Throwback Thursday - Embrace the Grace

I've been busy learning some life lessons.  Like how to embrace the grace.  Ya see, I've been overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed with just the busyness of life. Something I mention often when I blog.  But it got to me.  My mind was overloaded trying to sort through the next couple weeks, the next couple months.  Too much was in there that I was trying to juggle and I wasn't doing such a great job with it all.

So God is using it to teach me lessons.  Doesn't He always?  If we let Him?

I am learning that His grace is sufficient for today.  His grace no longer exists in the past so don't dwell there.  It is not in the future so don't dwell there either.  Yes, we can plan.  But if we are constantly thinking about ways it's all gonna work together or how we're going to survive it, it brings us down.  Or it brings me down.  My future life doesn't look to be slowing down till....January.  But that isn't the whole truth.  It's how it looks in my head but God knows better than me about all of it. 

I need to trust Him.  Embrace the grace for today.  Live in the now.  Not worry about the future.  His grace will be there when I get there.  I cannot dwell in a place where there is no grace.

Testimony Tuesday - God's Protection!

This testimony is from a woman who reads the blog and testimonies in Atlanta, Georgia!  So glad she shared with us about God's protection on her life!
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Hi Jill. I saw that you were wanting stories of how we were touched by our Lord and I didn't think I had anything to really share, but this is what I am currently going through and he has touched me twice.

I have been unable to drive since before Thanksgiving. I was driving down the road and the next thing I knew, I had fainted. I was in incoming traffic. Thanks to God, the light was red for them. I was surrounded by people.

I have had so many tests, it is crazy. I continue to have the fainting episodes, for no better word, and sometimes they include amnesia.

At one point I was going to drive to one of my millions of doctors appointments as hubby couldn't get out of work. I made it two miles down our highway, yes highway, and passed out. I woke up to find myself off the road. Again. The Lord was watching after me as I was only about 1 1/2 car lengths off the road and I had been going 70 when the faint came on. I again found myself surrounded by a truck full of my good old savior rednecks. They were the best. Got my car on the road and followed me home. I'm now better, but scared to drive, so slowly getting back into driving with hubby in the car too. Thanks for reading.

Throwback Thursday - Just Listen

 Never underestimate the power of listening.

I've not been known in my life as a good listener.  No one has actually come out and told me this...I just know.  I'm usually thinking about the next thing I'm going to say instead of truly listening to what is being spoken.  Or else I'm just talking and talking.  I'm a good talker :)

But God.  He has been reminding me over and over about the power of listening.  A couple years ago I felt like I needed to hear more Truth about this very thing.  I looked up scripture and found a few that have sat in my bathroom and I've read over and over again, daily.  I believe the Truths are starting to sink in.

Several of the scriptures relate to me listening to God.

John 1:27 - My sheep listen to my voice...

James 1:22 - Do not merely listen to to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.

Others remind me that wisdom comes from listening.

Pr 1:5 - let the wise listen and add to their learning...

Pr 12:15 - The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

Pr 19:27 - Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

To listen means to humble ourselves. 

To listen means that we want to learn and grow and change.  

To listen means we desire knowledge and wisdom.

And when it comes to listening to people...

James 1:19 - Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

Listening to others brings value to them.  It shows that you care.  That you value what they are sharing.  That you aren't just thinking of yourself. 

 To listen is to build relationship and trust.

I've thought about how listening affects my relationship with Mark.  He's a great listener.  I love talking with him because I feel respected and valued and loved.  I want him to feel the same.  To know that I care about what he says.  Even if I disagree.

Listening to my children does the same.  To have them know that it matters to me that they are sad or mad or scared or hurt or confused or frustrated.  Instead of just fixing the problem I need to be proactive in listening.

I will do the same for friends.  At least that is my prayer.  That they know that I care, that it matters, that they matter.  I have had conversations where I feel like a person hasn't heard a stinkin word I've sad.  Truly it just made me not want to share again.  They have been more concerned about what they want to say then listening to me.  I don't like the feeling.  I don't want others to feel like that around me.

People are important to me.  Relationships are important to me.  

I want to

Just Listen.

Testimony Tuesday -- God Shows Us the Fruit!

