The Church Lady

Wonder what popped into your mind when you read the title? When I hear the term “church lady” I think of Dana Carvey’s character on Saturday Night Live. That character cracks me up.

Really, when I think about a “church lady”, I picture an older woman, very serious looking – almost stern and of course she would be wearing a strand of pearls. Her collar would be buttoned up tight and her dress would be something matronly looking. Funny isn’t it what images we come up with certain words and phrases.

Going to services in our congregation I see all kinds of church ladies. Ladies with all different colors and lengths of hair, stylish clothing, all different ages and different sizes, and they all have one thing in common, their willingness to meet together and worship God. Each one of them is different in their own way.

Let’s look at some of the women in the Bible:

Eve – the mother of all living persons 

Woman at the well – sinful but searching 

Mary Magdalene – a follower of Jesus 

Esther – a queen 

Ruth – a beloved mother-in-law 

Jael – an ordinary woman who would kill 

Deborah – a warrior princess 

Which one of these women would you be able to pick out of a crowd? Maybe Esther, if she was decked out in her royal dress and crown or Deborah, covered in warrior garb.

I’m amazed as I get to know someone and their story about how they came to find Christ. As a new Christian I felt everyone was spiritually purer than I could be.

At some point and time we are all at the beginning of becoming a “church lady”.

So as you go through your week, think where you began your journey and what kind of “church lady” you are. Stop and say a special prayer this week for all the women in the church who are trying their best to be like Christ in their own special way with the gifts that God has given them.

May God Bless

Don't Panic!

Okay, so sometimes I get into a tether about things, normally things I can’t control. My mind takes off like a stampede of whild horses.  My husband just looks at me sometimes and says “where do you come up with these thoughts”. Basically I’m just a little strange.

We have been dealing with some issues with his mom who is 93 years old. God bless her. Out weeding her flower bed and fell, hit her neck and fractured her T-2. She is now in rehab for the next few weeks. We all think she should live in an assisted living home but she won’t hear of it. She can’t see out of one eye and is blind in the other, but still climbs in the attic, rakes leaves and takes care of herself. Her son’s can’t get her to understand she would be safer and happier in a home where she can visit with others and there is always someone there to help her. Nobody wants to be the bad guy and make her do it.

I don’t understand her objection to this concept. Live in a cute little room, somebody else is cooking and cleaning for you. You can visit with somebody any time of the day and do activities. Watch TV whenever you want. Sounds good to me. Lord willing when my time comes I will go willingly. 

Then I started thinking about myself (there lies the problem). What if I need to go into a home, will we have the money. I started panicking about how much it would cost, we don’t have insurance to cover that right now. What is going to happen to me? I’m going to end up in one of those horrible nursing homes where they don’t take care of you. I’m going to lie in bed all day and get bedsores. No one will visit me because they can’t stand to go into one of those places because it is so depressing. Those who can walk around just meander through the halls muttering to themselves with drool running out of their mouth.

See how fast I went downhill on this train of thought? I mean I was just running down that scary hill straight to the bottom. Full speed ahead like a train out of control. That is exactly what was happening, I was out of control.

Needless to say it was a somewhat sleepless night for me.

When I woke the next morning things did look brighter. The sun was shining and I had a better attitude. But it did get me thinking. I can do some things to avoid that scenario that I had created in my mind. Save more money, look into better insurance coverage and pray. 

Why is it I always have to go through all the human emotions before I get to the one thing that should be the first thought? Pray. Only God can control all of this. No, He will not send money down from heaven like manna, but he has given me abilities and talents that I can use to make the money to help myself. The rest is up to God. How I die, when I die – that is all His.

Mark 5:33
But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

Isn’t this what we should be doing? When things get out of control, either real or imagined, the first thing we should do is bow down before our God and pray for His will to be done in the situation.

I’m going to try and do this more. Pray first. How about you?

May God Bless!

I'll Pray For You

Have you ever said “I’ll pray for you” to someone? I have and I do pray for them. Have you ever said it and then didn’t pray for them? I have and then forgotten and when I remember I feel really bad. Not that I don’t have enough things I can beat myself up about, let’s find another. But I feel like this one is really important.

James 5:16
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Jesus tells us to pray for each other and I know a few really great prayer warriors that I want on my side submitting prayers to God on my behalf. Am I one of those people?

Remember the chain letters? If you don’t send this to 20 people you will something horrible happen to you. I always did them because I just didn’t want to tempt fate; I mean that million dollars just might come my way. It has to happen to somebody, right? 

We see it on social media all the time, someone asking for prayers for themselves or a loved one. Or the prayer chains that go around like the chain letters years ago. If I stopped to pray for everyone that I see on social media asking for prayers I would be here all day praying. Well I guess that wouldn’t be a bad thing, it would be a wonderful day if I did that. Let’s be realistic, I can’t do that every day. So what in the world are we supposed to do with all these requests?

