parents

This is my mom and dad. We just got back not too long ago from a New England/Canada cruise. I had never been on a cruise other than in the Caribbean. I am a sucker for the Caribbean. However, this was a nice change and besides, there was still the beach!

I have always loved the beach. I could live there. There is just something about it that moves my soul. My favorite part of a beach day is sunset. Sitting at the edge of the sea as it tosses it waves up close to my feet. Sinking my toes into the soft sand. The setting sun kissing my brown shoulders. The gentle, warm southern breeze whisking through my locks of ocean dried hair. The smell of suntan oil on smooth skin. The beauty of a sun sinking lower with it's orange and yellow colors cascading over the water. The sound of seagulls making music in my ears. Man, I can close my eyes and almost be there.

The next best thing would be cruising. Still on the water with frequent beach destinations. I do love cruising. My mom turned me on to this, so it's all her fault. She takes me on a cruise once a year. Sometimes just the two of us and sometimes we let my dad come along (ha!). We both enjoy it so much.

We do things with the whole family as well, but this is a time that my attention is not divided. I can listen to what is going on in my parent's lives. Enjoy what they enjoy. Develop a better friendship with them. Make memories with them. Simply share time.

My mom has learned that all she has to do is wave the beach/ocean "carrot" in front of me and I'm sold. I'm thankful that they take the time to continue to build an adult relationship with me.

So...when is that next trip mom? (wink, wink)

messiness

Man, oh man, oh man....can kids get messy! I mean, just look at that face on Eden. Isn't it adorable even in the messiness? Doesn't it make you smile looking at that messy face? Now, when she was done, if she were to ask me for a kiss, do you think I would reach out and kiss her with that messy face? (Well, to tell the truth, I have kissed her with pink frosting on her lips). This time she was just a little bit messier, so I would have cleaned her up first and then smooched her sweet face right off! You know how it is, they can get really-really messy, but we love them so much that we lovingly and gently help them get cleaned up and returned back to their old cute self.

I wish it were like that in the adult world. What? We get messy? Yes. I am talking about other kind of messiness. The kind that hurts and is much more difficult to clean up. Adults makes messes. I know that my christian friends would jump in and do whatever they could to help an unbeliever clean up a mess. I have seen them in action. They have helped people through one crisis after another, all to show the love of Christ and in hopes that they would want to know Him more. We want to minister to a lost world. Those without God make so many messes. And we expect them to make messes. Lots of messes.

Christians makes messes too. What? We get messy? Yes. All kinds of messes. Even the ones that hurt and are difficult to clean up. However, this is where things get a little "different". I am surprised at my christian friends at times. Oh, not all of them, but a lot of them. When their brother or sister makes a mess, they want to hurry up and wash their hands of them. They don't want to invest the time it takes to help restore them. The Bible tells us to be good to all people, but especially to those in the family of God (Galatians 6:10). We should be willing to gently and lovingly come along side them and help them clean up a mess, loving them no less.

We have so many opportunities to love, encourage and help one another to clean up messes. The ways are endless. Facebook, for example. Instead of looking at someone's messy profile with a judgemental attitude, why not post something good and encouraging on it? If we take the simple way out and ignore them or just delete them, well, isn't that wiping our hands of them? How will we reach them? How will we help them if we just write them off? Here's another example. Meeting with them. If they want to meet with you and talk, my goodness, don't turn them away! That is your opportunity to listen, speak Truth to them, pray with them, love them and help them figure out a path to clean the messiness up and be restored. What about gossip? Instead of adding to a mess, why not ask the person wanting to gossip if they would be willing to pray about it all? You lead them! Call your christian friend, just to speak some kind of encouragement. Email them. Buy them a book that you think could be helpful. Oh, the possibilities are endless.You could be a part of investing in a future pastor, another Beth Moore, or even a brother/sister who will one day use what you have invested in them by ministering to your children or grandchildren!

I know from my own experiences in life that I have had some wonderful believers step in and help me through some very difficult times that were brought on by my self. And they walked right beside me every step of the way and still are today. I also know the other side of being tossed to the side as a used up christian not worth anything. That is painful. Imagine being a part of pulling someone down when Christ wants to use their mess to turn them in to better. Or turning your back on them and they never know their true potential and live the rest of their christian lives defeated. How heartbreaking!

