Grandmop And The Turnip

 (A tale about allowing those you love to be themselves)


The following is an excerpt from my Mother/Daughter Banquet teaching from several years ago. Regretfully, since this date, both my mother and husband have gone home to be with the Lord.  What better way to honor my mom and my husband's prayers than to make someone else smile.

Who knew you could learn a life lesson from a turnip?

When the Lord gave me this visual I went dashing to Wal-Mart to purchase a turnip. I needed to have time to get it all dolled up for the Banquet! I was in a BIG hurry when I realized I did not know what a turnip looked like! So I asked the person stocking the produce, and she didn’t know either! Luckily, my husband did. He purchased the lonely little turnip and brought her home in time for her debut.

How many of you have ever heard the saying, “You can’t get blood out of a turnip?” I’m a visual learner so here goes…

How many of you know you can be related, but feel like you live in two different worlds? Surely the other person is the problem. The conversation from two different worlds.

Gmop: What’s up Turnip?

Turnip: Not much GrandMop…just trying to figure out what to do today.

Gmop: I know…we could go shopping! I have a coupon!

Turnip: I can’t go shopping…I don’t have a driver’s license or a coupon. For heaven’s sake…I’m just a turnip!

Gmop: Well…maybe we could go get a massage and a pedicure.

Turnip: I can’t go get a massage and a pedicure…I don’t even have a back, toenails or polish!

For heaven’s sake…I’m just a turnip!

Gmop: I’ve got it! We could go out for a quick bite! We could go have Sushi and then coffee from Starbucks!

Turnip: I can’t go get sushi! I don’t have a Sushi Bar in my neighborhood and I’m allergic to caffeine!

For heaven’s sake…I’m just a turnip!

Gmop: Turnip this is so frustrating! I need so much more love, attention, and time than you are giving me! YOU NEVER CALL ME! YOU NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TIME! IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU! YOU DIDN’T EVEN COMPLIMENT ME ON MY NEW DRESS!

Turnip: Grandmop…I’m sorry….this makes me sad. I don’t seem to be much help or any fun. God designed me completely different. If you plant or cook me, I could give you nutrients to help you stay healthy or I would look great in your purple kitchen! Besides…I don’t even have a watch. Plus, I live on the ground and I can’t see above your ankles! For heaven’s sake…I’m just a turnip.

Thank you Turnip…please take a bow.

Isn’t this ridiculous? In reality, this is no more ridiculous than the outrageous demands that we place on the people closest to us. For me…. lesson well learned.

After the banquet, during our drive home, our daughter just shook her head and said, “Of course, my mother painted a turnip!” (Poor girl…imagine having me for a mother)

             H A P P Y   M O T H E R ’ S   D A Y !

                            t-t-f-n- (ta- ta- for - now)

Walk A Mile In My Shoes

I recently have been reminded of a long ago experience that carries a very relevant 'NOW' message.

In the beginning of my walk with God there were many older saints that did as the scriptures commanded for the older women to teach the younger, and took me under their wings.  One such woman that I will refer to  simply as  "Miss Lorene", left an indelible  mark on my mind and my heart.

We sat on opposite sides of the church for many, many years, but always connected via a Sunday wave or would throw each other a kiss. In the early days of ministry she was one of my faithful cheerleaders.

My young family had hit an unusually harsh, private storm.  I felt as though I was going down for the third time, and being fairly new in the things of God, wondered if I had been forsaken. Of course I hadn't, but I was asking the Lord for reassurance.

He answered my request with a dream...not mine...but that of  "Miss Lorene's."

She was a very tall, stately woman. Her presence exuded the love of God.  Her soft auburn colored hair was lightly streaked with gray wisps of wisdom. That particular Sunday morning, her hug felt like a safe harbor for my weary, five-foot-four,  beaten little ship to land.

Her voice was so soft you sometimes had to strain to hear her speak. She began by saying, "Cathy, I had a dream about you last night... 

You were on a very narrow path. Not only was the path narrow, but it was made of very sharp jagged rocks.  In addition, there were many huge boulders strategically placed at various intervals that represented seemingly impossible obstacles.

You had stopped and sat down on one of the larger rocks.  You were weeping because your feet were bleeding from the journey.  I appeared on the path and took my shoes off and offered them to you. I knew they were not your exact size... too big for you, nevertheless, they would help you complete your journey."

