Author Archives: Nannette

About Nannette

Wife to The Sweetheart, Mom to the Fantastic Six, Nana to six of the cutest littles on the planet, Author, The Daniel Fast, A Devotional. UPCI ministers.

Hi. My name is Door. Door Keeper. Part 2

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This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you purchase something after clicking on one of my links. Thanks for supporting this ministry!

Continuing with Part Two of our Mini-Series on The Doorkeeper. I hope you are blessed by Jacob’s story! You can read Part One here and Part Three here!

I met a Door Keeper recently who reminded me what service, humility, honor and love are all about. We were teaching a Revival By Design seminar at a great church in Wenatchee, Washington, a couple of hours from Seattle. (Btw, if you EVER have opportunity to visit this part of the country, just look at the view!)

I digress. The Sweetheart referred to our Doorkeeper as “Door” because of his name-tag. He called him that as if it was his first name and I was afraid he would be offended.

You cannot offend a true Door Keeper.

He was honored.

The Sweetheart called him up front during his Sunday sermon to congratulate him on his enthusiasm and attention to detail. He beamed as any 11 year old would. But it wasn’t a haughty pride. He loves what he does!

He takes his job seriously, very seriously. So much so that when I wanted to take his picture before I left and said, “Let’s get a couple outside…” he buzzed past me so fast to get to the door before I did just so he could open it for me. He wasn’t on the clock but that’s what is so unique about a true Door Keeper. Here he is with my beloved.

He was there to serve.

Door, or Jacob, as his parents and family refer to him, loves people. He lives to serve, to make others happy and to give of himself. He wears his nametag proudly but not with nose-in-the-air pride. He has been given a job in the house of God and he does it with every ounce of his being.

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Colossians 3:17.

He represents Christ.

In everything, he reflects the glory of God. He is the first person visitors see when they come to church. His “Welcome, we are so glad you are here” will set the tone for their entire experience. His smile must be infectious but not cheesy; his love for God, genuine. He must express that even HE is happy to be there and honored to serve everyone.

You see, Jacob, our resident Door Keeper, is an overcomer. He has much to be thankful for. Let me share his story…

Jacob was born at 28 weeks gestation but was the size of a 25 week gestation baby on January 25, 2004.

He weighed a whopping 1 lb, 12 oz. That is not a typo, ONE POUND, TWELVE OUNCES!

He was only 14 inches long.

When he was first born, his parents were told not to expect him to come home until his original due date or after, another three months! He left the hospital on the morning of March 30^th sporting a heart monitor for the first two weeks.

His family says he has been a fighter ever since.

I know it would sound corny to say that Jacob knew he had a purpose lying there in that hospital. Jacob didn’t know much of anything if we are honest about it. But Jacob’s GOD KNEW and Jacob’s GOD DID have a purpose for this tiny life.

Those with much to be thankful for tend to live out life to the fullest. They share, they give, and they inspire, encourage and motivate others to realize that THEY TOO have much to live for and should give back as much as possible.

Jacob doesn’t intend to waste his life dwelling on the past but revels in the fact that God reached down to a tiny little baby that fit in the palm of his mother’s and father’s hand and breathed life into him for a purpose.

Door Keepers DO have a purpose!

“It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.” Mark 13:34 ESV.

He guards The Church.

This 11 year old boy guards The Church? Now we will get personal. Was Jesus sharing this particular parable about a man who leaves the care of his home to servants, each one with a specific job to do to remind US, to guard The Body of Christ? To protect it at all cost? To shield it from danger, peril and to defend everything it stands for no matter what the cost?

Yes. But even more than that.

“…and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.” He doesn’t know when his master will return. He cannot afford to let one thing slip; nothing must be out of place, careful consideration has been made for each important duty.

Every. Single. Day.

We were given a charge, just like the servants in this parable, each with his work. We might be:

Door Keepers

Toilet Swabbers (oh, so very important!)

Vacuum Professionals

Window Washers Extraordinaire

Parking Lot Attendants

Groundskeepers

Ushers

Worship Leaders

Musicians

Sunday School Teachers

Youth Pastors

Pastors

Assistant Pastors, Assistants TO the Pastor, etc., etc.

Pastor’s Wives

Sound Technicians

Event Planners

Cooks

Dishwashers

Translators

Deaf Interpreters

Encouragers

Servants

Peacemakers

Helpers

And as we said in our first post, we do not limit these acts of service to the Church building…the Church is a BODY that just happens to meet in a building!