Whatever the mess, no matter how long or how hard it will be to clean up the mess, don't give up on them. Don't give up on your brothers and sisters in the Lord. They need you. Love them. Love them. Love them. You are bound together by an eternal bloodline. You who were bought with a high price yourself. You who have been forgiven of sooo much. You need to love and help not only the lost, but those messy siblings as well. Besides, I bet YOU have made messes before...

it's fall ya'll

Ok...ok...ok! I am getting so much harassment about my "giving in to fall" proclamation that I thought I better explain. For the record, I LOVE FALL! Look at those warm, vibrant colors on the trees. I am a warm-color kind of girl anyway, so the colors are perfect. In fact, I even made everyone stop the car last Sunday so I could jump out and take a picture of a tree. The big, bright yellow ones with the dark trunks are my favorite of all! (Side note; those who know me well, know I am a tree-loving nerd anyway)

My problem is letting go of summer. I hang on to it for as long as I can, squeezing out every last ounce. It is my favorite season, and I hate to see it go. So, every year, fall has to "push" it's way into my heart. I think fall is just jealous because it gets the least amount of decoration time. I wait so long that Christmas decor begins to steal fall's fair share. However, once I do give in to fall, I embrace it and snuggle in with it. This year the defining "moment" that I gave up was with the carving of pumpkins. The girls and their Momaw picked out those bright orange beauties and thus began my fall dive.

I got busy right away making our home into a cozy nest of fall colors. I do love the feel of an inviting home. Twinkling pumpkin lights now adorn empty spaces and the flicker of candlelight bounces off of the wall.

Now I can give in to my fall coffee flavors. I've purposely held back ordering my pumpkin spice latte out of rebellion, but now I cave in every time. Think I will go have one right now. If you come looking for me, I will be in this chair snuggling up with my mug, throw, and a bounty of leaves. Oh, by the way, I have a chair next to this one if you care to join me! Much love to ya'll this fall!

music that moves me right now

My CD player is stuck on one artist right now: Josh Wilson. Love his music! A few of my favorites are Before the Morning, Savior-Please, Something's Got to Change, Sing, 3 Minute Song, and Listen.

Oh, I still listen to other CD's (I have a wide variety... even Lady A's new Christmas CD. Already!), but I can't get enough of this guy. No one is happier than my girls. They are thrilled that I have anything other than Jimmy Buffet going! ;)

So, what's in your music player right now? I'd love to know what you are listening to, it might inspire my next "can't get enough of" CD.

Enjoy the samples I posted of this great guy!

pain. a blessing?

I wanted to share this devotion from Priscilla Shirer. Just a great truth to pass along. Soak it up!

The Blessing of Pain

The Blessing of Pain

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. -Romans 5:3-4 (ESV)

A jovial rosy-cheeked young girl bounded across the set of a widely popular television talk show to make her way to the couch next to her parents. I had seen the whole thing from the beginning. The proud mother and father had already been there for quite a while talking with the host about their precious little girl. Their description of her sounded much like those of all adoring parents who want nothing more than the best for their children. Yet, their stories of normal childhood activities were peppered with eerie tales of a disorder that had ravaged their youngster since her birth.

Hers is a rare disease. One might not even know it existed without hearing it discussed, but it couldn’t be missed as soon as the girl stepped from behind the curtain and into public view. Her chubby smiling face seemed a bit weathered. There were some bruises and scars that told a story of their own. Her right eye was patched and bandaged to cover the gashes and discoloration, and her toothless grin was molded into the expression that accompanies the elderly who have lost their teeth. I felt my blood pressure rise as she walked across the stage. I’m sure that anyone watching did. How could this much damage be done to a child. Certainly the disorder I heard the parents explain wasn’t the cause of all this.

My heart ached and pulse raced as I folded a pile full of clean laundry during the commercial break. My body was busy but my mind had slowed. I was consumed with thoughts and questions, eager to have each one of them answered. My internal conversation was interrupted when the commercial telling me I’d used the wrong detergent ended and the talk show began again. I sat down on the edge of my bed, my husband’s crumpled t-shirt in hand, and listened. The parents explained. Soon after their daughter’s birth, it was discovered that she had a rare disorder that would keep her from feeling any pain. A scraped knee on the playground or burnt tongue on a cup of hot soup would go unnoticed by her nerves, deadened, and unresponsive. At first the news stunned her parents, but they soon settled into a nest of peace at the thought of having to never worry about their child enduring physical agony. The mother described how she initially felt blessed that this phenomenon could be their lot. Yet, her enthusiasm soon turned to despair as the months of her little girl’s life crept on.

First, some hot coffee spilled, burning her three-month-old baby soft skin as it leaked steadily from a coffee table from which she could not get out from under. She didn’t cry for help because she didn’t feel anything. Now her flesh was scalded. When she discovered the fun of using her own hands, she began to pry at her eyes, freeing the one on the right from its socket. When her teeth came in, she began to unknowingly bite through her own lips and tongue, leaving her parents no other option than to have all of her teeth removed. Since there is no pain, there is no threshold that cannot be crossed; no boundary that cannot be broken, and no need to request the assistance of someone who can offer the help needed to stay safe. Tears streamed down this loving mother’s face as she stroked her daughters blond hair. How she longed that her life could include the blessing of pain.

