There Will Be A Day

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always.
-Jeremy Camp

Our family recently went to a Jeremy Camp concert and I found myself in tears during this song. My life is truly blessed, but there are days when I definitely look forward to heaven. Those are the days when I am in pain from my rheumatoid arthritis and I feel so tired. Those are the days when I cry because I have so much that I need to do but I just don't feel like it. Those are the days that I am afraid of what the future is going to bring. What will this disease do to my body and will I be a burden to my husband and children? Heaven sounds really great on those days! Those are the days that I hold on to Jesus and the promise that He has a plan for my life. He has a plan to prosper and not to harm me. He wants to give me a hope and a future. He is my Father and He wants to shelter me under His wings!

God has so many things that He wants me to do before I go home to be with Him! I am learning to give every day over to Him and to rely on Him for the strength that I need to get through each one. If it weren't for Jesus and for the hope that I have in Him, I don't know what my life would be like. I can't imagine facing the challenges of life without that hope. I have also been so blessed with an amazing husband who loves, supports and tries to understand me! What a gift!

I didn't mean for this to sound like a pity party for me. I want people to know that on days when you are really questioning what life is about and if you can keep going, that there is a God who loves you. He will give you the strength that you need and carry you through your scariest days!

I have so much to learn!!

A True Honor and Privelege

Wow! Yesterday was an incredible day at Willow Community Church! It is truly amazing to watch God "do His thing" in people's lives!

The worship team did an amazing job! Christine is so talented and she allows the Holy Spirit to lead her as she leads the congregation. Each person up there has such a desire to make sure that God is glorified in our worship each week!

Bill's sermon touched a lot of hearts! God definitely used him to speak the words that a lot of people needed to hear and God was working in some lives!! People came to the altar and decisions were made!

The feeling of family was very evident at the end of the service! People were praying together and loving on each other!

The whole day was icing on the cake of the wonderful things that have been going on at Willow!

I am truly honored and privileged to be able to see people grow and change in the ways that we have seen in the last couple of months. I really can't explain how it feels to be able to be so involved in so many lives in such a personal way. It can sometimes be very difficult, but it is usually immensely rewarding. It is sometimes weird to feel like the "Mom" to a whole congregation of people. You cry with them, laugh with them, hang out with them, depend on them, pray for them, are disappointed in them and are amazingly proud of them. Most of all, you just love them!

I have so much to learn!!

Rejoice!

Did you know that the command to "Rejoice!" is in the Bible over 800 times! That is more that any other command in the Bible. God must be pretty serious about it!

Bill and I recently went to a Pastor's Renewal Retreat up at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort. I do have to honestly admit that when we left home, renewal and refreshment were definitely things that we desperately needed! We had both fallen into the trap of frustration and bitterness in ministry and it was skewing how we viewed our church and our calling. There were several things that had happened that had contributed to our feelings. None of these events were huge, but they seemed to accumulate and weigh us down.

Imagine our shock when we had several conversations with other pastors and their wives who knew exactly where we were coming from! That in and of itself was refreshing!

The most amazing part of the week was the revelation that each of us is responsible for his or her own joy! The people in our congregation, our families and our friends may do things or say things to us, but it is how we choose to respond to them that determines whether we have joy in our lives. Joy is a choice! Who knew?

We came back with a totally new outlook on our ministry. We have coined the phrase that we now "filter everything through joy". It makes a huge difference in how you view people and circumstances in your life. Emotions come with the things happening to you. Joy is how you choose to react to those circumstances through the power of Christ!

We have challenged the ministry leaders at our church to "filter everything through joy" that comes into their lives and also the things that come out of their hearts and mouths! That can definitely be a struggle too!

We need to protect our own joy and the joy of the people around us. Doing this can only be done by slowing down and "taking every though captive" (II Cor. 10:5).

In a society that loves to point the finger and place the blame, this is not an easy pill to swallow. Rejoicing is obviously not an option! How is your joy today?

I have so much to learn!

How Great Is Your God?

So many of us have studied scripture for years and we think we "know" God. We are members of an "all aware" and arrogant generation. We have succeeded in removing the air of mystery and awe from God Almighty.

There have been times when I have said to myself, "Okay, I've done step one, step two, and step three. I have followed all of the rules- now God has to do what I ask." Without realizing it, I have humanized the God of the universe! God doesn't have to follow my guidelines and I should be eternally grateful that He doesn't.

We spend so much time learning about God. Maybe more effort should be exerted in just knowing God. We place such emphasis on our knowledge. We need to trust Him with what little we do know and with everything we don't know. We have to give God room to be God. He is awesome, unfathomable, unexplainable and oftentimes mysterious in His ways.

So often we go to God and we have a preconceived notion about how He should work in a situation. More likely than not, we are surprised in the ways that He actually chooses to move because they are nothing like what we expected. He is God. Allow Him to be the all powerful, all knowing God in your life. Allow Him to move in His ways. You will be humbled and amazed.