Personally I have come up with a plan – I can hear God laughing every time I make a plan. So here it is, I simply say help them Lord. God knows who needs help, what the issues are and what needs to be done. Most of them on FaceBook I don’t have a relationship with.

The people that I do have a relationship, they get my detailed prayers. My family, my church family and my friends, the ones I really know what to pray for. The rest of the world I pray for in more of a one size fits all prayer. Please don’t think I am taking prayer lightly and the power it has for all. I’m just explaining in my simple terms how I try and combat the guilt that takes over sometimes.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – mediate on these things.

I think there are all kinds of prayers we can offer up to our Heavenly Father, short ones, long ones, some make me cry, some are for protection, others are for health and others for life and death.

Bottom line is – remember to pray, anywhere and anytime.

May God Bless

He Knocked and I Answered

The devil knocked on my door today. As I walked to the door I was asking God to stop me. Not answering the door was the “out” that God was giving me. Being weak and not having confidence in myself that I could walk away from this temptation. My hand clenched the knob and I swung the door open. He was in.

I am talking about the proverbial door. It could be a literal door, or a temptation of any kind. 

God tells us to flee from evil.

1 Peter 3:11
Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.

Turning from evil is never easy. We can see it coming toward us like a freight train and stand there frozen in its way and never make a move. God knew that Satan was going to be tempting us daily.

Some days it is so easy to turn from sin and other days every step you take is difficult. You struggle with everything you try and accomplish or every decision you make. I sure don’t have the answer for that life problem. Not sure anyone does.

So how do we handle those days when that roaring lion is stalking you and clawing at your heels? The only answer I know is prayer. Deep heavy prayer – often along with quick flash prayers. Flash prayers are fast and furious. “Help me now Lord.”

God is with us always every minute of every day. All we need to do is reach out to Him. Grab your Bible and just flip it open and read till the urge leaves you. Open your phone and your Bible app and read a few verses. Satan will know you are seriously trying to overcome his temptations. 

James 4:7

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

May God Bless

Carrying Your Cross

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 

Sometimes I forget this passage out of the Bible, most specifically when I am in the middle of being tempted. So what does being tempted look like?

Tempt:
1. to entice or allure to do something often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral.
2. To attract, appeal strongly to, or invite.
3. To render strongly disposed to do something.
4. To put (someone) to the test in a venturesome way; provoke.

I relate well with the definition above. When I am being tempted I feel a strong appeal or an allure to something. We all have our own cross to bear. Some crosses you see in people and some you don’t. Many of us have become very talented at hiding our cross, walking around as if we haven’t a care in the world.

If you are alive, you have a cross that you’re carrying with you. Some days it may be lighter than others, but it is always there, other days you can barely stand upright because your cross is so heavy. Sometimes others can carry our cross for us and give us a break, but most of the time our cross is ours and we can’t give it away to someone else to carry.

Jesus carried a cross. It was large, heavy and very painful for Him to carry with His open wounds after being beaten. Simon was able to take the heavy wooden cross from Jesus and carry it part of the way for Him. However, Jesus still had the burden (cross) of being crucified. Being crucified was not a cross He could hand off to someone else for a while. He had to deal with it Himself.

Right now my cross is heavy, I’m crawling. I have battled with my weight my whole life. It is my cross to bear. For the life of me I cannot get a handle on it. I have lost weight and gained weight, been up and down like a roller coaster. I enjoy cooking and enjoy eating what I cook. Hey, I’m a good cook.

I’m really blessed that I don’t have a lot of health issues due to my being overweight. Mentally this cross hurts, it always has. I can’t give this cross to anyone else to carry, this one is all mine. 

There is only one way I can get help with this and it is to draw upon God. I need to spend time with God several times a day to help me through this. I need to replace my lack of strength with God’s strength.

What cross are you carrying? Can you get help from others? No matter what it is remember, God is always there to help us. We just need to turn to Him. 

May God Bless.

Forgiving Yourself . . .

Do you forgive yourself or do you keep beating yourself up about things you have done in the past? The past could be yesterday!

Whenever that past was for you, do you keep bringing it forward in your mind? They say women think like a bowl of spaghetti. Picture a bowl of noodles. All the noodles are twisted up entwined in each other and touching each other. That is why when a woman thinks about something her mind jumps from subject to subject, because each thought is intertwined with another thought.

If I am upset with one of my children my mind will bring me back to that thought in everything I do that day. I may be a little touchier at work or take it out on the other kids or my husband, or maybe the poor cashier at the grocery store. Either way, we just have a difficult time not showing our emotions in everything we do, it’s all connected.

Confusing - yes. God made us that way for a reason.

While this is good for women in some ways, it can also hinder us. Because we are wired that way we tend not to let go of things. Especially things that are emotional.

