Finding God in the Whirlwind > Cheryl Musser

Are you a builder or a burner?

2010-01-25T09:25:00.001-05:00

This morning as I wondered where to start my next Bible reading, it popped into my mind that I should read Esther and Ruth. Ruth, being my favorite, was my starting point this morning…

I must admit, a random comment someone made had been troubling me. My first instinct was to rush in, send a message back, and get in the middle of things. But God wouldn’t let me do it…

When I began reading Ruth, I didn’t get any further than the first 5 verses. I started thinking about Naomi. She’d left her country because of the famine in the land, with her husband and 2 sons. They settle down in Moab, and her husband dies. They must have been quite settled in, since they didn’t pack up and head back to Jerusalem, where she probably had family. So her two sons marry Moabite women, which in the Jewish culture was taboo. I wonder what Naomi’s reaction was to that? Can you just hear her in the stereotypical mother’s voice ranting on about it?

Naomi had 2 choices. She could be a builder or a burner. She could choose to build bridges to these 2 young women, and make them a part of her family, and love them and support them in their marriages. Or she could be a burner, burning the bridges between her, her sons, and their wives, being critical and harsh. Naomi chose to accept these young women, even though they came from a pagan culture, and love them right where they were, without being judgmental. Naomi chose to be a builder.

What was the result of her actions? When her sons died, Ruth, one of her daughters-in-law, chose to leave her culture, her family, and her home to follow Naomi and her God. Ruth turned out to be the key for Naomi’s future happiness. Ruth, with her loyalty, her servant’s heart, and her faith in God, would marry Boaz. Naomi would have a home, financial security, and a grandchild to bounce on her knee. She went from “Bitter” to “Blessed”, as the result of a relationship she built with a very unlikely young woman.

When relationship choices come our way, may we be open to building instead of reacting in the flesh and burning bridges. Sometimes the answer to our prayers comes in unlikely ways. Who knows when God is going to send us a Ruth? Or maybe He is calling us to be a Ruth in someone else’s life….

What If?

2009-12-16T10:31:00.004-05:00

What If?

I woke up this morning thinking about Abraham and Sarah, and all the life altering changes God called them to make. Here they were, living this comfortable life, surrounded by family, with servants and riches and a respected place in their community, later on in years, and God speaks to Abraham. “Get up and go, leave everything you know, and go somewhere. I’m not telling you where, just pack and go, and I’ll lead you.”

What if Abraham said no? Where would we be today? And Sarah, can you imagine how hard it would be if your husband came home and said, “Get packing honey, God told me…” Would it be hard to trust your husband, to trust God to make that move? To leave all you have ever known? What if Sarah said no? How hard was it, to believe God’s promise, and launch out into the unknown?

What if, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, the son of promise, the child he had longed for, worked for, loved and cared for, what if Abraham had said no? Where would we be? Would God have been able to send Jesus? Would we even be here, the church in our day?

What if Mary had said no? Think of her shame, in the eyes of man, at bearing a child while she was unmarried. What if Jesus had said no, to coming to earth, to dying on the cross, to giving His all for us?

Throughout the years, God has asked the question, “Do you love me more than these?” These things, these people, these places, these plans you have for your life, yes, even your own reputation, your own life, your own family? Are we willing to follow Him, even in the hard things, even in the things we don’t understand, because He is asking us to, because we trust Him?

When Abraham and Sarah said yes, God birthed a nation. He gave them lands, a family, a future, a place of destiny, and an impact on millions of people yet unborn. By their obedience, God would populate heaven. By Mary’s obedience, by Jesus, by the disciples, by the words, “Yes Father”, the course of world history was changed.

Can we be like Abraham and leave our comfort zone? Can we be like Peter, and risk stepping out of the boat? Can we be willing to give up our Isaac, trusting God and loving Him more than our plans, our hopes, our dreams, our programs, and our creations? Is it possible to follow Him when He is pushing us out of the nest and teaching us to fly, when everything in us is screaming “No, I’m falling, it’s too dangerous, I don’t understand, ahhhhhhhhh!” and He is saying “I’ll bear you up on eagles’ wings and teach you to soar on the high places.” Can we trust Him even when we don’t understand the WHY and know it’s all part of His plan to bring us to an expected end?

What if we said yes?

Are you expecting?

2009-06-01T08:56:00.002-04:00

What do you typically think of on a Monday morning? “Oh, no, back to the rat race.” Does life seem a lot like you are a hamster running on a wheel and getting nowhere? Does life seem like a big to do list for you? Or are you enjoying your life and living each day with purpose?

Today, being June 1, is a good day to start fresh and do some attitude checks. This morning, as I read Psalm 5, verse 3 jumped out at me.

“Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.”

Several things spoke to me here. “Each morning”. I can’t say I consistently come to Him at the beginning of my day. Sometimes I am just not feeling very awake at 5:30 AM. But it is something I want to do. Where do I get the idea that I am too busy to linger a little in the morning with my Bible and a cup of coffee? The dishes or the office paperwork aren’t that urgent that I have to start them at the crack of dawn. Sometimes it is easy to let doing FOR God get in the way of spending time WITH God.

The second part of the verse says “I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” I think somewhere along the line the busy pace of life has squeezed out waiting expectantly. How wonderful that sounds, sitting at the Lord’s feet and waiting expectantly! That is the way to start any day, expecting Him to meet you there and expecting Him to walk with you through your day. Isn’t that what Mary was doing when Martha was bustling about? Why is it so easy for the Martha side of us to take over?

There is something that feels good about our Martha side. Can you picture her saying, “All of a sudden, 13 extra people showed up for dinner, with no notice, and I pulled it off! I got them all fed and saved the day!” There is a sense of accomplishment in being needed and coming through and filling apparent physical needs. It’s nice to have other people recognize you as reliable and helpful and someone they can count on. Sometimes this need for recognition or wanting to feel useful may cause us to take on things we shouldn’t. Just because we are capable of doing them, doesn’t mean we are the ones that should be doing them. God does not love us any more because we do more. He loves us because we are His. In our busy life, God is calling the Martha in us to sit down at His feet and get what she needs from Him!

That got me thinking. I wear a lot of hats. At the office, it seems that every time someone steps down from something, it has quite logically got handed over to me. The finances, the newsletter, the website, the secretarial tasks. And while I am quite capable of doing those, and have enjoyed them, some days it seems that repetitive busy work is sapping the joy out of my job. It seems I spend a lot of time with paperwork, and not enough time with people. I know that realizing this, God is preparing me for change. Not today, not next month, probably not in 2009, but I think He will have me laying down some hats in the year 2010, keeping the ones that suit me best, or maybe picking up some new ones. My heart cry is less paperwork and more people, less filing and more filling with His spirit.

As I have just finished my Associates Degree, people keep asking me “What now?” Let’s just say I am waiting expectantly….

The cry of those left behind..

2009-03-16T09:50:00.000-04:00

This morning, as I checked my Facebook newsfeed, I was struck by an overwhelming sadness. What a sinking feeling it is to have confirmed that you have lost another church family to “somewhere else”. Over the years, we have seen it many times. People you loved, prayed for, cried with, worshipped with, attended their weddings or family funerals, rocked their babies, played volleyball with, and shared your heart with have slowly evaporated. They show up less and less, until members that have convenanted to be church members disappear without a goodbye. That leaves the rest of us in mourning. Was there something we could have done, some need we could have met, if you had but shared it? Was it something we did? Why have you left us, your church family, without so much as a goodbye, no explanation? Yes, I know that God sometimes calls us to make a church move for the growth of our family, but wouldn’t that same God want you to go to your old church family for their blessing and a release from membership? Wouldn’t He want you to say goodbye? Oh, it’s easier this way, you say as you just slowly slip away. Easier for who? For you. What about the rest of us, left feeling hurt, betrayed, confused and abandoned? Have we not invested enough of our hearts in your life to deserve a decent goodbye?

