A Name Like No Other

It's that time of year around here. The time when we get out the notebooks, the pens, and the discipline that's required.

It's time for Bible study.

I love women's Bible study. I love the closeness it brings. I love the camaraderie that is shared. I love the joy and the tears that bind us together like no other time can. It's people being Jesus to each other and learning how this Christian life is lived out in the trenches,

I'm somewhat of a nerd when it comes to preparing for this event. I have to get all the supplies in order to be ready. I may not be organized in any other area of my life, but I am in this one.  I need the structure of orderliness. And the coffee. You can't have Bible study without coffee, right? :)

Here are a few things that are an absolute must for me:

The notebooks are vital. Where else can you take notes and draw pictures  diagrams?  Not only do they contain thoughts and idea's, but when my children are looking for journals of my life, this is where they need to look.  It's all in there--prayer requests, prayer groanings, life-changing decisions, etc. 

Oh, how I love these! I use them in my Bible and everywhere else. They don't bleed through the pages. And the Treasures like them, also.

And last, but certainly not least,

These are my  "go to" pens. They have a fine point and I just adore them. All colors.

Pardon my weird seriousness about this subject. I look at Bible study as vital to my personal life. Nothing else prepares me for church or service like this. When I look into God's Word and He looks into my heart and see's me for what I really am, there are bound to be changes. I have invested years into this process and I have still have miles to go. However, every time I spend time in studying a subject or a book in the Bible, it never comes without conviction of the soul and a life-changing impression deep in the core.  

This time we are studying the names of God. I first took this particular study eons ago in 1996 led by my personal friend that I adore.  She introduced me to Precept Ministries and I have never studied the Bible the same way since.  She often said, "We don't study the Bible just to study. We study the Bible to be changed by it." Counsel well taken.  "Lord, I Want to Know You" is our choice of study this time. 

In this study I found out Who God is. His names tell us everything we need to live life on this planet. The holy names tell of His character, His nature and His ways.  His names also tell us of His great love for us.  I fell more deeply in love with God. I learned that the more I know Him, the more I trust Him. And in this world of sin and lack of control, I think we need that.  If we trust God, our faith should be deepening. 

I hope our collective prayer is "Lord, I Want to Know You". In knowing Him,  we can say:

The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runs into it and is safe. Proverbs 18:10

Come join us...the coffee pot will be on. :)

Friends to the End

Chuck Swindoll says, "I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun."

I wholeheartedly agree. 

I believe that God placed in our hearts and minds a spot that only a true friend can fit in. I am not discounting husbands as our friends. However, the friendship of women is a need we all have. We "get" each other. We can feel what the other one is feeling without having to say it.  We are connected.

Women talk. We can go back and forth from conversation to conversation, again and again, and still find something new in it.  Women are fiercely protective of each other when it comes to one of ours being hurt.  We can sit and be quiet or talk so much and so loud no one can stand to be in the room with us. 

From a table in the back of a coffee shop that is reeling with laughter, to a car ride that turns into the grand adventure, you can find girlfriends doing what they know to do: communicating.  We do our best communicating when we run together, and figure out where the day went wrong. When we are pushing strollers or just taking a walk around the practice field. When something tragic is going on in our lives to the birth of a new idea, women need to talk it through. 

                                         And if it involves coffee and cupcakes, that's a bonus.

Girlfriends are vital for women. These friendships are who we find our "getaway" moments with. 

It's a girls night out/shopping day mentality.

                                            

It's the moments of planning birthdays, going to church,

or simply having fun.

We need these moments. We need the girlfriends. 

They are the ones who:

Listen to our stories

When we crack jokes, they laugh

Loan us good books

Show up at our house with Starbucks

Hold our arms up, when we can't

Shower us with grace, sometimes unmeasured

Don't compare us to each other

Don't compare our children to each other

Cheer us on when we  cannot do it for ourselves

Tell us that we "can" even if we are in our pajama's

Go for long rides, for no specific reason. Maybe just because we want cupcakes

Reminds us that God is for us

Tell us when our tags are hanging out, for crying out loud

Laugh and cry with us, sometimes within minutes of each other

Challenge us

Commiserate with us

Believe the best about us and give us the full benefit of a doubt.

Helen Keller said, " Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."

In 1 Thessalonians 2:8, Paul said,

"We loved you dearly.  Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did."

The idea here is to "long after, to have a strong affection for."  Paul was so intensely attached to these people that he would have been willing to lay down his life for them. His most important job was to give them the Gospel, but after doing that he completely gave his heart over to them, also. 

Sounds like another Friend I know. 

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."  John 15:12-13


Jesus is the best Friend. And then He allows us the privilege of other friends. 

Be the kind of friend that God can use. Be the friend that others look to for comfort and acceptance. Be the friend who tells the truth and loves just the same. 