This testimony is from Shelly Jones.  She shared it in 2009 but it's worth a re-share! 

We just started a small group at a friends house. We'll be meeting with some people from church for several weeks and doing a study on the subject of love. One of the first things we talked about was identifying a person in our life who is very loving and talking about what we can learn about love from them.

This led me to the story of Bertha Griffith. It's not really my story and I'm sure that I have some of the details wrong. It's a story about a very important lady in my Dad's life and what her story taught me about love. The story of Bertha Griffith is in two parts. Each part has taught me something different about love.

PART 1

My dad was about 16 when he became a Christian. It was the late 60's and he was a bit of a long haired misfit. His parents got divorced when he was 14 and he moved with his mom to a new city in northern California. So aside from looking different, he was in a new place. He's not really a gregarious type of person who jumps quickly into a new group even now. I'm guessing he was a lot more shy then. He started going to church because two cute girls at school invited him to come sing in their youth choir. They needed tenors. Long story short, after spending a little while around the kids in the choirs, my dad became a Christian and started going to Sunday services regularly. 

After a few services some of the "elders" of the church pulled him aside to "straighten him out" about his appearance. From what I've been told, they were giving him a hard time about his appearance in general (his hair was too long and too bushy, he wasn't especially well groomed, etc.) and his style of dress (much too casual for church). In the middle of this conversation a very well respected woman in the church, Bertha Griffith, stepped between my dad and his accusers. She physically stood between him and them. She gathered up all 4 feet 10 inches and 70-some-odd-years of herself and said, "Now you leave him alone! The Lord and I have talked and he's going to be just fine."

Lesson #1 - Love accepts people as they are and sees them for what they have the potential to be.

While others in that church saw my dad as a long haired loser kid, Bertha saw his potential. But she didn't pull him aside to lecture him about how he was wasting his potential. She just accepted him as he was and let him decide to live up to his potential on his own. The truth was, my dad was a hurting kid who probably just needed someone to believe in him.

PART 2

Years later, after my parents had met and married, they moved to the area in southern California where I grew up. When they went to a nearby church (with tiny baby me in tow), who was standing at the door greeting but Bertha Griffith? Hundreds of miles away from where she first said that he would be "Just fine" she recognized that misfit teenage boy all grown up. She smiled and said, "I want to show you something." She pulled out her pocket book and produced a photo of my dad at 16. She said, "I want you to know that I've been praying for you ever since you came to that church as a teenager. I knew you would turn out ok."

Lesson #2 - Love follows through on what it believes.

Bertha believed in my dad's potential. As far as I know, aside from that one time she defended him, she never made any grand gestures on his behalf.  She didn't write him letters when he went off to college or even keep track of him in any way. She may never have known what came of his life, but she did what she could on his behalf. She just prayed. And lo and behold... that long haired misfit turned out just fine.

We all went to the same church for years until Bertha passed away. I think she was in her late nineties when she finally did. Every once in a while she would take me aside at church and tell me about how she prayed for my dad all those years. And she would whisper, "I still do. And now I pray for you too."

That's what Bertha Griffith taught me about love.

Throwback Thursday - Believes All Things

 I was reading through 1 Corinthians the other day and the middle of chapter 13 stood out.

"[love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" 1 Cor. 13 7 NASB

Love believes all things?  What does that mean?

As Jesus is my perfect example I look to Him to show me what it means to believe all things.  To hope all things...I was reminded of His betrayal.

Jesus knew that Judas was the one who was going to betray Him with 30 pieces of silver and yet Jesus trusted him with the money.  Whoa!  Jesus believed the best of Judas even though he knew what he was going to do.  Jesus believed all things.  He hoped.  I'm pretty sure I would've said 'Hey Peter you handle the money.  I know I can trust you with it.'  Judas?  Not so much.

Jesus trusts us with His name.  Christ-followers.  Boy have we blown that.  Yet He still believes in us, hopes for us, endures for us....He doesn't take away His name.  He doesn't go back on His promises to us.  Amazing!

Can I do that?  Do I do that?  Do I look for the best in people even when the worst is what screams the loudest?  Believing the best is hard.  Especially when we've been hurt or betrayed.  But that is perfect love isn't it?  To not look for trouble but to look for the best?  To not be fearful of what people can, and may very well, do to us but to believe in them.  To love them.  To reach out to others no matter what.  Even if it means getting hurt.  Love endures all things....

