Pam Woodson
minister, writer, wife, mom
"Out of the abundance [OVERFLOW] of the HEART, the mouth speaks [the blogger blogs!]" (Luke 6:45).
"Watch over your HEART with all diligence, for from it FLOW the springs of life" (Prov. 4:23).
Woodson Ministries
Solid Bible Teachers
I Like
Joyce Meyer
Kate McVeigh
Bob Yandian
Willie George
Myles Munroe
Woody Woodson!
Radio Favorites
Books
that Have Helped Me
The Bible!
Beyond Ourselves, by Catherine Marshall (I received Christ while reading this in
9th grade)
Cooks Collage, Tulsa Jr. Women's League cooking
Prescriptions for a Miracle, by Mark Brazee (devotionals on healing)
Sparkling
Gems, by Rick Renner (devotionals)
The Pulpit Commentaries
Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words
Totally
Frivolous Why-would-anyone-else-care? Trivia:
I Like...
Christmastime
Mexican food
Italian food
chocolate!!!
praying in the afternoon
writing
playing
the guitar
looking at the stars
playing baseball
putting (golf)
classic cars
longtime friends
giving the Word
helping needy kids
Butterfingers
flowers
the
color blue
my son's brain and humor
cooking (not every day)
staying up on the news
going to Branson
barbecued ribeyes
love songs
reading
my Bible in the morning
being with Woody and our son
getting flowers and cards from Woody
Reruns: I Love Lucy, Mary
Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith
listening to praise and worship music
seeing fireworks on the 4th
my birthday,
July 5th -- so one reason they shoot off fireworks the night before?
chocolate doughnuts and orange juice for breakfast
wearing
jeans and sneakers
being me -- the unique person God made
This
is the string of my friend's clothes stuck on the balcony ledge of our ORU dorm. She took the picture herself and gave it to me. She
wrote on the back, "With my compliments...Love ya lots, the girl next door." (She had a good laugh -- unfortunately,
some of it was on ME!)
Date: 7/06/09
July 4th with a BANG!
by Pam Woodson
The 4th of July is a super big holiday to me. Our country's birth and its freedom from tyranny is well worth celebrating with huge,
star-reaching, dramatic public fireworks displays or smaller bangs and fountains of color individuals
set off in backyards (although I realize the latter is often done more for sheer fun than with America's history in
mind). My birthday is the following day, July 5th, and the explosive extravaganza always has thrown me into early party mode
for my own day. The two dates have become linked together in my mind. (Maybe some day I will go see Macy's awesome
blow-out of fireworks and celebrate my birthday in New York, where Woody is originally from -- maybe on my 30th birthday!) I grew
up watching from my front porch at night an Independence Day display shooting in the sky from a nearby drive-in theatre
each year. During the daytime, I lit my fair share of firecrackers, bottle rockets, and whatever else that had
looked cool for my money at the fireworks stand. I enjoyed every minute of it. One time in particular was a real BLAST
(yes, a deliberate pun). While the essence of this awesome holiday is deep and meaningful, before expressing any serious sentiments
about it, I am going to take a side trip down the road of fireworks fun.
I am a fairly serious-minded person.
My guess is, probably not more than a handful of people would imagine I like to tease or ever have pulled a harmless prank on
anyone. I try to watch the teasing, because if somebody were to misinterpret my joking and take me as seriously as what I usually
am, I could hurt his or her feelings. As far as pranks go, I don't do them. I'm not very good at it any more. The last one
I did was at Oral Roberts University. It was aimed at my next door neighbor on my dormitory floor, who always pulled pranks
on me and several others. Now, I had gone through college to that point without doing one ornery stunt like
most kids did; planning one prank sometime before graduating just seemed the obvious thing to do. While my friend was out
of her room, I safety-pinned her clothes together, including her favorite bright pink robe, and hung the long string of fabric
out her dormitory window, located several stories up. There it was, waving in the wind for all the parking lot and other dorms
to see. I stared out the window to see my friend's face when she first eyed it outside. Then suddenly
I remembered -- Oral Roberts was hosting a "partner seminar" on campus that weekend. About 3,000 guests from all over the world had traveled to
listen to Oral preach in meetings. They were leisurely touring the campus to observe where all his "wonderful,
fine, upstanding university students" stayed...and I had provided a vivid welcome sign from ORU's exemplory students: my
friend's bright pink robe screaming HELLO to them! To go along with that horrible realization, I also saw from the window
that our dorm leader had seen my prank from the parking lot and was heading back to the building. I didn't want to get in trouble.
In a flash, I envisioned them suspending me from school or, worse, denying me a diploma; no graduation ever after long years
of books and tests -- all because of some glow-in-the-dark bright pink robe I had to go and flaunt in front of a few
thousand visiting university donors. I tried to pull the clothes back in...but they got stuck on a balcony below. I ran down
to a lower floor, knocked on the door to the room with the balcony, and asked if I could come inside to rescue the clothes -- and
myself. I did my best, but those clothes wouldn't budge. They were stuck tight. We ran to the hall closet to get a broom and poked them
until they finally came loose. I turned around, and there stood the dorm leader. She smiled and in one sentence just told
me not to do it again, then walked out the door. That was a close one. It cured me of doing any more pranks.
