It's been kind of rough the last few weeks. I feel like we gain ground in our spiritual life, but then well pardon the expression, all hell breaks loose! Have you ever had one of those days? Or maybe a few weeks of that? I really honestly do believe that when trouble comes as it has this just means something BIG is about to happen. I mean we say it all the time to each other right? Yeah, I know...it's sometimes HARD to hold onto that truth, but hold onto it we MUST!
So imagine my wonderful surprise when a few days ago my husband received this text from one of our dear friends. His take on things really made me smile! And made me excited to see the sunrise in the morning. I had to share it...so thanks John. I needed that text!
"It's a new day brother! New challenges, new opportunities for God to display His abundant grace and mercy. My thinking has been centered a lot around that verse, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!" John 16:33 (NIV)
"Darkness comes every single night, it's unrelenting always looming in front of us. But just as regularly without fail, the sunrise pushes the darkness away for another day. It's the one thing that people all over the world get up to see and are amazed at its beauty each time. But the darkness has to come again each night in order for us to experience that spectacular display in the morning."
"We have no control over either one. The choice we have is whether we stand in fear of the darkness that will come, or we eagerly anticipate another glorious sunrise that is just as sure to come."
"So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and NO ONE will take away your joy." John 16:22 (NIV)
No one will take our joy! Wow...what a thought...and what a wonderful reminder of something that happens everyday all over the world. Darkness and Light. Sunrise and Sunset.
Today...choose JOY! Choose to smile at the little things...and NOT to worry over the big things! He is IN CONTROL...and YOU are His Child! He's got this!
Monday, September 14, 2015
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Thwart...now there's a word you don't hear every day!
My husband has gone on another missions trip. Sometimes I feel left out. I mean since we have been married he has gone on a lot of trips without me. I will say however when we were first married I know God told me that my first ministry was to my husband and my children. Our son is old enough to have gone on a few trips with his dad and our daughter is about to turn 14! To me this means-get out the checkbook because NOW all of us can go on a missions trip together!
This trip he is in Kenya! I am so excited for him. It's the first time he has ever been to Africa! I can't wait to hear the stories he has to tell. I always try to do something to encourage him before he leaves. This time I felt impressed to give him a card for each day he is gone on his journey. It's really just a postcard I made with publisher and card stock. Each day I have either written him a note, or another family member has attached a note. I give him a challenge and a verse or two to encourage him.
The first day my challenge was to just ENJOY the ride! It's a LONG journey from Atlanta to Africa! You need to sit back and just enjoy the ride. Kind of like life right? That will preach but I won't go there since it's almost 3:00 in the morning and I want to finish this so I can TRY to get some sleep.
The verse I gave him was Job 42:2. It says "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted!"
Great WORD thwarted...I don't think it's used enough these days. It means to frustrate or baffle. Kind of where Randy and I are right now. We are frustrated...by unanswered prayers. Baffled because we can't understand WHY God isn't moving. We are consumed with worry...and doubt!
But LOOK again at the verse. It says I KNOW YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS! NO PLAN of yours CAN be thwarted! (Don't you just LOVE that word????? I do!)
In that verse is all we need to remember. All we need to hold onto when life starts hitting us upside the head. It says, I KNOW you CAN do ALL Things! Not some things. Not maybe you can pull it off. NO HE CAN DO ALL THINGS! But the verse doesn't end there, it takes it one step further! It says NO PLAN of yours can be THWARTED!
God isn't up there looking at his plan on paper feeling baffled or frustrated about things! His plans will COME to pass, even when it looks like there is NO way they can happen IF God said they would well they will! (I mean...HE IS GOD right?) Here's my challenge to you today! Don't be baffled...don't be frustrated. Remove doubt and worry...I'm going to! You see I serve a GOD with a PLAN! And even though I would LOVE to know the plan right now...LOVE to check it out, I TRUST that HIS PLANS are the best ones...and they cannot be THWARTED!
He isn't FRUSTRATED or BAFFLED...and WE shouldn't be either!
This trip he is in Kenya! I am so excited for him. It's the first time he has ever been to Africa! I can't wait to hear the stories he has to tell. I always try to do something to encourage him before he leaves. This time I felt impressed to give him a card for each day he is gone on his journey. It's really just a postcard I made with publisher and card stock. Each day I have either written him a note, or another family member has attached a note. I give him a challenge and a verse or two to encourage him.
The first day my challenge was to just ENJOY the ride! It's a LONG journey from Atlanta to Africa! You need to sit back and just enjoy the ride. Kind of like life right? That will preach but I won't go there since it's almost 3:00 in the morning and I want to finish this so I can TRY to get some sleep.
The verse I gave him was Job 42:2. It says "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted!"
