Maui, Maui!
My parents have been married forty years so divorce is not something I had to experience as a child. I am thankful to God for that wonderful gift. My husband on the other hand, does bare the scars of a divorce-ridden home as a young boy. Many people, unfortunately, know what this is like. Even though divorce is ugly for everyone involved, I will share with you a story where God turned the ugliest divorce story into something beautiful for His glory.
Josh was just a young boy about 5 years old, so remembering his parents together is so distant it’s almost non-existent. The relationship was severed and the strings it left brought only hurt and pain. From a young child the scars began, abuse from a step-father, fighting, police, custody battles, random separations for prolonged periods of time, and constant moves which brought about instability.
His father was searching for answers and wanting this pain for his children had to end. He made a promise to God that he would always raise the children in church if God would only allow him to gain full custody. Not many daddies would take that much time off work, spend that much money and dedicate that much time to win their children. He was working overtime shifts at the fire department and struggling to stay above the water financially. After all, it is an uphill battle and back 30 years ago it was taboo to get full custody as a man. After several long, hard years and many long, ugly court hearings, the judge finally granted the children to live with their daddy. It was his dream come true.
The first test came when God brought an ice storm to his town. Many people did not drive to church that Sunday morning due to the slippery roads, but church was not canceled. His fathers house was walking distance to the church, so he had no excuse. Plus, I know this man has no problem driving on ice, he is a master! While sitting under the preaching of Dr. Tom Atwood, now in Heaven with Jesus, the Holy Spirit convicted him that he was not saved. He was saved by the Grace of God that cold Sunday morning and became a new creature.
He did raise them in church and worked hard at giving them a stable life.
Meanwhile, they loved their mother and prayed for her daily. It wasn’t until Josh was a teenager that he really was burdened about his mother. When we started dating he would often talk about his love for her and his desire to see her saved. I built a relationship with her throughout the six and a half years we dated and I also was burdened for her. Josh never got to enjoy a holiday, birthday, or even his own wedding with the peace of having both father and mother there. If they were both present, it was chaotic and uncomfortable to say the least.
After we were married for a year we moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Josh’s mother was sad to see us leave and Josh promised her we would visit soon. Just a couple months later we came home to visit and a pastor invited Josh to preach in a little country church she had been attending near her home. She too, had been searching for answers as she was raising a grandchild. It was there in that little country church that Josh preached, and she came down the aisle with tears flowing. She accepted Christ that night and she too became a new creature! I think Josh and I drove seven hours to Kentucky that night about 200lbs. lighter! We saw many changes in his mother. Things were very real in her life and we saw God do some great things.
Josh’s grandmother on his step mother’s side offered the whole family an all inclusive trip to Maui, Hawaii! We immediately accepted before she changed her mind! I was pregnant with our daughter and we were due to find out the gender of the baby just before leaving on the trip. Since we were flying out of Louisville airport we were meeting up with everyone else in Maui. We knew the baby was a girl and we planned on surprising everyone at the restaurant with the news! Little did we know that the whole family had a big surprise waiting on us. We got off the jet at the airport in Maui and I never will forget the smell of the fresh ocean air. We were about to experience the posh vacation we could never pay for on our own: luxury condo with chocolates and hundred dollar bills on our pillow for “extra” spending money, five star restaurants, candle light dinner for two at the Four Season’s, horse rides through the inactive volcanoes, whale watching on a private charter boat, and a day at the water park at the Grand Wailea! But what our eyes were about to see at that airport we were not prepared for. It was Josh’s mother! She had come along with the step-mother’s family and all her ex-husbands family on this vacation! This was the best gift for Josh! His parents had both been saved and were now reconciled to one another as friends. Josh was never able to experience mom and dad even in the same room, even child weekend exchanges at the gas station were everything but cordial, and now they could vacation together, in Maui!
The cost of Maui trip? Tens of thousands. The cost of one lobster tail at “Mama’s Fish House” in Maui? Sixty-nine dollars. The price of having mother and father reconciled to God and to one another as friends? Priceless!
