Has a Lesson on Encouragement

This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to She Speaks. It's a conference for Christian women who have a ministry in speaking, writing, or leading. This was my second year. Last year, I was very uncomfortable there, not because of anything they did but because of my own history and training. You see, these women have a heart for ministry that is focused on Jesus Christ, and they are genuinely glad to be serving in that capacity. Therefore, 600 women were smiling at me, greeting me, talking to me, and it made me very uneasy. People who smile at me on the job usual mean they have pulled one over on me, and I haven't done my job, and here there were 600 women in bright lipstick smiling at me! Unsettling. This year my mom got to go with me. I followed the Women's Ministry Track for the most part but added some of the speaking track because it is one thing for me to get up and speak in my professional voice, but when I'm in front of women, leading women there is another voice I have to use. So, on Friday night I had to give a 3 minute testimony to a group of 12 other speaker track women and on Saturday night a 5 minute teaching speech. When I concluded my talk on Saturday night, if the women weren't crying they were at least tearing up, and the instructor said she felt it was anointed and asked me to send it to her, specifically the scripture. So, if that small group of women could glean something from this, maybe you can too.

In 2007, my mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer that really bordered on stage 4. Her oncologist said she was in the fight of her life for her life and that he would be giving her the strongest chemo on the market and the largest dose her body could handle. From that point, God took me out of a very active role in my mom's life into a passive role which I hated. I don't sit well. I'm a doer. I'm a fighter. I am not a sitter, but every time I got up to move He would effectively sit my behind back down. When I finally got the picture, I prayed, "Lord, if you aren't going to use me the least You could do is teach me something. I don't want this to go to waste." (Be careful what you pray for!) He began to teach me how to encourage. You see, I had never been around anyone who had cancer. I didn't know what to say or what was appropriate. Fortunately, it was my mom, so if I offended her, she was still going to love me.

Then one day when I had hit a wall and struggled to put one foot in front of the other, the Holy Spirit reached out and encouraged me by personalizing the Scripture in my heart.

We all have people who God sends into our lives, and we don't know how to encourage them. Someone may be going through cancer, miscarriage, financial problems, eating disorders, divorce, abuse, etc. and He wants you to minister to them. We are so blessed to have the Bible. It is the only book that is living and applicable to all situations. What the Holy Spirit taught me and spoke to me is what I want to share with you.

1. Memorize the Word of God. We are to bind the Word of God on our hearts. Some may have difficulty in memorizing, so get a small, spiral bound set of note cards. Put a verse on each card, and put the cards in your bag. You pull it out when you are waiting at the bank or in a fast food line, and you read it over and over meditating on it as you study it. Ladies, you've just had a sweet moment with Jesus in the middle of your day. I put verses that I use on a regular basis. I write down verses that might be for someone else, but I keep it because I know He will use it for others. I put my favorite verses there because sometimes I forget where they are located.
2. Meditate on the Word of God. Once we are memorizing the Word of God, we need to be meditating on the Word of God. While we are meditating, we need to be lifting that fellow believer up in prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in how to pray and what you are to pray for that person. Ladies, He is faithful. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to verses for the one who needs encouraging. This is why memorizing is so important. The Holy Spirit may give you a word like "courage." You are to pray for courage for that woman in need of encouragement. Then start digging in your concordance or on http://www.biblegateway.com/ for verses along this line. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.
3. Make it personal. Then once the verses have been given to you, summarize the verses and insert the person's name being sure to put the location of the verse in parenthesis.

As I prayed about this time, the Holy Spirit led me to verses to read over you. (At this point, I asked the ladies to bow their heads and close their eyes.)

This is from your Heavenly Father:

Sweet daughter of mine, I love you. I love you so much, child, that I have engraved you on the palm of my hand (Is 49:16). I have hemmed you in and my hand is upon you (Ps 139:5). Do you feel me? The tears you have cried were so precious to me, and I've collected each one of them (Ps 56:8). I even have the hairs on your very head numbered (Mt 10:30). Sweet daughter, you are the apple of my eye, and I want to protect you (Ps 17:8). If you will just acknowledge me and who I am to you, I will lay out your way for you (Pro. 3:6). Trust me, child, I will never abandon you (Heb 13:5). Do you hear me? I'm telling you, precious one, it's me telling you to turn to the right or to the left or to walk this way (IS 30:21). Girl, I have plans for you.
I want to be your hope, and I am your future (Jer 29:11). Trust me, child, when I say that I haven't finished with you yet. I'm going to continue my work in you (Phil 1:6). And there isn't anything you will go through that I didn't know about. NOTHING SURPRISES ME, and I'm going to use every bit of it to your benefit and my glory because you love Me (Rms 8:28).

