I’ve mentioned Before Cancer and during cancer. Now I would say we are not done with cancer, but rather in recovery. Unfortunately, you are only one scan away from relapse. It’s a reality and truth that we don’t dwell on, but you can’t unknow that either! Some kids make it years and decades and some have to keep getting back in the battle against the beast of Osteosarcoma. That’s the stark reality.
Read MoreThe anchor is viewed as a symbol that represents "safety"... The anchor holds the ship in place, representing strength and security. The anchor is a symbol of our hope in Jesus!
Read MoreI do not know about you but I struggle with complaining. I have been in church long enough that I do not openly go around voicing my complaints, and now that I’m a pastors wife I try even harder not to let any discontentment show; but, I constantly find myself muttering under my breath, thinking to myself about how unfair or terrible something is.
Read MoreFingerprints are a unique design God gave to every individual human. Webster’s dictionary describes fingertips a “an impression or mark made on a surface by a person's fingertip, especially as used for identifying individuals from the unique pattern of whorls and lines.” I marvel at the fact that the God of the universe could easily make the billions of different patterns needed for the billions of people on earth. The marks of a fingerprint are a reflection of the person who holds that mark.
Read MoreHave you ever wrestled with God? I have. The first time I wrestled with God was on a Wednesday night, May 22, 1985. One year and 15 days before, my husband gloriously got saved. As soon as he prayed the sinners’ prayer, he turned to me and said, “Now it’s your turn.” What love, what compassion were in those words! As a new believer, my husband was concerned about my salvation. Oh how we need to be concerned about other lost souls.
Read MoreI was a little frustrated that he wasn’t letting me pick the place to eat. I wanted to say, No… it’s my birthday and I’m hungry for Italian food and I’ve looked forward to this all day. I had not dressed for a fancy place and wasn’t prepared for this choice. After my husband kept driving toward the steak house, I surrendered my desires and decided to go along with his plan even though I didn’t understand. After all, he was the one paying for this date.
They chose, so stop pursuing. Be polite, pray for them. Care about them in that you want what is best for them. Don't actively get involved but don't completely close the door should they repent one day. We have a responsibility to be distinctively different."
Read MoreHope…helps you smile through the trial.
Hope…helps you to keep giving even when it hurts.
Hope…helps you to keep believing that wayward soul will find their way home.
Hope…helps you hold it all together.
Hope…helps you to never stop praying.
Hope…helps you find rest during weary and hard days.
Sometimes it’s hard to hope though.
Read MoreI believe bitterness is something that most of us will deal with multiple times in our lives. Bitterness
always begins with unforgiveness. I have learned bitterness can be like a cancer if we do not deal with
it. It will eat away at our spirit and slowly decay your joy and happiness. Bitterness has a deep root and
many fruits. Its fruits may be anger, hate, disgust, sadness, loss of joy, and many other traits. What
generally happens is, we focus on cutting back these fruits, but never get rid of the root. Over time,
these fruits grow back and are often much stronger.
Read MoreDon’t Worry. Let God know about it. Did you notice Paul didn’t counsel us to discuss our problems to
our mom, sister, or even our husband? Bring it to God in prayer first. This would solve a majority of
problems and save us from making others the dumpster of our thoughts. I love Claudia Barba’s study on
worry in her book, Refresh your Heart. She explains, “Worry is not an emotion. It is a thought process- a
process that you can, and must control, because worry is sin.” There is a difference between worrying
and thinking through a problem. When difficulties arise, Claudia Barba explains that “disciplined thought
moves in a straight line through a tangle of difficulties to possible solutions. Worry is a swirling tornado
of thoughts centered on a fear. They repeat themselves over and over, making you dizzy but
accomplishing nothing else.” Learning to control our thoughts is vital. Remember that your mom, sister,
or friends can’t change the situation, but God can!
Read MoreRead MoreAnyone who knows me well, knows that I struggle with my tongue more than anything. I tend to be a "straight shooter", like my Dad. I've often wished I was more like my Mom, whom I've seldom, if ever, heard say a cross word to anyone.