“Thank you God for saving my soul and making me a new creature. Thank you for saving my husband and making him a new creature. Thank you for bringing us together in holy matrimony to unite our lives in you as one flesh. Thank you for giving me Christian in-laws that have become like parents to me. Thank you for blessing my children with godly grandparents that can help us raise them in your way. Thank you for taking the ugliness of divorce, and turning it into something beautiful today!” Amen.
Genesis 50:20 “But as for you, you meant evil against me; [but] God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as [it is] this day, to save many people alive.” NKJV
Maybe….. Just maybe!
It has been years since my first mission trip. I remember loving on these little children in third world countries and then waving good-bye as I left to go back to America. My first trip impacted me the most and it was probably the very first thought I had about adoption. These poor starving children were chasing our car down the road as we were driving off to the airport. My heart tore into shreds as I glanced back through the back window until the last glimpse of a childlike figure could be seen through the dirt. A life of poverty, tragedy, emptiness, hunger and idolatry was their future. I thank God I did have the opportunity for one week to share the Gospel to their little souls. I still pray that seeds were planted in their hearts that they will never forget.
Josh and I have always felt God calling us to adopt. At first in our marriage we thought it would be earlier, but God gave us precious children. The urge within us to adopt has not ceased, and in fact, it has grown. This time last year we were filling out paperwork and ready to have a child by the end of the year. God put our plans on hold and there were some very big unanswered questions we had. Now God has burdened us once again. Could this Haiti tragedy be our answer? Maybe! We had put Haiti on the bottom of our list of five countries due to the fact that the average time from the day you are assigned a child until the day you bring your child home is about 24 months! Yes, Haiti has a LONG wait on paperwork! Josh had even commented that it would be terrible if our child was stuck in that orphange for 24 months and a tropical storm hit the island. We would never have guessed an earthquake!
Over the past 24 hours we have been reading articles about Haiti handing over orphans to the United States and provisions being made to get these children into foster homes. Could this be our answer? Could this be why God put our plans on hold a year ago? Maybe!
“Lord, you know my heart. You know the passion you have placed in our marriage to open up our home and hearts to orphans. You know the names of each child without a mother or father’s love. You know exactly what You are going to do through this tragedy. You know me, You know my future, You know everything! Thank you for burdening my heart even though right now I feel my heart is too heavy! You alone are in control and I place my future in Your hands! Maybe, just maybe this is our answer! Amen.”
Monsters in the Dark
My twenty one month old son is just now starting to communicate. My daughter was speaking in complete sentences at his age, so he has been a little behind at clear words. He is a very good communicator even without good speech. We have actually been able to interpret most of what he says now although the general public would think he is speaking in Latin. The funny part is that he knows exactly what we are telling him!
The past couple of days he has been scared of monsters. I mean really scared of them. I am not even sure if he knows what a monster is, but thanks to my 4 year old daughter, he is scared. Each night when it is brush teeth and potty time, her daddy has to walk her to the bathroom because even if all lights are on, she insists there are monsters in there. When she screams, “monsters” and runs, it sends him into a panic and he runs straight into daddy’s arms. Now at night he points in that direction, bottom lip quivering and poking out, and crying he jumps into daddy’s arms squeezing with both feet and arms.
How such a little boy can be scared of something he has never seen baffles me. It is funny how even this mommy gets scared at night when I am by myself in the dark, but think of all the Forensic Files I have seen, right? What is so intimidating about the dark? Is it that we cannot see?
We are studying the book of first John and he is addressing the false teachers. He goes on to describe them as liars and Christ opposers. The only reason that we are different is because Christ has opened our eyes when we were also blind. Those in darkness have never been enlightened by Christ. It is scary to know that I was once blind to the Gospel and I did not know the Light. I am so blessed to be His child! I am so blessed to be able to jump into His security when I am scared.
1 John 1:6&7 ” If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
This is a quote I like from John Piper:
“Candles seem bright until the sun comes out. Then they are useless and put away. Christ is the glory we were made to see. His light alone will fill us and give the light of life and meaning to every part of our lives. And when that happens, we ourselves will shine and give off the rays of Christ. “If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
Lord, open the eyes of our hearts to see the supreme greatness of your wisdom and power. Make our eyes good. Heal our blindness. Fill us with the all-pervading, all-exposing, all-purifying, all-pleasing light of your presence.” -Piper
God is bigger than those monsters anyways!