What is it that we DON’T need in the Church?

Busybodies

Gossips

Backbiters

Backstabbers

Blabbermouths

Meddlers

Know-it-alls

Tell-it-alls

Drainers

Troublemakers

Agitators

Liars

Thieves

Professional Protesters

Fault-finders

Nit-pickers

Holier-than-thou “Christians”

Judges or Juries!

We need to show the Love of God everywhere we are, but, in The Church, we can’t afford to let our sinful attitudes prevail. Christ died for those attitudes, for our sins, our mistakes, our past failures so that we could rise above our sinful nature and point others to Him. It is our sole purpose in living! To worship our Creator and to spread the Gospel message that Jesus is alive and invites them IN. Never to be the same!

So here we stand at the Door with Jacob.

We invite them in, literally, figuratively, with our words, with our actions, with the love of God shining through us.

Jacob wasn’t busy running around trying to do jobs that belonged to others, unless they needed his help. He would not have forsaken his post to try to be seen with the praise singers practicing before church. Nor would he have stood outside the pastor’s door listening for “talk”. He would not have been cutting up with the other young people around the water fountain before church. Why? Because he had HIS OWN WORK in the Body. And he was busy doing it with all his might.

Each one of us with his OWN work.

Tomorrow? I want you to meet another Doorkeeper. This one is unique and not normally given the title. Join me, won’t you?

Do you have a Doorkeeper in your life? I would love to hear about them!

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Hi, my name is Door. Door Keeper.

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This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you purchase something after clicking on one of my links. Thanks for supporting this ministry!

Today we are beginning a short series on Doorkeepers. We will introduce them in this first post, explain their duties and responsibilities and why we would want to be one. Tomorrow, you will meet an actual doorkeeper and hear his true story. I promise you will be blessed by Jacob. And the third installment will be related to…well…let’s just keep that a secret until Wednesday! Be blessed and feel free to share your thoughts!

Doorkeepers. dor’-kep-er (sho`er):

Going way back to the Old Testament I have discovered that Doorkeepers had a variety of duties. Most of us are familiar with the verse in Psalm 84:10 that mentions preferring to be a doorkeeper as opposed to living in tents of wickedness but it seems there was so much more to keeping the door!

“Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”

In Hebrew it is translated more closely to “I would choose rather to sit at the threshold.”

The writer could also be alluding to the servant that desired to stay with his master instead of being set free. To serve him forever, he was brought to the door post and had his ears pierced, or bored completely through with an awl! Exodus 21:5. As Gill’s Exposition of the Bible explains, “Such a willing servant was the psalmist; ….which renders it, “I have chosen to cleave to the house of the sanctuary of God.”

Barnes Notes on the Bible explain it in this fashion: “…it would seem to mean here to stand on the threshold; to be at the door or the entrance, even without the privilege of entering the house…The verb here used occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. The exact idea is not, as would seem from our translation, to keep the door, as in the capacity of a sexton or servant, but that of occupying the sill – the threshold – the privilege of standing there, and looking in, even if he was not permitted to enter. It would be an honor and a privilege to be anywhere about the place of public worship, rather than to be the occupant of a dwelling-place of sin.”

The gates of the city and the temple courts were so similar that the same Hebrew word was used for doorkeeper and gatekeeper. Their duties also very closely resembled the Keeper of the Threshold or Porters of the Threshold found in 1 Chronicles 9:19, 22, 23:4-5 and 31:14.

“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may count the money brought in to the house of the LORD which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people.” – 2 Kings 22:4.

Here we see that the doorkeepers were ushers of sort; they collected money from the people. They were Levites and came in from the villages every seventh day to take their turn.

“…and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the doorkeeper.” Jeremiah 35:4,

In this verse in the Book of Jeremiah we see that the doorkeepers even lived in the house of God. They surely had a variety of responsibilities. Some of their duties included making sure the doors were locked at night and unlocked in the morning and they also cared for the sacred vessels. It was an honorable position, ranking up there with the singers, but after the priests. (Ezra 2:42, 1 Chronicles 15:18.)

The doorkeepers obviously had a wide variety of duties that kept them busy since they even lived in the temple when they took their obligated turn. They took it seriously, reverently and fulfilled their mission with humble modesty.

But they preferred their lowly position over any other day in any other place! To them, to the Psalmist, it was better to sit on that threshold than to be partying with his friends (my rendition).