We see you at Walmart, and in politeness make pleasant conversation. Yet, inside, our heart cries out, “What have we done, why have you abandoned us?” Leaving a church is not like leaving a social club, it is leaving your family that has loved and cared for you. It’s like serving divorce papers without a chance for reconciliation, while one party has no clue there is a problem or an unmet need. Oh, dear Lord, how it hurts those left behind, like an unhealed wound that is poked again when we remember you are no longer sitting in your usual spot, or sharing your warm smile with us.

In a society rampant with divorce, people are divorcing their churches and skipping off to greener pastures. If God is really calling you to change churches, He will lead you to do it the RIGHT way, with due respect to those who have pastured you, and the people who have loved you all these years. How it must grieve God’s heart to see His children wounding their own family members by their actions. If you have ever left a church without going through the proper goodbyes, search your heart and ask God if there is a way to make that right with those you left behind. Please give us closure, a letter, a visit, a phone call, an explanation, an apology, or even a return? Leave your gift at the altar and make things right with your brothers and sisters.

Most days, I don’t even think about all those who have left, but today the overwhelming sense of loss came crashing down. To those of us left behind, may God bring healing to the wounds buried deep in our hearts. May He continue to enable us to love without fear of losing, and trust in His faithfulness to bring our church to fulfill its purposes in Him.

In His love,
Cheryl
3/16/2009

Attitude

2009-02-01T08:46:00.003-05:00

Traditionally, we think of January 1^st as a good time to make resolutions and set our goals for the year. But this morning I woke up thinking February first is a good day to work on those good habits I’ve been meaning to get in order. I got myself out of bed, put the dog out, brought the paper in, started to woodstove, ran the dishwasher and made a sour cream apple cake and iced cappuccino for breakfast, muttering to myself about the state of the house (as in looking like Kansas after a tornado, and even the little dog too needed a haircut). I am not quite sure why nobody seems to notice the dishwasher is empty and the dirty dishes are overflowing the sink! But I digress….

Having done all that, I sat down to have my devotions, and opened to the book of James. I didn’t even make it through the first sentence before I needed a major attitude adjustment. “This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Ouch. A slave of God. I’m supposed to be working as unto the Lord, as my ministry to Him, not just to my family. And as busy as I am some days, I really can’t say I’m a SLAVE to my family or to God, or that I’m really serving all the time with a right attitude. OK, so not only do I have some ACTIONS that I need to get in order, I have some ATTITUDE to work on here. So let’s read on….

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way consider it an opportunity for great joy.” Hmmm, troubles come my way. Yea, I’d say so. Scott got laid off in September, the dishwasher broke once and the washing machine broke 3 times, the kids have had car troubles, and I’m in the middle of a major computer snaffoo at the office. I guess I qualify for this verse. Have I always considered it an opportunity for great joy? Nope. I’ve had some good days and some grumbling days. “For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” Oh my. “So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete lacking nothing.”

That’s a sermon all in itself. Let it grow. Don’t fight the circumstances that test our faith, let God use them as tools of growth in our life. Let it grow. Let our reliance on Him grow in every trouble, big and small. Consider trials an opportunity for great joy? There are days when I’ve cried over my troubles and days when I’ve laughed over them because its better than crying. But maybe I need to start asking God to help me find the GREAT JOY in the midst of them. Doesn’t that sound wonderful, having great joy when things go wrong, when life doesn’t flow smoothly and without problems like we think it should?

In verse 12, “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.” Almost anyone can endure grudgingly, grumbling and complaining. But God is calling us to patiently endure, and even wants us to find GREAT JOY in the midst of it. DEAL OR NO DEAL? It’s your call….

God bless,

Cheryl

2/1/09

Continuity

2008-10-20T12:17:00.001-04:00

That’s the word that hit me as I began to read Second Timothy. Now, if you are familiar with the book, that may strike you as funny, since the content deals with the last days, problems in the church, and the trials of being a soldier of Christ. But let me go on to explain.

In Paul’s life- In verse 2, Paul says “Timothy, I thank God for you- the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did.” Paul recognizes the God he now serves, is the same God he served as a child and the same God his ancestors worshipped. After his encounter with Christ, the light bulb came on, and he had a much clearer picture of God, yet it was the same God that had loved his people from the beginning of time.

In Timothy’s life- In verse 5, “I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.” What a blessing to see the faith pass from one generation to the next!

In God’s word- Chapter 2 verse 19 “But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription “The Lord knows those who are His” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”

What a comfort in these days to know the continuity of God’s care. The foundation stone of our lives can remind us we are His. He will be the rock of safety when the world around us trembles.

That verse also gives us a challenge to continuity in our own lives. “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.” Paul warns us of the dangers of these last days, as the love of many grows cold, as they let sin drift into their lives and they wander farther from the God who has the power to transform their lives. My guess would be, that in the original language, the word “turn” away from evil is not a one shot deal. I think it must be a continual turning away, and a continual turning to God. He is the one who has the power to keep us, if we will keep our hearts tuned to Him and turned from evil. Well, maybe not just from evil, but from everything that takes our attention away from Him and doing what is right. There are a lot of OK things out there, that are not evil in and of themselves, but they distract us from our purpose in life, from our relationship with Him.

In Chapter 4 verse 6 Paul tells us “As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. Now the prize awaits me- the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of His return. And the prize is not just for me, but for all who eagerly look forward to His appearing.”

Through “many dangers, toils and snares”, Paul continuously served God. He remained faithful to the call of God on his life. May we all have the same testimony, and join him in the throne room to receive our crowns.

Keep fighting the good fight!
In His love, Cheryl 10/20/08

The Call

2008-10-20T12:11:00.002-04:00

The Call

Here it is a Monday morning! I guess I am a little out of my regular routine these days, since Wednesdays used to be my blog morning. But let me tell you why….

About 2 weeks ago, on a Friday morning, I wrote about Transition. Later that day, Scott called me to tell me he was laid off from his job. As things were slow, this was nothing unusual. He usually gets called back to work after a week or two at the most, so we didn’t think anything of it. He called in his unemployment claim, and we spent a few days at the ocean, enjoying the end of the summer.

The following Friday, he got a letter from his employer, saying finances were so bad, that Scott’s position had been eliminated. After 26 years in the same company, he is looking for a new job. Needless to say, we were a little shocked, but we know God has always provided and we’re trusting Him. We have no idea where this new adventure will take us….

I started thinking about Abraham and Sarah. They were happily settled in Haran, and then Abraham’s father died. Life as they knew it changed.

In Genesis 12, “The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.” In verse 3, “So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed.”

Life as we have known it for 26 years has changed. Every morning, Scott got up and went off to work at the same job. It had its ups and downs, but you knew what to expect and it provided a steady income. We had hoped it would last us until next year, when, God willing, we make the last mortgage payment. But the job died, and God is saying “Leave what you know behind”. I don’t think it’s a location thing, I can’t see us moving, but I feel like it’s a new stage in our life. A new reliance on God.

Abram traveled for a while, and then God spoke to him saying “I will give this land to your descendants.” He built an altar there, then moved on, built another altar, worshipped and moved on again. “Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev.”