I'm not saying that this requires us to blindly trust everyone and give out our social security number to anyone who asks :)  But I'm challenged to believe in people.  Believe in what they can be through the transforming love of Christ.  What a different way of looking at love!

Testimony Tuesday - He's in the Details!

From Lynn Deary with her husband, Shawn's, permission.

Our GOD is AMAZING at what HE does!!! So the Friday before Band of Brothers (BOB), my husband, Shawn, had the day off.  After he was done with his quiet time, he asked the LORD what he should do next. He felt an “impression” to go change his oil. (Don’t fret…I am going somewhere with the small details.)

I have been heavily coaxing (let’s face it…heavily nagging) my hubby to attend one of the Band of Brothers Breakfasts that The River puts on…for the better part of TWO YEARS!!! So, I turned to praying that he would go, rather than nagging. Well, he got up (on his own) and went to the B.O.B that Saturday morning. Two guys spoke on serving and giving. 

After the breakfast, “he” decided to go drop off the oil from his oil change yesterday. He went to O’Reilly Auto Parts. As he was dropping the “yucky” oil off…he overheard a lady (who was working there) tell her co-worker that she was REALLY, REALLY hungry, ‘cuz she didn’t have time for breakfast. She specifically said, “I would love a big breakfast burrito…doesn’t Durango Joes sell them”?

Let’s back up a moment… Shawn was encouraged (when leaving the B.O.B) to take a couple of the CJ’s breakfast burritos. He planned on bringing them home for us. Fast forward back to O’Reilly’s… The burritos were sitting in Shawn’s rig. He approached the lady and the guy she was talking to. He said, “Sounds like you’re hungry? I happen to have two breakfast burritos in my SUV. Would you like them?” They were COMPLETELY dumbfounded and asked if they could pay him for them. He replied, “No. They are yours. Enjoy and GOD BLESS you!”

He came home SOOO AMPED up… about the “appointment” GOD provided for him after the B.O.B. As you recall…the message at B.O.B., was on serving and giving. It’s so interesting how GOD immediately opened a door for Shawn to “practice” serving! He said, “As I drove away from O’Reilly’s…I thought to myself, “Why don’t I do that more often??? THAT was sooo FUN to randomly bless someone like that.” ” I told him, “Yeah…it is a TOTAL BLAST! That’s why I LOVE to do it anytime I can!” 

We were chatting about how GOD does what he does… The “impression” to do an oil change, the message on giving and serving at B.O.B, the “needing” to drop the old oil off…etc. etc. If Shawn wouldn’t have gotten up and gone to the B.O.B…he would have missed the opportunity to bless these two people afterwards. On a Saturday morning…he would have still been home in his lounge pants, sipping his coffee with his family. GOD is sooo in the details too… I told Shawn, you know Durango Joes serves CJ’s breakfast burritos. He even knew the kind of burrito that lovely, hungry gal wanted to eat! WHOA!!! THAT’s our GOD for ya!!!

Throwback Thursday - HOPE

(all images from Google)

The other day I was asked by a friend

What is hope?

I thought about it for a while and this is the answer I gave her. I hope (hehe) that it sheds some light for someone on this very powerful 4-letter word.

The definition of HOPE is to expect with confidence.

HOPE is powerful. I watched a movie a while ago about WW2. A village of Jewish people were being held prisoner by Nazi’s. They had no idea what was going on outside of their prison and they began to lose hope that the war would ever end. People were killing themselves, giving up on living because they had nothing to live for in their existence as they saw it. One day a guy overheard something on the radio about the allied forces coming soon. He shared it with the people and everything changed. They realized they could endure this hardship because a better life was coming. Soon. Sometime. They didn’t know the exact timeline but they had HOPE that it was coming. Their circumstances didn't change but their perspective did. They had HOPE.