Drama, drama, drama
Josh and I made a commitment years ago when we moved away from all family that we would always do “our” Christmas at our own home before traveling to Georgia. We have always kept that commitment, which means every year we celebrate “our” Christmas on a different date. This year we did Christmas a week early. The kids never know and they have just as much fun as they would if we celebrated on December 25th. I pray that Christmas is centered in our home all year!
We do not have to go by the calendar to celebrate and worship on Christmas. We can take time out of our busy lives any time to enjoy the blessings God has given to us by sending His Son!
Our choir was practicing our Christmas music one Sunday afternoon and I couldn’t help wonder how it would be if we did a drama to go along with the beautiful music. No speaking parts, just dramatizing the words from the songs and narration. I grabbed a notepad and pen and started writing down the story from each song. I had Jimmy Walker build our stable and manger, I started asking people about playing parts, and it all came together. Several people came to me asking to help and with a little delegation it all came together.
My friend Michelle made a few phone calls and we had a live donkey! I had really wanted the live donkey from the day I wrote the drama, so it really made my heart really happy to see that stubborn thing walking down that aisle. We had another blessing by Leann’s nephew playing baby Jesus. Rarely do you have a baby good enough to sit and enjoy the show while in front of a couple hundred people, held by a teenager, and a spotlight on him for about and hour. He did so good! He only got fussy one time and it happened to be right when the song was about baby Jesus crying.
I really wanted to picture in my heart what that first night might have been like. I pray that everyone there was able to worship as they saw a picture before them. It was a beautiful picture of Jesus on the cross behind Mary as she held the baby. We often forget what that baby was born to accomplish. My favorite song of the drama was when Leeann sang this song as Mary walked around holding baby Jesus. I pray as you read these words that this true meaning of Christmas will be on the forefront of your mind as well throughout this week:
“All His glory remains and His cry is the same
Come to me, Shepherd, King, great and small.
For the Word, once in stone,
Has become flesh and bone
And our God has the face of us all.”
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Jumping out of a Plane
I have jumped out of a plane two times in my life. The first time was at an elevation of about 13,000 feet. Thankfully it was planned and with a parachute and a tandem! The second time was a little more complicated. Elevation- just a few feet off the ground.
I actually have just recently come to grips with the reality of this story and I can share it openly, and yes, sometimes I can laugh about it now!
A team of eleven of us went on a mission trip to Zimbabwe, Africa. It was a wonderful trip and I learned more than I ever imagined. I was one of two experienced missionaries at age 18 that went on the trip since I had been to Romania the year before. While in Africa the missionaries encouraged some of us to return in 6 months to help teach the MK’s (missionaries kids) in an annual meeting every December. I came back and started saving and raising money to return. Just a few weeks before the trip everyone on the team dropped out. When I contacted the missionaries to tell them they explained the need of still having me teach. I decided to go on my own anyways. After all, I am pretty tough, right?
We arrived at the airport to get checked in early. My dad works at the Atlanta Airport and his badge gets us anywhere we want to go. We walked around the airport and I was getting a little anxious, even though I was pretty familiar with the airports and flights. I had 10 hours to London, where I had an overlay of about 12 hours. Then I would fly about 10 hours to Johannesburg, South Africa where I would then catch a small flight to Zimbabwe and be met by a host missionary family that I had grown to love. My plan was to sleep on a bench and shop for the 12 hour overlay and there were shopping stores and lounges with televisions to entertain me right there in the London Heathrow Airport! Twelve years later and I still remember the layout of that large airport!
As I kissed my family and friends goodbye I was the last to board the plane. It was the final boarding call and I was nervous. I waved my final goodbye to my small crowd of loved ones and slowly walked down the hallway gate to my plane. I arrived at the door of the plane and handed the nice lady my ticket. She started explaining to me where to sit when I interrupted her. I started crying and telling her wanted off the plane. She started asking me questions like, “what has scared you?” and “why do want off the plane?” I know she was asking me these questions for security reasons, but I thought she was keeping me from getting off the plane. I started to panic and demanding that she let me off the plane immediately- and this was before 9-11. She did, but she insisted that once I get off there was no way I could get back on because the plane was leaving.
