Rubber Bands

I love to have GOD as my Teacher! He has currently put me in a position that is rather uncomfortable for me. I am teaching Sunday school to a small group of young girls whose parents do not go to Church. Half of my class is preschool age, and I am at a loss how to teach them. I am well aware that I tend to teach "over their heads" in length of lesson, and in vocabulary - but I have a GREAT TEACHER. I seek HIS help regularly and HE is faithful to come alongside me and show me HOW to teach little ones who have very little knowledge of the Bible, or Jesus Himself.

One week in November I was teaching Zaachaeus.

The rubber bands came when I was thinking about his shortness (which caused him to climb the tree to see Jesus. I did not really want to measure them all, or draw them on paper....so GOD popped rubber bands into my head. I mean it was all HIM. I had a bag of various sized rubber bands. So I dumped them onto the table and began picking out tall ones, short ones and in between ones. Then I put four into a tiny baggie. I made up a baggie for each child, myself and my helper.

The girls always like CRAFT time, so they were thrilled when I announced we were starting class at the TABLE. They ran there and I gave them each a tiny baggie. I sat with them and showed them what to do. I dumped them all out and found the tallest one, then the shortest one, and put the other two in order. They were intent and it was something the smallest ones could do.

It was an inexpensive lesson, but it worked. They understood SHORT, then I started talking about how children are shorter than adults and how children often need to on daddy's shoulders to see a parade if they are not in the front row, etc.

I cut off several branches from a neighbors bush, and had a card stock Zaachaeus for each child. We acted out the story as I shared the Bible Account, and then again as we sang the familiar Sunday school song.

By the end of class, I think the Lesson idea was clear that Zaachaeus WANTED to see Jesus and made sure that he did! We need to also WANT to see Jesus, and we can by making sure we come to Sunday school as often as we can,etc.....and also how his life was CHANGED by spending time with JESUS, and how we also CHANGE as we spend time with Jesus, in His Word, etc.

The Simple Note

Sometimes it does not take much for us to feel BLESSED and loved.
Sometimes it does not take much for ME to feel BLESSED and loved.

Yesterday I had one of those simple gifts of love, by way of a simple note.

Every week I create, type, print and fold our Church bulletins. I also type up a LARGE FONT 'order of service' for the Pastor, Deaf Interpreter, Song Leader and Pianist and tape them at their place of ministry.

Our Church has been without a Pianist for about three years. We have used Sing-Along Cds for our congregational singing. Recently the LORD brought a very talented couple to visit our Church. She is a gifted classical pianist! She LOVES to play and plays joyfully for the LORD. She has been a JOY to our congregation. We value each week they are with us. [We are joining them in prayer that GOD will lead them to the Church of HIS choice. They would be welcomed in any Church.] We will just be thankful for every week they are with us.

ANYWAY....here is the "rest of the story":

Yesterday as I was picking up the Large Print 'Order of Service' papers from the four areas of ministry, I noticed a hand written note where I had put the 'order of service' for the Pianist. The Pianist had turned over the typed Order of Service and left me a note! The note said: "Thanks for posting the large bulletin here!"

See, I told you it was simple.......but sometimes we just need to know that our labor is not in vain, and that someone truly does appreciate the extra effort we put in.

To me, it was a powerful Christmas gift. It warmed my heart like sitting curled up in a blanket before a crackling fireplace. I felt loved, and yes appreciated. No one was even around when I received this Blessing. But tears still come just to remember the pleasure of that Simple Note.

Grace Gusher

Title: Grace Gusher
During our motorcycle trip that was 4,613 miles, we did stop occasionally. One place we stopped, was at the beautiful Niagara Falls. We had stopped there for our honeymoon, so it was nice to be there again 37 years later. We rode in a boat that took us close to the Falls. Everyone on the boat wore plastic covers because we ALL got very wet from the mist coming from the falls.100,000 cubic feet of water per second flows over the falls during the tourist season. That's like pouring 83 swimming pools full of water over the falls every second. Now that's an overflow!