God had answered my prayers and quieted my fears of abandonment.

Over the subsequent years, the symbolism of those shoes have taken on a variety of meanings, and more precious with each step in my spiritual journey.

In a world of hopelessness, despair, broken dreams, disappointments, and

bleeding feet... Who needs 'YOUR' shoes today?

      t-t-f-n (ta - ta - for now)

You Can't Get Blood Out Of A Turnip

Who knew you could learn a life lesson from a turnip?

When the Lord gave me this visual I went dashing to Wal-Mart to purchase a turnip. I needed to have time to get it all dolled up for the Banquet! I was in a BIG hurry when I realized I did not know what a turnip looked like! So I asked the person stocking the produce, and she didn’t know either! Luckily, my husband did. He purchased the lonely little turnip and brought her home in time for her debut.

The following is an excerpt from my recent Mother/Daughter Banquet teaching:

How many of you have ever heard the saying, “You can’t get blood out of a turnip?”

How many of you know you can be related, but feel like you live in two different worlds? Surely the other person is the problem.

Grandmop & The Turnip

Gmop: What’s up Turnip?

Turnip: Not much Grandmop…just trying to figure out what to do today.

Gmop: I know…we could go shopping! I have a coupon!

Turnip: I can’t go shopping…I don’t have a driver’s license or a coupon.
           For heaven’s sake…I’m just a turnip!

Gmop: Well…maybe we could go get a massage and a Pedicure.

Turnip: I can’t go get a massage and a pedicure…I don’t even have a back, toenails or polish!
           For heaven’s sake…I’m just a turnip!

Gmop: I’ve got it! We could go out for a quick bite! We could go have Sushi and coffee from Starbucks!

Turnip: I can’t go get sushi! I don’t have a Sushi Bar in my neighborhood and I’m allergic to caffeine!
           For heaven’s sake…I’m just a turnip!

Gmop: Turnip this is so frustrating! I need so much more love, attention, and time than you are    
           giving me! YOU NEVER CALL ME! YOU NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TIME! IT’S ALL   
           ABOUT YOU! YOU DIDN’T EVEN COMPLIMENT ME ON MY NEW DRESS!

Turnip: Grandmop…I’m sorry….this makes me sad. I don’t seem to be much help or any fun. God 
           designed  me completely different. If you plant or cook me, I could give you nutrients to help you
           stay  healthy or I would look great in your purple kitchen! Besides…I don’t even have a watch.      
           Plus, I  live on the ground and I can’t see above your ankles!
           For heaven’s sake…I’m just a turnip!

Thank you Turnip…please take a bow.

Isn’t this ridiculous? In reality this is no more ridiculous than the outrageous demands that we place on the people closest to us. For me…. lesson well learned.

After the banquet, during our drive home, our daughter just shook her head and said, “Of course, my mother painted a turnip!” (Poor girl…imagine having me for a mother)

      t-t-f-n (ta-ta-for-now)

God Loves Fruit Too

Did you realize ... God craves fruit?

As you may well know by now, several of my Blogs deal with my ongoing episodes with produce. I have so many that I actually asked the Lord about this. Yes, really.  He, of course, took me back to His Word.

Genesis 1:11 “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.


12: And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

The fruit trees were among God’s first creations. Fruit was used throughout the Word as a token of the blessing or curse and judgments in your life. Children were compared to fruit. Fruit was the prize of the promise land. Nehemiah declares that fruit trees were a portion of the enemy’s plunder. Psalms sings songs about fruit. The wisdom of Proverbs warns that men’s deeds will produce fruits of righteousness or destruction. The poetry of Song of Solomon uses the metaphors of fruit to describe the love between King Solomon and his beloved Shunamite. Jesus had no patience for trees that did not produce good fruit. The Word commands us to bring forth much of it and encourages us to be fruitful in every good work. Fruit can be peaceable. The fruit of our words generates life or death.

Fruit can be used to measure our spiritual growth. Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

God compares fruits to our different levels of giving: Deuteronomy 18:4 - First Fruits -Leviticus 27:30 Tithe.

I think you would agree the most notorious fruit was connected to the fall of man.