I started running toward the gate I had entered just moments before. I wasn’t sure what I would see when I busted through the gate, but it was the backside of all my loved ones. They all had their faces glued to the window watching the plane prepare for take-off. I shouted loudly and they all turned around. Their faces turned white! Josh and my dad sprinted to me and immediately huddled me in a similar position as a football coach that only has about 5 seconds to spit out the next command to the star players. They prayed quickly, coached me that many people were relying on me and I could not let them down. They turned my body around and shoved me toward the gate as my father swiped his airport badge to open the gate. I walked back to the plane and another lady was shutting the door. She quickly let me in and I started down the aisle.
A middle-aged, heavy set man approached me. He told me he had seen me eating with my family earlier and he wanted to help me find my seat. Everyone was already seated and buckled. I quickly handed him my ticket and he laughed. My seat was right beside he and his wife. She scooted over and they both insisted I sit in between them. He told me he was a pastor from Alabama and he was visiting his sick father back home in Europe. He did have a heavy English accent. They prayed for me and were a great source of comfort to my soul. I think his sweet wife held my hand the entire flight as I slept.
They woke me up when our plane was landing. They walked me to a pay phone and insisted I call my parents to let them know I was okay and everything was all right. My parents were very grateful for the call as they were up all night worrying. He then walked over to a concierge desk and had a private conversation with her. A few minutes later they walked me to the other side of the airport where a shuttle would take me to a hotel room and have me back in time for my next flight in 12 hours. I insisted I pay for my room but he would not take no for an answer. They had a flight to catch so they hurried off. I profusely thanked them both for their love and generosity. I have not talked to them again, but I know God used them in a mighty way to encourage this girl.
I think of this story often when things get tough. That sweet couple showed God’s love to me that day. I don’t think they were angels, but I do think God picked them out of their busy lives and placed them carefully into mine for that moment in time! I do not think it was a coincidence that all these events happened. God even put my seat right beside theirs of all the hundreds that were on that international commercial flight! God used them to show me mercy, compassion, giving, grace, and prayer. I jumped off the plane that day, and God picked me up and put me back on it.
“Thank you God for your love and protection in my life. Thank you for sending people into my life to love on me and encourage me when I feel like quitting. Thank you for not quitting on me. Thank you for never letting me go to far, but loving back where I need to be. Amen.”
Right to Life
I remember the first time I ever took a pregnancy test. I had only been married six months, we had big plans on moving away to seminary, and I was excited about starting my new career in a new city. I was excited about buying our first home and working hard supporting my husband through seminary school. I was in the grocery store and I just happened to walk down the pregnancy test aisle. It caught my attention and I began to worry about the possibility. I was only a day late- it could not be positive, right? I threw the test in the cart and grabbed the rest of my items. I hurried as I paid for everything and drove back to our little apartment. The line appeared almost immediately and I began to panic. Panic is actually a huge understatement. I called Josh at work and I made up something to entice him to come home early. Something came up at work and he was actually late. As soon as he came through the door I ran to him crying. He started to panic when he saw how upset I was and I unloaded the news. I just knew he was going to be disappointed and upset, all our plans were ruined- but he smiled! After one minute of conversation we were laughing and happily anticipating the arrival of our newborn. We could put off seminary for a while, but all the plans would still work out.
God had different plans. After we lost that baby three months later we packed up our belongings, not much then, and moved to start our new life. I could not imagine life any other way. I never would have chosen to lose those babies, but God had a perfect plan He was working out. I would not have the children I have today if I had not had the miscarriages. At the time I was devastated, but now I see God was working. I can not imagine women that have abortions and purposely take a baby’s life because it will interfere with her plans in life. I think we have done a poor job at defining what a baby is and when life does form. I think many young girls are not told the truth when they write their name on the sign-in sheet at the doctor’s office. I know many doctors tell them they can take care of the pregnancy in a couple minutes and encourage the young mothers that it is too early to cause the “embryonic cells” any discomfort. What many of them fail to do first is an ultrasound, showing the young mothers the formation of a head, body, nubs for hands and feet, and occasionally a heartbeat!
