Just keep moving

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 15:58

For those of you who may not know, I work with the aging population. These people have seen life. They have experienced joy unspeakable, and they have experienced the deepest and darkest of sorrows. They have lines of laughter on their face and lines of sorrow and concern. They have the graying head of one, who if given the opportunity, has great wisdom to impart. Unfortunately, some of my mature adults don’t have the recall to impart that wisdom to others.

But today, I want to tell you about one sweet lady who has made a mark on my life in the short 2 weeks that I have known her.

I started seeing her because she wants to have the energy to dance at her grandson’s wedding. Can you possibly imagine a greater reason for strength and endurance? As we are working, we often begin talking. Now this darling lady is well on the other side of 75 and still dresses to the nines each and every day. She is none too happy that her balance issues have made her choice in shoes “ugly”. Yet, this lady greets me every single time with a smile. Despite her medical problems and issues, she finds joy in her daily life.

And better yet, she is passionate for Christ. She is known in her building as the lady always blasting her religious radio station. You can’t say that those around her haven’t heard the Gospel!

But the other day, she was telling me about her burden to witness to one of the “young fellows” in the building. There is one man who is significantly younger than the rest of the building…his hair is still naturally dark, I’m just saying… My dear patient has had a burden to witness to this man. It started with the simple act of giving him a postcard with Bible verses on it. This has led to him attending a Bible study. This man, who has professed to not believe in God, is hearing the Word, voluntarily, just because this sweet little lady followed the leading of the Holy Spirit.

In this verse today, we are challenged in 3 ways.

1) be steadfast – immovable – firmly fixed or constant – This means, don’t be wishy, washy. Stand for something and stand in it all the time. Stand for the principles of Christ and don’t waver. Don’t let “no” keep you from listening to God. 2) unmovable – that cannot be moved or shaken – Remember, when God really wants to make a point, He says things over and over in different ways – hint, hint, that’s what is going on here. 3) always abounding in the work of the Lord – I want to focus on one word in particular here – ALWAYS – perpetually, throughout all time. That means, in my book, that you don’t get to stop working for the Lord. Oh, you may retire and/or quit working to earn a living, but that doesn’t mean that God is finished with you. He EXPECTS you to continue working for Him until He calls you home.

Too often, I fear, we just stop working. We need a vacation. We need a holiday away from our normal. We need some time off. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for taking time off and relaxing or going on a vacation away from my everyday normal. But does that mean we should stop spending time with Him, stop reaching out to others, stop going to Him in prayer? The answer is a resounding “no!”. I know that I am guilty of this. I take the weekend as my time away from work and may not be a faithful to my Bible study and prayer time as I should. I find too many other things to do. No excuse. Sin is sin. Put my name on the list.

But you know what? I can change that. I can chose to do things differently. I can chose to keep going.

As my little lady and I were standing and batting a balloon while she had wrist weights on the other day, we listened and sang to some old hymns I had playing on my phone. It was a beautiful moment being able to combine my passion for the aging population with my love for God. Those moments are precious to me. I’m grateful that God brings people into my life that remind me to love Him and never stop.

Just a peek

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16

Wowza! I was looking at this verse today and so many things popped out at me.

I know it has been a while since I wrote. I have been getting settled in and adjusting to life with the kids back at college. Believe you me, it is a struggle sometimes not to get lonely or sad. Yet, every time I have the opportunity to go on a walk with Lucy, our dog, it reminds me that life is still moving and things are still happening.

Ok, out of my hole. I’m good.

Back to the verse, let me break it down for you kinda like I did during my Bible study this morning. (All of the definitions that I will mentioned were taken from the Strong’s concordance and 1828 Webster’s dictionary.)

Grace. Grace can be defined as “the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life – free unmerited love and favor of God; favorable influence of God; the application of Christ’s righteousness to the sinner.” I’ve often heard grace described as God giving you what you do not deserve. I think all of these definitions are applicable here. Let’s get on with some other definitions.

Boldly can be defined as “all out spokenness; by implication assurance.”

Mercy can be defined as “compassion; the disposition that tempers justice, and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant.”