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

We as a nation, have sent men to the moon, but still have not understood or harnessed the full healing power of raw fruits and vegetables. The Prophets of old knew the earth’s secrets. Isaiah 38: 21 Isaiah had said to Hezekiah’s servants, “Make an ointment from figs and spread it over the boil, and Hezekiah will recover.”

Seeds, crops, harvest, Parable of the soils, vineyards, seasons, break up the fallow ground…you get the jest. God is the Master Gardner, and He loves fruit too!!!

From Genesis to Revelations there are 253 references to just fruit. Wshewwww! Who knew there were so many life lessons in the humble fruit basket?

Sooooo…with that said this is the beginning of our summer season and I already have two more episodes under my belt. Never mind the fact that I drove around this past Sunday for two hours with 5lbs. of lettuce in the back-end of my 76 degree SUV. At least it gave the cantaloupes a break!

With fear and much trepidation, I purchased a new Smoothie/Juicing book. The recipes are sure to carry me through many new adventures and much riper life lessons. So if you see me perusing up and down the produce aisles with ear buds on and I fail to speak, please forgive me… I’m just singing ‘Silly Songs’ with two of my favorite fruits and vegetables “Bob and Larry.”

One more thing before we go…just couldn’t resist!

Q. What is a ghost favorite fruit? Boonanaa !

Q. What do you do if you see a BLUE banana? Try to cheer it up!

Q. What do bananas do best in gymnastics? The splits!

Q. Why don’t bananas snore? Because they don’t want to wake up the rest of the bunch.

t-t-f-n (ta-ta-for-now)

P.S. I think I'm being stalked by my produce....this was in my pickle jar!

Job's Cry...The Worship Heard Throughout History

Our only grandson will be sixteen years old this month.When he was a toddler and his parents lived in married housing at one of the local universities, his favorite thing to do was go see the 'BIG' truck.

Regardless of where he was or how he was being entertained at the moment, he would hear the beeping sound and know his buddy had arrived. He squealed with delight and would hold his tiny arms up for the closest tall person to either take him to the window or outside. 

Little did he know or care that it was the 'GARBAGE' truck, already laden with the day's earlier trash pick-ups and more stops ahead. He didn't know you had to hold your nose from the rotten stench of decay. All he knew was that he was fascinated and excited when he heard the beeping. In his tiny mind it appeared to be much different, bigger and better than anything he already owned. There was no amount of strategy that could convince this headstrong bundle of cuteness that to get very close to this type of truck could ultimately harm him. At the end of the day, even being a new 'GARBAGE' truck doesn't change its' purpose.

If we had any idea what was contained in the next load the 'dump truck of life' was backing into our driveway  I am certain, that given the opportunity, we would run for the border.

The Book of Job is synonymous with suffering. Job had no inkling of how many dump trucks had been dispatched to his address or that one of them had the death sentence for his children or the battle for his flesh loaded on board. Job 3:26

You cannot have the kind of favor, wealth, notoriety or power  that Job had achieved and NOT get the attention of the 'master thief,'  satan, himself. ( Please don't write me...I know his name is not capitalized, but I refuse to)
Job 1:

I believe that satan did not nonchalantly saunter up to the throne room of God and pull Job's name out of a hat. Job's life had both Heaven and Hell's attention. I believe that satan had a five year strategy plan to destroy Job. He well knew  the power of the blessing on this man's life, and its' ability to choke him out of any access to not only Job's life, but that of his family. The hedge around Job was infamous in the supernatural realm. All satan had in the meantime was 'time' to plot and plan. 

He patiently waited for Job to float to the top of his success and ministry. He did not want just Job and his acid mouth wife, two old dogs, a mangy cat, and a moldy turtle. NO!!!! He wanted the best this man had and was going to have! Plus, Job was famous! You don't fall by yourself. satan was after not only his family and his personal wealth, but his friends and his influence.

As if things were not bad enough...his wife gave the hubby one heck of a tongue lashing , and suggested he not only throw in the towel, but curse God on the way out the door.  I often wonder about her response.
Why would she speak such a thing?  Number one, she obviously did not have the same relationship with God as her husband.  Number two, the bitterness of her loss gushed out of her mouth.
Job 2:

Together, Mr. & Mrs. Job had seven sons and three daughters. Job 1:19 says they were all together in the eldest brother's home. Job's children were virtually party animals and in a perpetual birthday celebration.

