We Must Pray...

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:44 NIV

Pray for Paris

Pray for Beruit

Pray for wherever they may strike next

These senseless attacks and the people who they hurt, families who lost a loved one or their loss of a sense of peace certainly need prayers. I wonder though are we missing something?

Terror begins to fill us when we hear of these attacks and the uncertainty of more. We begin to become uncaring and say we don't want to help out and allow refugees here. We worry about ourselves and stop thinking about others.

Is this how we are called to be? What if they didn't let the great, great, great, great grandma of ours here? Would we be living here now?

The Lord tells, "So do not fear for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 NIV  and in Psalm 23:4b "I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me."

God wants us to trust in him, and move forward in His strength. We are not to hide away in fear, and we are to love people He after all created each of us. Sure some of those he created have turned away and don't want anything to do with Him. It's those we need to really be praying for.

We need to pray that those who want to strike fear in us.  We need to pray that they would find the true God, that their plans would be stopped, and no one else would have to die. We need to pray also for those who have been displaced and have no where to go and just maybe their new home would be in America.

"With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies." Psalm 108:13 NIV

Not That Different

But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

Walking down the gang plank I expected to see something different. Huge palm trees, a volcano, tropical flowers...what I found instead; a street lined with stores, cars, and the same old hustle and bustle of home. The next country we went to was about the same. The only difference was all their road signs were in Spanish.

One would think "I'm in another country, shouldn't it seem different." Instead, I had to keep reminding myself, "I'm not in America."

The people weren't even that different except they really wanted me to spend my money.

"Need a sombrero"

"Mayan calendar only a dollar, cheaper than Walmart."

Here in America we have a smorgasbord of different people-Hispanic, Oriental, African, Egyptian, Greek, Jew...we may well represent the entire world.

When I think about it, I realize we aren't really all that different. That's why I get so upset when the racism card gets played.

Recently my sister-in-law had the racism card thrown in her face. One afternoon as she was driving students home from school and fight between two girls broke out; resulting in her having to call the police to ensure the safety of her and the other students. The following week when she had to get onto these girls again, they made it clear that she was just picking on them because their skins were a different color than hers.

This began to make her job rather difficult, every time she would have to remind any student the rules on the bus they would play the racism card. What I don't understand is why? Shouldn't students be expected to behave no matter what color their skin is?

I sincerely try to look at a person and not look at the color of their skin, I mean God created them just like He created me. There are times though when I look at someone and I just feel unsafe. It has nothing to do with the color of their skin.

My husband and I were having dinner at a local restaurant when this man walked in with a backpack on his back and a hoody over his head. That wouldn't have bothered me, it was the way he acted that wanted me to get out of there as soon as we could. He supposedly just wanted the restaurant to let him get a drink of water which they did, but then he kept circling in front and at one point ended up walking in from the back entrance. This man frightened me and it had nothing to do with his skin color, it was the way he acted. By the way he was white.

There have been other times when I had a certain feeling about someone and I turned out to be right about the way I felt. Not sure why I felt this way, maybe God was sending me a signal, a sense that I needed to watch out for him.

Try as I may, I try not to judge a person by their outward appearance. God has made each and everyone of us. He loves all that He made, in fact He calls all He made good. So unless I get a strange feeling about someone, I will try my best to show God's unconditional love the way He would.

Sometimes It's Just to Much

Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Matthew 26:38 NIV

Full time work, activities, illnesses, meetings, being pulled in ten different directions...life has a way of becoming overwhelming. We tend to think people will be disappointed in us if we don't live up to their expectations. We worry what people think when our kids misbehave. We fret over disappointing our parents or spouse.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we over-commit and fill our days to the max? Could it be our fast paced society puts undo pressure on us? Or do we cause this to ourselves?

There are times when my schedule is so full I feel like I don't even have time to breathe let alone take time out of my busy day to spend time with God. I get caught up in the planning or making sure everything is going to work out that I forget God needs to be at the center.