We had a lady from the Tennessee Right to Life come speak to our church Sunday. I was amazed at how Tennessee tax dollars have paid for Planned Parenthood for the past several years. Just this past year our leaders voted to allocate the 1.1 million dollars somewhere else- praise the Lord! Planned Parenthood is a fancy term for abortion! She explained how Tennessee Right to Life provides counseling to young women seeking abortion, offering them alternatives such as adoption. They provide a counselor outside of abortion clinics that sit peacefully ready and willing to offer these young women, often children themselves, counseling. About one woman per week chooses to talk with one of these counselors and actually chooses life for her child.
I could not believe how easy it was for me to access abortion clinics in the phone book. There are so many to choose from. What once was a sin women committed in the closet, she can now walk around the corner from the supermarket and openly and proudly walk in and pay for an abortion. Many of you would be surprised that there is something easy you can do to take action against abortion. Call and ask your OB-GYN before your next appointment if he/she performs abortions. If your doctor does indeed perform them, my advise is to change to a doctor that does not. We as servants of Christ should not be paying the salary of a doctor that is profiting and performing these horrific murders. I actually have not done this myself but I will make the phone call first thing Monday morning. Why would we want a doctor delivering our infant baby that would just as rather take that baby’s life than deliver it safe and healthy!
My cousin works for the Sheriff’s Department in Florida, and the Sheriff wants to deduct a minimum of one dollar per month out of each employee’s pay to donate to United Way. He wants 100% participation or he will not be satisfied. The problem is, the United Way in his region supports Planned Parenthood. He has denied access to deduct this dollar from his pay and he is anticipating a call into the Sheriff’s office. We must continue to take a stand if we want to be found blameless before God. It is one thing to not know how we may be contributing to abortion but it is another thing to know and still contribute.
“Lord, please show me areas in my life that I may be ignorantly helping sin, even murder. Please help me when I knowingly help sin. Please help us to make a difference in our community by taking a stand on important issues. Please help us reach the youth in our church and community and mentor them in the ways of Scripture. Thank you for the beautiful babies You have given to me. I am blessed beyond measure, I am blessed beyond what I deserve. Thank you for the babies I believe are in Heaven that did not make it outside my womb, I cannot wait to hug them and kiss them one day! Thank you Lord! Amen.”
Great Youtube video- John Piper- it’s great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iChgieH1TPc
Adventure in Kariland
My life is always an adventure. There is rarely a dull moment in my life. Matter of fact, if you ever need action and entertainment, just come spend a few days with me. Everything that could go wrong does, if something simple cannot get messed up, just throw it at me and I can assure you it will. I think God has a funny way of always getting and keeping my attention. The past several weeks would astound you to hear all my stories and I swear they are true, but I will just tell you one, I think you will like it!
My husband is the Great White Hunter. He went on an elk hunt in Denver, Colorado last week. While he was gone, the children and I thought we would take a little vacation ourselves and go visit with all the grandparents and cousins in Georgia. We always eat out good food, shop, sit around and talk, kids play on dangerous yard equipment with my dad, and many more fun great things while we are in Georgia. This trip started out no different.
My nephew gets off the school bus at my parents house and as he was walking up the driveway, he was excited to see us outside. My little four year old, Karis, was drawing with sidewalk chalk and I was cleaning off the nastiness on the stroller- it really needed a car wash! My baby was inside sleeping and I thought we were all accounted for there in the driveway. I heard a horrible screaming sound coming from behind my dads barn, but I knew we were all together so I thought it must be a child next door playing. I scanned the yard and quickly realized that my little seven pound Shih Tzu was missing. I took off running behind the barn because my brain had just finished processing the fact that my little dog was in distress. Naturally the kids were running right on my heels so I stopped everyone in order to hear where the sound was coming from. There was silence. I made the children stay and I kept running until I would not believe what my eyes were seeing. I screamed in horror as I saw my little dog being carried away in a large coyotes mouth as he was trotting off into the woods. At first thought I knew my little dogs life was over. Then, I am not sure if it was motherly instinct or sheer stupidity in me, but I took off charging the coyote. I was screaming at him, clapping at him, and I am sure he was intimidated by my craziness, but it worked! He let my little dog out of his mouth and ran off. As you would imagine, Chipper was very injured. I rushed him to a nearby vet hospital where they immediately tended to him and performed surgery on him. Eleven hundred dollars and one day later we took Chipper home (to my parents house). He had to be washed off with peroxide three times a day, four medications and constant TLC.