Like Abram, we don’t always have the master plan for where we are going. God leads us in stages. He speaks, we worship, and we follow Him. He gives a promise. We worship, we trust, we follow Him.

For some reason, God’s promise to Abram would not come to pass in his comfort zone of Haran. God was giving him a land, and descendants, and a blessing. Abram had to travel out of what he knew, into what God had for him. He had to be obedient and go when God said LEAVE. He had to trust God one day at a time as he traveled on in faith.

So for now, Scott will put in applications, and look for work, one day at a time, and look for God’s guidance in the next step of our lives. Like Abram, we have God’s promise that He will bless us and make us a blessing. We embark on another great adventure in our walk of faith!

Transition

2008-10-20T12:08:00.004-04:00

September always brings a certain amount of change to our household. The kids go back to school, and I try to adjust myself to the quiet and catch up on the housework. It’s a time to re-focus my priorities, get back into a routine, and find the balance between duties and driving and making time to spend with friends. The first week or two finds me feeling a little “off kilter” as I get used to the new schedule, but eventually I settle in and it feels “normal” again.

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about transition. There are many changes going on at church, as we transition to one service. There are also people transitioning to new places, which can be a bit of an adjustment to the church as we know it. It can all be a little uncomfortable. So these changes had me mulling over the word transition.

When you’re in labor, transition is the most painful, trying time. It’s the time during labor when the quietest of women have been known to scream at their husbands, freak out a bit, or beg for pain relief. Although transition is not easy, it is a necessary part of the process, to bring a new life into the world. The pain is soon forgotten in the joy of new life.

Transition in the church can be painful as well, but it is all part of the process of God bringing newness of life to Body of Christ. Thankfully, in labor, and in life, transition is a limited block of time, not someplace we must stay. It brings about an end result that will soon have us marveling at the goodness of God.

There are certain things that can help a woman in labor during transition. One is a good coach, to breathe with her and encourage her through the painful contractions. Another thing that helps is to remember WHY she is going through this, to look ahead to the end result, a baby to love. This process changes her from a woman to a mother, and life will never be the same. And of course, the presence of God in the delivery room makes all the difference.

The scriptures give us an example of the disciples making a transition from one side of the lake to the other….

“Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.
Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.
But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.” John 6:15-21

They were heading for a destination, to where they wanted to be, and weren’t making much progress. The waves had kicked up, and they were probably a little freaked out.
Then Jesus comes walking to them on the water. Don’t ask me why that scared them, maybe at first they didn’t recognize that it was Him. When He said “It is I, do not be afraid” they recognized Him and “willingly received Him into the boat”. And immediately they were at their destination.

As Christians, we can have an idea about where we want to go. We can start rowing and doing all we know to do to get there. But sometimes we don’t notice that Jesus isn’t in the boat. When the storms arise, we look around and freak out. And when Jesus comes, we don’t always recognize Him at first. Can Jesus really be out in the middle of this storm? Is Jesus really in this transition we are going through? If I’m serving Him, why all the wind and waves? What’s going on?

Yet when they received Jesus willingly into the boat, all the turmoil around them faded into the background. They had their eyes on Him, and they were immediately at their destination.

It’s not so much a location that He wants us to be at, but that He wants to be in our boat. As we journey from the old to the new, His presence is what makes all the difference. It’s not about place, it’s about peace, the Prince of Peace, dwelling with us and leading us into the new things that He has for us. Jesus had work to do on the other side of the lake, and He has work for us to do on the other side of our lake. Willingly receive Jesus into your boat, and trust in the One who calms the storms to get you through the winds of transition, and onto the solid ground of His purposes for you.

In His love,
Cheryl Musser

9/5/08

Stone walls

2008-04-23T07:40:00.002-04:00

Good morning!

Here it is a beautiful Monday morning, and I am finally sitting down to write. You are probably wondering why you haven’t heard from me lately, but it has been quite a year. It started out with major surgery, followed by 2 college classes that started the next day, an awful toothache, that led to half of a root canal, oral surgery to remove a piece of bone in my jaw, a wisdom tooth pulled, and the other half of the root canal and a crown still to come. When I sat down to read, this verse just jumped out at me, because it felt so much like the first three months of the year…

“So many enemies against one man- all of them trying to kill me. To them I’m just a broken down wall or a tottering fence.” Ps. 62:2

I know many of you have also been feeling “under attack” lately, with health issues or circumstances that seem to come one after the other, so maybe you can relate as well. Maybe you are feeling like that tottering fence.

“I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.” Ps. 62:1

This morning, as Scott and I were walking, I noticed the stone walls in the state forest, walls built about 200 years ago. They are still as solid as the day they were built. It was a reminder to me that our lives are built upon the rock, the fortress where we will never be shaken loose from His love and care. We’re not the tottering fence, here for a season then rotting away. What God is doing in us is even more enduring than these New England stone walls.

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.” Ps. 62:5,6

I can’t say I understand why I have gone through all of this, but I sense with the changing of the seasons a fresh start, and a new sense of “all that I am waiting quietly before God” to see what this season will bring. In childbirth, transition is the most difficult and painful time. As the season change in our spiritual lives, doesn’t it follow that these transitions will sometimes be difficult as well, until we learn to push with the contractions and cooperate with what God is trying to birth in us?

“My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in Him at all times. Pour out your heart to Him, for God is our refuge.” Ps. 62:7,8

There are times when we are feeling shaky but He will be our strength. The Psalmist, knowing we are human, tells us to pour out our hearts to Him, all our cares and concerns, our hopes and fears, and come to Him for refuge in the midst of the battle. He tells us to trust Him at ALL TIMES, remembering that God has a plan for us, a plan for victory and honor.

I have spent quite a while struggling with the WHY, and don’t have the answer. But I am learning to turn to the WHO and starting to see Him shape the “all that I am” and all that He wants me to be. I know this is a season of change in my life (not just the menopause that I got thrown into with surgery) but in all areas. I’m seeing changes in my marriage, my attitudes, and the possibilities for the future. This often difficult time of rototilling in my life is preparing the soil of my heart for what is to come, my own personal victory garden in the hands of the Master Gardener. His fruit is always good.

May the soil of our hearts bring forth fruit a hundredfold, all for His glory.
With love and prayers, Cheryl 4/14/08

everyday miracles

2008-04-23T07:37:00.002-04:00

This morning, as I was reading in John chapter 2, Jesus was attending a wedding with his mother and some of his disciples. They ran out of wine, and His mother comes to tell Him about it. She tells the servants to do whatever He says. Here it is at the beginning of His ministry, and He hasn’t done any miracles yet, so why does she bring this problem to Him, and expect Him to solve it? It got me thinking about what it must have been like for Mary, having Jesus as a son.

Scripture records Joseph being with the family when Jesus was 12, and history suggests that Joseph probably died before Jesus’ began His public ministry. As the oldest son, Jesus would have been responsible to continue the family carpentry business and care for his mother. Mary would have been coming to Jesus with all those little problems around the house, and she knew she could count on Him to find a solution. She was already in the habit of coming to Him with her concerns. She was learning to rely on Him.

I often wondered why Jesus began His ministry at age 30. Jesus would need to experience the everyday life that we go through, living through the joys and the hardships. Jesus was the loving, obedient son, who learned not just from His earthly father, but also His heavenly Father. He learned how to care for His family and be faithful in that realm long before He began His public ministry. Maybe that was God’s gift to Mary, for all she had gone through, to allow her to have those 30 years with Him.