Great WORD thwarted...I don't think it's used enough these days. It means to frustrate or baffle. Kind of where Randy and I are right now. We are frustrated...by unanswered prayers. Baffled because we can't understand WHY God isn't moving. We are consumed with worry...and doubt!
But LOOK again at the verse. It says I KNOW YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS! NO PLAN of yours CAN be thwarted! (Don't you just LOVE that word????? I do!)
In that verse is all we need to remember. All we need to hold onto when life starts hitting us upside the head. It says, I KNOW you CAN do ALL Things! Not some things. Not maybe you can pull it off. NO HE CAN DO ALL THINGS! But the verse doesn't end there, it takes it one step further! It says NO PLAN of yours can be THWARTED!
God isn't up there looking at his plan on paper feeling baffled or frustrated about things! His plans will COME to pass, even when it looks like there is NO way they can happen IF God said they would well they will! (I mean...HE IS GOD right?) Here's my challenge to you today! Don't be baffled...don't be frustrated. Remove doubt and worry...I'm going to! You see I serve a GOD with a PLAN! And even though I would LOVE to know the plan right now...LOVE to check it out, I TRUST that HIS PLANS are the best ones...and they cannot be THWARTED!
He isn't FRUSTRATED or BAFFLED...and WE shouldn't be either!
Never Insignificant
This Blog was written back in April but I never posted it.
I scanned the news report today. Nothing. I typed in "pedestrian struck on Mableton Parkway April 15". Nothing. To the news right now the person who was hit last night may be insignificant...to someone he was family. To my family it was just how we ended our very long day of school, work, ministry.
Our Ladies Connection was full of fun, laughter and a short dose of Gina's teaching thrown in. I pray it helped someone...I know it ministered to me when I wrote it. The usual QT run after church to get our favorite snacks had me hitting my husband in the arm as he made fun of my driving yet again. I threw the keys to him before getting back in my car..."You can drive then!" I said with a smile, oh how glad I am now that he was driving.
Coming past our church building with the bright cross blazing on it I smiled thinking of all that we had accomplished that day. Cresting the hill we could tell that something was the matter as cars blocked both lanes of traffic. I saw shoes in the road. Maybe they fell out of someones car I thought? Then I saw the expressions on the faces of those out of their cars standing in the road. Turning my head slightly I saw someone laying in the road. I knew. Oh I knew. Yet another person had tried to cross this busy road to get to the convenience store. They hadn't made their destination.
"You have to stop Randy!" I said from the passenger seat.
"Honey what good can I do?" his quick reply.
"Look at their faces, they don't know what to think how to process. Maybe you can just pray for someone. Encourage them! You have to stop!"
He did. Pulling into the turning lane. The car still running. In the back seat I could tell that our daughter Aiden-Rose was getting upset. So many people. So much confusion. I began to pray..I began to cry out where are the cops! Someone needs to get here! They need to get here now! I saw a familiar black truck pull up and one of our church members get out to walk over to the chaos. Still no rescue vehicles.
I called a friend to try and calm down and then I began to notice the car to the side of us. A young man was obviously in pain the damage to his driver's side meant that somehow he must have been involved. I could see the look in his eyes-he was living his worst nightmare. Finally I saw the fire truck. Our car was in it's way but before I could even get out our church member came and moved the car to the side of the road. Allowing the emergency vehicle entry to the chaos.
In the back I still heard the cries of my daughter, "I want my daddy!". Even a thirteen year old wants her father sometime. I calmed her down somewhat by saying, "Aiden-Rose your daddy is trying to do what he can to help right now."
As we sat there for a minute we saw nothing but blue and red lights as car and ambulances and oh so many emergency vehicles began to descend upon the scene. I was in the way. So I asked our church member if he would give my husband a ride home, and I drove off. Still shaking. Still trying to calm my child.
We called our friend back before we made it to our road because well it was obvious my child needed to talk to someone and I needed to arrive safely home. Pulling into the driveway my friend asked if they could come over and help. At first I said no, then I quickly changed my mind. I had no clue how long the night may be...or what I would hear when Randy finally arrived home.
They arrived pretty quickly. Hugs...tears...a full disclosure of what I had witnessed. Before we knew it the sounds of more sirens was filling the night sounds. Then lights coming into the driveway. My husband had arrived home.
His story was pretty much what we figured. A young man tried to cross a busy road to get to a convenience store. He hadn't made it. One car struck him and pulled over. Another car ran over him and drove away. No one there had really known what to do. My husband who had been a fireman went over to look for a pulse. He had felt something weak he thought, but he really felt like the man had died. He prayed for him. Tried to comfort him. He prayed with others there as well. Bringing whatever comfort he could. Then knowing there was nothing else he could do, he came home.