Ladies, I hope that encouraged you. I pray that hearing God's Word spoken to you making it personal encouraged you, and it's my prayer that you will be able to use this to encourage others.

Needs a Girdle from Time to Time

For those who have read my blog, you know I have a feisty grandmother who I take after a lot, and I had a very meek grandmother. My grandmother was the meekest person I have ever known, and if I hadn't had her in my life I don't know that I would have had as good an example. What is amazing to me is that her childhood included abandonment by her father, living through the Depression, watching her mother suffer, being shuffled from home to home when her mother had a breakdown. She suffered in a difficult marriage, and then she raised three knot-headed boys. My daddy being the youngest of said boys. She still referred to them as her "boys" when she died and they were in their 60s and 70s.

I heard a story from my daddy, of course, about my grandmother that cracks me us. I'm not sure what the "boys" had done this time, but she had called them in to give them what they needed…instead they ran from her. WRONG ANSWER! Even the meekest of the earth have their limits. Grandma had done her laundry that day and had hung her unmentionables out to dry. Unfortunately for the "boys" she had hung her girdle on the closet door in their room. When they flew by her to their room, she was hot and heavy on their heels. The boys continued to run around the room trying to avoid her grasp. Her hands hungry to get a hold of someone or something grabbed her girdle, and she came out swinging.

Now for those who are too young to know what a girdle is a girdle came after the corset. It had ties at the bottom to connect to their nylons/stockings. The corset's purpose was to squeeze a woman into a smaller, smoother figure. This time the corset was used as a rod of instruction.

 She came out swinging. When the girdle would connect to the backside of a boy, those straps that connected to her nylons would wrap around their legs and sting them. Two impacts for the price of one. This made a definite impression on my daddy. He might have been afraid of his daddy up until that point, but now, his momma had made her point. He doesn't ever remember running from her after that.

 Two impacts for the price of one well-placed swing.

We've heard of killing two birds with one stone, but maybe I'll have to start a new cliché'. Mine will be, "One girdle swat is worth 2 with a wooden spoon." Spanking isn't always the answer, but when it is, it can be quite an effective tool when done correctly.

I will tell you each of those "boys" loved their momma, and even though they were knot-headed, got into all kind of mischief, I never heard her say a bad word about any of them--yet another good trait to have as a parent.

 All we can do is the best we can do with what we know at the time. Considering everything my grandmother endured and overcame in her lifetime, she was an awesome grandmother and an amazing mom. May we all strive to do our best in the roles we've been granted as moms.

Is Loved More Than a Sack of Taters

"Mom, I love you more than a sack of taters," Pearce said with a hearty grin and an exaggerated drawl.

Not to be outdone, I said, "Son, you can sweet talk the horns right off a billy goat, and I love you too.""I love you more, mom." And so it begins.

"I love you, Pearce, more than all the trees on the earth.""I love you, Mom, more than all the frogs on the earth.""I love you more than all the number of stars in the sky." You get the picture.

This has been my way of trying to quantify my love to my children. This has been my way of trying to give them a visual picture of just how much I love them because children are such concrete and literal thinkers.When Pearce first started telling me he loved me more than a sack of taters, my first thought was, "Boy, you been spending too much time with your Poppar" (my daddy). But it was simply his way of starting the conversation and his way of getting to hear me say how much I love him.

For Erin, it progressed from the "I love you more than…" to "Guess what?" That is Erin's phrase for everything. "Hey, mom, guess what!" Of course, I'm rarely given the opportunity to guess, and when I am given such an opportunity I make it so absurd that she wonders why she even tries. "Mom, guess what!" Erin says excitedly.

"You are going to go snow skiing down Mount Everest backwards with a cricket in your pocket going forwards.""Mom, you're not even close," she says with a grin. Then she begins telling her story of the thrilling event or tidbit of information she finds fascinating. When she's very excited I hear, "Hey, mom, guess what! Guess what!"

Each are so unique with different strengths and different temperaments and different gifts. Loving them and disciplining them differently can be quite challenging at times too. Invariably one thinks I'm unfair.You know, I've learned so much about my heavenly Father by being a mom to Erin and Pearce.

"Kristy, do you know how much I love you?""More than all the stars in the sky?"

"More than that.""More that all the dust bunnies in my house?"

"More than that.""More than all the sand on every beach on Earth?"

"I love you so much that I knew you before the world was created. I love you so much that I made you a masterpiece, a one-of-a-kind, priceless. I love you so much that I have the number of hairs on your head numbered. I love you so much that I was willing and did die for you because I didn't want your sin to separate us any longer. That's how much I love you.""WOW, that's some kind of extravagant love!"