It was a strange first miracle, asking Jesus to solve the problem of people running out of wine at a wedding. Yet Mary knew Jesus could meet the need, she had learned to rely on His wisdom and probably seen Him come up with some pretty unusual solutions to things over the years. I’m not sure if she was expecting a miracle, or yet another one of His amazing ideas on how to solve the problem. But a miracle she got, and the wedding celebration continued.

Mary could be doing her dishes and turn around and talk to Jesus. But so can we! Think about it. He is just as close to us, even though we can’t actually see Him. We have His Spirit in us, and can talk to Him whenever we want. Somehow we don’t always think of it as up-close and personal, like talking to someone while you are doing the dishes, or cooking the dinner, but it can be. Why have I never thought about it that way?

Are we like Mary? Do we have that ability to turn to Him in the middle of our day, and just talk to Him about ordinary things? Are we in the habit of relying on Him? Is our first response, when there is a problem, to turn to Jesus? Do we look to Him for His wisdom on the small things as well as the big ones? Do we, like the servants at the wedding, do whatever He says?

This chapter sent me thinking in unusual ways this morning and I don’t really have a fitting conclusion for this blog. Maybe that is what we need to do, as we read the Word, is let God write our conclusions for us. We read something we’ve read so many times before, and we need His spirit to bring new light and life to it, something we can apply and learn to our lives. Then continue chewing on it throughout the day to see how we can use and apply what we’ve learned in practical ways. The sermon is not done (over) until it is DONE (action).

Be doers of the Word.

In His love,
Cheryl 4/23/08

blog tag

2008-02-28T10:24:00.002-05:00

Okay. This one looked fun..I found this following a link at the end of a forwarded e-mail to get to Janet's page. I decided to participate in this game of blog tag. I think I'll post it on myspace....
(Here's her page if you want to link to it too, she seems like a really cool lady!)
http://janetswritingplanet.blogspot.com

"I'm asking you to participate in a reading exercise. Whatever is by your computer (or that you are reading right now) is what I am interested in. I am going to tag a few people who also write blogs, but if you have a blog and want to play, you are welcome to steal it. And if you don't have a blog or don't have a blog where you play memes, play in the comments. I told you I love to know what people are reading!

The Rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

My 3 lines are from "Persian Girls", by Nahid Rachlin. Part of my homework for Women Writers Across the Cultures class.

"Relax, breath, and when you speak, exhale to allow for pauses between words," Mohtaram told Maniheh before the weddding.

"Stand straight, enunciate your words, and make eye contact with the guests but not with the groom."

"Don't apologize for anything. If you don't highlight your mistakes, no one will notice them."

Resolutions in Love

2008-02-28T10:06:00.002-05:00

As the year 2007 comes to a close, I find myself reading through the closing books of the New Testament. As I read First, Second and Third John, it seemed the prevailing theme was love. When I turned the page into Jude, the opening verses caught my attention:

“I am writing to all who are called to live in the love of God the Father and the care of Jesus Christ.”

Most of the time, when I think of the calling of God in my life, I think of things I am doing. Yet, here in Jude, our calling is to live in the love of God the Father. Think about it. Our job is to LIVE IN HIS LOVE. Life can get so complicated, yet here is our calling, our mission. To be loved by God and cared for by Jesus. We tend to worry about what job we should have, what ministry we should be involved in, how to pay the bills or juggle our hectic schedule. Here he reminds us our walk is not just about DOING, it is about BEING His children, loved by our Father and cared for by our Lord.

When we are secure in His love, it will naturally follow that we pass that love on. Love is an action word, “For God so loved the world He GAVE”, and we will do the same. When the Bible tells us love is patient, love is kind, etc., those are not passive mushy feelings words. Sometimes it is downright difficult to be patient, kind, longsuffering. It’s not easy to believe the best, to endure. Love does not coast. Yes, I know the scripture says love does not boast. But hear me. Love does not coast.

When I was a girl, I used to spend time with my Aunt Carrie. She loved to drive to the top of the hill, and take her foot of the gas and coast all the way down, seeing how far we could go before she had to put her foot back on the gas. Relationships can be a lot like that. We build up momentum and get to the top of the hill, so we take our foot of the gas, stop working so hard and coast for a while. Maybe it is the “in-love” feelings that have brought us to the top of the hill, but unless we continue to apply the gas and feed the relationship, we will not have the power to make it up the next hill of difficulty.

Even after 25 years of marriage, this year has been one of putting the petal to the metal and building our relationship. It seems there has been a lot of the agonizing sound of gears grinding, as we have fought to shift into a higher gear in our marriage. We’ve had many arguments, many tears, many struggles, yet with a purpose. We are learning to communicate and working to turn a dented and life-scarred relationship into a restored classic that shines for His glory. Love is an action word, and its hard work.

This year, I have learned that love believes for the best, and works toward it. Yes, love accepts the beloved the way they are, yet challenges them to be all that they can be. I thank God for my husband, who has really opened up his heart to me this year to share his struggles, his challenges and his hopes for our relationship. He has loved me enough not to settle for the status quo, a pretty good marriage, but has continued to strive to bring the ideal marriage that God wants us to have. I can’t say this has been an easy year, its been downright heart-wrenching at times, but I know we are making progress through it all. Love is not stagnant, love grows.

We have a good foundation, and have deliberately been adding to it. We’ve been reading many helpful books on building a Christian marriage. “Rocking the Roles”, “The Five Love Languages of Your Mate”, “Love and Respect” and “Captivating”. We’re learning to speak eachother’s love language, and love eachother with knowledge. We’ve stopped coasting and are applying a steady pressure to the gas pedal, so we can consistently gain momentum and travel towards the relationship God wants us to have. That brings us full circle to the opening scripture, we are “called to live in the love of God the Father”. Yes, we receive that love, but we also GIVE that love. Love one another. They will know we are Christians by our love. Love never gives up. Beloved, let us love one another….

In His love,
Cheryl

12/31/2007

Questions

2008-02-28T10:00:00.002-05:00

Questions

The Psalms are full of questionings. How long Lord? Why Lord? The psalmists were real people with problems just like ours. They saw the wickedness around them, and wondered when God would punish it. They went through times when they felt God was far off, and wondered how long it would be like that. They questioned the pain and suffering and the injustice in the world around them, and in their own lives as well.
They searched for answers to the question why, yet in the process their hearts turned to dwell on the love and faithfulness of the Lord. Their suffering and sorrow was turned into a song.

This past week, I can relate to the psalmists. About 2 weeks after my surgery, when my prescription strength Ibuprophen had run out, I was hit with a toothache and what felt like strept throat and an ear infection. Maybe I had those symptoms for a while and never knew because of my medications. Motrin wasn’t touching the pain, so off I went to the dentist, only to find out I need a root canal, and I begin to wonder, why me, why now?
He gave me an antibiotic, 800 mg Ibuprophen, and a referral to Farmington for February 27th, since I have no dental insurance. You can guess where my income tax refund is going. (Does anyone want to drive in with me? I’m not sure I will feel like driving home after a root canal.)

Now, I realize on the grand scale of things, I have it easy compared to what many people have to face. But, as the bills for my past 2 surgeries start to filter in, and I am still on light duty around the house, I began to wonder why. My answer came in two stages.

We were at a Friday night soaker meeting, where the presence of God was especially real, and God began to speak to my heart as Darryl played the guitar. It is the pressure of the guitarist on the strings that helps make the music. Not just one string, but it takes 3 strings being squashed against the hard surface of the guitar to make a chord. There is also the repeated strumming on the strings that makes the melody. We wonder why things come in bunches, yet it is the pressure in our lives that can bring out the beautiful music the Master Musician wants to play in our lives. Sometimes we are too busy whining to cooperate with His touch, and His melody is hard to hear. When we yield to His work in our lives, no matter how uncomfortable it may seem, He can bring out the tune that glorifies Him.