We were a sad group. A quiet core of believers trying to come to grips with what had just happened. I had spoken on Choices that night at our Ladies Connection. How we needed to really think about the things we decided to do. I was sort of angry with this young man for the choice he had just made. A choice to cross a busy road at night dressed in dark clothes. I was angry and yet I grieved. I grieved for the family who were about to experience a nightmare! I grieved for a mom who would never hold her son again. I thanked God for my children...their health...their well being!
The only way we knew to end our night was in prayer. So we held hands in a circle and we prayed. Prayed for the emergency workers. Prayed for those who had witnessed this terrible tragedy. Prayed for the family of this young man. Prayed for this young man.
All day today I scanned the news. Nothing. Finally this evening the first news came online.
He wasn't an insignificant person. He was a young 29 year old man who made a bad choice. I don't know if he had a history of making bad choices, or if this was his first. That doesn't really matter. I pray he had a relationship with Jesus. I pray he had peace. I pray for his family now. I pray that NO ONE will ever feel insignificant! I pray that no matter how much we need to get to the other side...we will really stop and think about our choice. That we will pray about our choice. And that we will never feel insignificant....God doesn't think we are!
He WILL Do it!
I can't sleep! Ever have that problem? I don't want to check out Facebook...okay honestly I already did, not much going on at 2:00 AM on Facebook. I just chatted with my husband in Africa. Yeah, thank heavens for Messenger and WiFi...when WiFi is up and running that is! I don't really feel like playing a game...I could go clean some more, but honestly..ummm NO!
So here I am! Simply ME...sleepless in Georgia! I had another wonderful time this morning reading my devotion...okay honestly...let me tell you Ezekiel is pretty discouraging, but the devotion books I read before I get to Ezekiel....wow...powerful stuff!
My Jesus Lives Devotion was talking about Divine Protection! And my Joyce Meyer devotion was "I want a mind change!" (Oh Lord DO I ever!) I have to admit that even though Ezekiel isn't all warm and fuzzy today's reading had a powerful verse for me. Ezekiel 17:24 at the very end of this verse it says, "I the Lord have spoken, and I WILL DO IT!"
Sweet huh? Not I might do it if you are really good to me. Or if you pray a gazillion times in the right way, fast all of the junk food you want to eat and oh yeah help an older lady across the street. No he says I have spoken and I will Do It!
My son made me mad this summer! Like really mad. I told him to do something and he started getting really mouthy with me and was telling me several reasons why he didn't need to do what I told him too. I wouldn't back down, and then I realized that even while he was being mouthy he was doing exactly what I told him to do! I wanted to be mad! I wanted to pinch his little head off, but all I could think of was, you told him to do it and he did! How can you be mad when he's doing exactly what you told him to do? (Okay parents out there I know I could be correcting the attitude, but he's almost 20, he knows everything and I have a LONG way to go before I know it all!)
Getting back to Ezekiel and God! I am so glad I serve a God who when HE speaks and says HE is going to do something, HE does it! Aren't you? I tell my story all the time but I guess it bears repeating. I was told as a teenager I may never be able to have children. When I married my first husband I was having one prophecy after another spoken over me about children, and then he died. At 31 I was a widow and ummmm....childless. I knew God had told me I would have children. He not only had spoken it to me, but he had spoken it over me using his people and prophesy. But ummm I was a widow. You did get that right?
Three years later I married and became a mom overnight to my son, whose mom had passed away when he was 14 months old. But I knew even as I began bonding and loving on my son that God had told me I was going to have a child. After 5 months of marriage I was pregnant! For the very first time! Oh that wonderful moment I could tell my husband! The joy, and then the agony after a miscarriage. I was depressed! I became discouraged...until I remembered through the voice of my son that GOD had told me I was going to have a child! A son-Josiah and a daughter is what He really said! My next pregnancy was NOT without troubles, but at the end I finally held MY promise! You see when GOD speaks something well you can take it to the bank...it's GONNA happen!
So what has He spoken to you today? Has He told you not to worry that He will sell that house...Gina...then rest assured...HE will DO IT! Because WHEN GOD SPEAKS...THINGS HAPPEN!
So here I am! Simply ME...sleepless in Georgia! I had another wonderful time this morning reading my devotion...okay honestly...let me tell you Ezekiel is pretty discouraging, but the devotion books I read before I get to Ezekiel....wow...powerful stuff!
My Jesus Lives Devotion was talking about Divine Protection! And my Joyce Meyer devotion was "I want a mind change!" (Oh Lord DO I ever!) I have to admit that even though Ezekiel isn't all warm and fuzzy today's reading had a powerful verse for me. Ezekiel 17:24 at the very end of this verse it says, "I the Lord have spoken, and I WILL DO IT!"