Before I was cured, however, I pulled a bunch of pranks and got away with it royally, sometimes alone, sometimes with neighborhood
kids. One particular prank on a 4th of July was a solo act. Our family took a one-day trip to my grandmother's farm
in Missouri for the holiday when a was around 12 or 13. My father had let us buy firecrackers and promised we could shoot them off
by her pond in the woods. The idea of being at the pond triggered a brilliant idea. Cows hung-out by the pond...hence, COW
PATTIES (or piles of manure, to you non-farm, purebred city folk) spotted the ground! I secretly took the wicks out of several
firecrackers and tied them together onto one firecracker. I hid it in my pocket from my dad and sister. While we were shooting off
the others, I pulled my prepared firecracker out, walked over to a cow patty several yards away, and placed the firecracker
down in it, tucking the fuse out of sight behind a rock. Everything was hidden from my dad and sister's view. I lit the fuse
and ran, pretending I needed to get away fast, although I knew that nothing would happen while it was sizzling its
long way to the firecracker. In a couple of seconds, I told my dad, "That one might be a dud. Would you go over and light it again?"
He walked over near it and BOOM! -- cow patty everywhere. The explosion's propelling force splattered the manure onto my
dad from top to bottom. Was he angry! I quickly reminded him of all the things like that he had done as a child and told me about
over the years. Oddly enough, it settled him down. My sister began to lecture me about the dangers of my "stupid stunt." (As with most memories, time
has erased the serious edge and today she laughingly applauds my ingenuity.) But a dilemma still remained: Our family needed
to leave for Tulsa so my sister could attend a meeting -- no time to wash clothes, my dad hadn't taken a change for our one-day
trip...and it was Sunday. On Sundays in this tiny Missouri town at that time, absolutely NO stores were open that sold shirts and
pants. Seriously. Everything was a locally-owned mom-and-pop business, and mom and pop were in church or watching TV at
home. Places like Wal-Mart didn't arrive until a few years later. My dad had to drive all the way home in the car, wearing that
stinky outfit. What was worse, we had to have the windows rolled down in the blistering-hot summertime instead of using the air-conditioner,
because of the horrible smell. It was one of my biggest pranks ever, and I myself had to suffer for four long hours, smelling the
consequences of my actions. When you do wrong, you suffer for it -- unique thought, huh?
That is my
trip down memory lane for fireworks fun. My heart concerning America's birthday, however, is not the fun, but the FIGHT. Men fought
for our freedom from England's dominating control. Men engaged in the fight, and we today can enjoy the liberties we do because of
it. Thanks to those men of yesteryear, and thanks sincerely to the men and women serving our country in the military today, fighting
for us. Freedom came from a fight and, when necessary, freedom must be maintained with a fight. If the security of our freedoms is
being threatened, America has the responsibility to fight to ensure that its freedoms are not overturned. A salute
to our military who fight tyranny with their guns; a salute to our citizens who fight peacefully with their words whoever would try
to destroy the freedoms we are used to; and a salute to believers in Christ Jesus who take up their spiritual weapons, "put on
the full armor God" (Eph. 6) and "fight the good fight of faith" in prayer for our country (1 Tim. 6:12). God bless America, land
of the free and home of the brave...forever.
Giving:
Bible insights,
Personal trivia,
Christian world perspectives
Copyright 2009, by Pam Woodson. All rights reserved.
Living:
Jesus-Is-Lord Christianity,
Grass roots conservativism,
Red-white-and-blue patriotism
Audio: Blessings and Miracles
Monthly RECIPE
(send your recipe, too!)
Comments
Praise & Worship CD's
Hello Love (Chris Tomlin)
Beautiful Name (Church On The Move)
Hillsong
CD's
Michael W. Smith CD's
WOW Worship CD's
Top-Ten I Play On My iPod
Over My Head, Brian Littrell
I
Know You're There, Casting Crowns
Today Is the Day, Lincoln Brewster
With You, Mark Willard
God With Us, MercyMe
You're Not Alone, Meredith
Andrews
Only You, David Crowder Band
Your Grace Is Enough, Matt Maher
What You Give Away, Vince Gill
Blessings, Martina McBride
Movies
with a Message
The Note, Hallmark movie
A zillion Christmas movies
Hallmark Channel movies
Fireproof (good for
marriages)
Facing the Giants (like the strong Christian message, but not so much the acting)
Scriptures I Cling to
Repeatedly
Luke 6:38 (finances)
Prov. 4:18 (hope for better days ahead)
Phil 4:6, 7 (peace)
1 Cor. 15:10;
Phil. 4:13 (ability to do what I just can't do)
Matthew 28:20 (assurance God is with me)
1 John 5:14,15 (assurance
God answers my prayers)
1 Peter 2:24 (healing)
Matt. 11:28 (rest)
1 Peter 5:7 (assurance God loves me)
Pam's Blog
HeartFlow