There certainly is a lot wrapped up in this little verse. When I see “boldly”, I think outspoken – uninhibited. Yet, when I read the definition, I also think confidence – knowing that confessing wrong and expressing challenges to God will bring about resolution. It is about not being afraid to be brutally honest with God. He knows your heart and mind already. He is waiting for you to bear it all out. It’s about admitting there is a problem – whether that problem is you or something else. I find that it is about surrendering one’s desire to “fix” thing. Oh my, is that tough or what? I am a problem solver by nature. Modify and adapt is the creed of my profession. It is who I am to want to fix problems that I see in myself or in someone else. Sometimes, that just isn’t the best solution. I have to allow myself to get to the place where I am ready to lay it all down.

And because this happens at “the throne of grace”, I am reminded of my place in things. God is way bigger than me both in ability and character. I oftentimes forget this. Many times I don’t appreciate this as I should. My dad was a character. He had a saying for just about everything. Regarding pride, he would say “He (she) thinks they are hot snot on a golden platter but they are really just a cold booger on a paper plate.” I know, it’s crude, but it fits! The Throne of Grace reminds me that 1) it is a throne – a place of authority and respect and 2) grace is involved – that unmerited favor. I can do nothing to deserve to be there. I can do nothing to be worthy to present my problems before Him. Yet, here I am. I have to be in the mindset of surrender. By surrendering to His greatness, I find mercy. I find that temperance of justice because when God looks at me, He sees Jesus’ blood. And that gives me grace to face whatever is stressing me.

Helplessness

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26

For those of you who may not know, both of my children are away at college. I write this from, quite literally, an empty nest. It’s a weird concept. You raise these tiny humans for 18 years and then, all of the sudden, society sees them as adults and you send them off into the world.

And then one gets sick. And you are hundreds of miles away. And she is calling you about an hour after you fall asleep, crying because her ear hurts so bad.

And you are helpless.

There are very few pains in the human body that one is helpless to ease like ear pain. I remember when the kids were little and they would develop swimmer’s ear. Here are your tiny humans that you scrub down with soap and water just to get all the dirt off, crying their little hearts out because their ear feels like someone is trying to rip it off from the inside and you can do nothing.

And then add hundreds of miles to the issue. It is a time in a mother’s life where you are remembering every trick and idea that you have ever heard of in your entire life just to ease your baby’s pain so that she can go to sleep. The phone seems cold and uncaring in your hand because there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that you can do to ease her pain.

BUT…..oh yes…..BUT, I know Someone who can help. I know the Great Physician. I know the Creator of that darling daughter of mine. I know the One who loves her way more than I could ever imagine.

I begin to pray. I pray for God to ease her discomfort. I pray for Him to give her peace. And then the “groaning” begins. You know, that time where your hand is across your forehead and your eyes are closed because you really just don’t know what to say other than “Father”.

As a parent, we feel that it is our duty and responsibility to provide and ease the pain and direct and encourage our children. And it is. It is a very important role that we play in their life and in their development. But if we don’t take our children to the alter of Christ and lay them at His feet for all those things that we are humanly incapable of providing and easing and directing and encouraging our children about, then we have done those whom He has entrusted us with a huge disservice. They need to know where we turn when we have no clue what to do.

So, I told her. “Sweetheart, I’m praying for you. I’m praying that God will ease your pain. I’m praying that you will have peace so that you can sleep. And I will continue praying until I fall asleep. Know that.” And you know what she said…she said those sweet words that any Momma wants to hear – “Thank you Momma.”

In all honesty, it makes me tear up just to write it. That moment when I felt so helpless to help her, she said thank you. And she said that because she knew, in the depths of her heart, that her Momma was laying in bed, several states away, praying for her.

And let me tell you, that is the most powerful thing I could do for my daughter….ever.

Letting God…

‭‭James‬ ‭1:1-8‬ ‭KJV – “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

I know, I know. So many verses. But as we were reading this the other day in worship service, all I could see were the “let”s. And I have been thinking about what it means to “let” since then.

I looked up the meaning of the word in the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary (gotta love that website!). It said this – “Followed by the third person, it implies permission or a command addressed to an inferior.” It can also mean “to permit or allow”. Either way, each definition points to basically the same thing – permission to do something.

We are in revival this week at my church. We have been encouraged and challenged so much in the last two days, that I have not wanted to stop listening. I wanted to “let” the preacher go on preaching until he ran out of words!