The second part of my answer came from the life of Joseph. He did nothing to deserve prison, yet God had him there. God used that time to build his character, to save his family and the future nation of Israel, and to spare many Egyptian lives. Though none of it made sense to Joseph while he was suffering in jail, God had a plan. God restored his relationship with his family. He raised him to a place of power and influence, second in command over all of Egypt. He gave him a vision that his people would one day leave there to go to the Promised Land, and he made his family promise to bring his remains along. Although Joseph might not have chosen to go that way, he saw God’s hand in it all. He recognized that God’s plans were for his good.

In my last blog, I shared a bit of confusion going on with my college classes. I dropped the US History, and could not for the life of me get into Art Appreciation online. At the very last minute, I added a Tuesday night class called Women Writers Across the Cultures. We are reading 6 novels and the class is mostly discussion, and I love it! It’s so interesting, there are about 12 women in the class, and I had only missed one week so I was able to jump in and get caught up the first week. I have 2 papers to write, and a presentation to do. My World Civ class online is totally boring, but this makes up for it! It seems that God is orchestrating my schedule, as 3 of the 4 classes I have so far have been writing classes. I am hoping Creative Writing will be available this summer, it’s the one class I really wanted to take, and I only need 4 more credits. We’ll see how it fits in with the family vacation schedule.

Just a few verses from Psalm 18…

To the faithful, you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
You light a lamp for me.
The Lord my God, lights up my darkness.
God’s way is perfect.
All the Lord’s promises prove true.
He is a shield for all those to look to Him for protection.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
My God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me and my place of safety.

Wherever you are today, may the Lord light your path. May He be your place of safety.
May you rest in His promises and know His peace. May your life be His melody.

Love and prayers,
Cheryl

2/13/08

Driving Lessons

2008-02-28T09:56:00.002-05:00

Driving Lessons

Last night, as I was driving to class, I was listening to the Christian radio station. A man was preaching from Romans chapter 5, verses 1 and 2.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

As he began talking about the “grace in which we stand”, he gave us a picture of standing in a field of grace. I liked the comparison. I lost where he was going with the rest of the message, as he was preaching through the chapter, but it gave me enough to think about. Picture yourself in a wide open field, surrounded by beauty, where you can see the rolling hills and the promise of the future. That is like “this grace in which we stand”. We don’t have to travel to get there, we don’t have to earn it, we are standing in grace. The problem is, most of the time we are too busy struggling and striving to realize it, to be still and experience His grace. What distracts us from it?

“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Rom. 5:3-5

I don’t know about you, but sometimes, no, almost all the time, I have trouble glorying in tribulation. That is why I blog, to get past the “this really stinks” to the “God is good and He is going to bring me through this” stage. Sometimes I wonder why things seem to come in bunches, why things are such an uphill battle. But God promised we would have trials, and that we would overcome if we keep leaning on Him. Maybe we just need to stop flailing around like a drowning swimmer and reach out for the life preserver that He offers. It’s there for us, the grace of God, the grace in which we stand, the hope of the glory of God revealed in our character and in our lives. We have peace with God, and we have access to our Heavenly Father, we have his Spirit in us. “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Stop for a minute today and look around. You are standing in a field of grace. Pause to see His provision and goodness in your life. Linger in His presence like you would in a beautiful meadow, and sing “Amazing Grace”.

With love and prayers,
Cheryl

2/20/2008

Rock the Sound

2007-11-04T07:22:00.000-05:00

Last night had an impact on me in more ways than one. I managed to drive all the way to Bridgeport and back without incident, yet tripped over a curb and fell on the sidewalk. Thankfully I didn’t hit the sign, or break anything, just lost a few layers of skin and got a nice bruise on my knee, which was pretty embarassing as I limped into the arena. Given the recent tragedy on that road on Friday, and the storm Noel passing through we were grateful for a safe drive. But the main impact of the evening came in a safer setting….

Five of us went to Rock the Sound last night. It’s a concert that featured 5 different well- known Christian bands, five hours of music, and since its called ROCK the Sound, you can imagine the decibal level. Yes, I brought ear plugs. The seats were great, we were centered, looking right at the stage, the first row of seats above the floor. Of course, there were big screens, so you saw everything no matter where you were.

The first group, Storyside B, was ok. The second group was Grits, which was supposed to be a hip hop rap dance type genre, but I just didn’t get. It seems all they did was hype and noise, and I could hardly get anything out of any lyrics. They just were not my cup of tea. Not that my mind is closed to that style, last year I saw TobyMac, and loved it. Yes, I needed my earplugs. Next up was Skillet, which is VERY loud and rocky and has all the hype and head shaking of your typical rock band, with some lyrics that were about the Lord. One number was quieter and I realized they are pretty good, but most of the time the volume and the rest of the songs were more screaming than singing, and lots of theatrics. The kids loved it. I wore the earplugs.

Next was a powerful drama set to music, which had everyone in tears, followed by a genuine young man giving an altar call. The presence of God was all over that time. Many people responded, and I realized again that it takes all kinds of events to reach all kinds of people. Even though most of the music was not something I would listen to, it brought people there that needed to hear about God’s love for them, and gave them an opportunity to respond. So regardless of what I think about certain artists, God used the event.

Jars of Clay was fun, not too loud to enjoy. But the time that impacted me the most was when Jeremy Camp was on stage. I’ll admit to going just because he was there, his music helped me through a very difficult time in my life. Yes, he had the lights and the rock sound, but in every song, you clearly saw God. He has been through so much, and shared some of his testimony, his daily struggles, and what he is reading in the Word. He was so genuine and has a passion for the Lord. We were at a rock concert, and the focus was not the artist or the music, but the Lord. It was a time of worship. The Lord is all over that young man’s life, and God’s anointing is all over his music and his message. It made me want that in my own life.

This man has a gift. I found myself marveling over God’s presence in his life, and wishing for that same anointing in my own. Then it was as if God whispered to me, “You are not going to find that anointing in the classroom, but in My presence.” That was the message I went all the way to Bridgeport to hear. Yes, I will be finishing up my associates degree this summer, but the classes are not what will make me a better writer. It’s God’s presence, working in and through my everyday life, that will make a difference.

I don’t know about you, but when people look at my life, I don’t want them to say “Eh, it’s OK…”
I don’t want them to have to get through the hype and the noise to find Him. I want them to see His presence clearly in my life, and the difference He makes. I want my life to shine for Him. I know it doesn’t always, but He is faithful to send along little reminders to help me adjust my focus. Even in the middle of a rock concert…. 11/4/2007

Dancing With the Stars

2007-10-17T06:58:00.000-04:00

Though we don’t watch very much television around our house, I must admit to having a few favorite shows. These “regulars” have changed over time, as some have moved to a night that conflicted with hubby time or small group or Lit class. Frankly, there’s not much good on these days anyway. We’ve taken to watching “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” DVDs from Netflix, which I suppose is what led to my interest in watching Jayne Seymour on “Dancing With the Stars” this season. Now, only four episodes in, it’s getting hard to tell which partner is the dancing professional and which is the “star”. It’s amazing to watch the passion and dedication these couples dance with every week.

This morning, as I read in Galatians, I came across a prescription for life as a Christian, one verse that could guide our entire lives.