Sweet huh? Not I might do it if you are really good to me. Or if you pray a gazillion times in the right way, fast all of the junk food you want to eat and oh yeah help an older lady across the street. No he says I have spoken and I will Do It!
My son made me mad this summer! Like really mad. I told him to do something and he started getting really mouthy with me and was telling me several reasons why he didn't need to do what I told him too. I wouldn't back down, and then I realized that even while he was being mouthy he was doing exactly what I told him to do! I wanted to be mad! I wanted to pinch his little head off, but all I could think of was, you told him to do it and he did! How can you be mad when he's doing exactly what you told him to do? (Okay parents out there I know I could be correcting the attitude, but he's almost 20, he knows everything and I have a LONG way to go before I know it all!)
Getting back to Ezekiel and God! I am so glad I serve a God who when HE speaks and says HE is going to do something, HE does it! Aren't you? I tell my story all the time but I guess it bears repeating. I was told as a teenager I may never be able to have children. When I married my first husband I was having one prophecy after another spoken over me about children, and then he died. At 31 I was a widow and ummmm....childless. I knew God had told me I would have children. He not only had spoken it to me, but he had spoken it over me using his people and prophesy. But ummm I was a widow. You did get that right?
Three years later I married and became a mom overnight to my son, whose mom had passed away when he was 14 months old. But I knew even as I began bonding and loving on my son that God had told me I was going to have a child. After 5 months of marriage I was pregnant! For the very first time! Oh that wonderful moment I could tell my husband! The joy, and then the agony after a miscarriage. I was depressed! I became discouraged...until I remembered through the voice of my son that GOD had told me I was going to have a child! A son-Josiah and a daughter is what He really said! My next pregnancy was NOT without troubles, but at the end I finally held MY promise! You see when GOD speaks something well you can take it to the bank...it's GONNA happen!
So what has He spoken to you today? Has He told you not to worry that He will sell that house...Gina...then rest assured...HE will DO IT! Because WHEN GOD SPEAKS...THINGS HAPPEN!
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Angels Among Us
I am sure you are like me and you have heard someone tell you that they have seen an angel. I've heard of angels saving lives, encouraging individuals and bringing revelation to some, but I had never heard of angels that showed up at a funeral. Well...this is my story...and I know it happened because I was there.
My first love and my first husband Rob died after only four years of marriage. I was devastated to say the least. A widow at 31 with no children, just memories of an incredible man of God, an unbelievable love story. The last year of our marriage we had spent more days in the hospital than out of it trying to fight the cancer that was ravishing his body.
When he finally passed away from this horrible disease I didn't quite know how to react. Should I rejoice that his battle was over and he was walking on streets of gold, or should I cry hysterically for what I had lost. The battle had been so long and tiring for both of us. We had been living in Virginia at the time. My family all lived north of us in Maine. His family all lived south of us in Florida. So most of the time we were alone and all of the care had fallen to me. Physically I was exhausted. I let my mother take over the arrangements for his funeral, adding my two cents only when I had to. I knew that Rob was at peace finally, and down deep I knew that I couldn't fall to pieces in my grief.
Rob had fought his last battle so valiantly and I was so proud of him. He had never lost his faith in God. He had proven himself to be a true soldier of the cross. I nearly lost it at the viewing. Seeing him there in that silver casket with his dress blue Marine Corps uniform on, so silent, so still. Somehow I held it together that night. I heard people whispering, wondering how I could be so strong. I wondered myself most of the time. I knew however that his funeral would be a different story.
The same pastor who had married us just a few years before would be leading his funeral. Several of Rob's Marine Corps band members made the journey to Maine in January to be there for me and to honor his memory. I knew it would be hard to see them. I remember sitting on the front row that day. My father sitting beside me his arm around me. My four brothers sitting on the next pew over as pall bearers. Shock was still in their eyes that this could happen to their sister. Shock and I have to say anger too. I was the last one of us to get married, and I wasn't the youngest either. My younger brother had married two years before Rob and I. Yet now I faced an unknown life.
The praise team from Rob's church began singing and I felt so much peace in the songs. I even stood at one time, hands held up to heaven worshiping God and in my heart saying, "God I have NO clue what you are doing, but I will trust you!". The words our pastor spoke brought laughter, tears and comfort to me. I had recorded a message through my tears just minutes before the service and I held it together as I heard myself speak over this amazing man. Then it was time for Rob to have his part in his own funeral.
Rob was an incredibly talented and gifted musician. Those last few months of his life he was most often found in our upstairs guest/music room recording albums of his own music and the hymns he loved so much. It only seemed fitting to me that Rob play his trumpet one last time. As the haunting sounds of his trumpet began to play "Amazing Grace", I lost it. The tears I had been able to hold at bay for so long came streaming down my face and I bowed my head in defeat. That's when something simply amazing happened to me.