Of course I think of a HIGHER lesson for God showing us such beauty. God’s grace is similar to Niagara Falls. Our salvation thru the blood of Jesus streams out of God’s rich grace. God's grace doesn't trickle down like a leaky water spigot; it cascades like the Niagara Falls.
Like the immense water in the Niagara Falls, there's enough overflow of God’s grace for everyone ... from the most wretched sinner to the most honorable of leaders.
There's enough grace through Christ to cover all those times you doubt, all those times you disobey, all those times you miss God's will.

Romans 5:20
“Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”
Hymn: Grace Greater than Our Sin


HYMN: Grace Greater than Our Sin

Lyrics: Julia H. Johnston
Music: Daniel B. Towner


Marvelous Grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Refrain:
Grace, Grace, God's Grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, Grace, God's Grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

His Voice

Our Vacation Vignette
Title: “His Voice”I hesitate to share this experience with you because it is very personal and very holy. Last week I shared with you my personal fight with horrific fear the first two days of our 4, 613 mile motorcycle trip. The fear was overcome by claiming scripture over my life.
The next day was an amazing day. We started this day in Griffin, GA.. The LORD spoke to me, on the back our motorcycle, as clearly as friends speak to each other. He told me to pray for every Church along the way. I began to pray for every church we passed. As I prayed the LORD gave me more insight, having me pray for specific situations in various Churches. After a couple of hours of this, it dawned on me HOW MANY Churches God has planted all over America. It seemed I would barely get a prayer started, and another Church would appear.
Then God closed my assignment with His Word from 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Side to Side

Our Vacation Vignette
Title: “Side to Side”

Amid the 4,613 miles I sat quietly behind my husband on our Goldwing, I was unable to look straight ahead unless I leaned to one side. All I could see straight ahead was the back of Ken’s helmet. I had to be content with seeing only what was on my left or my right. I did not have the advantage of seeing the road ahead of us, including any bumps that Ken was soon going to avoid, or bends in the road we would soon lean into. This may be why so many passengers decide to get a bike of their own, so they can know what is ahead. But I am very content riding behind my husband looking only to the left or the right. I have no major decisions to make, I just need to ride with the bike, trusting the driver. I feel life is a lot like that. We all WANT to know what is ahead of us, but rarely do we get advance warning of the bumps in the road. Contentment is something we learn when we realize we are NOT the driver of our life, so we best be content with trusting HIM and enjoy the ride. I trust my husband to watch the road for me, because he loves me. I trust my LORD with my life. He loves me and wants the best for me. I just need to ride along with Him, and enjoy the ride.

Proverbs 3:5,6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and HE shall direct thy paths.

What am I doing!

Our Vacation Vignette
Title: “What am I Doing !”

Early on our motorcycle trip of 4,613 miles, I fought with an enemy many of us are familiar with. On and off for the first few days of the trip I would all of a sudden be VERY aware that there was NOTHING to my left, right, or above my head. I was VERY aware that the pavement under my feet was swiftly moving and there was nothing physically to protect me should we go down. It is a paralyzing thought to be on this moving bike with the full knowledge that if you went down, your skin would be scraping against the pavement. I began to envision a car coming at us, or a deer dashing out. I envisioned the bike going down and almost felt myself smashing and becoming one with the pavement. The thoughts began to multiply as my fear overtook me, and then.... I came to my senses. I started quoting a familiar verse that has helped me in many fearful situations over my life. I repeated the verse over and over until a wonderful peace swept over me and the spirit of fear was gone. I can honestly tell you that I did not have one moment of fear on the way home! Thank YOU Lord!

