BELIEVE

I had a hard time believing yesterday.  I am frustrated and puzzled and confused and any other synonym that goes with it!  I have been trying to find an answer, a why, a reason for some symptoms I have been experiencing, and have only beffuzzled myself and the medical community.  So, I was challenged today by a sermon by Joyce Meyer to believe that God loves me.  Today, as I was cleaning out a cabinet (seeking to control when circumstances seem out of control), I came across an old frame.  Inside the frame was one simple word placed there to inspire teenagers that I work with.  It says, "BELIEVE."  Well, I was encouraged by the message.  

When we don't want to admit that we are having a hard time believing that He loves us; when we are questioning why yucky things are happening; when we are doubtful that things will get better and lacking hope, we should wrestle those feelings.  Challenge the doubts and feelings with the truth:  God's word.

So here it is.  He loves us (makes me think of a David Crowder Band song).

Psalm 31:7

⁷ I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
    for you saw my affliction
    and knew the anguish of my soul.

Psalm 31:16

¹⁶ Let your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your unfailing love. 

 

Psalm 36:5

⁵ Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the skies. 

Zephaniah 3:17

¹⁷ The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.”

John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

John 13:34

³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Romans 5:8

⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Romans 8:38-39

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Esther in Haiti

I am back from Haiti!  It was a wonderful trip!  I will have more stories soon, but below is a devotion I shared with the ladies in our sister church.

I greatly enjoy ladies’ gatherings.  I enjoy meeting new people and sharing ideas.  It is a beautiful thing when women in different seasons of life can come together as the body of Christ and pray for each other.  While this ladies’ reception is a time of fun, God can certainly use it, right?  At our church in Little Rock we occasionally have times like these called “Women’s Chat Events.”  Chat is a term meaning to talk because we women love to talk!  Seven years ago I went to my first Women’s Chat Event.  I sat down at a table with two women I did not know:  Dinah and Liz.  God placed me at that table for a reason.  He would use those women in my life in the years to come.  Liz was there to talk to me and pray with me about being a part of my church.  Dinah would become a friend, mentor, and leader of many mission trips that I would take.  So in this very room today may be the start of some beautiful God-ordained friendships.

                My friends and I were praying about what we should share today and one of my favorite Bible stories came to mind:  Esther!  This story is fascinating to me for so many reasons:  it’s about a woman; its’ about a woman chosen by a king to be his queen; it’s about God’s people in another land and how they were going to be killed; it’s about courage and prayer and Esther risking her life to go before the king to plead for her people; it’s about God answering prayers and rescuing His people.  What a beautiful story!

                When King Xerxes was trying to make his decision amongst the young ladies of Persia, he was very interested in Esther. Verse 17 of Chapter 3 says that she won his favor and that he loved her.  So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen.  I’d like to remind you today, women of God, that you are chosen by a King:  The King of Kings, Lord of Lords, King Jesus.  You are part of a royal family. 

                The Lord longs to bestow on you a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair, as he said in Isaiah 61: 3.  In Zechariah 9: 16 we read, “The Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people.  They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.”  We that know Jesus personally are made righteous by Him.  We get the crown of salvation and shine for Him as a jewel in His crown. 

                1 Peter 2: 9 speaks of those who believe, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  Just as Esther was chosen, beautiful, crowned and of royalty, so are you chosen, beautiful, crowned, and of royalty.

                In the book of Esther, God’s people were threatened of their lives by the evil works of the enemy through Haman.  Esther risked her life to go before the king and plead for the lives of her people.  She was encouraged to do so by Mordecai who persuaded her that perhaps she was in this royal position for such a time as this. She and the Israelites fasted and prayed, and she said if I perish, I perish.

                God answered their prayers and saved His people.  I recently experienced God’s healing hand and the answering of my prayers.  My niece was born with holes in her heart.  At the age of 4, it was decided by the doctors that she must have surgery to close one of the holes.  This hole hadn’t gotten any smaller for four years.  On the day of her surgery, the hole had grown too small to perform the procedure.  I believe that God closed those holes just as we had prayed.  I believe that God chose that time and that way to heal her to show my family what He could do.  He wants my family to know He is real and He is powerful!

                We have given you all jewels and a Bible verse to remember that you are precious to Jesus.  Remember in the midst of cooking for your family, cleaning your homes, and caring for your children that you are loved.  Let God’s love work in you and throughout you to enable you to shine with His love.  Remember you are a daughter of the Most High King:  a jewel in His crown.

Persistent Birds

Awhile back I posted a video of one of many birds that continually ram its beak into our sliding glass door.  I am not always there to wave my arms and protect them from a traumatic brain injury so I started researching ways to deter them.

Attempt 1:  The lady at the home improvement store told me I would have to move the owl decoy almost daily to different places to fully convince the birds that it was alive, then she accidentally decapitated the fake owl in the store.  I have a small balcony, and I was not willing to put forth the effort to move the owl every day so I did not purchase it. Here is a picture of how the birds have decorated my chair and another reason why I don't want them on the balcony.

Attempt 2:  I chose something practical and aesthetic.  However, as you will notice, it resembles a bird perch--and the birds thought so, too.  They appreciated that I put up a new place for them to land, and it now made more noise as it crashed into the glass door than their beaks alone did.