“If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” Galatians 5:25

How simple is that? The complicated thing is remembering to do that! How often do we pause to consider asking for His leading in the every day, ordinary moments in our lives? Of course, we ask for His guidance in the “big” things, job decisions, relationship problems, and other major life issues, or at least I hope we do… But how often do we think to follow His leading cleaning the house, arranging our priorities for the day, or even going to Wal-Mart?

Take a minute to read that verse again, in light of “Dancing With the Stars”. We are partnered with the expert dancing professional, who can help us orchestrate the choreography of our lives. We need to spend hours of practice time, learning the moves of the Christian walk from His word, and following the lead of the Holy Spirit around the dance floor called everyday life. We need to be sensitive to His voice, to the music of His purpose, and learn to flow with His rhythm. We need to listen to the still small voice guiding our path, checking our words, charting our course.

On the television show, the couples are beginning to flow as one, you can hardly tell the trained professional from the dance student. As Christians, our lives should look more and more like Jesus every day.

“But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t’ get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.” Gal. 6:8-9

I don’t know what the prize is on “Dancing With the Stars”, but I know it pales in comparison to the eternity we will have in heaven. And as we learn the moves here on earth, will have the satisfaction of a life well lived, danced in step with the Master’s timing, and shining for His glory.

Following His leading,

Cheryl 10/17/07

Finding Nemo?

2007-10-10T12:34:00.001-04:00

Just Keep Swimming….

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get off track as a Christian? You were heading along in the right direction, when you suddenly hit a bump that sends you off on a tangent instead of your original path. Like this morning, while typing this, I discovered the internet is down and started trying to figure it out. Getting sidetracked is not a new problem, Paul was talking to the Galatians about the same thing, almost 2000 years ago.

“I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who in His love and mercy called you to share the eternal life He gives through Christ. You are already following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ.” Gal. 1:6,7

How can we be following Jesus and get off track? By taking our eyes off Him, fussing over the circumstances around us, and getting distracted dealing with problems instead of drawing closer to Him. Then, when we look up, it seems we are headed in the same general direction, and don’t realize we are off course. In Paul’s time, the Galatians were getting caught up in religiously trying to please God through perfectly obeying the law. Somewhere along the line they had started trying to earn their way into God’s favor.

“Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” Gal. 3:3

It’s easy to get caught up in the works of the kingdom, the requirements of the law, and doing and saying all the right things. Yet sometimes in all of that, we get tangled up in religion, and lose sight of the relationship He wants to have with us. We get so distracted trying to please Him by keeping the law, yet He is calling us to keep Him company and sit at His feet. We are so easily distracted, feeling like we should earn our way, but He is our way! As we spend time with Him, He’ll do the work in us and through us.

One of my favorite characters in the movie “Finding Nemo” was a lovable little fish named Dory. She was always forgetting things, even from a minute ago, and freaking out when she didn’t remember how she got there or who she was with. Amazingly enough, she did remember and kept repeating one very important thing. She knew the address they needed to find Nemo, “22 Wallaby Lane, Sydney”. Her other famous line was “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..” Dory and Nemo’s father traveled through many obstacles, sharks, jellyfish, sea turtles and fishing nets to rescue Nemo. Through it all, Dory kept reciting the address, and saying to herself, “just keep swimming”.

As Christians, we have many dangers and distractions. We know our destination, and perhaps we need the simple faith of little Dory, to keep heading to our Destiny, and just keep swimming. When the sharks attack, instead of hiding out and skipping church, devotions, small group or fellowship, we should be running to our “school” of Christian brothers and sisters to support us and pray us through. We should be banding together, encouraging each other through our journey, instead of scattering in separate directions.
We are placed in the body of Christ for a reason, to encourage one another and work as a team to rescue the lost and hurting around us. Somehow when we are getting stung right and left by the jellyfish of our circumstances, (like a no water, brown water, broken dishwasher, malfunction light, broken tooth, tv signal issues, no internet kind of month) it is easy to forget that we have a Rescuer and a Way of Escape.

In the midst of my crazy month, I cried out to the Lord, “What am I doing wrong?” He gave me something I needed to repent of, and things are slowly turning around. I don’t know if that had any connection to what was going on or not, sometimes it does, and sometimes things just happen even when we don’t have some wrong attitude lurking. But I am thankful the water is working and no longer mud puddle brown. After 2 weeks, the dishwasher is finally fixed. The malfunction light went off by itself, the dish tv problem seems to have cleared up, and somehow my tooth problem will work itself out. With no dental insurance, I need a crown, and I know the Lord has a crown for me! All these trials build His character in us, while He prepares the crown of glory we will someday wear. Until then, head in the right direction and just keep swimming….

In His school,
Cheryl

Hit Me

2007-09-26T07:41:00.001-04:00

Do you remember back in elementary school, when you were just walking down the hallway, minding your own business and suddenly people started hitting you on the way by and laughing? Little did you know, someone had taped a "Hit Me" on your back, so you stop and take it off and life goes back to normal.

Sometimes life is like that. You are going along, minding your own business, and all of a sudden it feels like you are getting hit from every angle. Your filling falls out, you lose water, the dishwasher breaks, your daughter gets rear-ended and catches a pan of chicken on fire, ALL IN THE SAME WEEK! You feel like you have a giant "Hit me" sign on your back and don’t know how to get it off. You probably could blame it on the devil, but things break and things go wrong, so I don’t choose to see the enemy behind everything that doesn’t go my way. I choose to see God at work, allowing these things to happen to remind me to look to Him.

James says "Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed you will be strong in character and ready for anything." James 1:2-4

The victory comes, not in having perfect weeks, where nothing goes wrong, but keeping your eyes on the Lord and trusting Him to bring you through. It’s in having the right attitude in the midst of these little annoyances. Jesus said "In this world, you will have troubles, but fear not, I have overcome." In the grand scope of things, I don’t even think this type of week qualifies as trouble, when you think about the people worldwide who REALLY have troubles. I’m not even sure I could call them "light and momentary afflictions", because its all about stuff that doesn’t matter, just normal every day results of the laws of modern life, the fact that things break. How about "the trying of our faith produces patience"? I’m not sure these even qualify as a trial of faith. They are just annoyances, like the "Hit Me" sign. All these things are so LITTLE in the light of eternity, yet we get so flustered by them. These little problems are NOTHING, yet God can use them to build faith and endurance in us, so we will be "strong in character and ready for anything".

Thank God this week that instead of giving you a perfect life, He is giving you a life that will perfect you and prepare you for eternity. We are lumps of clay in the Master’s hands. Yield to His work in you….

With love and prayers,
Cheryl

Rut or Routine?

2007-09-19T07:40:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, routine…. It can be a beautiful thing. The kids are all back to school so this is the second full week of having my regular schedule back. I really love having the kids home during the summer, but the way people come and go around here makes the house like Grand Central Station, and the usual cooking and cleaning routines are tossed out the window on the way to the beach. So no matter how you try to clean, plan or organize during that season, due to the sheer volume of people circulating in and out at warp speed, things tend to get a little discombobulated.

You can see why I might look forward to the semi-organized patterns of fall! The towels get hung on the line, pies get baked, dinner gets cooked (when it doesn’t interfere with a soccer game), and the house is a lot cleaner. I have some quiet and some time to just relax! I can make plans to get together with friends, or work in the yard, or spend all afternoon reading a book. The Lord has been filling up my calendar with dates with my friends this month. It’s a wonderful thing.

