Love Changes Lives

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” How much can love change a life? Let me count the ways. The Lord has blessed my life with people who love me and whom I have loved. My parents raised seven of us and showed us what unconditional love looked like. They gave me the love of family which I and my brothers and sisters hold on to. They gave me a love of faith in God which I chose to walk away from at the age of 21. Big mistake! At the age of 43, I found myself in a dark place. My life and my marriage were unraveling. My sister lovingly came to my house every day. Through tear stained eyes, I shared with her all that was wrong in my world with no hope to hold onto. She shared with me her newfound Savior. She told me how He loves me unconditionally and wanted healing in my life and marriage. Her love of Christ and her persistency brought me to a place of surrender. My sister’s love and the love of the Lord healed my marriage and my family. As I look back at that time, I know the Lord was preparing us for what was to come - the death of our daughter Katie. It was at that time that I was in a storm like no other, the storm of grief. I was holding on to the Lord with all I had. I was broken and battered. I needed a lifeboat, a safe place to rest. Unbeknownst to me there were two women preparing a lifeboat to come and rescue me. Donna Luke and Daisy Catchings Shader loved the Lord. They also had a love of moms who were in their own storm of grief. They wanted to comfort others as they had been comforted. Their love created Umbrella Ministries. I have witnessed how their love, compassion and encouragement has changed not only my life, but thousands of moms throughout the world. These two women not only wanted us to survive, but thrive. It wasn’t long before I was able to climb out of my boat and climb into another mother’s grief boat and give her a safe place. She in turn found a way out of her boat and so on and so on. Lord, through Your love and those who have been Your hands and feet, women have taken a leap of faith from their life boat and have found a life worth living. – Michele

Perfect Peace

Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.” As I turn my heart to the Lord this morning, my soul is filled with a mixture of emotions, a combination of gratitude and sadness. Today is my birthday and as I reflect on who I am and consider my journey on this earth, I can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my God who has radically changed me into the woman He has intended me to be. My life is beautiful and amazing. I’m so incredibly blessed with a job that I love and a boss who is remarkably exactly what I have always prayed for, a lovely home, financial stability, wonderful friends, two loving dogs and perfect health. But, for some reason, on this day, I tend to look at what it isn’t and what I don’t have. Ten years ago today, we took my 22 year old son, Elisha, off life support. He passed away six days later, on June 19, 2015. My birthday has never quite been the same. It’s so easy to go down a rabbit trail once I begin to focus on what I don’t have instead of being grateful for the blessings the Lord has provided. So here I went spiraling into the negative thinking in my head. I woke up this morning feeling lonely since I am a single woman who longs to have a lifelong companion to share my life with. I went out to the barn to get a couple of buckets of dirt to fill up a newly planted palm tree that had been uprooted as a result of some heavy storms. I tried to sweep the pool, which had overflowed with muddy water from the torrential rains. I sat in the hot tub and thought about my day, I would be flying out to San Diego in a few hours to spend the weekend with my son, my sisters and my friends, but I really wanted a special person in my life to come with me, but that didn’t happen. Do you see where this is going? Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice today and be glad in it.” Then I sat down to spend some time with the One who has always been my constant companion and boy, did I get convicted. My first thought after I read these scriptures was how did I lose my peace? I have the most faithful, devoted Friend a person could have, Jesus. I am not alone, He is always with me. I have a huge barn filled with tools and things that I need and He has equipped me with everything I need to take care of things. I have a beautiful pool to sweep and in a few hours my son will be picking me up at the airport and we are going to the Fair. I have hotel reservations with my sisters on the beach in Coronado and my friends are meeting me for dinner tomorrow night. And just like that, my mind shifted back to a sense of excitement and anticipation of things to come because this is the day that the Lord has made, and when my mind is steadfast upon Him, I am in perfect peace. -- Melody