Attempt 3:  The giant bird eye beach ball thing.  I thought from a distance people might think it is an Asian inspired patio decoration.  I thought this helped cut down on some of the birds who don't like giant geometric eyes.  After a huge storm carried it away, I found it in the grass three buildings down from mine.  I was slightly embarrassed retrieving it and carrying it back to my place.

Attempt 4:  I put up the iredescent bird streamers guaranteed to keep birds away.  I thought it was working until I saw a bird fly right into the streamer.  When the streamers blew away, I did not go looking for them.

Attempt 5:  I give up.  Maybe I will put up an outdoor curtain to completely mask the reflection of the big tree.

Birds on the River

Isaiah 40: 30, 31  "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." 

Turn the Other Cheek

A man took several blows to the eye from a stranger during a road rage confrontation.  This young man's wife and small child were in the car.  What would be the natural reaction to this ridiculous unwarranted attack?  Many a provoked man would strike back, but this man did not return a punch and announced "We're done," and got back in his car to remove his family from the situation.

My friend was telling our mission trip group this true story about a friend during our last meeting.  I announced, half-serious and half-way hoping that I was joking, that you never know what would happen this week--when we might have a "turn the other cheek" moment.  Well, I kind of had mine today.

In Matthew 5:39, Jesus says, "But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

I wasn't socked in the eye nor struck on the cheek, but I was confronted by a neighbor.  I had pretended to be a gardener, apartment style, and transferred my zinnias to a smaller pot.  In the process I managed to get potting soil all over my balcony.  I swept the dirt off my second story balcony thinking the wind would carry the dirt off breaking it up and away to the river.  Thirty minutes later, I had a startling knock at my door.

My downstairs neighbor, whom I had never met, confronted me, told me that the dirt had covered his chairs, and asked that I not do that again.  He was bold and assertive in his manner but not rude.  After the fact, I thought about what my human nature wanted to say to him, fuel ignited by assumptions about character previously to this encounter. 

However, in the moment, I responded apologetically and with kindness.  I offered to clean it up which he declined.  I also offered him some extra potting soil which he also declined.  I think the kind response caught him off-guard.  I can only explain my response by the Holy Spirit guiding me to do not what is natural, but what is unnatural.  I feel that is the way Jesus responded, the supernatural.  Perhaps that is what He meant by turning the other cheek.

I certainly have not responded the way I should have more times than I can count, but here is one time I actually did respond in a way that is unnatural, and that is why I wanted to share it. 

Celebrate the Small Stuff

In the midst of graduation parties and Mother's Day and birthdays and...all the fun events and people to celebrate, I was able to have more reasons to give thanks.

On a recent Friday, I arrived at my speech therapy room at work to find a student hovering around my door.  He said, "Come here.  I got something for you."  I was surprised and excited.  "For me?" 

"Yeah, come here. I want to show you."  He led me to my back door to a tiny unused patio where I sometimes let the boys take a shortcut to the playground through the bushes.  He had a little crate of zinnias for me and one for his mother.  I smiled and told him, "You made my day."

He spent the first ten minutes of the school day tracking down our Gardening Instructor and begging her to let him plant the zinnias in pots for his mother and me.  How precious!!

That very day after lunch, I checked my mailbox in the workroom.  There was an anonymous donation of $100.00 to go towards my Haiti trip (see previous blog re: garage sale blues).  I boo-hooed!  I was touched, humbled, and deeply grateful!  I wanted to thank someone but didn't know who to thank.  I told a few co-workers to spread the word of how thankful I was if they knew who contributed (as I teared up again). 

So these may seem like small things to celebrate to some, but to me they were so special!!

He's Able

Well, I was certainly challenged to believe what I wrote in the last blog.  I worked so hard today with two other team members to have a garage sale to raise money for our mission trip to Haiti in July.  I tried hard not to have any expectations of how much we would earn.  I remained positive when other vendors around us were seeing the glass half empty.  We battled last minute advertisement and construction surrounding our site.  We battled complaints from buyers, broken glass, and unfulfilled handshakes.  Still I chose to have a smile and enjoy the nice weather, the shade, and the conversation with new friends.  

Boy was my hope tank deflated when we only made $130.00 which is to be split three ways.  All that work for a small amount.  I certainly was frustrated and had put my trust in circumstances.  I had to return to my previous blog entry as well as take a long nap.  I prayed to handle this with perseverance.  

I recently told the team that you never know how God will provide the money for our trip.  My mentor has told me before "If God has called you, he has also called the funds."  Of course, we will be faithful to contribute and do our part.  

I told my team of my first mission trip to Peru and the lessons I learned in fund raising.  The woman whose house had recently burned to the ground was the very woman who provided the most money towards my mission trip.  I cried, and I will never forget it.  I can only assume that she perhaps felt so blessed by others helping out after her house burned that she wanted to help others.

Music is so important to me and such a lifter to my soul when the song is encouraging.  I listened to "He's Able" by Darwin Hobbs.  It is a song I heard on a gospel channel last year while driving to work.  Later that Spring as I was going through a dark time with a loved one who was in the hospital, the song ministered to me.  As that loved one was being transported by wheelchair in the elevator, the hospital transport randomly belted out that one line of the song, "He's able."  I knew that was from God.  A little message to trust at a time when I couldn't understand what was going on and was tempted to despair.

So once again, I am reminded, 

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen."  -Ephesians 3:20