And have some fun. I think Jesus had fun with his disciple friends. Why don't we? 

Be the friend that gives "your whole heart".  It's worth it.













Priorities of the Sand and Sun.

There are times when you can look back at a single moment in time and realize that it shaped and helped define the rest of your life.

I had one of those moments when I was 17.  At that time I was consumed with two things: a certain baseball player and going to the beach.  We went to the beach on a regular basis in our house. Most every weekend and holiday involved the salt and the sand more often that not.

We loved the beach. The water, the sand, the chairs in the sand, and everything else that goes along with a great day.  The seaside, for us, became a place of soul-soothing moments that we grew to crave. There is still no other place like it.

On a particular Saturday morning, we packed up and headed to our happy place for the day.  We would go early in the morning and stay until the late afternoon.  We lathered ourselves with sunscreen  baby oil...horrors upon horrors...and waited the day out.  We didn't wear hats or sunglasses. Who needed them?

The next morning upon getting out of bed, I looked in the mirror and saw fire-engine red skin and very swollen eyes. Well, I knew I couldn't go to church looking like this, so I proceeded to find my mother and discuss this matter with her.  In our house, church wasn't on the optional activities list. It was always a given that we were going and normally I was ready. Not that day, though. It would be a tad bit embarrassing to walk in SS looking like that.

I found her and began my tale of woe."Look at me," I said. "I just can't go to church this morning.". I was sure I would receive the grace and mercy of a totally understanding mother. However what I got was, " Oh, you are going to church." She then proceeded to tell me that it was the Lord's day and that her worship of Him was the most important thing in her life. Even more important than me.

Insert my life-defining moment.  My mother's worship of God came first and foremost. She didn't always get it right, but she knew where the Anchor was.  I learned that day my mother loved me so much that in that teachable moment she put my priorities where they should be.  To her dying day, I am convinced that my mother  never stopped worshipping her Savior.

I want to be like her when I grow up.

Happy Birthday, Mom. We miss you.

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You,  for You, O Lord have not forsaken those who seek you.    Psalm 9:10

Reflections on Haiti

To say that we had a "good trip" to Haiti would be like saying, "I had a good day"....too generic.

So here is my list of things we saw, heard and experienced:

The airline we flew needs to check their thermostat. However, we didn't remember that the cold air was the last bit of coolness we would be a part of for a week. Hindsight is always 20/20.

My luggage which looked fine as I waved it good bye in Ft. Lauderdale came to me in Haiti beat up and filthy.

Port au Prince---what else can you say about no traffic rules, horns blaring, smells that haven't a name, wandering animals and people bathing, washing and "what can't be mentioned" in the same puddle of water.  Not to mention all the devastation from the earthquake.

Our first sight of Christianville was telling. We were anticipating such joy and happiness. And that is exactly what we received. The hospitality there was welcoming.

Mrs. Sue is a modern day Mother Theresa, or as Noah called her "Sister Theresa". For him to recognize  that was insightful for his 11 yrs, and he is absolutely correct. Any woman who moves to a 4th world country, saves children and uses her life savings to do it, along with God's leading deserves the title. She is a straight-talking, no non-sense kind of woman that children and adults love.  She has my respect and unending love for what she is giving her life for.

Christianville is a 25 acre ministry that is doing amazing things for the Lord and His work.  They are making a huge difference in their area and the people that live there.

Rats and tarantulas run freely.

The children we were with all have their own stories that would astound you, yet they all love with a heart that is open to everyone.

Of course, the two reasons we went: John and Betchina. My heart was meshed with theirs immediately. It was as if they were always ours... (I say "ours"...but I mean Clint and Jennifer's..I think :))...for their whole lives. I found there is no distinction of the heart. They belong with this family. Their hugs and smiles just seem to fit.

We had a room with three beds and a bathroom light that worked only in the daytime, a cold shower and a tin roof that when it rained sounded like we were being run over by a train, but our accommodations were very pleasant. When you are in Haiti you find out just  how spoiled and picky that you really are. The Lord seems to say, "Ha! I've been telling you all along" in those moments. I hope I listened.

The next time I go to the doctor and have to wait, I won't grumble about it. We went to a clinic that had a tent full of people sitting and waiting in the heat and I suspect it was an all day affair.

Worshipping with those you don't speak the same language with is, without sounding weird, a pure joy.  When you are worshipping in song and the only words you recognize are "Jesu" and "Papa",  you know that somewhere in the lyrics they worship the same God you do.  Anytime the song mentions "Jesus and Lord" you can count on hearts turned towards heaven. We also had Squirrely, the dog join us in worship that morning. He needed Jesus, too. :)

We took a walk to a near-by village where a well is in the center of it and people were bringing 5 gallon buckets to fill it up. There were little stands set up selling everything from Lotto tickets to mango's on the side.  Children ran freely, houses were being worked on and life went on in a world that we know very little about.