I have a few things in my life that I am not very proud of the way I handled the situation or the decision I made. I’ve prayed about them. Tried to make them right if that is what is needed. Made the appropriate apologizes, but never really let it go.

 Did you know that when we ask God for forgiveness, a heartfelt faithful forgiveness, it is done? He forgives us, just like that. 

Two weeks later during prayer time with God we bring it up again. He is like “what are you talking about, I didn’t see you do that”. 

Of course our God doesn’t talk like that but you get the idea. Once you ask God for forgiveness it is done, don’t bring it up again. 

Of course it is going to cross you mind, us humans can’t forget, except where put our keys. When it comes to the big stuff, we tend to hang onto it forever. We bring it up and mull it over again and again. What a waste of precious time.

We could be moving forward, doing something useful instead of thinking in the past.

Remember David and Bathsheba. David sinned with a married woman, got Bathsheba pregnant and had Uriah, her husband killed. After the baby was born it became ill. David asked God to spare the child. He lies on the ground for seven days and would not get up or eat. I imagine he was praying for his child to live. When the child died, David got up, washed himself clean, put on clean clothes and then went and worshiped God. Then he went home and ate.

 

It was done. He had sinned; God punished him by allowing the child to die. However we don’t see David wallowing in self-pity. He took the repercussions of his sin then moved on.

Sometimes we have visual repercussions such as David did; a child was born from his lust. There are times no one can see our sin except God. It doesn’t matter, sin is sin, and there is no big sin or little sin in God’s eyes. 

Once God has forgiven us, we must forgive ourselves. Our Heavenly Father wants us to have a good life, be content, spread His word and live faithfully. We can’t do this if we are wallowing in self quilt.

Today if you have guilt that drags you down, go to God in prayer and request forgiveness, then get up and live the life the good Lord gave you.

Praise Him and pass it on.

It's Back to School!

It’s back to school time for most children. Depending on how you look at it as a parent, it can be good and exciting, expensive, or sad.

The kids are going back to school, here are some thoughts:

• Getting out from under your feet.
• I’m going to miss having them with me each day.
• Schedules get more hectic. 

• The Holidays are here, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• How much does the back pack cost?
• New shoes, clothes and all the required lists of supplies.
• Worried if your child will make friends in school.
• Worried your teenager will make the wrong kind of friends in school.
• The first day of school for kindergartners or preschool.
• Lunches to fix, breakfasts to plan, hopefully a sit down dinner
• Ballet, dance, cheer leading, gymnastics, soccer, football, yearbooks, clubs

Are you tired yet? Maybe within the next day or two you will have your first cup of coffee in silence after a busy noisy summer. No matter how you look at it, the time has come.

For me, and I don’t have children in school, it is still the time of year to set some new schedules for myself. Somehow even if you don’t have children, the new school year affects you, especially if you get caught in a car pool line.

Unfortunately in today’s world we worry about a lot of other things too. Some of them not pleasant at all:

• School shootings
• Abductions
• Bullying

So how are we going to handle this mixture of happy times and worry? There is only one answer, prayer. As parents, grandparents, teachers, aunts and uncles we prepare our children the best we can to handle all the situations that they may be faced with during their next step in life. Then we need to let go, let God handle the rest.

Prayer is the only way we can bring calm to our lives and not worry ourselves sick about life. I am a worrier, my husband says I live in fear, and I guess I do. If there is a dark side to a situation I can see it. That doesn’t mean I’m negative, it just means I can see the dark side. So what do I do when that dark side is showing itself to me? I pray. I pray that I am wrong and the darkness I see never happens.

As the new school year begins, I suggest we pray, and pray very diligently. Pray for the children, their safety, for them to have open minds and protection. Pray for the schools and their teachers and staff.

Prayer will make this year a great year for the children. Let’s use what tools God has provided to us.

Please pray.

Scheduled Prayer Time

Busy Busy Busy, that is my life, as I am sure it is yours. I pray to God in some form every day. Sometimes they are just really fast zap prayers. If I am going through emails or Facebook and I see someone requesting prayers, I shot a quick one to God. Something divesting is reported on TV and up goes a prayer. Driving down the road and I see an accident, another short one to God.

Going through life sending God these one second prayers is a good thing. It reminds me that I have God on my side and keeps my mind focused on Him.

Romans 1:9
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.

When I am praying to God about my everyday small issues it makes me feel that I am praying with ceasing. I think this is what God was talking about in this verse. God should be with us always and on our mind.

Sometimes, I need to be formal with God. Carve out special times, shut out the world and really pour my heart out to my Heavenly Father. I don’t do these formal prayers as much as I should, but I believe that God knows my heart. That doesn’t mean I can use that as an excuse.