Do we feel that way today about the house of God?

Are we so overwhelmed with the privilege of being able to enter the Holy of Holies that we would think it an honor just to stand on the threshold and look in….even if we weren’t allowed to step inside?

Think of the excuses we make to NOT be in our church services. We are too tired, too busy, too educated and too important. Sure, we don’t say those last two reasons out loud but we are saying it by our attitudes when we think we don’t need God or need to worship with others of “like precious faith”.

Of course God is IN us today. The Levites had to enter the temple and the Priest was the only one who could actually enter God’s presence. We have the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, sent to be IN us, alive, moving, working and guiding us 24/7. But being in a Spirit-filled church is a privilege and a responsibility we shouldn’t take lightly. Our attendance is important and necessary for the Body of Christ to thrive and the Church to grow!

We do not limit our gift of service or worship to the church building.

[Tweet “The Church is a BODY that just happens to MEET in a building!”]

Our biggest job is outside the four walls of the assembly, ministering, helping, loving, giving, showing Christ at every single opportunity; even when we think no one is watching.

But worship together, in a corporate setting, is so vital, so strengthening, so uplifting that we should participate and support the work of God. Hearing the Word is how people are saved! “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” Romans 10:14 ESV.

Again, yes we know our biggest ministry is outside of the four walls. But if we are truly busy in our mission field telling others about Jesus, and our brothers and sisters are doing the same, even inviting the sinner to visit the Church…

Shouldn’t someone be there to welcome them in?

Tomorrow I will introduce you to this young man.

His name is Door. Door Keeper. You won’t want to miss his unique, true story and see why we call him Door…instead of Jacob. Bring the tissues as we continue our series on the Doorkeeper.

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Overnight Oatmeal in a Jar…I can make it!

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Overnight Oatmeal in a Jar…I can make it! I love oats. I love oatmeal. I can just eat it plain, when I am being really good. I also like it with a teaspoon of honey and almond milk. When I am on the road I will even fix me some quick and easy oatmeal with the instant packets. Not my favorite but when you are living in hotels it is better than most of the other things they offer and you know what is in it. I love oatmeal cookies, oatmeal granola bars, no bake chocolate oatmeal dropped cookies…get the idea? There are not too many things with oats that I do not like.

I’ve been meaning to share this great recipe with you for a while. You may have seen similar ones on Pinterest and wondered what all the fuss was about.

I did too.

So… this OVERNIGHT Oatmeal made me curious.

How did they do it?

Did they eat it hot or cold?

Did you have to cook it in the morning, add milk to it, warm it up…what?

I have actually modified a few recipes and came up with my very own and the result was simply amazing. And they look so cute!

Here is the recipe and modifications to follow:

3/4 Cup of Quick Oats
2/3 Cup of Vanilla Almond Milk, unsweetened
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
1-2 teaspoons honey (unless you are on the Daniel Fast, most do not use honey, try a banana instead!)
Pinch of salt
Dash of cinnamon

Place the oats, almond milk, vanilla, honey, cinnamon and salt in the jar and secure with the lid. Shake the ingredients in the jar for about one minute making sure everything is mixed well. (Or, stir before applying the lid if you prefer.)
Refrigerate overnight or until the oats have absorbed the liquid.
Come breakfast time, just open the jar and eat! Yes, you eat it cold! The first bite is a surprise and the rest is a breakfast treat.
You can top your oatmeal with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, any fruit. Nuts are a great topping as well. Some recipes call for the fruit INSIDE the jar before it is refrigerated, that is good too. You can add 3/4 of a mashed banana to the mixture and then slice the rest of the banana and add it in. This is ah-maz-ing!

Here are some other great overnight oatmeal variations.

Blueberry Banana Overnight Oats from an article at BuzzFeed.com

Breakfast Jar Parfait at Peanut Butter and Peppers

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Overnight Oatmeal at Organize Yourself Skinny

I sprung this recipe one morning on The Sweetheart during the Daniel Fast. Yes! It is DF friendly! He was skeptical but ate every bite. Be sure and pin this on your Daniel Fast board or follow me on mine. If you haven’t bought your copy of my new book, The Daniel Fast, A Devotional, it is available on Amazon in paperback AND Kindle! This devotional is great for ANY fast with 21 days of devotions about fasting in general and three days of preparation devotions. Check it out!