2 Timothy 1:7 “God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Shadows!

Our Vacation Vignette
Title: “Shadows”

During our motorcycle trip of 4,613 miles, I found ways to entertain myself. In a car I could read a book, take a nap, or work on a computer project, but those are not options on a motorcycle. Therefore, I do a lot of looking around at the beautiful scenery, a lot of thinking and mega uninterrupted prayer time. But in the mornings I was entertained as I watched shadows. First of all, we had a shadow riding beside us for many miles – there we were in flat black moving along silently on the pavement below. What caught my attention was when a Semi Truck would whiz by. His shadow would totally cover us. His shadow slammed into us and totally engulfed us with his dark likeness. I was amused as this occurred time after time. I was immediately reminded of Psalm 23. Death will not destroy the Believer, we will only be smacked by the SHADOW of death, then enter into the presence of our LORD. I also noticed at noon, the shadows were still there, but not easily seen because the sun was overhead. The shadow was UNDER each vehicle. I thought how neat that was. When we are aligned with Jesus, all of our SHADOWS are UNDER our feet, in the name of Jesus!

Psalm 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me...”

No Escape!

Our Vacation Vignette
Title: “NO ESCAPE!”

Amid the 4,613 miles I sat quietly behind my husband on our Goldwing, I was able to enjoy A LOT of wonderful scenery. I saw numerous cattle farms and fields of horses. I saw houses small and large. I especially liked the big southern houses with their wrap around porch, complete with empty rocking chairs waiting to be occupied by weary bodies in the cool of the evening. I saw and smelled many kinds of trees and flowers as we road by gardens and lawns perfectly groomed. I saw mountains and valleys, windy, steep, narrow roads, as well as roads where the Semi trucks made me hold onto my helmet when they passed by. But the one thing I could not escape all 4,613 miles was myself! My reflection was CONSTANTLY in the back of Ken’s helmet. Sometimes I would just look at myself and have a mental talk with myself. That is oh so true in life....no matter where we go, we cannot escape from our self. I am so glad that I have become my own friend. I am comfortable in my skin and who I am in Christ. But it was not always so. I challenge you to learn to be comfortable with who you are.......even if it means you need some changes.
Galations 2:20 I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”

JOYFUL Nursing Home Ministry

GOD blesses me and our entire team each week as we hold "Church" in a local nursing home. We can go in there tired (as we are all senior citizens whose bodies call for afternoon naps), depressed, physically in pain, or any other condition and it is amazing how these things disappear during this ministry!

We have been doing this ministry for FOUR years....every Sunday...and it continues to be pure JOY. I often think, I would like to be a chaplain of a Nursing Home were I can get even More involved in their lives, but for now.......THIS is a blessing.

Today's lesson was on Genesis 40. This is where Joseph is in prison, and he interprets the Butler's and the Baker's dream. I dressed up two of our helpers for the visuals. It was alot of fun!

We do alot of things that are fun......and I am so thankful that the LORD opened this ministry for us. It is not a chore, it is all JOY.

Husband raised the dead!

My husband amazes me. He is so very talented. We had been thinking about each of us getting a puppet to add to the Nursing Home Ministry. Our Puppet team (Ed and Anne Kelm), go North for the summer and the residents miss them.

As we were walking around the Classic Car show in the Downtown Circle, I looked in a window of a store and they had a generous display of 28 inch full bodied puppets. Ken opened the door. We walked around and around looking at all the puppets. They had clown puppets, girl puppets with different color hair, boy puppets with different color hair, sculpted puppets dressed in motorycle clothes, and puppets dressed as brides, doctors, pirates etc. We walked around and around wondering if any of these puppets would be suited for us.

THEN my husband put his arm in one, and IMMEDIATELY the puppet came to life! My husband changed voices and he talked with this puppet as if he had known him for years. It was truly remarkable! He had chosen the Grandpa puppet.

His decision helped me to know which puppet I should get. I certainly needed the Grandma, so we are a couple. This will be sweet as we minister in a Nursing Home every Sunday afternoon. The winter puppet team has young children puppets, so in the Summer the change to senior citizens will be good.

We left the store with Ken's puppet in his hand, and together they finished walking among the classic cars. Someone even took a picture of them. He was so comical!

The store owner said he would have to order the grandma and it will be here in a few days.