This past weekend we held our annual God's Harvest Festival. This year I felt a bit ill prepared as we were on vacation a couple of weeks before the event. We also planned a 25th anniversary celebration the Saturday before. My time became consumed with a project I had for the anniversary party, I hadn't forgotten about the festival I just became preoccupied.

The week before I became frantic, I began to wonder would everything turn out alright? We had a volunteer sign up sheet with one name on it. I really would have liked it to be full. There was a new game we tried last year and I really wanted to improve it for this year, some how the ideas wouldn't come. My best bet for this night was to leave it in God's hands. That it was I did.

The night turned into one of our better nights. A few of the youth took over setting up the new game and had wonderful ideas. Every game booth had a volunteer, people donated food and candy, and everyone seemed to have a grand time.

Becoming overwhelmed is a part of our lives. Jesus even became overwhelmed. The night he was going to be sent to the cross all he wanted was his friends to stay awake and pray with him. He knew that the anxiousness he was feeling could only be calmed by his heavenly Father. He got his team on board and had them pray for him while he tried to get a grip on what lied ahead.

Maybe when the craziness of life begins to consume us we can get our team of prayer warriors on board and go and meet our heavenly father. Then we can find the peace we need to face the challenges that lie ahead.

Life is Full of Twists and Turns

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die...a time to weep and a time to laugh...a time to mourn and a time to dance...a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing...a time to be silent and a time to speak...Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a, 4, 5b, & 7b NIV

These past months have been a time of remembrance. I searched through old photo albums to find just the right pictures to tell the story of our past 25 years. My husband and I just celebrated 25 years of marriage this past week. Taking the trip back down memory lane was enjoyable. It amazed me how quickly these 25 years have flown by.

In the midst of our celebrating though, some friends of ours are mourning. Mourning the loss of a husband, father, grandfather.

Right before we left we heard the unexpected news of the passing of one man. He attended our church and all summer he spent in the hospital fighting for his life. A few weeks ago he was able to come home and was well on his way to recovery. He was driving on his motorcycle when someone ran a stop sign. We were in shock.

How could this happen? He wasn't much older than us. His wife and him have been together just about as long. We'd only just begun to know him.

We began our cruise with them on our mind. We were able to relax and have a good time. We celebrated as a family our 25 years of marriage. We were disconnected from the world and Facebook. It was nice to talk face to face rather than send a text. Even though when someone was lost on the ship it would have been a lot less steps to send a text asking where they were rather than searching for him/her. The search though let me walk more steps and my Fitbit was proud of me.

The day we arrived home, we were excited to reconnect. We saw how a friend was back in the hospital. We prayed, we'd hoped it would be like his other stays in the hospital. I contacted his wife but she didn't sound very hopeful. Still I prayed for healing, God could work a miracle, right?

We were busy with unpacking and preparing for our anniversary celebration with friends and family. Our friend was never far from my mind. I prayed and still hoped. My husband stopped by and visited, but he wasn't very encouraged. The next morning our friend went home to be with Jesus.

He left behind a wife and two young sons. Our hearts broke once again. This couple would have celebrated 25 years this spring. Instead of looking ahead to the future, both of these woman are dealing with the loss of someone they've loved for a long time.

I know God has good plans for each of them. I know that death is a part of living. It just can be so hard to go through it. Hopefully one day they will feel like dancing again. One day the laughter will return. Life can be tough sometimes, the road you were on takes a new turn and a new journey has begun. Reach out to God, He can see you through.

Get Out of the Way

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1 NIV

"Where is it? Why can't I find it when I want it? It appears whenever I'm not looking for it, but as soon as I want it. It's gone." Looking in the Tupperware cabinet for a lid can be challenging. I thought I out smarted the lids by putting them in a bowl, but no one still slips away and hides.

Sometimes I purposely avoid using one of my bowls because I can never find the lid when I want it. Today though I had no choice, all the other containers the right size already have food in them so I have to use this one. I looked and looked through the lids, not there. Of course not, it's never around when I want it.

Finally, I lifted the bowl containing the lids out of the cabinet and sure enough there it was hiding behind all the others.