One, if not all, had their own homes and families. When the whirlwind came it not only destroyed entire households, but the ability to procreate Job's bloodline.  This was the greatest of ALL curses, and ultimately was what satan really desired to destroy. He has the inability to create and despises anyone or anything that produces life.

You don't have to trace this family root back very far to determine why Job felt the necessity to offer continual sacrifices and repentance for his children.  Job 1:5

Obviously, if you read the entire book, Job's sorrow and pain ultimately got the best of his mouth as well. It's interesting the very thing that had become an idol in the life of his children ( their birthdays ) was the very thing he cursed in his own life.  All of chapter 3 is a pretty gloomy description of how he viewed the day of his own birth, understandably written from the well of self-pity.

There are 42 chapters to this book.  Of all the intricate chapters there is none more challenging to me personally than these verses in Job 1:20-22.

20 Then Job arose and rent his robe and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped

21 And said, Naked (without possessions) came I [into this world] from my mother's womb, and naked (without possessions) shall I depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed (praised and magnified in worship) be the name of the Lord!

22In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly.

v. 20 Job's pain was so intense he had to tear something - the robe, being symbolic of his flesh. Job was a man of sacrifice so much so the word of God gives the Inventory Spreadsheet for the number of his livestock.
³He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very great body of servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East.

There was no sending the servants for the sacrifice of the day... there were no more servants - nothing else external to sacrifice. At the point of Job's greatest, most desperate need he found himself stripped bare. The only sacrifice Job had left to offer was himself.......Selah....(Pause and Reflect)

"A Classic Christmas Song With A Fruity Twist"

Since I began this blog in May, I have had the privilege to write about a variety of subjects. I attempt to follow the leading of the Lord, even in the most challenging and ridiculous topics. We forget that God himself said laughter was like a medicine. The year of 2010 has been one of the most challenging years of my married life and for some of my dearest friends as well. Had it not been for the "joy of the Lord"... well, I'm just not sure. So being true to form, I choose to celebrate this most holiest of seasons by remembering everything that Christ purchased for me, including my joy.

My escapades with produce prompted more than one unexpected response. People have called, e-mailed, and stopped me to say they will never view produce the same. A new best friend that has followed the Blog from the beginning purchased a Wal-Mart Gift Card for ME to buy more produce!!!! How priceless is that?

Of all the reactions, I must admit this "Classic Christmas Song With A Fruity Twist," written by one of my new best friends, is my favorite. She said this was my Christmas Card from her and I could do with it as I pleased. I added a picture and am sharing it with you. So as they say, once your food has been served, "Enjoy!"

On the First day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...

A Pineapple in a Pear Tree....


On the Second day of Christmas of my True Love gave to me...
Two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.


On the Third day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...
Three Mangoes, two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.


On the Fourth Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...
Four Personal Melons, three Mangoes, two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.


On the Fifth Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...
Five ‘tangy’ tangerines...four Personal Melons, three Mangoes, two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.


On the Sixth Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...
Six Grapes a hanging, Five ‘tangy’ Tangerines...four Personal Melons, three Mangoes, two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.


On the Seventh Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...
Seven Stacks of Strawberries, Six Grapes a hanging, Five ‘tangy’ Tangerines...four Personal Melons, three Mangoes, two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...
Eight Packs of Peaches, Seven Stacks of Strawberries, Six Grapes a hanging, Five ‘tangy’ Tangerines...four Personal Melons, three Mangoes, two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.


On the Ninth Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...
Nine Bags of Lemons, Eight Packs of Peaches, Seven Stacks of Strawberries, Six Grapes a hanging, Five ‘tangy’ Tangerines...four Personal Melons, three Mangoes, two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...
Ten Banana Bunches, Nine Bags of Lemons, Eight Packs of Peaches, Seven Stacks of Strawberries, Six Grapes a hanging, Five ‘tangy’ Tangerines...four Personal Melons, three Mangoes, two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.


On the Eleventh Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...
Eleven Plums a Plenty, Ten Banana Bunches, Nine Bags of Lemons, Eight Packs of Peaches, Seven Stacks of Strawberries, Six Grapes a hanging, Five ‘tangy’ Tangerines...four Personal Melons, three Mangoes, two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.