Knows I Could Handle Some Things Better

As many of you know, I refer to my children as "motion" and "commotion." Erin who started talking in full sentences at 18 months, who wakes up talking and goes to bed talking is the "commotion" part of the duo, and Pearce who wakes up moving and moves all day until he just gives out is the "motion." They are quite an entertaining duo when I'm not having to referee, but there are just days, especially hormonal days, that if I have to repeat myself one more time, referee another argument, or answer the same question one more time… I snap. I feel like my head should pop off my neck and start spinning, and typically what comes out of my mouth is not what I want to say or how I would want to say it if I were in my right mind. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

 

I don't remember my mom losing her cool very often, but when she did, it got the attention of her Attention Deficit Hyperactive daughter (me). I wish I was as calm as she, but I'm not her. I don't have her strengths, her gifts, and her temperament and to compare myself to her or anyone else is not fair to me or my Creator because He makes one-of-a-kinds only. Not only that, but He has chosen the children for each of us to raise even those of us who adopt our children. Nothing surprises Him – THANK YOU, JESUS!
I also think He chooses children who will make the parent lean on Him the most. Granted, I don't have any biblical backing on that. It's just a personal observation. For example, He chose me, an ADHD, Dr. Dobson strong-willed child to be mothered by Sandra, an organized melancholy. In turn, He has blessed me with Erin who moves at a very slow pace and sees life as a party missing the details in instructions, and then He blessed me with Pearce (the answer to my mother's prayers). I am now raising an active, strong-willed boy. (Thanks, mom.) In truth, they make me smile and laugh more than anything else, but they definitely can drive me to my knees quicker than most anything else. God, I pray the power of the blood of the cross from the top of their heads to the bottom of their feet. Keep Satan from taking hold in their hearts, souls and minds. Lord, give me the strength and courage to parent my children as they need to be parented. Please give me wisdom to know how to handle each situation, each discipline issue, each moment with grace and mercy. Lord, thank you for choosing me to be their mother. Thank you, Lord that whatever difficult thing we are going through is a phase, a season that will come and go. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of laughter, and thank you, Lord, for forgiving me when I mess up. I love you, Lord. Amen.
Personally, I think it's good to apologize to our children when we blow it. It teaches them we are human. They don't need to see us beating ourselves up over our mistakes. They need to hear us praying to our heavenly Father asking for forgiveness. They need to hear us ask them for forgiveness too. It also teaches them how to ask for forgiveness. It gives them the opportunity to exercise grace and mercy, and it can create a stronger bond if allowed.

Wonders What Are You Expecting

Tonight my son was watching "Horton Hears a Who." This little movie is about an elephant who hears a noise coming from a speck, and the elephant Horton decides the voice belongs to someone who has a family who needs help. Horton finds out it's more than just that someone. It's a whole town living on the speck he caught on the top of a clover.

It was during the beginning of the movie when Horton is chasing the clover because he heard someone crying for help that a still, quiet voice asked me, "What do you expect of me?" I thought it was funny because there is a kangaroo on the movie who couldn't hear the voice Horton heard, and if she couldn't hear it, see it, feel it or taste it then it just wasn't real, and here I sat hearing that still, quiet voice.I excused myself, and the still, quiet voice began questioning me as I entered my time alone with Him. It's been a while since He came to me, or maybe He's come and I haven't heard Him for all the racket going on in my life.

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  Am I expecting anything from God? I have to tell you I have wrestled with this question and am still wrestling with it.
  
• What do I expect from God? Do I expect anything? I want God to do things, and I need God to do things, but what do I expect of Him?
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  What do I want from God? (The question "What do I need from God?" will be addressed in a different blog.)
  
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  Direction: I want God to just tell me what He wants me to do. Is that too much to ask? When we were going through the adoption process the first go around, I got to the point in my spiritual walk that I would be obedient, I would comply, I would submit if He would only just make His way, His plan boldly evident. Do you know why this was a problem?
  
  
  I had gotten to a point in my spiritual growth where I relied on God and wanted nothing more than to be in His will and to please Him. This is not a bad thing. But if God had left me in that place, my faith would not have grown roots. 2 Corinthians 5:7 "We live by faith, not by sight." We should never stop learning. We should never stop growing in our relationship with God or in our faith. So now, I'm working on breathing. When I take a deep breath and realize He is in control, that He will work it all out for the good of those who love Him (which is me) Romans 8:28, and that even if I stumble He has me in His hands (Psalms 37:23-24), then I'm trusting Him with my whole heart. I'm trusting Him with everything.
  