We are being challenged to be salty. (That’s a whole other blog post.) But the question I want to pose today is this – Are we letting God do what He needs to do to make us into the person He wants us to be? Are we letting God challenge us enough to grow His kingdom? Are we letting God show us our sin in our life? Are we letting God lead us away from the things and situations that impair our growth?

You see, here is the deal – we can pray all day long for God to change us and mold us into who He wants us to be, but sometimes, we are the thing standing in the way of that change. We aren’t willing to “let” God do what He wants to do. I know I have this problem in my own life. Right now I have a book on my countertop that I say that I want to read. But if I’m honest, I’m afraid to read it because I’m afraid of the changes God might convict me to make in my life. I’m afraid to “LET” God change me. There, I said it. I have been asking God to show me my sin and my life and right here, right now, He just did. I’m afraid to “LET” God.

I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to tell you. This is a burden and an issue that I have just acknowledged and now is the time to step forward. I don’t know what God is going to do with me now, but I am grateful that God has been on me to write this blog post. I’m glad He never backs down. Happy Wednesday.

Balm for my soul

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭122:1‬ ‭KJV – “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”

Yesterday was a tough day for me. I was tired from traveling all weekend. I had lots of work to do. But also, yesterday was the one year anniversary of the home-going of my grandpa. It was also the day that we had a funeral at our church for a local family whose 2 year old daughter drowned last week. My heart was super heavy.

Yet, we had Ladies’ Meeting last night. I brought a lesson on Hannah. We shared some laughs while getting God’s work done. It was good.

As I was sitting there listening to the wrap up of the meeting, my heart was just overwhelmed at God’s love toward me. He knew that I was tired. In fact, we were all tired. The majority of the ladies there had served at the church all day long trying to provide a meal for the huge amount of people who attended the funeral. God knew that we were all spend – physically and emotionally. Yet, He brought us all together to give balm to our souls.

Some people have the misconception that church is boring and doesn’t do anything but tell you all the ways that you are wrong. Well, that’s not true. Church is a “called out body of believers”. Church is a place where your additional family abides. Church is a place to be lifted up and encouraged. It is a place to share your burdens with others and receive comfort in knowing that someone is praying with you and for you. Church is a place to develop eternal relationships – with God and His people. And sometimes, church is the place where God brings us to remind us where we have gone wrong but at the same time to provide us with the opportunity to make things right.

You see, I have found that when I am obedient to His Word and attend a service of some sort whenever it is offered, I am blessed in one way or another. Even when things are tough or down-cast or joyful or bewildering, I am brought closer to Him when I am with His people in our local New Testament church. And that makes me want to say – “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”

Bearing burdens

Galatians‬ ‭6:2‬ ‭KJV – “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”‭‭‬‬

Galatians, chapter 6, verse 2. A simple verse with profound meaning. But what does it mean to “bear … one another’s burdens”?

Last night, we had our monthly ladies’ auxiliary meeting. We had our Bible study. We conducted our meeting and finalized the plans for our upcoming mother/daughter luncheon. And then, we had prayer requests. 

Now, when some people hear “prayer requests time”, especially amongst women, they might tend to think that this is a time to gossip about others. But I tell you the truth, it is anything but that. 

This is the time when we share the intimate thoughts and concerns on our heart. We share things that we might not share when we are out in public. We express concerns and frustrations and longings that God has placed within our hearts. It is a special time. It is an encouraging time. And occasionally, we even get a good chuckle out of some of the things we share. 

But this is the way we “bear … one another’s burdens”. 

Too often, the devil wants to keep us isolated. If he can keep us from reaching out to our sisters and brothers in Christ, he can keep us right where he wants us – in the pit of despair. He knows that when we share our burdens things become less bleak. 

This simple act of sharing creates hope. We know that someone else is praying for us. We know that we are no longer facing this challenge, this frustration, this fear alone. We know that God has provided someone else to come along side of us and, literally, hold our hand. I know, God is with us and willing to hold our hand anytime we ask. Yet, God also knows that sometimes we need that human touch; sometimes we need our sisters and brothers in Christ. 

So the next time that something has got you down or maybe something has gone incredibly right, share. Tell someone. Tell lots of someone’s – the more the merrier! God has provided people in your life for that very reason. And be a good recipient. “Bear … one another’s burdens” with gladness and seriousness. And remember, you never walk alone. 