It’s funny to think how routine is welcome in some areas, and starts to feel like a rut in others. While I may appreciate the routine at home, in other areas I find things feeling a little stale. Maybe that’s why I went back to school, to dust off my brain, learn some new things, improve my writing, meet new people. In my marriage, we are breaking out of the same old routine and trying to really connect and spend quality time. In my spiritual life, I know I want more than I am currently walking in. In so many areas of my life, it’s a time to get out of the ruts where I find myself trudging along. Time to get up where I can see the grass growing and smell the roses, to experience the journey and enjoy it.

Jesus came so we could have "life, more abundantly" and He wants us to live it and love it! Somehow we get into our comfortable safe routines, looking just at the steps in front of our feet, and miss the wonderful scenery along the way. We forget that life can be an adventure because we are so busy with our "to-do" list we ignore the "just for fun" list. He wants us to enjoy our everyday lives, like Joyce Meyer would say.

Take stock of where you are, and what needs changing in your life. God wants faithfulness and consistency in our lives, but it doesn’t have to be boring! Stop going through life on cruise control or automatic pilot. Stop and smell the roses. Keep looking up and begin to see all He has in store for you. Be open to the new paths He may lead you down, following Him every step of the way.
May you find joy in the journey.

With love,
Cheryl

Gifts and hats

2007-08-22T14:28:00.000-04:00

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church. 1 COR 12:7

This morning’s blog came to me in stages. This morning , a verse in 1 Corinthians 1 caught my attention. An hour later, as I was talking with Scott about an issue at work I have been struggling with, he gave me some advice that I have given to someone else recently. That triggered the memory of what Mama Toni shared at Women’s Bible Study about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, which in turn sent me searching for a passage I remembered reading in Romans last week. The way this blog came together reminded me of the verse that talks about God’s word being taught “line upon line, precept upon precept”. The pieces were falling into place and I felt like God was really speaking to me.

“I don’t remember baptizing anyone else. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News- and not with clever speeches and high sounding ideas, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. 1 Cor. 1:16b-17

Paul was dealing with divisions in the church, people boasting they were following Paul or Peter or Appollos, or Christ alone. It was creating cliques and turmoil in the church. So he was writing to address this problem, saying he had only baptized a few people. Then, what hit me, was his statement of purpose. “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News-“ His major goal was not baptizing, but preaching. Yes, he did baptize a few when needed, but his primary mission was preaching the Gospel. He could have been all side-tracked with baptisms, because I am sure many people would have loved to claim they were baptized by such a man of God as Paul, but that was not his calling. Romans 1 “This letter is from Paul, Jesus Christ’s slave, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach His Good News.” Like the apostles that didn’t get sidetracked by matters of distribution of aid to the widows, he knew his primary mission. Paul was called to be an apostle (watching over the churches) and preaching the Good News. He was determined to stay on track with what God was calling him to do.

“God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
Romans 12:6-8

God has given us each different talents and abilities, which combined with our temperament, our personality, and our past experiences, make us a one of a kind gift to the body. Joyce Meyer always says not to focus all our energy into improving our skill level in our weak areas, but to concentrate on what we are gifted at and do that well. If you are not gifted with an aptitude for math, God is not going to call you to be church treasurer. But you may have a gift for music, and He might call you to use that. If you were all obsessed with taking math courses because you’re not good at that, you might not have the time to practice your musical talents. This passage tell us to find what God has gifted us to do, and do it to the best of our ability. Our love and joy in doing what God has created us to do will shine through, and like the passage says, it will “help the entire church”. People doing what God has gifted them with and given them a heart for will be happy servants of the Lord. If you are trying to do something you have no gift for, you are often stressed and struggling.

Paul knew it was good for him to concentrate on God was calling him to do. There were other people there to baptize, to organize the helps ministry, and to pastor the church. He did his job of overseeing and preaching the Gospel, and didn’t get sidetracked on daisy trails. He preached “not with clever speeches and high sounding ideas, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power” . If we get caught up in side trails, the gift Christ has given us loses it’s power, because we are too worn out to do it well. The body is made up of many parts, and we need to let each one do their own part. Sometimes I think we feel we have to wear a lot of hats in the church, but maybe by wearing the hats we are not called to, just so a ministry position doesn’t go unstaffed hurts us all. Maybe we are keeping someone else who is gifted from stepping into that position. Or maybe, that ministry needs to be changed or laid aside for a season, or even discontinued. Seasons come and go, even in a church, and the sweaters you needed in the winter are overkill to layer on in the summer. We don’t feel guilty for packing away the winter clothes every summer, yet why do we feel bad about packing away a program that is not needed at the current time in the church? Sometimes when the need for a ministry passes, or the grace has lifted from your involvement in it, it’s time to make changes. For us, there was a season that Scott and I were youth leaders. We enjoyed doing it, it filled a need in the church, yet there came a time that we realized it was time to hand the ministry over to someone who had the gift and the vision for it. We didn’t feel bad about it, because we knew God was saying it was time to pass the baton.

I wear a lot of hats. My heart has been crying out for change, but maybe I have been too busy balancing my hats to see what treasures God has in store for me. I think what God is saying to me is to listen to what He is saying, and pass off the hats that He is not calling me to wear right now. It’s time for fall cleaning, time to look at each hat, and ask God if this is something I am supposed to be doing in this season of my life. Then, when I have passed on the hats I am not supposed to have, He may pass a new one my way, and I won’t be too stressed or worn out to enjoy it.

Find what you love to do, and God will help you find a way to use your gifts to be a blessing to those around you. Go buy yourself a new hat to remind you of the joy He wants you to have in serving Him!

With love and prayers, and many thanks for all your encouragement!

Barking at Thunder

2007-08-08T06:45:00.000-04:00

Last week I awoke to the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. Most of the household was asleep, and as I tried to drift back to dreamland myself, my plans were interrupted. Scottie, our Scottish Terrier, heard the thunder and began his usual routine of running back and forth throughout the house, barking ferociously or fearfully, I’m not sure which, at every rumble. Yelling at him doesn’t help, as soon as you stop staring at him, he goes right back to barking. Locking him in his cage doesn’t send the message that he should be still and quiet, he just whines and barks from there. But that is precisely where I put him, hoping to keep him from running up and down the hallway, waking the entire household at four AM. Instead, it woke up Bekah, who either out of aggravation or sympathy, let him out of the cage and sat on the couch with the scared doggy until the storm passed.

The thing that Scottie doesn’t realize, is the fact that thunder can’t hurt him. It’s just a big scary noise. He wastes all that energy, gets worked up in a frazzle, over something that is totally harmless. He is ignorant of the lightning, which could hurt him, if he ran recklessly around outside in it. But he is safely inside the house, secure and protected, yet he continues to run frantically around barking, not knowing he is safe.

I started to think about how often I act like a little dog barking at thunder. How easily I get stressed over the things that really can’t hurt me, and run around frantically barking at the people around me. What about those things in our lives that seem scary or uncomfortable, how do we react to those? Do we run back and forth, not accomplishing anything, talking fearfully and worrying? Sometimes I wonder if God is tempted to put us in our little cage just to get our attention and say "Be still and know that I am God." Yet I think He is more like the one who releases us from the cage, curls up on the couch with us, and comforts our worried hearts.

"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39 NLT

The next time the thunder rumbles in your life, when something has you scared or stressed, stop and think about this. Nothing can separate you from God’s love. NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. And if we have His love, is there anything, big or small, that He can’t help us through? Snuggle in close to Him and get the comfort and strength you need. He’s waiting for you.

On letting go...