About three years ago my husband and I decided to pray together one night a week. I am proud of us for continuing that special time together. Every Tuesday evening at 8 pm, we turn off the TV, quite ourselves, sit together and hold hands and pray. We pray for our families, our friends, our elders, our deacons, our preacher and all the people we know that are hurting physically and emotionally. We ask God to continue to bless us, spiritually, emotionally and financially. We share with God and each other struggles that we are carrying on our hearts. Usually this takes about 15 minutes or sometimes it can take only 5 minutes. Either way, God can expect us around 8 pm on Tuesday evenings. Yes we have missed a few prayer times here and there. Things happen, life gets in the way and occasionally we just forget what day it is.

Not only has this time become special to us knowing we were going to speak with God, but it has brought my husband and I closer also. If one of us forgets, the other is the reminder. We can tell when an issue is bothering the other person, by the way they are praying, how emotional they get. Then this opens up time to share as husband and wife.

I highly recommend setting up some special time with your spouse or family to do some formal praying. You might be surprised at some of the subjects that are spoken about during these special times.

Share with me if you have special prayer times with your spouse of family.

I am a Christian! I am an American!

by Lillian Humphries

My Christian title comes first because I carry that wherever I go. No matter where I am or what condition my life is in, this is who I am. Yes, I have many more titles that I can carry, American, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Daughter, Sister, and Woman, however the most important title to me is Christian.

My Christian walk has been a long hard road at times, but God was always there to help me through those tough times. He was always there for all the good times too and I remember to thank Him for that when they happen. Isn’t it funny that we run to God when things are bad, when we have insurmountable problems that we feel we cannot handle? That is where America is today.

For years many have forsaken our Father because we were in good times. Our economy felt like it was up; we were all making more money than we ever had before. Things seemed easier ten years ago. We went out to dinner more, had more vacations that were more exquisite than we had ever taken before, and became accustomed to our five dollar cups of coffee, our cell phones that could do just about everything for us, along with getting our manicures and pedicures on a weekly basis. Yes, life was easy then.

What happened? Well it is not unlike what happened to the Romans. They partied; they spent above their means, and ate themselves to ruins. Very much like Americans are doing to themselves now. We have more danger of defeating ourselves than danger from any other enemy. I know we need to be watchful of our enemies, but we are not watching and monitoring ourselves. We have become a lazy, overweight and whining country.

But we are Americans! We have it in us to come back and rebuild before it goes too far. I see it every day in my life. People are becoming more aware of their surroundings, how they spend their time and how they spend their money. I see healthy, sensitive and caring Americans helping each other daily. We seem to have a better concept of paying it forward than we did ten years ago. More people are stepping up and helping their neighbors with whatever needs to be done. We are making better choices in exercise, eating correctly and becoming a healthy nation once again. As individuals I believe we have curbed our spending, coming back to family dinners and moral family discussions. We do have hope again!!

I beseech you Americans, turn off the TV, take a walk with your family, and discuss the world around you with your children and friends. Take on some family projects of volunteering or changing your world around you in just your neighborhood. If you try, then the next will try and the next will try and so on….. We know how it works America, we can do this.

Turn back to our Heavenly Father and trust in Him. Pray to Him daily asking for blessings and direction, He will guide us.

Do You Pray for Extra Blessings?

by Lillian Humphries

Taken from the book: The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson 

http://amzn.to/1Geo8o3

1 Chronicles 4:9-10
9 And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
Jabez was never found mentioned again in the Bible, but this small one verse prayer is so powerful. 


Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed
For Jabez to add the word indeed to the end of his request for blessings in like putting five exclamation points at the end of a sentence, or writing it in capital letters and underlining it.

When we pray for blessings and ask for more we are crying out the wonderful unlimited goodness that only God can provide.

“Ask”, promised Jesus, “and it will be given to you”. (Matthew 7:7) “you do not have because you do not ask,” said James (James 4:2).

enlarge my coast or territory
It is not wrong to ask God for more as long as we are using it for His will.
For some of us our math equation would be similar to this

My abilities
+ experience
+ training
+ my personality and appearance
+ my past
+ the expectations of others
= my assigned territory (or my success)

Maybe it should be:

+My willingness and weakness
+ God’s will and power
= My assigned territory (or my success)

Remember – we will always feel fear and anticipation when we begin to take on new projects for God, but we will also have the thrill of God carrying us as we are doing it.

that thine hand might be with me
So now God has enlarged our territory or family audience, etc.
Now we go into panic mode.
Guess what – we are supposed to feel like that. If we don’t than we won’t be dependent on God. We might stop occasionally to say thanks and give Him praise, but we get away from the dependence on God that we need to make it through. 

and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!
Those words “keep me from evil” does not say keep temptation from me because Jabez knew temptation would be there. The more we do God’s work the more Satan is coming after us.

God is our only answer.