I Can't.....BUT GOD CAN!

As I have shared with you many times........I am a one-on-one person.  I do NOT like to speak in front of a crowd.  It terrifies me.........and is WAY OUT OF MY BOX.

But, God has a sense of humor.  He likes to see me struggle............because he KNOWS that it is during those times that I have no choice but to depend on him FULLY.

I will be leading a three day Ladie's Retreat the middle of June. 

PRAYERS PLEASE.

I Can't.....but GOD CAN!

My topics are:

• Finding Time for God in Our Busy, Hectic Worlds
• Stepping Out of the Boat
• "Redneck" Bible Journaling.

Like I said........I can talk to you face to face all day and all night.....even if you are a stranger....................but I get "throw-up sick to have to stand up in front of a group"  I don't even mind getting the material together..........if YOU will present it.  Smile.

I Can't......but GOD CAN!!!!

Satan nibbles and nibbles

Have you ever had those weeks where Satan seems to be nibbling and nibbling on you and trying his best to rob you of your joy and peace?

I had one of those weeks a few weeks ago.  Everything I did....went wrong.  EVERYONE and EVERYTHING was getting on my last nerve.

My week started out joyful...........I felt so blessed and thankful.  THEN....little by little, Satan began his work.  First....he started putting doubts in my head.  He got me to imagining what wasn't and begin to WORRY.  The more I worried....the more REAL the problem seemed. 

Because of my worrying and discontent.....everyone and everything began to get on my last nerve.  My tolerance was very low.

AND...the hardest part was........I kept it all to myself.  So, internally, I was boiling and on the outside I was smiling.

I spent a MISERABLE week of sleepless nights, etc.

ALL for NO REASON.

Satan just put doubt and worry into my head.

CONFESSION TIME:  FINALLY....when I reached the bottom..............I turned it over to God...................and he took the worry and doubt away............and gave me my joy and peace back.  AND....my tolerance was back.

We KNOW what we are suppose to do.  We KNOW who we are suppose to turn to............but just like everyone else.....................it is easier to tell someone else what to do.......but when you are too close to the situation, it is harder to see straight.

LET GO..........LET GOD!

It's OVER

It's Over.....the 2017-2018 School year is over.  NOW....I have a little over 8 weeks until we begin again...................

You would think this is a relaxing time.....NOT.

• We just got back from a weekend of fun with out son and our two grandchildren.
• June 8th - Our church hosts Fishers of Men.
• June 14-16 - I am leading a Ladie's Retreat
• June 25-29 - Our VBS
  
  AND....this is just the beginning.  Smile.  BUT...I enjoy my summers.  Somewhere in the middle of everything....I will take time and finish purging things to make my home less cluttered.  Smile.

This time of school year....I always feel like it is our January..........a time of purging and renewing................a time to start over.

In the summer....I enjoy working in the garden and canning.  My favorite sound is the POP of the can when it seals.

Anyway, Ladies........I plan to ENJOY my crazy, busy summer, even though it is short.

Memorial Day

Cookouts................picnics...................homemade ice cream........a day off work....

Special time spent with family and/or friends...............

That's what the majority of people think of when you mention Memorial Day.  But....it is actually a day set aside for us to remember all of the soldiers that have lost their lives fighting for our freedom.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY



Happy Sunday.....

EVERY SUNDAY is a Great day.........but it is even greater when you get to spend it with your grandkids!  

 

Ladies' Bible Study

This week I have been sharing insights from a Bible study I had been preparing to teach to the ladies at our church.

This morning I met with them. We opened God's word and discussed what we read. We wondered at it and savored our time in it. It was a sweet time.

I am amazed that God has given me this opportunity to lead these saints in a study of His Word.

The church we serve is mostly comprised of the generation of my grandparents and I find myself in awe of their faithfulness not just over years, but over decades and decades.

I love to sit at our potlucks -and not just to eat the yummy, homemade deliciousness that is contributed, but to ask questions and listen to a new-to-me tale of God's faithfulness to a believer that has been walking in faith since before I was born.

The first time we met to study, I was glad that the ladies waited until after we'd finished to begin talking about their ages. (You just think that women won't share exactly how old they are, but some of these sweet ladies proudly wear their ages like badges.) I found myself starting to feel intimidated when I realized that a high percentage of these ladies were at least double my age of 41 years.

What could I say that they hadn't heard before?
I should be attending a study that they were leading!
What must they think of me?
What can I offer them?
I am used to teaching teenagers and preschoolers!
How can I connect with these ladies whose life experiences seem so far from my own?

Some of the ladies are widows. Some of them have buried children. All of them have things that they could be teaching me . . .