2007-08-04T06:22:00.000-04:00

How are you with change? With saying goodbye, or leaving what’s familiar? Somehow, that is not something that comes easy to most of us. I think as a Mom, the hardest thing in your life is "letting go". That first day of kindergarten, the day they get the driver’s license, the year they move off to college. Yet these are the milestones that are expected, and you see them coming.
But how are you with the unexpected ones? A friend moves away, a relationship changes, someone dies, you lose a job, a person that was once a part of your life isn’t there anymore, you fill in the blank…. How do you deal with that?

When my daughter left for 5 months in Costa Rica, I could tell that people were praying for us. Somewhere on the way to New York City, as I was driving along praying, God did something in my heart. There was a peace there I couldn’t explain, and I was able to bring her to the airport and wave goodbye without crying. If you know me, that is amazing. I cry at Hallmark commercials. Yet, I could put her on the plane, knowing that God is with her, and trust she will have a wonderful experience there.

There have been other times in my life, change has come, and I haven’t even noticed the airport signs. Maybe I refused to look, had my fingers in my ears, so I wouldn’t hear the sound of the planes. I was too busy trying to keep things "life as usual" to realize the change was needed, that it was time to say goodbye and graciously let go… I’ve even tried running after the plane, saying "Wait, take me with you!" But sometimes we need to let the people in our lives go. They may never be in our lives in quite the same way, just like Rebekah is not part of our daily routine right now. But the people that are important to us, they will wander in and out of our lives, just in a different way. And we need to be OK with that. It would be pretty silly if I were still sitting at the airport, missing my daughter and waiting for her to come home, wouldn’t it? Yet I know I’ve been guilty of that in other areas of my life. OK, self, wake up and smell the coffee…

People change, circumstances change. But I know there is one constant in my life, and that is God. He doesn’t change, and He’ll always be there for me. With His help, I can learn to walk more graciously through the changes in my life, instead of being dragged, kicking and screaming all the way, into a new season. I know if I’m looking at Him, instead of what I’m going through, I’ll be able to see things in a new perspective, and He’ll begin to show me the plan He has in all of it. Because I know the plans He has for me are plans for good, for peace, for a hope and a future. When I begin to trust that He knows what He’s doing with my life, and in the lives of the ones I love, then I can relax and enjoy the ride. Even if it’s taking someone I love to the airport.
Let go and Let God. You’ll be amazed at what He can do.

(this blog was written last year, and my daughter is now back home, finishing her last semester of college… that's her in Costa Rica, in the picture above. I decided to post it after reading this blog by Kathy, who gave me my first ever blogger comment, go check out her page: http://kathysklavier.blogspot.com/2007/08/doors.html )

Free Friday tunes

2007-08-03T19:52:00.000-04:00

It's a Friday night, and it's as hot as blue blazes. (Anyone know where that saying came from?) I'm sitting in front of the fan, eating fresh fruit salad (thanks to Bekah!), while checking my mail and my myspace, (what a multi-tasker!) when I found a great new site. On my couch, with a wireless laptop. Gotta love it.

Anyway, while reading bulletins on myspace, and being a Chris Rice fan, (his web site is http://www.chrisrice.com/) he had a myspace bulletin posted about a free download of his new song, "So much for my sad song"

so of course I followed the link to http://www.myfreemusicfriday.com/ I downloaded Chris' new song , as well as two other groups I had never heard of, and found myself pleasantly surprised. So I did sign up to download my 3 free songs every Friday, to broaden my horizons and try out some new tunes. Don't want to get stuck in a rut! Now I just need a lesson from the kids about how to move them to my Ipod.

Also on the music topic, you can bet we will be ordering tickets to see Jeremy Camp and some other great Christian artists at Rock the Sound in Bridgeport CT in November. Tickets go on sale August 11th, and you sure get your money's worth out of that concert. Last year we saw Casting Crowns, TobyMac, Pillar, Stellar Kart, and one other group I can't remember right now. It was awesome! I thought I wouldn't go back this year, since it's a late night for us old homebody types, but I can't pass up Jeremy Camp! His music helped me hold on through some really hard times and it really ministered to me. his site is http://www.jeremycamp.com/ and the link for those concert tickets is http://www.rockthesound.com/

so, no, I am not getting paid to throw all these links in, just sharing some cool stuff I found while wandering around the internet tonight. it's an amazing thing, earlier in the week I was researching solar energy and shopping for board games, tonight I am downloading music and writing a blog and rambling on in a format that can reach people all over the world. It's pretty amazing. But still not as amazing and far reaching as God's love or His knowledge about every detail of our lives. Wow. So have a great weekend, keep cool, and remember that our AWESOME God is rejoicing over you with singing.

When the Earth Quakes

2007-07-31T16:40:00.000-04:00

“When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil, I am the one who keeps its foundation firm.” Psalm 75:3

Not living in California, I don’t have any experience in an actual earthquake. But I do know that when you’re in one, you’re supposed to get into a doorway and hold on for dear life until the shaking stops. I think its because that is the strongest part of the structure at that point, not that you feel very safe there either, when everything you own is bouncing off the walls and crashing down around you. Then you clean up the mess and go back to life as usual, though I imagine at that point you have a lot less clutter and a thankfulness that you are alive.
In our lives as Christians, there are times when are lives are shaking and everything feels like it’s in turmoil, very much like an earthquake. We don’t always know why. We just know that it’s scary and confusing and you can’t always hear God clearly over the rumble and shake. But I think the scriptures give us a doorway to stand in….

Psalm 105:4 puts it like this…

“Search for the Lord and for his strength, and keep on searching.”

“When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil, I am the one who keeps its foundation firm.”

No matter what we go through, the Lord is our firm foundation in our lives. We need to keep running to Him when everything around us is bouncing off the walls. He is our strength and place of safety. I think part of the problem is when we are in times of turmoil we run around in a panic saying “Why me?” and don’t always stop to ask God what the purpose is in what we are going through. People in California know to expect earthquakes, it’s a part of their lives. They build their houses to prepare for them, they know what to do if one comes. Trials are a part of our lives as Christians, yet we don’t expect them and aren’t always prepared when they come. Yet trials clear a lot of the “clutter” out of our lives, the things that aren’t really important, and should send us running to our place of safety, our source of strength.

“His faithful love endures forever” (Ps. 106:1)

It’s earthquake-proof. Keep holding on to Him.

With love and prayers,

Cheryl

First Blog- Finding God in the Whirlwind

2007-07-31T15:18:00.000-04:00

If you've read the Old Testament, you may remember reading about Elijah's mighty victory over the prophets of Baal. Yet in the next chapter, we find him hiding in the cave . I don't know about you, but I have days where I have just HAD IT and feel like holing up in a cave for some peace and quiet myself! But God didn't leave him there, any more than He will let us hide out and feel sorry for ourselves. Let's pick up the story in the Bible, using the New Living Translation.

1 Kings 19:11-13

"Go out and stand before me on the mountain," the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

There are days that my life seems very much like the mighty windstorm (or whirlwind) in this passage, I have trouble hearing the still small voice of God amid the flurry of activities. From soccer practice to school plays to church commitments and duties of job, home and marriage, life often feels like a hurricane with brief moments of surreal silence in the midst of the storm. So in this crazy, everyday, harried world, how do I find God in the whirlwind? I can't just hide away in a cave, I need to be able to find God in the whirlwind, to be able to hold onto him when the earth quakes, I need to draw from His strength. When His refining fires are shaping my character, I need be able to hear His gentle whisper speaking to me to give me the encouragement I need.

Join me on my journey as I try to find quiet moments with God in this adventure known as everyday life. May we grow closer to the Lord and encourage each other along the way!