Still No Peace

I was about nine when I heard my first prophecy.  I was walking home from school with a friend who mentioned that she heard that someday men will wear their hair long like women and their clothes will be styled the same.  The decade turned.

Enter the 60’s.  Tension was high with the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Jackie Kennedy wore pillbox hats.  The Beatles were popular and my favorite song was “I Want to Hold Your Hand!”  I was in my freshman Science class when JFK was assassinated and the whole country went into mourning.  A strong spirit of rebellion entered into the youth. The Supreme Court decided to remove prayer from the public schools.   Drugs, hippies and peace symbols were everywhere.  Headbands and bell bottoms were in!  Sit-ins and anti-war campaigns were found in every city.  Those who didn’t leave the country were drafted.  Our troops were sent to Viet Nam.  I drove a blue 1961 Oldsmobile Starfire Convertible with a fast V8 engine.  “Laugh In” was a popular TV Show.  The first man went on the Moon and walked around.  It was the Sixties!

My best friend, Glenda, turned 60 last weekend.  To honor her, three of her daughters researched the era, decorated her office building with strobe lights, cooked up a storm of 60’s food including a psychedelic cake.  All the old tunes were played, but not on records!  We were invited.  Here are our memories!

Our Birthday Girl; reminds me of tiny Brenda Lee!

Glenda's Girlfriends:  Girl Power!

Jackie O was there!

This post links to Tell Me A Story hosted by Hazel.

Fallen From Grace

I brought my husband his cup of coffee this morning just before we sat in the den facing the day together with our Bibles.  I told him that our friend, Joni, lost her battle with cancer and passed away.  His response was similar to mine:  “I never could grasp how she could walk away from Jesus.”

I can’t tell you how many times I enjoyed sweet fellowship with Joni.  We attended Christian seminars together from our church, served the Lord side by side in Women’s Ministries, and enjoyed intimate lunches sharing secrets from our hearts.  Joni was my doctor, but more importantly she was my friend.  She never got the victory from the bitterness and rejection from her past and eventually it pulled her in the wrong direction.  Her keen intelligence led her away from Jesus rather than to Him.  She began to study intensely the Jewish Roots of our faith.  Little by little, I could tell Joni was discarding the grace Jesus offers and embracing the law of the Old Testament.  I remember all too well the day we sat face to face and she confessed to me that she is no longer a follower of Christ.  She divulged that she found much more love from the followers of Judaism and was tired of Christians letting her down in life.

Joni was the first girlfriend in my circle who attended The Passion of the Christ the second day it hit the theatre.  I made her promise that she would call as soon as she got home.  She called me and we cried together as she shared the dramatic scenes of His bloody sacrifice that set us free from the strangleholds of sin.

Over the years, several of the girlfriends labored endlessly in scripture, with hugs and gentleness hoping to win Joni back.  I was not there when she took her last breath; I can only hope that Joni whispered “Save me, Jesus.”

This post connects to On Your Heart Tuesdays and Tell Me A Story.

Directions To The Rock of Ages

Our youngest daughter worked her way through college and during the summers  she was employed by a retailer in the mountains of Sedona.  She was an English major and joked often about “words” being her tools!  She is a good writer and speaker and has a charismatic personality, so selling was a natural for her.  I’ll be honest with you.  I was eager for those late night visits with her after a full day at the store because she articulated interesting stories about people she met who traveled to Sedona from every state in the union as well as other countries.  She made it very clear that her duties were more than ringing up purchases and maintaining inventory. She told me that she was an ambassador for Sedona!  She was the one to ask where the best meal could be found in the city, and she knew the best trail to hike.  She steered many a tourist in the right direction.

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

2 Cor 5:20

The Bible calls us ambassadors too.  The definition of an ambassador is “a person who acts as a representative or promoter of a specified activity.”

Rarely do I meet a person who was a Christ follower from birth.  Usually we have to live through some things and feel some pain and realize that a savior is a very good idea, indeed!  Those of us who remember the darkness of sin and the culture of this world can speak of how refreshing it is to find the truth and surrender to Jesus Christ. I’m not talking about religion.  I’m talking about knowing a personal savior and that is the good news.  It makes us ambassadors!  He has given us the tools we need to steer others in the right direction!

This post connects to: Tell Me A Story and The Beauty In His Grip

Reluctant Banquet Speaker

I’ve attended a lot of women’s luncheons and while most have long been forgotten, I will never forget the spring banquet when Julie spoke.

Pat and I were excited about taking a big leap and reaching out to the women in our little town by inviting them to a mother-daughter spring luncheon sponsored by our church’s Women’s Ministry.  We immediately began praying for the right date, the right restaurant, the right theme and the right speaker.  When we agreed on the speaker, we decided to ask her and that was when we hit a snag.

We observed Julie and her husband taking her mom to the 9:00 a.m. church service Sunday after Sunday.  Julie and her mom looked like the perfect duo to grace our podium at our banquet-of-the-year.    When asked, Julie said:  “You’ve got to be kidding.  Trust me; you don’t want my mom and me.  We barely like each other.”  I quickly apologized to Julie and admitted I probably had not heard from God correctly during prayer.

It was to our benefit that Pat and I waited on the Lord and did not line up another speaker in haste.  Two weeks later, Julie called me and we met for lunch.  “Is the invitation to speak at the banquet still open?”  Julie asked.   After meeting with our pastor, Julie realized that a great deal of healing occurred in counseling sessions with him over the years and that she just may be God’s mouthpiece of how He can take a troubled relationship and bring restoration to it. 