Bill and I met up with a friend at the Dollar Tree yesterday. We stood and talked for quite a while about the amazing things that God is doing in our lives. Her mother has miraculously been healed from a closed brain injury that happened as a result of a bicycle accident. The accident occured back on October 9. The doctors weren't sure she would live. They told the family that if she did survive and come out of the coma, she probably would not be able to speak and her brain functions would be limited. God did an amazing miracle and she went back to teaching third grade this week! Wow! We were all a little teary standing in the aisle of the store. She shared many of the ways that God had worked and continues to work in the situation. The God we serve is beyond our comprehension! Don't try to put Him in your box. Allow Him to be who He is in your life.

How great is your God?

I'm glad that my God is beyond my comprehension. That calls me to fall on my knees before Him in awe! I am so grateful that is the kind of God in charge in my life!

I have so much to learn!

Time In The Recliner

This has been an interesting couple of weeks. My family was involved in a pretty serious car accident on Saturday, October 18. A car crossed into our lane and basically hit us head on only about a half mile from our house. Our car was totaled, but God was definitely watching over us!
I really messed up my ribs, and I have some very colorful bruises. My husband and daughter had some bruises but they were very blessed. The policeman and fireman both told us that we were lucky to have walked away from the accident.

Due to the soreness of my ribs, I have been spending most nights sleeping in the recliner. I just can't get comfortable in bed. I haven't been sleeping too well and have really had some time to think and pray. I can't tell you how many times I have thanked God for my seat belt and for the safety equipment of our car. I thank Him for giving me more time with my amazing family, friends and church! I have also been asking Him to show me what it is that I am here to do for Him. I am clearly here for a reason. God still has stuff for me to do!

What is it that God has for you to do? Hopefully it won't take a car accident and cracked ribs to help you figure it out. When you wake up tomorrow, thank God for another chance to make an impact in the world for Him!

I know that I will eventually quit replaying the accident in my head, but I do hope that the things that He has shown me through it will stick with me.

I still have so much to learn and I am so thankful for more time to figure it all out!

God Changes Things!

This is the confidence we have in approaching God:
that if we ask anything according to his will,
he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-
whatever we ask- we know that we have
what we asked of him.
I John 5:14-15

Have you heard the saying, "Prayer changes things."? It may sound picky, but I am going to beg to differ with this statement. It isn't prayer that changes things, it is God who changes things! God is the one divine part of the prayer equation. I think that at times, the fact that God hears and answers our prayers may create some pride on the part of the Christian. We may not realize it, but we sometimes begin to think that God exists to do our bidding. It is true that "the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective". (James 5:16) But we should never forget that it is God that is powerful, not us.

Answered prayer should bring us to our knees in awe. As we grow in our relationship with Christ, we should expect our prayers to be answered, but we should never take God's ears for granted. It should never be a casual thing in our lives.

There has to be a balance between our confidence in prayer and absolute humility!

I have so much to learn!

"Worm Theology"

I had never heard of "worm theology" until I read an article about it on Crosswalk.com. I found it very intriguing especially after my husband's sermon on humility last Sunday. The term "worm theology" is in reference to the hymn by Isaac Watts, "Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed". There is a line in the hymn that says, "Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?". The writer likens himself to a worm. It does seem that this hymn may confuse the ideas of low self worth and humility.

The apostle Paul tells us that we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think; rather we should use sober judgment in our self assessment. (Romans 12:3). This basically means that we need to be realistic when we take a look at ourselves. This passage can be used to warn about the excess of pride, but is there a problem in our Christian family with the excess in the opposite direction? Do you view yourself as a worthless worm?

The feeling of being worthless or "not good enough" is prevalent in our society today. I have seen it in people in the church and in some that I have discipled throughout the years. I don't believe that this is at all God's plan for us. I wholeheartedly believe that God loves us so much and He wants us to see ourselves the way that He sees us. But how does He see us? In Neil Anderson's book, "Victory Over the Darkness", he gives us an exhaustive list of things that God wants us to believe about ourselves. Take a minute to check out this list. I have had people refuse to read through this list because they had a problem believing such strong, positive things about themselves.

It is true that we should humble ourselves and realize that we need Christ as our Savior because we can never reach God's standard on our own, but we are not worms! We are children of God. Realizing the depth of this statement can make an amazing impact on your life!!

God gave all of us gifts and talents. We are all good at something. That's God's plan! He wants us to recognize our gifts and use them to the best of our ability. I really like this quote by CS Lewis:

We may be content to remain what we call “ordinary people”: but He is determined to carry out a quite different plan. To shrink back from that plan is not humility: it is laziness and cowardice. To submit to it is not conceit or megalomania; it is obedience.

This is not permission to be prideful. It is a call to know who you really are. Accept who God tells you that you are and live in the freedom of that knowlege!

I have so much to learn!