  Here are a couple of other verses He led me to read.
           Proverbs 16:9 NIV   In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.         Isaiah 42:16-17 NIV   I will lead the blind by ways they have not known along familiar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These things I will do; I will not forsake them. (I cannot tell you how meaningful this verse is in my life on a regular basis.)
  

Justice: Given what I do for a living as a fraud investigator, I want justice. I need to know if I can't get them here that God will settle all scores in the end. Otherwise, I would not be able to leave my work at work. On the flip side of that, I'm thankful for God's grace and mercy that He extends to me daily.          Isaiah 42:1-4 The Message    

^1-4 "Take a good look at my servant.  I'm backing him to the hilt. He's the one I chose, and I couldn't be more pleased with him. I've bathed him with my Spirit, my life. He'll set everything right among the nations. He won't call attention to what he does with loud speeches or gaudy parades. He won't brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won't disregard the small and insignificant, but he'll steadily and firmly set things right. He won't tire out and quit. He won't be stopped until he's finished his work—to set things right on earth. Far-flung ocean islands wait expectantly for his teaching."

2 Chronicles 6:30 - 31NIV

Then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of men), so that they will fear you and walk in your ways all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers." 

• Love: As a mean mom, I don't always get love from my kids. Human love is flawed, but His love is perfect and can cast out fear. I love the way The Message puts it in Jeremiah.

           Jeremiah 31:2-6

 ^2-6This is the way God put it: "They found grace out in the desert,  these people who survived the killing. Israel, out looking for a place to rest, met God out looking for them!" (I love that!) God told them, "I've never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love! (Thank you, thank you, thank you!) And so now I'll start over with you and build you up again, dear virgin Israel. You'll resume your singing, grabbing tambourines and joining the dance. You'll go back to your old work of planting vineyards on the Samaritan hillsides,
And sit back and enjoy the fruit—  oh, how you'll enjoy those harvests! The time's coming when watchmen will call out from the hilltops of Ephraim: 'On your feet! Let's go to Zion,  go to meet our God!'"         

• Protection

         Proverbs 18:10 NIV   ¹⁰ The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.


        Psalms 34:7 NIV The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
        

 Those are just a few things I want from God, but do I expect them from Him? I guess I do. Why do  I       expect them? Because He is faithful and just. He is consistent. Is it bad that I expect things of God? Not necessarily. I can rely on Him for my every need, but our expectations of God can be a bad thing when we limit God with our finite knowledge and human experience. If you were to write down everything you know or feel about Jesus Christ and put it in a box, how much space would that box fill in a room? Not much. God doesn't fit in a box. He cannot be adequately described. He is beyond description. He is the beginning and the end – have you ever tried to wrap your mind around that? He is the Alpha and the Omega. He has infinite knowledge and wisdom. We see things partly not in whole.

I am guilty of limiting God. I am guilty of putting God in a box. So I'm working on just breathing and waiting, and I'm trying not to be too eager to label things that happen in my life as good or bad. I'm looking for God's hand knowing that sometimes I won't see it until I look back and sometimes it is not for me to see but to trust that it is enough to know that He loves me.

Made Time to Meditate

When I was growing up I was always told I needed to have a quiet time and that I needed to meditate on God's Word, but no one ever taught me or led me through how to do it. And for someone who is ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive) meditating on anything was a challenge. So, I figured if anyone reads this blog it will be an adult who knows or has the ability to focus, and I wanted to take this opportunity to lead you through how I meditate and spend time with God. You will need to be alone in the quiet for a period of time which is a precious gift I know, but I promise you this has blessed me and benefited me immensely. Let's begin:

Take deep breaths in and out slowly. Focus on the words you read. If you get distracted, refocus yourself to concentrate on your Father. Breathe in and out slowly 3 or 4 good times before beginning.

BEING STILL:

    Psalms 46:9-11

"He makes the wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire." – (Whatever stressful thing, whatever you are fighting, whatever is your burden – He can make it stop.)

10. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (When we still our minds and focus on Him, we can feel His presence without distraction. Keep breathing.)

11. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

MEDITATION: (Pay special attention to the words in italics, and read them slowly. Sometimes I have personalized the verses by using "me," "my" or "I.")

Ps 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Ps 27:7-9 Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior.

Ps 77:11-13 I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy.

Col 3:15-17 Let the peace of Christ rule in your (my) hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And (I will) be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you (me) richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Ps 18 :16- 18 He reached down from on high and took hold of me (Picture this in your mind. He is reaching down and taking hold of you, His daughter); he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. (There is air to breathe in the spacious place. There is peace, and He did it because He delights in you.)

Ps 17:8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings." (You are the apple of His eye.)