Receive Grace. Give Grace

I had learned the principle over the years, but there was a time when my awareness of the grace God had given to me in its totality, unreservedness, and even unfairness, because Jesus gave me His perfect rightness and exchanged it for my sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), the principle of my giving grace because I know the profundity of grace being received, overwhelmed me. And I gave, because God had given to me, in totality, unreservedness, and even unfairness. And in truth, I gave too because God’s grace enabled me. The Message paraphrase clearly shares with us a group of people who were blessed themselves by God’s grace. Their first response was a giving of themselves to God, and to give themselves in turn to others. Here is the account from “The Message." Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could – far more than they could afford! – pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians. This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. That’s what prompted us to ask Titus to bring the relief offering to your attention, so that what was so well begun could be finished up. You do so well in so many things—you trust God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us—now, do your best in this, too. (2 Corinthians 8:1-7) What has pushed you to the limit?? What fierce troubles have been yours? Did you place those things in the hands of God and trust Him for His provision and care? Did you find yourself a recipient of God’s grace, either directly, or as He used the hearts, the hands, the love and compassion of others? Or maybe, the grace you are so certain of, came as Jesus’ sacrifice became the eradicator of your guilt, and you walked forward as a growing child of God to become more and more like His Son, Jesus? Whatever is your own story, our awareness of God immersing us in His grace, needs to flood our hearts with a gratitude that continually motivates us in our response to God Himself, but then also, in our responses to others. What are their needs? How can I share God’s grace with them? And my giving of grace may be helping with physical needs, or it may be a listening ear for someone else who has been pushed to the limits – someone who is broken by misunderstanding, or loss, others isolating them, or ........... Build the bridge of relationship. Walk with them in their grief. Share God’s truths of forgiveness. Encourage them by just being present. Fill some care-giving hours for them. That’s the pattern of God’s grace. Receive grace. Give grace. And give praise to God for all He gives, and for all He enables. Personally, there is no greater joy. – Bev

God's Grace

2 Cor. 12:9-10 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” A crisis will always reveal a person’s true character. A daily and private relationship of meeting and worshiping God is the essential element of spiritual fitness. If we are not developing that intimate relationship with our Creator every day, when a crisis comes, we will certainly fall flat and may even lose our bearing. Where are we drawing our strength in times of trouble? So often we look to the world and others around us; we pour out our story to a friend over coffee, or perhaps you are like me, and you just keep yourself busy hoping that the problem will just go away, and if I keep myself busy enough I won’t stop long enough to think about it. Unfortunately, when I lay my head down on my pillow at night, the problem is still there, plaguing me in my thoughts. How many of us actually lay each and every one of our troubles and concerns down at the foot of the cross the moment they occur? I used to attempt to handle my difficulties all by myself, because after all, I was quite capable and believed I was a very strong woman. I never wanted the world to know that inside, I was insecure and overwhelmed. Even though I met with the Lord each morning for a time of devotion, once I started my day, it was my will, my plans, my work, and my family that always came first. I lived for so many years as a pseudo person living behind a mask that I thought covered the real me. It was not until the death of my child that I became undone. For years I had been at war with my emotions, which I stuffed deep inside, and I never allowed anyone to see the real me. When this tragedy occurred, my emotions finally won out and the Lord revealed my true weakness and vulnerabilities. Hebrews 6:19-20 says “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.” My Savior pulled back the curtain only to reveal that it was Him all along who had been my strength, who had been my source, who had been at the center of my will. I am a different person today and I like who I am becoming. It is the real me who is filled with insecurities and doubts, but I am okay with that because His grace is sufficient for me today. – Melody

A Quiet Place

For many of us the words from Psalm 46:10 can frequently echo in our thinking in the midst of our busyness, our priorities, and/or our struggles. Be still, and know that I am God! A knowledge of our God. Not just a head knowledge, but a knowledge that saturates our hearts and meets us wherever life has us, and has an unquestionable, life impacting, alive and personal knowledge that our God is real, and He does the real and personal, for me, and for those I care about. Be still, and know that I am God! But, how do I do that??? Thinking about it, contemplating the possibility – both happen, but the “being still”is still just a foggy idea. Like most other things that need adjustment, we must have a want-to, but we must also be intentional, and actively pursue it. My friend does that. Her want-to is strong. Life has too many complexities, too many challenges, and she very much knows she is unable in her own strength and ability to even steady them enough to find the needed resolution. But she knows she is the daughter of the eternal, loving, enabling God, and HE CAN. Her choice is to be intentional, and in utter dependence on Him, actively pursue the stillness. She delights in taking a snack and her heart, and finding that quiet time with Jesus on a solitary park bench in a solitary cove of nature. And she finds the stillness, and her heart listens, and responds. Jesus walked the dusty streets where the people He loved, lived, and sometimes met many of those same people on a hilltop, or even at the Jewish temple, or someone’s home. But Jesus also wanted time to be alone with His Father, in quietness and intimacy. And He intentionally would find those times, just as we are encouraged to do the same. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35) “Jesus went out to a mountain side to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him.” (Luke 6:12-13) “The news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16) Our Pastor Joey frequently reminds us to find the stillness, and often gives some practical options for finding God’s answers in that quietness. I am blessed to have a quiet place within my home where I can be still, and grow in the knowledge of my God. But, I must still have a want-to, be intentional, and actively pursue that knowledge with a listening and responsive heart. And in your own busyness, priorities, or struggles, if stillness with God is only a foggy idea, or even a difficult one, all that God longs to give in the stillness, may evade us. Reach intentionally! Be still, and know that I am God! And know that He is real, and He will do the real and personal for you! – Bev