I felt another presence next to me, but that was impossible. On the other side of me was the church aisle. But I knew someone was there. I could feel the softest touch on my shoulder. I raised my head and suddenly I saw three angelic beings. One was kneeling in front of me. His head bowed but his white blonde hair completely visible. The other two were standing on either side of me. Their heads also bowed as if in honor. They were huge warrior looking men. All three similarly dressed. All with the same long white blonde hair. No wings. No halos. I didn't feel fear or cry out. I felt in my spirit that God was allowing me to see something supernatural that day. I felt like they were there for two reasons: one to honor a fallen soldier, and two to bring me comfort and to let me know that no matter what I was never alone! This whole incident happened in seconds. I didn't tell anyone about it. I guess I thought they would all think I was crazy.
I know what I saw that day. I know what I felt. Three angels sent just for me so I could know that God had not forgotten me. It seemed fitting that they should be there. Rob had several times reminded me that we should always be careful how we treat strangers because we never knew if they were angels or not. I had worried so much the night he passed away that he was going to be alone when he died. I felt like they were there to let me know that truly we are NEVER alone.
I guess in writing about this finally I am saying we should always remember that even in our darkest night God is always there right beside us. His angels it says in the word watch over us. I don't put stock into all the angel stories I hear. I certainly don't talk to my guardian angel or anything crazy, but it is comforting to know that God cares about what happens to me. It is wonderful to know that when I needed Him the most....He made sure someone was there for me!
Friday, October 3, 2014
How Is Your Hope?
Okay so I overslept on this rainy Friday morning. So that means Aiden-Rose overslept because I was supposed to wake her up so Daddy could take her to school. He was out on his morning jog! Wow was he motivated! Me, well here I am at 11:00 in the morning with my second cup of coffee growing cold not quite as motivated in one way, but what an AWESOME devotion time I had this morning!
Our church is in the process of going through a "Reach the City" campaign. (Check it out on the Web sometime... http://www.reachthecity.com) We have been challenged by our Pastor (MY FAVORITE PASTOR ever!) to participate in this awesome campaign and to read the book, "A Life that Wins" by Mike Holt. I have to say it's a great book, and no this isn't a shameless plug for our friends book. It really is good! (I will say here though for those from our church who may be reading this-Full Life Family DON"T forget to bring your book to our services. There are fill-ins you are going to want to put in the book!)
For those of you who will actually stop and read this I have to share something that spoke to me today, and sorry Mike it wasn't from your book. It was from THE BOOK! But your book "A Life That Win's" did spark this Blog!
Intercessory Prayer has become such an important part of our week at Full Life Church. It's not just something we do on Tuesday. We stop and pray for the needs of those on our list whenever they come to our thoughts throughout the week too. I know it can get very discouraging for those who have been praying and praying for a need or a serious issue. Been there, done that...and have several t-shirts!
When I was praying for a child it looked so hopeless at times. I mean having your husband die well you get my drift. But I kept pressing on. Believing more than anything that although GOD may not deliver HIS promise in the time or manner that I thought HE would...that eventually HE would give me the desires of my heart. And HE did! Yes...I experienced LOSS in the promise. Three babies I'd rather have here...but who I know are in heaven. But WOW did GOD do a GREAT thing eventually. An AWESOME son who I am so proud of, and a very SWEET daughter who has me wrapped around her finger. (Daddy too, but don't tell him I said that!)
In my devotion today I read Micah 7:7. "But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me!" Did you read that...I watch in HOPE for the LORD! Not for the thing I want or need! I'm waiting for GOD to show up and DELIVER hope to me and my situation! GOD WILL HEAR ME! Now that's a promise!
Thinking about this verse brought me back to the darkest time of my life which oddly enough wasn't after the loss of my first love Rob. (Don't get me wrong that was pretty dark.) But I'm thinking more of the time I suffered my first miscarriage. God had restored to me a family. I had a beautiful home in Jacksonville Florida. A wonderful Godly husband and a terrific four year old son I didn't even have to suffer labor or morning sickness for! Still I was believing that God had told me I would have a child. So how could he allow the promise to come and then take it from me? For those who remember me during that time, well let's just say I wasn't my usual upbeat happy self. I was full of sorrow. How could God allow me to suffer another loss? What was up?
It wasn't until HE showed up with HOPE that I began to wait for HIM to SHOW up in my sorrow and NOT for HIM to answer my prayer! Yup that's what I said! I remember my son climbing up into my lap, wiping my tears away and saying, "Mommy please don't cry! God told me we are going to have a baby and it's gonna be a girl!"