Psalms 18:30- 32 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.

Meditate on what are the names of God and thank Him for why He is each of those names. Examples are:

    Alpha, Omega, Redeemer, Savior, Lord, Messiah, Friend,    Father, Lover of your soul

ASKING GOD TO SPEAK TO YOU:

Psalms 102:1-3 "Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my days like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers."

PREPARING FOR REPENTENCE:

Psalms 139:23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24. "See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Psalms 25:16-18 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.

Psalms 103:13-14 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

 

REPENTENCE:

    Dt 30:19-20

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Mt 5:23-24 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

Acts 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." (Who could use some refreshing?)

 

LISTENING:

YOU LISTEN:

James 4:13-15 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

Ezekial 3:26-27 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house. But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, "This is what the Sovereing Lord says." Whoever will listen let him listen, and whoever will refuse let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.

Psalms 16:7-8 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

Romans 8:26 "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

HE LISTENS:

Ps 17:6-8 I will call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer. Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.

Psalms 10:17,18 You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more."

Sit quietly, continue to breathe deeply and meditate on these questions. Do not be in a rush to answer them. When the Spirit lays a word on your heart that is the only word you should say out loud. You may finish the sentence, but DO NOT SAY ANYTHING MORE. Continue to breathe deeply focusing on God.

    "Lord, I thank you for _________."

    "Father God, you are so ________________."

    "Jesus, I'm sorry I ________________________________."

    "Lord, I lay down my ____________________________."

    "I trust You to _________________________________."

    "When I think of Your dying on the cross, I _________________________."

When you think of the cross, what one word comes to your mind: ____________.

Finish this sentence: "When I think of Your love for me, I feel _________________."

    "You are my _________________."

    "I need You/Your _____________________."

    "I am so thankful ____________________________."

PRAISE HIM:

Dt 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Personalized – I love you Lord, my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength.)

Psalms 48:10 Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness.

1 Chronicles 16:25 For (You are) great Lord and most worthy of praise; (You) are to be feared above all gods.

Psalms 47:2 How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!

Ps 48:1 Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain.

Ps 86:10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

Psalms 104:1-3 Praise the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. (What an awesome God we serve!)

Psalms 108:3-5 I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.

Psalms 145:3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.

Psalms 147:5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

Amen.

 

It's my prayer that you have had a personal experience with your Creator, the Lover of your soul and that you have drawn near to Him.

Is on the Brink of a New Chapter

I am on the brink of a new chapter in my life – graduate school. I'm taking my first class online. (HOLY COW! I'm voluntarily going back to school!) There are a couple of classes during the week of August I'd like to take and in October in addition to possibly an online class towards my M.A.C.E. (Master in Arts in Christian Education) with a focus on Women's ministry.

What do they call women who have gone to seminary and have earned their degree in order to be on staff in a Baptist church? I wonder.

I also wonder how difficult will the courses be. I wonder how will I be able to juggle a full-time job, family life, ministry and the Master's program. I know this isn't my plan because my plan NEVER included seminary or a Master's degree of any sort! I know this is God's plan. I am being obedient. I'm being submissive even when part of me just wants to run off screaming like a crazy lady. (Submission is a matter I've struggled with since before birth. Just ask my mom.)

 There's a quote I like that I've used since last summer when I heard it. "God doesn't always call the qualified, but He qualifies those He calls." I want to be equipped, qualified and called. I want to know what I need to know to minister to women effectively regardless of whether I get to earn a living doing it in the church.


I hate learning how to do new things at times (i.e. trying to find out how in the world the seminary website works, getting registered, how online classes work, etc.). I just want to automatically be comfortable and know how to use it and what to expect. You know, twitch my nose and voila'. I enjoy learning new applicable things that I can use and manipulate in my life. You'd think I'd outgrow some of that impatience, but alas, no.

 I want to do well, but it has been SOOOOO long since I've been in school or any sort. (I'm just laying out all my insecurities for God and everyone to see.)

 I know I'm just rambling, but I'm just putting down what comes to my mind.

I want a pen and paper, my textbook, and I want to get started. Erin is gone for two weeks, and I could really get a lot done. I hate waiting. Patience isn't one of my greatest attributes. (Have you ever thought or wondered if people who have no patience in waiting or also people who are less likely to procrastinate? I warned you that I was just writing what came in my pointed little head.)At any rate, this is where I am tonight not that anyone has to care or even read. It's just good mental therapy, mental health to get out and write it down. (That's why the most frequent gift I give someone is a journal.)

Good evening, reader.My husband says he doesn't like standing on the edge of anything because it feels like he's being pulled over the edge. I totally get what he's saying now.