Usually when someone speaks those words it’s regarding a conversation about someone being upset or accused of something of that nature and they lash out and say…. I DON’T CARE I’M NOT CHANGING!!
God gives in the Word of God, the greatest judgment when he says in verse 31c; “their own way have I recompensed upon their heads…” This is when God withdraws His Presence, His power, and His leading from us. He is giving us what we want, and that is to live as we want, to live without the commitment of service.
How many times have we read this verse and thought we need more great preachers, more evangelists or more missionaries! Have we ever looked at ourselves to see how we could be the one God is looking for to stand in the gap: to be a part of that hedge?
Read MoreI am sure if we made a list of the "lows" of 2020, our lists would resemble (a pandemic, turmoil in our country, the election, so many deaths, church loss, etc), but at the same time we would each have our own additions that would differ from anyone else's list ( loneliness, fear, discouragement, personal loss, financial loss, etc.). These would include hard and difficult times that only WE experienced. As our hearts cried out to Him, it seemed at times like God just disappeared (though in our hearts we knew that He didn't). In my case, I truly believe God answered my prayer for that "20/20 Vision in 2020".
Read MoreThe story I’m about to tell is a true story. I pray it will affect your heart and teach us about the WILL of God. In June 1977 a baby boy was born into our household and we named him Jeremy. He was a big buster of a baby dearly loved and wanted. 1978 another baby boy was born in Iowa who was also loved and wanted named Kyle. In the process of time these young men grew up and each decided to go to a Bible college in Pensacola, Florida and became roommates and the dearest of friends.
Read MoreIt started out as a fairly small project, we were going to replace our countertops, paint, and replace the flooring and we were going to do the work ourselves with some help from others where needed. The more we looked around and talked about what different rooms needed, our list of improvements began to grow! We found a contractor that said he could do the work and began our three-week project!
Read MoreI Corinthians13:13 says, And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. I love that verse! There is so much in this one verse. For example, the word charity is a term that means benevolent love. It is a term used to describe sacrificial love. God never does anything by accident, so it is no accident that He chose to use the word charity. Many modern versions of the Bible have opted to translate the word simply to love, but the word love does not mean the same thing as charity. The word love has many definitions; it can mean many things to many people and not necessarily does it mean sacrifice. I believe God uses the term charity because it implies giving without expecting anything in return. If I give something to Goodwill or to Amvets, I don’t want it to show back up on my doorstep. I’m giving it away. I don’t want it to come back. According to I Corinthians 13, this is the way true love is to be given-freely, with no expectation of return- but given because true joy, peace and happiness is found in what we give, not what we get.
Read MoreHaving a thankful and grateful demeanor is not always an easy thing to maintain, especially in 2020 😊 . While we have many things to be thankful for, we are constantly reminded by the world of all we are “missing”. We begin to focus on the material and temporal, and our immediate needs come to live at the forefront of our minds and hearts. This begins to strip us of our grateful spirit and the peace that comes from giving thanks. But lets be honest, the circumstances we often face are not always easy for our human hearts to find the good in, are they? Finding the parts to complain about is much easier, and friends may even seem to listen more intently when we are going through tragedy. However, if we are not careful, we will find that going to that friend, or creating that social media post with all our woes and heartaches,(serious though they may be), becomes our first line of defense over stopping to take anything to our Savior.
Read MoreHow many times have you reminded your children to say “thank you” all the while thinking that it didn’t seem to have any effect on how they really were thankful for what they were “expressing” gratitude for?
Read MoreMy husband ran a 50 mile race! Yes, you read that correctly. 50 mile trail race. Who in their right mind runs 50 miles? But that wasn’t enough for him. You see, there are these races that are 100 miles long. Seriously. Why? I’m really not sure, but he set his mind to it and signed up for one. Let’s be real… I was not (and am not) running 100 miles. That race was not for me! But do you know what was for me? Helping him. I could encourage him. I could support him. I could go on training runs with him, I could make sure he had all the tools he needed… Shoes, socks, clean running clothes, food, water, electrolytes, salt tablets… I could pray for him. And for months that is what I did. I was training for my races and he was training for his.
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