Now we need to find CD - Christian music........song by old folks instead of children!

ANYWAY, the point is.......our lives are basically without meaning and purpose until the day we receive Christ. When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, we become NEW CREATIONS! We truly know what it means to live. So much like the visual I saw before my very eyes tonight. One minute the puppet was lifeless amid many other lifeless puppets, and the next minute he is full of life and personality......and he will be used of the LORD.

[Anyone have any unused puppets, send them our way! Hubby is good with marinettes too :)]

GATOR Encounter!

My husband and I TRY and take Monday as OUR day. It is our day of TOGETHERNESS. You might call it: OUR DATE DAY. We like to jump on our motorcycle and head somewhere just to be together and enjoy FLorida. Well yesterday's date had some EXCITEMENT.

On our way back from our DATE DAY (the beach in Fort Pierce), we had a scary encounter. As we were traveling along at the speed limit (on our motorcycle) Ken pointed ahead. There was a HUGE alligator starting to cross the road in front of us. His HUGE head and front "legs" were already past the white line into our lane. So we slowed down. We could not cross to the left lane because that is where he was heading.......we could not run INTO him....and we could not go behind him as a huge part of him was still off the shoulder. So we slowed down in our right lane and contemplated what to do.

IN THE MEANTIME, a semi truck driver had come up behind us, in our lane, did not notice that we slowed down....and didnt see the alligator (which was probably no threat to him, as it was to our bike). He was barreling down on us. I mean he was VERY close.

The truck driver FINALLY did SEE us and he went over to the farthest extent of the right lane to avoid us.

Apparently the alligator SAW the truck, opened his mouth wide and did a U-turn back off the road, so we were able to go over to the left lane and let the truck barrel through.

It was THEN he saw the alligator and figured it out. He then slowed down as he too probably realized what could have happened.

When we were side by side, we (Ken and I on our motorcycle, and the truck driver) all smiled and held out hearts as we each understood the danger we had all been in.

GOD PROTECTED US and we thank HIM.

Other than that, it was a GREAT day of togetherness.

Mother's Day

As a mother, I am well aware of the pain Mother's Day can bring. Most of us, mothers, are aware of the cards with the amazing Hallmark words of love and devotion that go way past the reality of life. As much as wordy Hallmark cards are painful, we also know the pain of when our children forget to send a card of any kind. People may ask, "Did you hear from your children?" Mother's Day can be a very lonely day, a refective day, a painful day.......unless you are still blessed to gather around the table with your children. Those days are precious memories.

As a Counselor, I am well aware of the pain that Mother's Day brings to those dear women who will never be able to carry a child, or have lost a child. That kind of pain is accentuated as crafts are done in schools and sunday schools for children to bring their moms. Accentuated at mother and daughter events. It is a painful time. I have known ladies who stay home from Church on Mother's Day because it is so painful when the Pastor has all the mothers stand to honor them.

As one whose mom went to Glory this year, I am now aware what it is like to no longer have a mother to honor on this day. I regret the times when I flippantly bought her a card, just because it was mother's Day. I didn't want her to get a card from my sister and not me. I had the honor of going through her scrapbooks after her death, and SAW how she SAVED each card over the years. Mother's day will no doubt have tears for me this year, as I still terribly miss my mom. My tears will join the many thousands who for one reason or another will cry on the day we call Mother's Day.

As a Pastor's wife, I see our Church filled with elderly women who week after week sit alone in their pews. Their children do not attend here, or anywhere. Just yesterday a lady was sharing about how much that hurts her. Her son KNOWS she can no longer drive herself to Church, and yet he didn't even come to visit her, let alone offer to drive her to the Church she LOVED to attend. He may indeed give her a Mother's Day card, but driving her to Church would have meant alot more to her.

I made an insert to put into our bulletin this week. It is an invitation that our widows can give to their children as a special invite to Church on Mother's Day. It may not be successful, but we are always trying to strengthen family relationships, as well as to draw people to God.