As I prepared for our next study - the one we had this morning. I sensed the Lord just encouraging me to study His Word, to look into it to learn it myself. I didn't spend much time polishing my presentation, but felt led instead to just read and discuss the passage verse-by-verse. Then at the close of our time together, I shared the insights that the Holy Spirit had laid on my heart as I had been studying the passage.

The ladies asked questions. They shared their insights. They nodded in agreement. They thanked me for teaching.

As I drove away from the church building, I prayed thanking God for answering my prayers.

His Word was our common denominator. We all came with a desire to know it better to dig into it deeper. Our ages and backgrounds and life-experiences didn't matter as we opened the pages of our Bibles.

I want to be more like these ladies than I can express. To be walking with the Lord in such a way at such an age -to be still seeking and learning and growing in Him. After all, no matter our ages we are still on our own sanctification journey with our Lord. Until He calls each of us home or returns to take us there, He wants us to make these individual journeys together.

We will meet again next month and I can't wait!

Dear Sister Minister's Wife - I don't know the dynamics of the church you serve. But, by God's grace I pray you have the opportunity to really know the ladies of this generation in your congregation. I am thankful for these relationships I am making. I am thankful too that I can see God equipping me for serving this church family He has called us to. . .

I SO wanted to be a blessing to these ladies, but they are the ones who ended up blessing me!

The Prostitute and You

God went to great lengths to redeem one prostitute.

In my last post, I wrote about Rahab the Prostitute and how she never seemed to shed that title despite years of faithfully following her God, the God of the Israelites.

Chapter 2 of the book of Joshua contains the account of her interaction with spies. She confesses with her mouth her faith in the God of Jacob, Abraham and Moses. She helps and hides the spies. She ensures their safe return to their camp and then the chapter ends with her waiting with a scarlet chord tied in her window - the window of her home - oh yeah, that is located within the famous wall of Jericho.

Three chapters pass before we hear of Rahab again. Joshua had not forgotten her. Neither had the spies forgotten the oath they had made with her. But there was Someone else who hadn't forgotten her either. When the battle plans were laid out, special instructions were given -but that was before the wall fell . . .

There is no question how the wall fell. God knocked it down. In chapter 6, it says that the wall "fell down flat." Wait, what? But Rahab's house, the one with the window and the chord, was a part of the wall. Somehow, that section of the wall was not flat. The spies went back in and came out with not just Rahab but her whole family too. How? Idk . . . God.

The spies didn't save Rahab. God did. And by His instruction, Joshua saw to it that Jericho's only survivors were sparred.

I've studied her before and find myself researching her again as I prepare to lead a ladies' study at church on Friday morning. Despite my prior familiarity, God never ceases to show me new things in His Word when I study. This time has been no different.

The spies that Rahab hid on her roof were not crucial to the taking of the city of Jericho. They did not gain some intelligence that led to the falling of that crazy wall.

When he sent the two spies, maybe Joshua was remembering his own spy mission. In his youth when he and Caleb came back triumphantly ready to enter the Promised Land a generation before, their report was disregarded for the pessimistic account of their peers. Then the people were punished for their lack of faith. Now their children were ready to take possession of the same territory. Maybe Joshua was looking for a little validation and sent the spies to Jericho for his own reasons.

OR 

Maybe God Himself had prompted Joshua to send the spies because He knew of Rahab's faith and He knew He was going to miraculously redeem the pagan prostitute.

Maybe the spies, the hiding, the intrigue were all part of God's plan, not to take Jericho but to ensure that the life of a prostitute was spared.

His instructions to have them all, (women, children and even the old people), killed can seem unfair and harsh. Yet, God knew the heart of all of Jericho's citizens. He chose Rahab to spare. He wanted her.

In God's big plan, He had already picked Rahab to mother Boaz. He wanted HER influence on Boaz's boy, Obed, and all of Obed's sons, including a shepherd named David who would one day be King of all Israel.

In fact, God's big plan for Rahab was so big that this particular prostitute from Jericho would be in the very lineage of His own Son, Jesus.

It was her faithfulness in the everyday things that built and left this kind of legacy- not from the one time act of hiding a couple spies under the flax on her roof.

I'd say He redeemed Rahab in a big way. I'd say it was worth all the time and trouble for Him. He wanted her and He did what He had to so that she could be His . . .

I am thankful that He is still in the redeeming business today. He went to great lengths to make me His child too. Jesus tells us that the Good Shepherd will leave the 99 to get the 1.

Rahab and I have more common than one would think. I have part in God's bigger plan too. I hope my faithfulness in my every days leave a legacy that will point my children, grandchildren, my great-grandchildren and even beyond to walk in faith as well. . .

Dear Sister, dig into His Word. Let Him speak to you in it no matter how familiar you are with it. Rejoice in His redemption of you and thank Him for all He has done to complete it. Walk with Him faithfully all your days.

You might find you have a lot in common with a prostitute too . . .