A few weeks back I had a very stressful week. Each day seemed to be more stressful than the day before. If it wasn't one thing going wrong it was another. The children in my care were the worse they'd been in awhile. Finally, I lost it I sat there crying. I was at my wits end. I had been praying specifically for each child and the problem I was having with him/her. The more I prayed the worse they became.

This weekend I was reminded that I need to get rid of all that entangles me. I need to free myself from things that get in my way of being in His glory. Finally, I prayed and left it all with Him. His goodness finally was found underneath all the frustration and stress.

Hurricane Grace

From his fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. John 1:16 NIV

"Another storm in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Grace," came the meteorologist's report.

"Did I just hear that right? A storm named Grace?" I questioned myself.

Grace what a name for a storm, I mean if it turned into a hurricane what kind of destruction and devastation could it leave behind. Not exactly the idea I have for grace. Luckily, Tropical Storm Grace dissipated in the Caribbean.

Grace, God's amazing grace-God's Riches At Christ Expense.

God's grace has always been there. It's been there since before He created the world. God's grace has been there from the moment you were conceived. He has always loved you and cared for you and He always will. He woos you to Him, calling you, caring for you, being there for you even before you recognize that it's Him.

So we've messed up, we've done things we hope nobody will ever find out. God has a cure for that. It is through His son's sacrifice that we are saved. This is where Christ Expense comes in. He came to earth for one purpose, to become the unblemished lamb to take on all the sins of men/women. He took these on himself even before we were born. The only way to receive this grace is to accept this free gift Christ has given you. He will bear your faults, sins, secrets...don't worry He can take it.

Maybe if Tropical Storm Grace had become a strong Hurricane we could have seen all of our messes and mistakes spinning around the center, the eye. God is like the eye, the calmness of the storm watching us all spin out of control. Each of us creating our own havoc, with Him just sitting there wondering when we will come to Him and His calmness. Then once we do He will calm the winds and dissipate the storm.

God's grace will bring you many blessings, blessings that only He can bring.

Emptiness

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ a lamb without blemish or defect." 1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV

Have you ever felt empty? Like somethings missing? You can't quite figure out what it is, but you desire to fill it.

You've tried lots of things to take the emptiness away. You thought love from others would fill it. Soon though you learn of the heartbreak loving others brings. Maybe the person hurt you physically or mentally. Maybe the person left or died. Sure there's a natural emptiness when you lose somebody you love, but how long has the emptiness consumed you?

Maybe the love of others wasn't enough or didn't work, the emptiness only grew larger. Soon you were trying to dull the emptiness with alcohol or drugs. The emptiness stays away just for a short while, but soon it comes back and one drink or one pill doesn't fill it enough. After awhile it takes more drinks or more drugs to get to a happy fulfilling place.

Instead of these things maybe you've tried exercise to immerse yourself in. You workout until you hit the max of what your body can handle and then you push it more just so you don't have to think about this void in your life. Maybe it's books, movies, social media, video games...still in all you've done nothing has taken away this longing, this missing link that has a hold on your life.

No worries, I have felt the emptiness too. Fortunately, I found what fills it. Sure my life isn't perfect, it isn't without troubles. People I love still suffer from illness or die. I still have a longing, but it's different. Now it's a longing to know Jesus more.

My emptiness has been filled. You see I believed others when they said I needed Jesus. At the age of twelve I asked him to forgive me and come live in my heart. It was superficial, but it was enough to keep praying to him daily. "Now I lay me down to sleep...God bless my mom, my dad, my brother..." I might have cracked open the Bible on occasion, but mostly it sat on my shelf. You might say I didn't trust God enough to make Him my pilot, He was OK just sitting in the passenger seat.

One day though when all was falling apart around me, I cried out to Him, the one who saves, the one who can completely fill my emptiness. I surrendered that day, I asked Him to become Lord of my life and I would do whatever He asked me to do. I never have regretted a minute of it.

You see nothing can fill the void in your life except the love, trust and faith in Christ. No matter how many friends, lovers, drinks, drugs, exercises, books, movies, social media sites, video games...it will never be enough. Only HE can satisfy.