Black Monday

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭90:12‬ ‭KJV‬‬- “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
Monday was a tough day at my house. Before we even left for school, my daughter received a text from a friend informing her that a boy she had gone to school with last year had died in a jet ski accident on Sunday night. 

At school, they had an impromptu assembly to discuss the matter and pray for the family and friends of this young boy. This really brought it home to my daughter. Someone, her age, had died – never to return. It broke her heart. And on top of it all, the incident occurred at the home of another boy she knew. He was the one that witnessed the accident. He was the one who pulled his friend from the water. She was heartbroken for this boy.

How do you console a 9th grade girl over the loss of a boy she really didn’t know? How do you guide her to something close to understanding so that she is able to process all of this? 

The things I tried to talk to her about were understanding different ways to grieve. She was getting frustrated with some people and their constant talking about the situation. She needs time to think it through and process it all. Some people have to talk it out to understand it. 

We also talked about taking each and every opportunity to share Christ with others. The saddest part of this whole situation is the fact that she isn’t sure that the young boy had accepted Jesus. She knows that she can’t make someone believe but she is learning the importance of living a life that honors Christ. 

And we talked about prayer. Sometimes prayer is the only thing that we can give to someone who is going through a tragedy. We can pray for the family. We can pray for the friend. They all need our prayers right now. My daughter said to me yesterday, “Mom, I’m just scared that he (the friend) will turn to things that aren’t good for him to cope.” Pray. That’s the most important thing we can do for him right now – pray.

I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer on this one. I just felt the need to emphasize the importance of numbering our days. We never know if we will have 14 years or 99 years. But what we do know is that we must use each and every opportunity, every day, every moment to honor God and share the salvation message He has given us. 

And enjoy life. Live it fully. Live it wisely. Live it joyfully. Today, Wednesday, is my son’s regional final soccer game. And believe you me, I will be cheering my heart out! I will be living life as full as I can while encouraging the boys out on the field. 

Christ came to give us life and to give it to us more abundantly. But let’s not forget in the midst of living to number our days for Him.

Making Assumptions

Matthew 1:1-6a – “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas (Judah) and his brethren; And Judas (Judah) begat Phares (Pharez) and Zara of Thamar (Tamar); and Phares (Pharez) begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; And Salmon begat Booz (Boaz) of Rachab (Rahab); and Booz (Boaz) begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king…”

(Note: The names that are in parenthesis are the names found elsewhere in the Bible spelled differently. I didn’t want any confusion.)

I was reading in Genesis 38 today about Judah and Tamar. Judah had lost his two sons and his wife. He was sad. He had no grandchildren because two of his sons had died before having children. He had promised his daughter-in-law, Tamar, that she could marry his other son when he came of age. However, for whatever reason, that hadn’t happened yet when he saw Tamar on the side of the road and thought she was a harlot. 

Now, Tamar was dressed like a harlot when she is supposed to be waiting for the son to grow up. But you need to remember, dressing like a harlot in this time meant she had her head covered. Judah didn’t know it was his daughter-in-law. That doesn’t excuse the fact that Judah slept with someone who wasn’t his wife. 

Yet, God used this situation and onto the scene comes Pharez.

What I want to emphasize here is judging others. When you look at the shortened version of the lineage of Christ that I have posted here, you see Tamar and Rahab and Ruth. These three women each displayed different character traits but they all had this in common – they were outsiders. They were different. They each married a man from the tribe of Judah. But Tamar was a Canaanite woman. Rahab was a harlot living in Jericho. Ruth was a Moabite woman. None of these women were in a favorable situation. Tamar got pregnant by her father-in-law. Rahab, well, we don’t know how or why she became a harlot but that is how the Bible describes her. Ruth was childless and seemingly doomed to widowhood and living with her mother-in-law in a foreign country. Yet God used each woman in each situation to bring about His will.

We see people all the time at the stoplight, in the store and even at church. And we automatically make an assumption about them. We judge their clothing, their manorism, their speech and many other details about them. I know that I do it without even thinking about it. But that is wrong. I should not judge. 

I know that in my own life and situation, I don’t want people to look at me and judge me by what they see on the outside. I want people to know me. I want them to see God’s hand at work in my life. And you can’t necessarily see that from the outside all the time. 