A voice of HOPE! I began to see that there is a whole life to live. People who care for me. So many blessings that GOD has already given me. Yes I still prayed and believed I'd actually have a child one day. But my prayers were more focused on allowing GOD to love me through my sorrow. Allowing Him to be all that I needed. I think sometimes we get so focused on getting an answer for our prayers that we don't just stop and rest in the fact that we are HIS kid's. He wants to bless us! He wants to give us the desires of our heart. But He also knows what's up ahead of us. He has a perfect time to answer your prayers. He really does have it all under control.
I guess today I am asking you...How is Your Hope? Are you praying that He will answer that prayer in the way you want HIM too? Or are you watching and waiting in HOPE for the Lord to show up! I know that for me it was a scary place to be. Wondering if He would heal my first husband of cancer. Would I be alone again? When Rob died I did think my life was over, but I remember digging into the Word of God and letting it SPEAK to me! Remembering Rob's passion for the Lord I believed that my life wasn't over! That God did still have plans for me. When the answer is NO-there is STILL HOPE!
So for those of you who are waiting out there for God to answer or for Him to show up in your situation I say KEEP WATCHING IN HOPE! (Yes...I'm thinking here of several on our Prayer List...and several friends in Ministry who have been waiting a while for God to hear and answer...) It's COMING! Just keep waiting and watching with HOPE! And for our dear friends who have been waiting on a building for their ministry...I just feel so strongly...IT"S coming!
And for those of you wondering how I could ever tie in a plug for the book "A Life That Win's", one of my "hinge" decisions was to start writing again! (Guess you will have to read the book to find out what a "hinge decision" is!)
Blessings ~ Gina
Our church is in the process of going through a "Reach the City" campaign. (Check it out on the Web sometime... http://www.reachthecity.com) We have been challenged by our Pastor (MY FAVORITE PASTOR ever!) to participate in this awesome campaign and to read the book, "A Life that Wins" by Mike Holt. I have to say it's a great book, and no this isn't a shameless plug for our friends book. It really is good! (I will say here though for those from our church who may be reading this-Full Life Family DON"T forget to bring your book to our services. There are fill-ins you are going to want to put in the book!)
For those of you who will actually stop and read this I have to share something that spoke to me today, and sorry Mike it wasn't from your book. It was from THE BOOK! But your book "A Life That Win's" did spark this Blog!
Intercessory Prayer has become such an important part of our week at Full Life Church. It's not just something we do on Tuesday. We stop and pray for the needs of those on our list whenever they come to our thoughts throughout the week too. I know it can get very discouraging for those who have been praying and praying for a need or a serious issue. Been there, done that...and have several t-shirts!
When I was praying for a child it looked so hopeless at times. I mean having your husband die well you get my drift. But I kept pressing on. Believing more than anything that although GOD may not deliver HIS promise in the time or manner that I thought HE would...that eventually HE would give me the desires of my heart. And HE did! Yes...I experienced LOSS in the promise. Three babies I'd rather have here...but who I know are in heaven. But WOW did GOD do a GREAT thing eventually. An AWESOME son who I am so proud of, and a very SWEET daughter who has me wrapped around her finger. (Daddy too, but don't tell him I said that!)
In my devotion today I read Micah 7:7. "But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me!" Did you read that...I watch in HOPE for the LORD! Not for the thing I want or need! I'm waiting for GOD to show up and DELIVER hope to me and my situation! GOD WILL HEAR ME! Now that's a promise!
Thinking about this verse brought me back to the darkest time of my life which oddly enough wasn't after the loss of my first love Rob. (Don't get me wrong that was pretty dark.) But I'm thinking more of the time I suffered my first miscarriage. God had restored to me a family. I had a beautiful home in Jacksonville Florida. A wonderful Godly husband and a terrific four year old son I didn't even have to suffer labor or morning sickness for! Still I was believing that God had told me I would have a child. So how could he allow the promise to come and then take it from me? For those who remember me during that time, well let's just say I wasn't my usual upbeat happy self. I was full of sorrow. How could God allow me to suffer another loss? What was up?
It wasn't until HE showed up with HOPE that I began to wait for HIM to SHOW up in my sorrow and NOT for HIM to answer my prayer! Yup that's what I said! I remember my son climbing up into my lap, wiping my tears away and saying, "Mommy please don't cry! God told me we are going to have a baby and it's gonna be a girl!"
A voice of HOPE! I began to see that there is a whole life to live. People who care for me. So many blessings that GOD has already given me. Yes I still prayed and believed I'd actually have a child one day. But my prayers were more focused on allowing GOD to love me through my sorrow. Allowing Him to be all that I needed. I think sometimes we get so focused on getting an answer for our prayers that we don't just stop and rest in the fact that we are HIS kid's. He wants to bless us! He wants to give us the desires of our heart. But He also knows what's up ahead of us. He has a perfect time to answer your prayers. He really does have it all under control.