On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me...
Twelve Delicious Apples, Eleven Plums a Plenty, Ten Banana Bunches, Nine Bags of Lemons, Eight Packs of Peaches, Seven Stacks of Strawberries, Six Grapes a hanging, Five ‘tangy’ Tangerines...four Personal Melons, three Mangoes, two Apricots, and a Pineapple in a Pear Tree.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! HEHEHEHEHEHE! Merry Christmas to all, and may 2011 be the most fruitful year yet!

The Gift of Time

The Christmas Season as wonderful as it is, not only heralds the celebration of the Christ child’s birth, but can serve as a poignant reminder that another year is fading. In between the hustle and bustle of Holiday preparation you take a mental inventory….deep sigh, “Where did this year go?”

Time...you can’t buy or steal it. Who knows if it really does any good to beg for it?????

It is amazing that as an educated society we are so controlled by an inanimate object known as the clock. Cuckoo birds sing about it, the fashion industry decorates it, and the stars record it - time.


Even God Himself used time to set boundaries. He stepped back from this creation and declared, "This is good."


Our mirrors, pictures, videos, hospitals, nursing homes, and cemetery markers serve as a constant reminder as to how fleeting time is. Our biological clocks are forever ticking in the background of our days and nights.

Time restraints ranks at the top of our stress lists. We stay up way too late and get up way too early trying to cram more of it into our lives. The demands of time wreak havoc in every arena.

We celebrate time with birthdays, anniversaries, Bar Mitzvahs, graduations, and feasts.

Regret is the painful reminder of how often we have misused and abused this gift. We curse, mourn, and recklessly wish it away. We are terrorized and tormented with it. The judicial system allows the guilty to be sentenced by it.

We allow the medical profession in their most educated guess to set terms and limits on our time. Multiple disease processes and trauma erases memories of it.

Time is like a shadow…elusive to the grasp. Unfortunately, after a night of frivolity, there are occasions we don’t even remember what we did with it. Time carries its'own load of  both lies and truths.

Managing time is an industry unto itself. They have designed day-timers, calendars, watches; and clocks to help us better organize our lives. Consultants are paid exorbitant amounts of money to help our companies better organize our time and make us more efficient. We can be penalized or compensated for our time.

Man’s own ingenuity has figured out a way to seemingly control and manipulate time. Man has devised a way to divide it into zones. Daylight Savings Time allows us to advance and reverse it. Typically we just waste it like the sands of the hourglass.

Men and women alike are looking for the fountain of youth to hide the ravages of time. Society has made it a criminal offense to reveal the truth of the amount of time you have lived here on earth. Time’s trademarks of wrinkles and gray hair are no longer symbolic of honor, but shame.

We are rarely satisfied with the dispensation of time that we have been allotted.

We spend endless amounts of money to insure it. We medicate, drown, ignore, and totally disregard the value of time. We take it for granted.

We carelessly spend it like there was no tomorrow and selfishly guard it like it was Fort Knox. We believe the lie that time is our enemy.

There is NOTHING..I REPEAT…NOTHING that escapes the effects of time, not even our eternal destiny.

Ultimately, time is the gift of God. In His all knowing wisdom if we had needed more or less of it don’t you think that He would have changed our portion? Time is a season for us to share, love, and to bring honor and glory to the ultimate Time Keeper.

At this late date, if you are still desperately seeking the perfect Christmas gift, turn life off and give the most expensive thing you have to offer—your time.

Prayer: Lord, please forgive me for believing my time was my own.

Without the gift of time I would NOT be writing this Blog, learning new computer programs, or about to launch a new website. Without a doubt, all of this would have been impossible.

Thank you to those who have given and offered so freely of their time and support. Thank you to their families who so generously shared their time.

Prayer is hard work and requires the sacrifice and investment of time. Thank you to the faithful intercessors who cover us with the 'fire by night and the cloud by day.'

Thank you to my Godly husband who has invested most of his lifetime supporting and encouraging me to go for the gold. My precious husband who unselfishly has given me his energy and time when he himself seems to be running on 'Reserve."

Thank you to the readers for your gift of time. With all of the choices available, I do not take for granted that you would take the time to visit Modern Orange and leave encouraging comments.