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Job hated it and David despised it. Abraham could have done without it, and Job certainly would have appreciated the steady happiness he’d always had instead of experience it. And you and I—we couldn’t agree more. We don’t like pain.

From the beginning of time until now the discomfort that accompanies the meeting of our bodies or souls with a substance that causes it hurt is avoided at all cost. Except for the occasional exercise poster exclaiming “No Pain, No Gain,” the vast majority of our thinking is trained to steer clear of anything that will cause us soreness. Pain is the enemy and we wonder why any parent would want the child that they love to experience it. Wouldn’t life be better without it?

Maybe Hannah has the answer, her soul ripped and torn under the weight of a barren womb and the torturous constant taunting of her rival.

. . . she was greatly distressed and prayed to the Lord. . .-1 Samuel 1:10

Or possibly Job, his heart frayed at the loss of his family and livelihood, and his body sore from top to bottom with oozing boils.

. . . I had heard of Him, but now my eyes have seen Him . . .-Job 42:5

Could David’s poetic heart song in the face of insurmountably painful odds give us a hint at the blessing of pain . . .

. . .I would have despaired unless I believed . . .-Psalm 27:13

Jeremiah, weeping and wailing, his heart and soul in deep anguish at the thought of the destruction of his beloved people and nation called

out …

. . . there is a balm in Gilead . . .-Jeremiah 8:22

Stephen, his body snapping like a twig under the weight of the boulders being sent crashing down on his limbs cried out in agony. . .

. . .I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing. . .-Acts 7:55

And of course there’s Paul and Silas, shackled to the walls of a rusty Roman jail, backs freshly bruised from the beating, and the skin on their ankles blackened from tightly strung chains. . .

. . .about midnight [they] were praying and singing hymns of praise . . .-Acts 16:25

Possibly the message is just as clear; the mystery as easily unravel when no words are spoken. She never spoke; the woman, embarrassed and humiliated, having been caught by the Pharisees in the very act of adultery. She just looked into the soft, caring eyes of the One who didn’t throw a stone (but had every right to) and heard,

. . .just go and sin no more . . .John 8:11

She said nothing; she just sat in the fresh wound caused by humiliation of the worst kind, listened, and left His presence brand new.

Mysteriously, there seems to be a blessing in pain. It causes us to check the barometer of our activities and clearly see the reality of our circumstances. It forces us to see who we trust in to rescue us. Pain is. . .well. . .painful, but ironically it is the gift that keeps us from further discomfort. When we feel it, it becomes a teacher pointing us to the only correct Answer there is. And so, our Father, like any loving parent, desires for us the blessing of pain to keep us, comfort us, humble us, teach us, and drive us back to Him in deep need of the great love from the One who loves unconditionally and can rescue.

It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. –Isaiah 19:20 (ESV).

When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses—calamity of any sort—any prayer that’s prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, their hearts penetrated by disaster, hands and arms thrown out for help to this Temple, listen from your home in heaven, forgive and reward us: reward each life and circumstance. For you know each life from the inside, (you’re the only one with such inside knowledge!), So they’ll live before you in lifelong reverence and believing obedience on this land you gave our ancestors. --2 Chronicles 6:28-21 (The Message).

bondage, forgiveness, freedom

The American flag stands for freedom. It is a symbol of what men and women have fought for and came out victorious.

We fight for our governing freedoms, but do we carry that over into our christian lives? Are we willing to fight for freedom in the spiritual sense?

The kind of freedom I am referring to is the kind of freedom that you give to someone by releasing them from bondage. What do I mean? To put it simply, when a brother or sister in the Lord seeks forgiveness and we do not offer that forgiveness we keep them in bondage instead of offering them freedom. Why not release them from that bondage and set them free?

I have found that people in the church can be the most unforgiving and judgmental of all people.

Why is that?

People who do not even claim Christ will offer forgiveness faster than anyone else.

Why is that?

I have so much admiration for my brothers and sisters who can come to a place of offering forgiveness to someone who maybe killed their child in a drunk driving collision. Was it simple for them? No! It was something they wrestled with and fought for, but in the end, did what they were called to do- forgive.

We are quick to offer forgiveness for little things but when it comes to bigger things.....we hold on to those. We look down our nose at others when it comes to the "big" things. Who are we to decide what is big and what is small? We are commanded in ALL things to forgive.

How about breaking the bondage you have someone held in?

How about offering freedom to them?

How about forgiving them?

What has been your experience in this area? Feel free to respond anonymously.