I guess today I am asking you...How is Your Hope? Are you praying that He will answer that prayer in the way you want HIM too? Or are you watching and waiting in HOPE for the Lord to show up! I know that for me it was a scary place to be. Wondering if He would heal my first husband of cancer. Would I be alone again? When Rob died I did think my life was over, but I remember digging into the Word of God and letting it SPEAK to me! Remembering Rob's passion for the Lord I believed that my life wasn't over! That God did still have plans for me. When the answer is NO-there is STILL HOPE!
So for those of you who are waiting out there for God to answer or for Him to show up in your situation I say KEEP WATCHING IN HOPE! (Yes...I'm thinking here of several on our Prayer List...and several friends in Ministry who have been waiting a while for God to hear and answer...) It's COMING! Just keep waiting and watching with HOPE! And for our dear friends who have been waiting on a building for their ministry...I just feel so strongly...IT"S coming!
And for those of you wondering how I could ever tie in a plug for the book "A Life That Win's", one of my "hinge" decisions was to start writing again! (Guess you will have to read the book to find out what a "hinge decision" is!)
Blessings ~ Gina
Thursday, April 25, 2013
The Hard Questions
Two weekends ago I had to go to one more of my classes for the Georgia School of Ministry. Being completely honest, it was a hard weekend for me. I hadn't really been in the mood to read our text book on Romans or to complete my homework. I didn't want to read over the study guide and get ready for my exam either. Life was very busy for me that week and I just wasn't interested in my class. I got there on Friday night, and honestly right off the bat I determined it would be a hard class. Why you ask? Because our teacher asked us to answer a very controversial question, and he was well, in your face about it as we gave him our answers. (No you don't need to know what the question was.)
One thing you do have to know about me however, is that I do not debate, EVER! I don't watch political debates on TV, and I dislike arguing over things. In other words as my teacher for the evening so eloquently put it..."So for you Gina things are black and white right? No gray areas?". And I guess I would have to answer, yes! Or maybe I could tweak what he said and say this, when it comes to my beliefs it's pretty much black and white, with a few gray stripes. (Which oddly enough is sort of like my daughter's dance costume this season...sorry random thought there.) Getting back on track here. To find myself in a class where the teacher asked hard questions that just ached for a debate came as quite a challenge to me.
My blog is not about the questions asked that weekend, or how I handled them, instead it's about the benefits of hard questions. There are times when we all need to think about how we would answer the hard questions in life. Questions like, "How can a loving God allow natural disasters to happen? He could have prevented it." Yes, I think we all pretty much agree that HE is God and He can stop certain things from happening. Why doesn't He? To be honest I don't have an answer. But I do know this, that even in the midst of a horrific disaster He is there for those who call out to Him. Life isn't easy. Bad things do happen to good people. I should know.
I believed for a long time that God loved me like crazy...and I still do. But in my naivete I believed that His love for me meant He would never allow bad things to happen to me. Then my first love, my husband I planned on spending the rest of my life with died from cancer. I struggled with anger, discouragement and all of the other feelings one has after a loss. Until in the middle of the night several months after Rob died, there in my lonely apartment trying hard to fall asleep once again, I heard the Spirit of the Lord say to me, "Get up and dance before me Gina." I was like yeah right...but I knew in my heart I had to do this. So I did. (I won't tell you the song...well because it was several actually and because...well that's for another blog, after May 11th).
It probably wasn't pretty that evening, my dance, but it did something special in my heart. It started a healing process in my life, a process that reminded me once again just how much He loves me. He loves me enough to share my grief. In those quiet evenings when I listened to His voice and either danced, or worshipped Him, He spoke to me. Through the music, through His word, through my obedience.
Hard questions. We all face them, in our own lives and from others. We need to be challenged with them sometimes, so we can come up with answers better than, Because!
Jesus asked hard questions of his followers. He asked one day, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"...and just a few minutes later He asked, "But what about you? Who do you say that I am?". Later in His journey to the cross at the garden of Gethsemane He said "if it is possible may this cup be taken from me." He didn't really say it like a question, but I have to pause for just one moment and wonder if that isn't what He meant that evening. Here He is in a garden, surrounded by those who say they love Him and will follow Him and they can't even stay awake while He agonizes over what He knows is coming. He has to be thinking and wondering, isn't there another way? Oh He is willing to go the distance, I mean He says, Not my will but yours. And there in that simple statement is the answer I so often look for.