Animal control and the veterinarian said that it is VERY uncharacteristic of a coyote to drop his lunch like that. It must have been my craziness that scared him, or at least freaked him out. Just when I thought all was good in my life, I was caught completely off guard. How many times over the past nine years has my little dog played in that area? Quite a bit. We forget danger is lurking all around us.
Thank you God for keeping my children safe running around in that yard. Thank you for alerting me that we need to always be careful in season and out of season. When we do expect it and when we do not expect it, nothing ever catches you off guard. Thank you for saving my soul and always protecting me when the dangerous preditors stalk me. Help me to never be weak enough to be snatched from safety but keep me focused on You. Even though Chipper is just a dog, thank you for saving his earthly life! Amen.
I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
A Priceless Example
This Saturday, October 10th, is my parents 40th wedding anniversary. I am very thankful and proud to be able to have the rare experience of celebrating this wonderful event. My parents never gave up, never quit, never walked away, and never stopped loving unconditionally. I know it has not been easy and it has not been without many disagreements. I know that many sacrifices have been made, many prayers lifted up, and many hard times experienced.
What is the secret? Why are so there so may best sellers on the shelves written to tell us how to have that lasting happy marriage? Well, I don’t think they read any of these books, as a matter of fact, I am sure they did not.
My parents are two very different people, different personalities, and almost everything is different. Dad likes it cold, mom likes it hot. Dad likes old cars, mom likes the yard clear of junk! Dad likes big projects, mom hates chaos but loves the end result. Dad loves hammers and machinery, mom does not and prefers things more quiet! How can two totally different people live together “happily” for forty years?
They are both committed to the same God. They serve Him faithfully, together, and never compromise that. My parents do not skip church. They actually love church. They have always lived out the Biblical portrait of marriage. There has never been a time when I did not think they were genuine. Mom never has to ask dad where he is going to be on Sunday morning? Neither of them have ever thrown in the towel, given up, or quit on God. God has been central in their marriage.
In today’s society many husbands are walking out on God, and then they walk out on their wives. Many women quit on God, then marriage becomes more than they can handle. Many husbands and wives wonder why their relationship with each other is in shambles when they have not considered that their relationship with God was in shambles first.
My prayer is that Josh and I will always keep God central in our home and in our marriage. We are only human and therefore without God we are never going to make it. If we lose our commitment to Him we will only lose our commitment to each other a short time later. This doesn’t mean that every marriage that does not have God first is going to end in divorce. It does mean that God is not going to bless and nurture the marriage relationship when He is ignored. Marriage does take three, but His part is the most important element in marriage. I heard at a wedding ceremony a few weeks ago, the minister said, “the closest thing to hell on earth is a bad marriage.”
“Lord, please keep us focused on you. Let me never forget that You come first. Help me understand that marriage is a gift and a blessing in life. I am a helper to my husband and should always seek to serve Josh and love him- expecting nothing back in return. Help me to pray for him, love him, serve him, respect him, listen to him, pray with him, and honor him always. Thank you for my wonderful parents that have laid before me a priceless example.”
I can never thank them or God enough for having my parents still living and still loving. This is a legacy they have left for their children, grandchildren, and great-grand children yet to come. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!
Biggest Loser and My Soul
This past spring I started a program at church to encourage people to eat healthy, exercise, and lose weight! This is my passion in life, and my calling. The program was very successful and seventeen people lost 191 pounds! We took a month off for the summer and started “round two.” We just finished another eight weeks of strenuos exercise and seventeen people lost a total of 162 more pounds! Why does this satisfy my soul?
I went to college to be in the fitness industry. I knew that was what God had gifted me in and really it is a passion that drives me. When Josh and I moved to Louisville, KY for him to go to seminary, God used my career to provide a solid income for our family. I got an awesome job when we first moved. Josh took me around the town and dropped me off at every door of a possible place for me to work. It was the first week in January in Louisville, so the roads were not in condition for me to drive alone. When I got back in the car from turning in my resume, I told him that I really wanted work there. Sure enough, my dream came true and I became a personal trainer at the best facility in America. No lie, it really is!
