Pam Boyd’s Blog

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Ephesians 1:16 “I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.”

So how long has it been since you gave thanks for the loved ones God has placed in your life? To take it further, how long has it been since you spoke those words to your loved ones? Well, Valentine’s Day is around the corner and we all know that ‘love’ is celebrated on that day whether it’s for your spouse, your family, your friends, or that special someone in your life.

The number of Valentine’s Day cards exchanged annually is approximately 200 million, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion. (Christmas has 1.9 billion) (This total excludes packaged kids valentines for classroom exchanges.) (Source: Hallmark research)

Wow!! Compared to Christmas that’s not a lot of cards with heartfelt love going out. I wonder why that is. Now I know that some of it could be because you can send a FREE card via the internet now, but how many of you appreciate a card that you get in the mailbox more than an e-card? For me, I’d have to say a card that I receive in the mail means that the person who sent it really took the time to pick it out just for me. They chose to go to a store and read hundreds of cards before they found just the right one. (OK, maybe not hundreds.) But you see, time is valuable and so when someone chooses to use that time for me, it’s always precious to me. I have a dear friend who does just that. Actually, I have many dear friends who do that, but this friend continues to do it even though we’re many miles apart now and not only does she send me a card on special occasions, but she also sends cards to my children on their birthday. She has taken love and thoughtfulness to a whole new level. I wish that I could say I do this for all of my loved ones today. Truth is, I used to many years ago, but life got so busy that I stopped and I started sending the e-cards (at least I remembered to do that). ☺ I guess you could say that the Lord gently reminded me through my dear friend to ‘stop and smell the roses’ and to take time for the ones that I love and that are special to me. My friend doesn’t know how much her actions have encouraged me. (I think I’ll send her a card to tell her just how much.) ☺ Thank you, Peach!

Won’t you join me in taking time to thank God more often for your loved ones and better yet, take time to thank them more often whether by snail mail, email, a phone call or a visit? Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be the only day that we celebrate our love for our loved ones. ☺ Let’s celebrate love all year long!

p.s. In case you’re wondering, I’m getting a delicious meal at Pappadeaux’s with my 3 valentines this year. ☺

After reading some of my son’s emails that he has sent to a few recipients i.e. my parents and a couple of children’s websites, I noticed that he writes just like he thinks…straight and to the point. There is no gray area with Abram, it’s either black or white. You definitely do NOT have to wonder what he’s thinking; although, sometimes I DO wonder where he comes up with some of his thoughts. The Lord reminded me that this special little guy loves to live out loud. We all should take note and love to live out loud!

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a song about it. One line of his lyrics is “This is the life we’ve been given, made to live out, so…live out loud.” Wow! What a great quote! The Oxygen channel even uses Live Out Loud as their slogan. I believe that most of the shows on the Oxygen channel are reality shows and they go to the extreme of ‘living out loud’. This makes me wonder if we, as Christians, truly live out loud in reality. If we had a reality show, what would it look like? Would it be staged like all of them are on TV already or could you be truly yourself with cameras coming at you from every angle?

Here’s another thought, if we lived out loud serving the King of Kings would we be content and satisfied with our life? Ralph Waldo Emerson has an interesting quote about that. He states, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

Paul instructs us how to produce the satisfied sense of well-being that should encompass a Christian’s life in Ephesians 5:15-17 “Therefore be careful how you walk; not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” When we feel good about life, about who we are in Christ, what we are doing for the Kingdom, and where we are headed, honorability and compassion become a big part of our character. We desire to make a difference. There is an overwhelming sense of joy that cannot compare to short-term happiness.

An unthinkable, most horrific crime that is rampant in the US and abroad wrecked my heart in Jan of 2008. I couldn’t believe what my friend, Lisa Bevere, was telling me about the child trafficking that she witnessed in Thailand a couple of years ago. Child trafficking? It was even more horrible than what I thought it was! And, it was going on right here in the U.S., in our own backyard! After feeling sick in my stomach and crying my eyes out over these precious children, I began to pray and ask the Lord how I could get involved to help stop this billion dollar crime. Lisa has an organization that she founded called Pearl Alliance that helps to raise funds and awareness to rescue these precious children of God. Lisa has become a dear, trusted friend over the past 2 years. She is full of wisdom and courage and great tenacity to see this industry come to an end. In a recent address to America on Anti-Trafficking Lisa states, “More than stocks & bonds, the children of this nation are our greatest wealth! Their present and future safety…our only hope of lasting legacy. The oppression and injustice we tolerate for others will over take us all if we remain silent. I am passionate because I’ve not only heard…I’ve seen, so I speak my passion. In the name of all that makes us humans created in the image of God, how can any of us remain silent when the voices of so many children have been silenced?”

Her passion and courage is contagious! Please visit her website PearlAlliance.org to see how you can get involved.