If you are a woman......I applaud you and want you to know that you are a wonderful woman because you are created in the image of God! He has a great purpose for your life. You have a great future ahead of you, as you seek HIS will for your life.

Prison Ministry Decorations

We minister in a small Church and the way the economy is right now, we have next to nothing in the budget for decorations. My husband and I are passionate towards missions, so as I thought about our upcoming Missions Conference I knew God would help us out.

Shortly after we secured our Missionary Speaker, Toby Cribbs, who serves the LORD in jails and prisons in TN/Ga area...I knew the decorations would be challenging, and nothing I could use from last year's decorations. Within days GOD gave me a vision of something that I was not at all sure if I could create, but I kept HIS vision before me, and plugged away the best I could in a frugal manner.

I gathered faces from the internet, mostly by looking at men's hairstyles. I printed them out and cut around the faces. Then I had a box of gloves left over from caring for my home under hospice. I filled them one glove after another. My daughter in law and grandchildren helped with that too when they were here. Then I bought poster board for their shirts, drew them, cut them out and printed a Bible reference on each shirt. Put them all together with paper chains on their wrists. I was amazed that it looked like it was going to work (although keep those gloves on the window was not an easy task).

I noticed that all of our prisoners were bound and that did not represent the FREEDOM that anyone can obtain in Christ. That is when GOD gave me the second VISION. He told me to find a song, and while we were singing it, to have various people cut the chains off the decoration prisoners. So the one song our people know well is: Victory in Jesus. So my hubby (the Pastor) gave directions to the people how they are all bound, and in the name of Jesus they can be free. So as we sang the song, various brave souls left their seats and walked to the windows. One by one the chains were broken!

It was a powerful service! I am so grateful to GOD who helps us in the big things and the simple things like DECORATIONS. And when GOD gets involved with decorations, HE turns it into something POWERFUL. I am so awed at GOD.

My Mother's Scent

March 23 was my mom's birthday. She would have been 86. She went to Glory six months ago. I miss her more than I could ever pen. She not only gave me life, but she showed me JESUS. I am forever thankful.

BUT what I wanted to share with you is how absolutely COOL God is!

Yesterday in my mom's honor, I decided to wear HER perfume. I wear TABU most everyday of my life. My mother wore NAVY the last few years of her life. I keep her bottle of NAVY in a special box in my room which also has her last night gown and the DVD of her service, etc. SO I put on her perfume all day. I noticed that it didn't particularly blend with my chemistry, like it did hers, but I wore it all day anyway.

THEN I went to the little devotional book that mom always read: OUR DAILY BREAD. On March 23 the title was SIGNATURE SCENT. It mentioned how certain smells will cause us to think about certain times in our lives, or certain people. For sure NAVY caused me to think of my mom. The devotional let us to Exodus 30: 34,35 which talks of a special recipe for a fragrance ONLY allowed in the tabernacle for worship. A scent that GOD and the people would KNOW meant worship was going on between the Holy of Holys and humbled human beings. This fragrance was used NO OTHER place, but for worship in the Tabernacle.

THEN the devotional took us to 2 Cor 2: 14,15 where the New Testament teaches that WE, Believers in Jesus, are a sweet fragrance that is acceptable (pleasing) to God. God uses Christians (me and you) as His "signature scent" to the world. What kind of smell am I giving off to the world? Do I draw people to Christ, or do I turn them away? Are people drawn to the Christ in me, or do they run? WOW...what a thought!

I felt so GOD HUGGED when I read this and realized that GOD had placed it in there TODAY for me, on my mom's birthday. NAVY will always remind me of my mother, but she would want me to boldly wear and be the sweet fragrance of my life that is pleaseing to my Lord Jesus.

GOD is so awesome in HIS ways to HUG us on days when we need HIS special touch. If it was on any other day, that devotional would not have had the same meaning, as it had on my mom's birthday, when I was wearing her scent in honor of her.

I am so thrilled that GOD loves like that! His hugs are so sweet, so powerful, and so personal.

What a mighty God we serve!