I quit my job after my daughter was born. Josh and I both knew it would be the struggle of our lives to stay afloat financially, but we knew it was what God wanted for our family. The day I never went back crushed me inside. I loved helping people and teaching people the right way to care for their bodies. It was so rewarding to see lit up faces when they reached their goals. I actually loved being hated, because in a few weeks when they stepped on that scale, or when their old clothes fit again, or when they started coming off all their medications and getting good results from doctors, they loved me then!
I always felt like one day I would run my own club or run someone else’s. While staying at home I started dreaming of working again one day and all the money I could make while also helping people. Josh would look at me pitifully and say that although I had these dreams, my first calling is ministry and I must always be their to help him in ministry. I knew this and also felt this calling on my life to help him and be the best pastor’s wife possible. We are very much a team in ministry and I am very involved in his work. I guess this makes us an unusual couple today.
So, knowing I could not have it all, I conceded to his wisdom. Yes I do know that God has called me to be a mother and also the wife of a pastor. Even after my children are grown, I will still be helping him in the ministry. I cannot have it all. If I never work again, I am okay with that.
God showed me back in the spring that I can have both. It felt so good to get back in the “saddle” again. After the first nutrition class at church I felt so satisfied. I cannot describe what God has done for me in letting me fulfill my passion and calling all in the name of the Lord. I was able to teach and lead these people to a healthier body and also be their pastor’s wife at the same time. We have seen pounds lost, medications tossed, friendships made, and people excited about their bodies again. I had thoughts of quitting my job for the ministry and God had plans of using my talents FOR the ministry. We had several join in the program that were not members of our church and next year I plan to do this community wide!
God also showed me that money was not my motive. I had so many people send me gifts, cards, hugs and thank you’s for these nutrition classes and exercise sessions, but rather I thank you! Thank you God for giving me the desires of my heart. Thank you God for letting me use my talents to praise you! People of Cornerstone, keep it up! We have more pounds to lose and more people to motivate!
Malachi
We are going through a series in Sunday School right now through the book of Malachi. Short book, deep lessons. I am amazed at the relativity to us today throughout all the Old Testament, but especially in this book.
Malachi chapter one the prophet is burdened deeply by the gross sin of God’s chosen people. They are adopted by God as His children, yet they are living completely like they do not even know Him. God is hurt here because he is receiving neither the honor due to a father, nor the respect due to a master. His own children have forgotten him.
How many times have I lived my life and made many decisions without even reverencing Him or acknowledging Him as Lord of my life. How many times have I consulted my husband or my parents for advice and never even sought His face.
The prophet speaks to the priests next. He is very troubled that the priests have allowed the people to bring in sacrifices that are lame, blind, and blemished. The priests are not only allowing them to bring these diseased animals, but also they are bringing stale bread. We all know what happens when we eat diseased animals and who likes stale bread? These were not even sacrifices, but merely left overs, or even worse, trash.
Many pastors today are not taking a stand for the Word of God, and therefore the purity of the church is in ruins. Many of our churches have turned into brothels.
The men of God are to watch for the people. Here in Malachi’s day the men were bringing this trash and the priests would accept it so that their family could eat. Where was their faith? If pastors would take a stand for the Word of God, God will provide their needs. They did not have to eat and feed their family trash. God even sent ravens with food to feed Elisha when he fled from the evil king that was going to kill him.
When Josh and I were at seminary our first six months, we lived in an on-campus apartment complex. Every occupant on this complex was a seminary student, facility or family of. Each week as we would pull out for church on Sunday we would see groups of these future pastors or ministers dirty and sweaty playing tag football. What was wrong with this picture? Josh and I were not better nor will we ever be better than these guys. I just cannot understand why we had a burning desire to hear the Word of God preached and worship with other believers, and these guys would rather wrestle around on the ground?
There are so many pastors today that just do not have a high standard of living for the Savior that died for them. This leaves a congregation of people that have no honor for Him as a father and no respect to Him as their master? I never one day will live worthy of the blood that was shed for me. I am unworthy of His grace.
Thank you, Lord, for a pastor that desires to see Your people live for you. Thank you for a pastor that takes a stand on Your Word and will not back down. Thank you for a pastor that trusts in You to feed his family and not men. Amen.