As I reflect on my own personal 'Time Account," I leave you with a few timely quotes.

The only gift is a portion of thyself.

Time the most precious gift one can give. Each moment is unique because it will never happen again…the gift of your time spent with others is the ultimate display of unconditional love.

“Since time is the one immaterial object which we cannot influence—neither speed up, nor slow down, add to nor diminish—it is an imponderably valuable gift.” Maya Angelou

"Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure?" Author Unknown

"If there was ever a time to dare, to make a difference, to embark on something worth doing, IT IS NOW." Author Unknown, from Words of Encouragement for Teens

"Your greatest asset is your earning ability. Your greatest resource is your time." Brian Tracy

"Time and words can't be recalled, even if it was only yesterday." Yiddish Proverb

"An inch of time is an inch of gold but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold." Chinese Proverb

t-t-f-n (ta-ta-for-now)

The High Cost of Favor

Mary’s pregnancy tests were not celebrated with little test strips turning pink, baby showers, toys or embossed birth announcements. The nursery for Jesus was not remodeled, papered, painted or furnished with the latest Jenny Lind furniture. His bassinet was a feeding trough. He was not born in the latest new tech birthing center with soft lights and the best of doctors, but a stable that was cold, uncomfortable and smelled of hay and manure.

Mary and Joseph’s first born was not brought home in designer baby gowns to a gathering of doting grandparents and family. Joseph and Mary did not read through all the latest baby books or consider their family tree in deciding what to name this mystery child.

This child was born in obscurity. His birth was announced only in the supernatural realm. Heaven had a mandate to protect Him from the murderous sentence that had been pronounced on all the male children 2 years old and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding districts by King Herod.

The most innocent of innocents burst through the Virgin womb with a death sentence around His neck. The place of His birth began the prophetic fulfillment that He was born to be slaughtered - Migdal Edar, “the tower of the flock”. In ancient Israel this was the exact location where lambs were raised for sacrifice and ceremonial slaughter. John 1:29 truly “He was to be the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world.”

His first outfit may have only resembled swaddling clothes, but in truth, He was clothed in the unseen mantle of Destiny. Only a select few of God’s creations recognized this Gift of God!

By social standards he was considered illegitimate, cloaked in shame. The nagging question always plagued Him, who really was the Father? No DNA testing was available. The only place I can locate any record of Jesus being celebrated during the 9 months of pregnancy, was by another unborn baby that had also been destined for a life of isolation, misunderstanding, rejection and premature death…John the Baptist, and his mama.

DEFINITION OF  FAVOR
(1): friendly regard shown toward another especially by a superior (2) : approving consideration or attention


: BEHALF, INTEREST : in favor of
a : in accord or sympathy with
b : to the benefit of :
 in support of A VERDICT IN FAVOR OF THE ACCUSED!

Much has been taught and written about the “Favor of the Lord.” The subject of favor has even been the foundation of ministries.

Psalm 5:12 (Amplified Bible) For You, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor). This scripture indicates that favor is a separate blessing to be desired, and bestowed by the Lord as a reward for the righteous.

How many times have we cried out and prayed for favor in every conceivable situation without much consideration for the cost of this grace?

The Birth of Jesus Foretold


Luke 1: 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
** Favor put demand on Heaven. ** Favor is not delivered by the lower echelon of God's army but, God's own messenger angel, Gabriel. **Favor may take generations to manifest.** Favor may require you to put on your seatbelt and a helmet. **Favor will require an extra measure of God's grace, mercy, and total faith that He will be with you in whatever He requires.


29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel[e] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
**This new found blessing was causing great turmoil in this child's soul. 


34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”


35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”

38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
**This teenage girl, with reckless abandon and faith, sealed her fate and that of her child's with her own words.**

Luke 2:19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
** If she could have been totally honest, I am sure there were times she wondered if she had made the right decisions.**

Luke 2:34-35 (New Living Translation) Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”
** A bittersweet prophecy about  this child produced as a result of God's favor. A prophecy that would strike fear in the boldest of mother's hearts.**


Luke 2:40 (New Living Translation) There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.
**The same grace and favor that had come on the mother of Jesus the Christ had now come on her beloved child…..The same favor that cost the mother of Jesus her future would NOW cost her Son his.**