! 

Because he lives we can have forgiveness of sins, eternal life in Heaven and live each day in God's power!

Though we are dead in our sins our spirits can be made alive by believing in Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection. This is the real reason why we celebrate. This is why Easter should be an even bigger holiday for us as believers than Thanksgiving and even Christmas. At Christmas we celebrate Christ's coming but at Easter we celebrate Christ Jesus fulfilling the purpose for which he came: to bring us life!  

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia! 

Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia! 

Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! 

Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

-Christ the Lord is Risen Today, words by Charles Wesley

If you have never believed on Christ's death and resurrection and trusted him to take the punishment for your sins I pray that you will do that today. If you have any questions I would love to introduce you to my Jesus and help you know him as I do. 

If you have believed in Christ Jesus as your savior I have the honor of calling you my sister (or brother) in Christ! I pray that you have a blessed Resurrection Sunday dwelling in the goodness of God! 

Happy Easter!

What are your Easter plans?

How long have you known Christ Jesus as your Savior?