I looked for it as I watched Rob die. I looked for it after my first miscarriage. My second miscarriage. And my third. I don't know all that God will allow to come into my life, but I do know that His will be done, and that the path He has put me on may be full of twists and turns, bumps and falls, but He...He walks right beside me! Holding me up...filling me with joy and loving me as I journey on to my final destination. And the truth is I want others to join me on this journey. So classes, like the one I just took, that challenge you to search for answers to tough questions are exactly what we in the "church world" need. That weekend as hard questions were being asked I was being challenged to think like the world does, not like the church. We aren't going to reach the world with pert Christian answers. We need to be able to come up with answers that will make them think, make them realize that we have a faith worth looking into. A faith that is more than rules and regulations. A faith that is all about relationship.
In the end I can honestly say that what I thought was going to be the worse class, ended up being the best! No, I still won't become part of a debate team or watch any sort of political debate on TV, but I will study harder to show myself approved, so that one day, when a hard question is asked of me I will be able to honestly answer it, and pray that God will use my words to touch someone's life.
One thing you do have to know about me however, is that I do not debate, EVER! I don't watch political debates on TV, and I dislike arguing over things. In other words as my teacher for the evening so eloquently put it..."So for you Gina things are black and white right? No gray areas?". And I guess I would have to answer, yes! Or maybe I could tweak what he said and say this, when it comes to my beliefs it's pretty much black and white, with a few gray stripes. (Which oddly enough is sort of like my daughter's dance costume this season...sorry random thought there.) Getting back on track here. To find myself in a class where the teacher asked hard questions that just ached for a debate came as quite a challenge to me.
My blog is not about the questions asked that weekend, or how I handled them, instead it's about the benefits of hard questions. There are times when we all need to think about how we would answer the hard questions in life. Questions like, "How can a loving God allow natural disasters to happen? He could have prevented it." Yes, I think we all pretty much agree that HE is God and He can stop certain things from happening. Why doesn't He? To be honest I don't have an answer. But I do know this, that even in the midst of a horrific disaster He is there for those who call out to Him. Life isn't easy. Bad things do happen to good people. I should know.
I believed for a long time that God loved me like crazy...and I still do. But in my naivete I believed that His love for me meant He would never allow bad things to happen to me. Then my first love, my husband I planned on spending the rest of my life with died from cancer. I struggled with anger, discouragement and all of the other feelings one has after a loss. Until in the middle of the night several months after Rob died, there in my lonely apartment trying hard to fall asleep once again, I heard the Spirit of the Lord say to me, "Get up and dance before me Gina." I was like yeah right...but I knew in my heart I had to do this. So I did. (I won't tell you the song...well because it was several actually and because...well that's for another blog, after May 11th).
It probably wasn't pretty that evening, my dance, but it did something special in my heart. It started a healing process in my life, a process that reminded me once again just how much He loves me. He loves me enough to share my grief. In those quiet evenings when I listened to His voice and either danced, or worshipped Him, He spoke to me. Through the music, through His word, through my obedience.
Hard questions. We all face them, in our own lives and from others. We need to be challenged with them sometimes, so we can come up with answers better than, Because!
Jesus asked hard questions of his followers. He asked one day, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"...and just a few minutes later He asked, "But what about you? Who do you say that I am?". Later in His journey to the cross at the garden of Gethsemane He said "if it is possible may this cup be taken from me." He didn't really say it like a question, but I have to pause for just one moment and wonder if that isn't what He meant that evening. Here He is in a garden, surrounded by those who say they love Him and will follow Him and they can't even stay awake while He agonizes over what He knows is coming. He has to be thinking and wondering, isn't there another way? Oh He is willing to go the distance, I mean He says, Not my will but yours. And there in that simple statement is the answer I so often look for.
I looked for it as I watched Rob die. I looked for it after my first miscarriage. My second miscarriage. And my third. I don't know all that God will allow to come into my life, but I do know that His will be done, and that the path He has put me on may be full of twists and turns, bumps and falls, but He...He walks right beside me! Holding me up...filling me with joy and loving me as I journey on to my final destination. And the truth is I want others to join me on this journey. So classes, like the one I just took, that challenge you to search for answers to tough questions are exactly what we in the "church world" need. That weekend as hard questions were being asked I was being challenged to think like the world does, not like the church. We aren't going to reach the world with pert Christian answers. We need to be able to come up with answers that will make them think, make them realize that we have a faith worth looking into. A faith that is more than rules and regulations. A faith that is all about relationship.
In the end I can honestly say that what I thought was going to be the worse class, ended up being the best! No, I still won't become part of a debate team or watch any sort of political debate on TV, but I will study harder to show myself approved, so that one day, when a hard question is asked of me I will be able to honestly answer it, and pray that God will use my words to touch someone's life.
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