I want to encourage you, and myself, not to make assumptions about people. I want us to be more open to what God can and will do in someone’s life. No one in Jericho would have ever guessed that Rahab would one day bear a child that would be found in the lineage of the Savior of the world. Tamar never would have thought that this child she was bearing through this circumstance would be in the lineage of the King. And Ruth probably never dreamed that her great-grandson would be the king of Israel. You see, we never know how God is going to work in our life or in the lives of the people around us. 

Christmas cards

1 King 19:11-13a – “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave.”

I know, it’s not Wednesday and it isn’t 6 in the morning. But I had to get this out.

Someone stole my Christmas cards out of my mailbox last night. Yep, you read it right. Someone thought they would find a stash of money or something in that stack of 100 and something Christmas cards going out to friends and family all over the place. Boy, were they shocked to find the only thing of value was the unused stamps on the outside of the card. 

Here are my lessons in this situation.

1) Someone needs Jesus. If things in your life are so desperate that you are reduced to committing a federal offense by rummaging through someone’s Christmas cards in the middle of the night, you need Jesus. 

2) I need to forgive. I’m working on this one. I know that in the scope of eternity whether or not I send out Christmas cards is not going to matter. It does, however, matter if I forgive this person that did this. I’m getting there. They have been on my heart heavy these last couple of hours. 

3) I need to listen. Last night as I was putting the cards in the mailbox, I thought “someone could steal these tonight.” Then I thought “no way, no one is going to do that. They are just Christmas cards.” God was speaking to my heart and I just tuned Him out. I can’t tell you how often this has been happening lately. I will hear His whisper across my heart and then blow it off as nonsense. When will I ever listen? And listen consistently?! That Still Small Voice is still active today. He is still whispering across our hearts – warning us, encouraging us – and too often, I know that I don’t listen. I instead listen to the other voice. I listen to the one that tells me that I know best. I listen to the one that says the other Voice is crazy. 

In all of this, I’m upset about the loss of the Christmas cards, the time and money spent on them and the fact that our society has stooped this low. But most of all, I’m upset with myself for not listening. I have asked for forgiveness and I know that I have it. But now I have to forgive myself for being a cotton-headed ninny-muggin (Elf reference) and ignoring God when He speaks to me. 

Christmas is a time of reflection and memories and a time of giving. Well, this will certainly be a memory I look back on and I hope that my giving of the unused stamps will certainly cause someone somewhere to pause and rethink their life. They need Jesus…and so do I. 

Rest

Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

It’s finally Friday. Hallelujah! I got to do one of my most favorite activities of the week this morning – turn off the alarm for tomorrow. Now, I know that may sound trivial and small, but we haven’t had the opportunity to sleep-in in quite a while. I’m just hoping the sun cooperates and hides itself behind a cloud for a little while in the morning. 

We work and go all week. We are constantly moving and shaking. We need a time of rest. We need those moments to just breathe. We need those times to just sit and not really do a whole lot.

My kids are in desperate need of one of those weekends. They have been swamped by homework and projects and sports that they are about spent. I can see it in their eyes and hear it in their whining. But I don’t criticize them for it; I do the same thing.

In these verses in Matthew, Jesus reminds us that we have a place of rest. Now, does that mean we should just sit around when we accept Jesus as our Savior? No, but it does mean that our problems and challenges should not be what is weighing us down. Those things should be the very things that we are turning over to Him. We need to “yoke” ourself to Him. 

What does “yoke” mean? Well, you know the pictures you see of people plowing a field with an oxen of some sort and they have this double “u” looking thing draped over their necks? That “u” thing is a yoke. It brings two animals together to accomplish a common goal. One can’t do it effectively enough on their own. So two are brought in to ease the burden and complete the task. God wants us to “yoke” up with Him. He wants us to allow Him to share in the burden and get the task done. The sooner it’s done, the sooner you can rest. 

God knows that we need rest. He knows the pace we are trying to keep. He knows the obstacles we face in completing our to-do list. You know, I think that we have those obstacles in our path from time to time just to remind us to FROG – Fully Rely Upon God. When we do this, we find rest. We find rest for our soul. We find rest for our mind. We find rest for our body. 

So this weekend as you run and do and see how much you can get done in the span of 2 short days, rest. Rest in the Lord. Fully rely upon Him to give you what you need when you need it. Allow Him to guide your to-do list and find rest.