All this and more happened while we were gone. We spent seven days in a place almost completely opposite than where we live and yet, in many ways it was very much the same.  They are people trying to make a living, feed their families and get by. They want more for their children than what they have and do what they need to so it can happen.  They love Jesus...probably in a deeper way than we do.

My first born, the oldest Treasure and I left our homes and went to a small place in the sea and saw that God was working in very miraculous ways, in big ways.  I seemed to see things clearer there. I'm asking God for that same kind of clarity now that we are home.

May our eyes and hearts be open to see where God is working and to join Him in what He is doing.  I'll be going back soon to this island....and my heart is yearning already.

Mwen p'ap kite nou pou kont nou

Mwen p'ap kite nou pou kont nou

I will not leave you as orphans...John 14:18



Tomorrow begins a journey. It has been a long time coming and greatly anticipated.  In the wee hours of the morning, three generations will leave this land that we call home and fly to an island in the sea.  Waiting there are two children, whose names will soon change. I'm very sure that when our feet touch that ground our hearts will be eagerly waiting for moment we see the two that we are longing to hug.  God has granted us this time.  May we not waste one second.

Remembering....

Seconds  turn to minutes. Minutes turn into days and days into months.  Before we could blink, a year has passed, and our hearts are still remembering with thankfulness.

He is still the "Birthday present she couldn't return"

A good day with G'ma

She loved these.....

and the great grands .....

and most of all these. 

We are thankful we were hers and she was ours. And we are better for it.

New friend, New Hero

Yesterday I met a new friend. We only had conversation for a total time of 35 minutes, but in that small amount of minutes and seconds, she has changed my outlook on life. She came to the volleyball game and found herself, not having had the time to get to an ATM, without the means to enter. She had never been to the gym we use and didn't realize those necessities were not available. My husband, the fixer, noticed that she was sitting outside and went to question. She told him her plight and he fixed it. They began to converse. I arrived late, and came to greet him. He introduced me, said, "Listen to her story" and went inside.

And I listened in silence. She is a teacher. She was in her elementary classroom on that tragic 9/11 in New York City, one and a half blocks from the Twin Towers. She began telling me what it was like to hear the initial explosion. The building rocked, windows were blown, children and adults were terrorized.  The horror, the smell and the sounds, parents who worked all over the city arriving in 20 minutes screaming for their children while the world outside their classroom was marked and changed forever.  Even 11 years later she was overcome with emotion as she talked and graciously answered my "20 questions". I was struck with the fear, and yet such resolve in her words. She gave God all the credit for her escape that day. She, herself, had to wait until all the children were with their families, then tried her best to get to hers. 

Her memories and recollections are forever etched in my mind. I can't get over some things she told me. As she talked, I realized that in a very real way this was an actual hero of one of the most horrific days our nation has ever experienced, watched and read about.  And I was honored to be in her presence. Her sense of God on that day was what got her through.

Now, she is a teacher.  Now, she still has some fear. Her family moved out of the city very soon after that.  She told me she still hasn't been able to bring herself to go back and visit the memorial site. She would like to...just hasn't yet. It's still so real.  She says that every morning when her students stand to say the Pledge of Allegiance that you can bet they are standing straight and tall and honoring this great country. She has no patience with anyone that downplays and degrades our military, police officers and firemen. You see, she saw them in action, coming to get her. As the ash blew down the streets like a wave of smoke, she watched them go into the towers, and she watched them picking up the wounded on the streets. She was a first hand witness to the greatness of what our country stands for...and she doesn't tolerate criticism of them.  She is still so overcome when Memorial Day, Veterans Day and the 9/11 Anniversary comes around that she "falls apart"..as she says.


From my new friends testimony and life story I have learned and been reminded of this:

*God is in control in the chaos of our lives.
*Even on the darkest of days, we can praise Him.
*Even when we don't feel like it or don't want to, we can praise Him.
*Our Heavenly Father can make something precious from devastation.
*God wins, every time.


With the election coming up, I was reminded of this verse:

Let every individual be obedient to those who rule over him; for no one is a ruler except by God's permission, and our present rulers have had their rank and power assigned to them by Him.

Romans 13:1


We don't need to get ourselves worked up about what is going to happen. God already knows. In fact, He has ordained it. Are we willing to suffer through whatever it takes to bring revival to our land? God is to be praised in every moment, good and bad in our lives. That's how we show Him to our world. He is worthy. He is worthy. He is worthy.

Sitting on a bench outside, a true hero of the faith reminded me that God is worth everything we go through. We are here to make Him known.

It's His story, not ours.