What's Love Got To Do With it

Do you remember the Tina Turner song, “What's Love Got to Do with It”? A line in the song asks, "Who needs a heart, when a heart can be broken?” When we are disconnected from the one we love, there is pain, a broken heart. Is it worth it to love? As I think about the pain of loss, there is a considerable price that comes when we dare to love. We are never guaranteed another day with those who encircle our world. That realization hit me hard on July 2nd when I lost my seventeen-year-old daughter. Never in all my life did I think she would die before me. Even though I knew it was a possibility, it was a thought I would quickly get rid of. It was painful just thinking about it. How do we live life without opening our hearts to love? What is in a relationship when we push our hearts and emotions aside to protect our hearts from pain? Life would be empty and lonely. It would make life not worth living. I think of Jesus when He decided to be born to take on the role of being a human being. He was God, so He must have known the repercussions of agape love. He knew people would turn from Him. He knew what was ahead of Him and His suffering on the cross. Yet, He decided we would be worth all of it. The beatings, the nail scarred hands, the pierced heart, and He still said, “Send Me.” My dear Mom, our hearts are broken, never to be whole here on this earth. But oh, how my life has become more precious to me walking through life with a broken heart. My capacity to love and hurt for others has grown and has changed the very beating of my heart. Life’s seasons have become much more meaningful, even in their bruised and battered condition. I hold onto each day. Those whom I love and with whom I come in contact, I try my hardest to show Christ’s love. I am not perfect, but I give it my best shot. Lord, You have given us the freedom to choose to love, or not. May we choose to love. – Michele

AnniversariesAnniversary.

Usually, the word brings an anticipation, a celebratory sense of something good that has continued or something perhaps you were honored for many years ago, and it deserves to be given recognition and even festivity.  My husband and I were approaching our fiftieth wedding anniversary, although we were far too young to be doing such a thing.  And we were anticipating a celebration, maybe a river cruise in the Northwest or up the Hudson in New York.  The word though is sometimes suffocated more in dread with nothing celebratory even being appropriate, and yet it is still an anniversary, one we cautiously, apprehensively, shrink from while at the same time knowing the disillusionment or heartache of its significance and knowing there is nothing within us that can ignore it or simply let it be another day.And sometimes such anniversaries come in a stark, foreboding parade.  It’s the birthday that precedes or follows the anniversary of the death of a child or a spouse.  And the memories come year after year after year.  It’s the tragedy that made national, even international, headlines, but you and your family, in the midst of that tragedy faced loss upon loss.  The calendar marks the holiday, but your own heart marks the anniversary that leaves your loved one absent.  Even decades after the death of our infant daughter just before Christmas, we take time first to remember the daughter God gave before we remember the Son He gave.  And for some, such timing gets very complicated.  The week of 9/11 brings stark reminders of the tragedy our family was personally impacted by in many ways, but it also brings memories of the death of a brother, a son, and a dad who died just a few days before 9/11.  And within that same week is a wedding anniversary of the mom and dad of the son who died, and their own marriage splintered while eight siblings struggled to survive childhood and teen years without a place called “home,” and then the dad who left his family, died, and that anniversary comes too in that same week of 9/11.  Anniversaries.  We can grow special memories through the good ones and celebrate with smiles and laughter.  But, what do we do with the ones that bring a return to anguish, sorrow, and pain?  I hear the pain in the voices of many moms who are drawing close to the anniversary of their child’s death.  And it’s not just the first anniversary, or the second, or the tenth, or ............  It’s a time to remember and it’s a time to ask God to pick us up, hold us close, and let us feel the warmth of His embrace, let us ask our questions, and let us share the feelings that swell a mother’s heart.  It’s a time, not to hide, but to seek out a friend.  It’s a time to rehearse God’s promises, over and over and over.  It’s a time to remember the good God has given even in our brokenness.  It’s a time to be intentional.  Do the things that are best for you to do – for some, it will be a quiet place; for others, it will be a place you once enjoyed together.  And know the turmoil of emotions will quiet and soften once again, for another season, and your God will stay with you, encourage you, and grow within you a place of refuge you can share with still others.  I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.  He will feed his flock like a shepherd.  He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.  He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see what he has done and be amazed.  They will put their trust in the Lord.                                                                                                                Bev(Related Bible reading: Psalm 40:1-3; Isaiah 40:11; Isaiah 30:18-21)