Interesting that when I googled hope, pictures of Obama came up. We can be let down when we hope in people (any politician, our friends, spouse etc) or hope in circumstances (economy, jobs, situations etc). There is only one HOPE that is perfect and will never let us down.
Jesus is our HOPE. He conquered death so that we may have HOPE eternal. At the end of every scenario, no matter how bad, Jesus is there. He never leaves us. In Him there is no death! No end. That’s HOPE. That no matter the circumstances in my life and how they may change, He is unchangeable, unmovable and always faithful.

HOPE is saying that tomorrow can be better than today and next week can be better than this week. HOPE is saying God’s plan for me is something I can trust in and even if it doesn’t make sense now, His promises are true and He will never leave me and He wants the best for me. No. Matter. What. Life doesn’t always make sense. We are never promised that it would. But knowing Jesus gives us HOPE in the future. He tells us that someday there will be no more sin, no more tears, no more pain. It’s worth waiting for and enduring the hardships now because in the end it WILL be good. No matter how long we wait.

I think we all battle with hopelessness. We don't think that our situation will ever change. We lose HOPE. That's why we must remember the promises of God. They bring us HOPE again. They help us to look to the future (next week, next month, next year, eternity).

We can expect with confidence that Jesus is now taking care, and always will take care, of us and that all things work together for good for those whose HOPE is in the Lord.

Testimony Tuesday -- My Father God

-- This is from my dear friend, Jinny Williamson --

Growing up I was raised in a Christian/ pastors home. From a young age my understanding of God and my relationship with Him was truly based on my dad's relationship with God. I thought that in order to have a relationship with Christ I needed to have this to do list and only when I checked off that box did I truly have a relationship with Him. I was a complete daddies girl so not only did I long for an intimate relationship with Christ, I also wanted my dad's approval. So for 18 years of my life my "relationship" with Christ was wrapped up in a to-do list and the approval of my earthy father.

Then on April 6th, 2004 at 2:00 am my dad died out of the blue of a massive heart attack.  It was a month and a half before my high school graduation and my world came crashing down.  I was mad at God for "taking" my dad away and since my view on what a "relationship" with Christ looked like was so distorted my foundation was beginning to shake. I still desperately longed for a relationship with Christ but I didn't know how to have one with Him.  I wanted a more intimate relationship with Him but still at a distance. I was hurt, mad, angry, puzzled, and afraid of God.  I still was stuck in my routine of checking my quite time off of my to do list that the thought of an intimate relationship was unfathomable  to me.

Soon after, my mom became an alcoholic and I quickly got thrown into the role of parent.  Getting calls in the middle of the night from bars or police to come take care of my mom.  A mom who was, and is, very hurt and broken.  Never being around alcohol, much less an alcoholic, I had no clue how to handle the situation.  Now I was not only mad at God for "taking" my dad but I was also mad that He left me with a mom that I had to deal with.  I still longed for that intimate relationship and still it seemed unfathomable.  Although I longed for that relationship with Him I was really pissed off at Him.  I didn't understand how a Father who loved me so much would turn my world upside down and in my mind not for the better. 

For eight years I continued to seek an intimate relationship with Christ but never seemed to have that deep relationship.  People would try to encourage me by say now you need to allow God to be your "daddy."  However in my mind I didn't want God to be my daddy, I wanted my daddy back.  I wanted to hear his voice, smell his cologne, and hug his neck.  I also didn't want God to replace my dad.

Then in 2012 Nathaniel James was born and again my life was turned upside down this time for the better.  Through my relationship with my son and the deep love and affection I had for him God began to show me how much He loved me.  He would whisper sweet things to me in the middle of the night as I would love on that sweet boy.  He told me that He loved me even more then I loved Nathaniel and of course I couldn't imagine how that would be possible however I knew in my heart that He truly did.  I began to talk to Him and tell Him how I have felt for the last 8 years.  I told Him I was pissed at Him and that I couldn't understand why I had to go through this.  Our times together where so precious and sweet,just me and my Jesus. 

So today as I write this my dad is still gone, my mom is still struggling with alcoholism.  But I have that intimate relationship with my Jesus.  No some of my circumstance may never change but I have a heavenly "daddy" who loves me and is here to walk with me through this life.  And although the past almost 10 years have been extremely hard I can say today that I wouldn't change it for anything just to have this intimate relationship.

Proverbs 31:25
She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.

This is a verse that I have clung to since 2007.