  

The day of our mother-daughter banquet arrived and every seat in the room was filled.  Pat’s centerpieces were exquisite and the menu we chose was a hit.  I introduced Julie to the crowd.  Her elderly mom sat at the head table and admired her daughter’s eloquence along with the rest of us.  Julie was a powerful business woman with a flair for public speaking.  She divulged just enough of the truth to let every listening mom or daughter know that God can take our mistakes and turn our pain into gain.  She talked very little about the abuse and neglect in her childhood that flooded our private lunch with tears.  Instead, she labored the point that God forgives and restores.  Mothers are far from perfect.    Circumstances in life may prevent us from loving them at times, but God always requires us to honor them.

It was obvious that the ladies enjoyed Julie.  I closed the meeting with an invitation to come up and pray with us.  To our amazement, lines formed.  Julie was the last one to leave the restaurant and was exhausted after praying with broken women who suffered with damaged emotions from their mothers. 

The enemy tried to steal our banquet, but the Holy Spirit nixed his plan.  Women were healed and delivered by the truth of God’s Word that day! Months after that luncheon, women were still stopping me in the supermarket, the church parking lot, and at the kids’ school telling me that they attended that luncheon and how much Julie’s message hit home in their hearts.  I had no clue so many women were hurting.

Julie continued to work in her profession, but she never missed our women’s Bible study on Tuesday mornings.  In no time at all God raised her up to lead support groups for women with a gift to nurture them to healing through God’s Word and Spirit.

This is a true story and connects to these blog websites:

Tell Me a Story

Tea on Tuesday

Bernie's Backyard Bash

A few years back we sold a home to a guy by the name of Bernie who loved to entertain people with big parties.  That’s why he needed a bigger home.  After Bernie settled into his new home, he celebrated with a big backyard bash and we were invited.  I didn’t want to go, but our sales manager, who is also my husband, said:  “We’re going.”

When we arrived, Bernie gave us a big hug and whooshed Dice into the den where he pointed to his computer that had big problems.  I suppose I could have hunkered down there bored out of my mind while my husband played tech genius, but I strolled toward the backyard to mingle with about 30 people I’ve never seen before in my life and it was pretty scary.  I passed clusters of women huddled together puffing on cigarettes, a whole bunch of folks accumulating at the makeshift bar, and a circle of cowboys tuning their guitars and drinking beer.  Umm, who among these party folks should I strike up a conversation with?  The answer was no one.

I went into the big white tent where all the food was displayed and filled my plate with roasted corn on the cob, grilled sausage, beans from the crock pot, cornbread, and a relish salad.  It felt lonely to eat by myself until a friendly voice asked me if I would like some dessert.  Ross offered me a choice of about six varieties from a tray of goodies he waved in front of me. He sat down to join me after bringing me a cup of coffee with cream just the way I like it.  He talked endlessly about himself while I finished eating.  I silently prayed that my husband would find me and rescue me from this man’s interest.  No such luck.  It felt like hours passed and Ross was still chatting away.  Ross knew I was the agent who sold Bernie his home and I repeatedly mentioned I was here with my husband who was ….somewhere.    I couldn’t take it anymore so I decided to evangelize Ross.  Maybe if Ross knew how much I loved Jesus and enjoyed things like going to church and worshipping God, he would think I was spooky and leave me alone.

My plan backfired.  Ross loved hearing about Jesus.  He told me he had just lost his mom.  She adored Jesus and comforted him when he almost died in a motorcycle accident.  I found myself listening to Ross’ words but now with less judgment.  “I may not attend church like my mother use to, but one thing I never do is crawl into bed at night until I get on my knees and ask God to forgive me if I hurt anyone that day,” he exclaimed.

Dice and I talked a lot on the drive home that night, and I thanked him for dragging me to the party.  Then I said:  “What do you think about praying together before we go to bed at night similarly to the way we do when we begin our day?” 

This is the kind of thing that happens when you bring Jesus to the party.

This post links to:

Tell Me a Story

Tea on Tuesday

Name Your Song

Our pastor’s sermon last Sunday was taken from Psalm 133 which talks about unity.  Verse 1 says:  “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”  He made several good points about differences in the Body of Christ and how these differences become hurdles that we overcome in order to stand together in love for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I liked the creative way he showed those of us sitting in the 9:00 a.m. service just how different we all are.  He asked us to think of a song that describes our life.  People began shouting out titles to songs and some were hilarious, like Ann who sat behind me.  She yelled:  “I Will Survive!”  Remember that one by Gloria Gaynor?

Now that spring is here, I’m enjoying my prayer garden in the early hours of the morning.  It’s a wonderful setting to meet my Lord and praise Him along with the chirping birds, the blooming flowers and the rising son.  I feel His presence so close as I pray so the song that best describes my life is “Draw Me Close to You.”  It was written by Michael W. Smith and I often listen to Kathy Troccoli sing it on her Album, Draw Me Close To You.

Draw me close to you
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear you say that I'm your friend
You are my desire
No one else will do
Cause nothing else can take your place
To feel the warmth of your embrace
Help me find the way
Bring me back to you

You're all I want
You're all I've ever needed
You're all I want
Help me know you are near

Written by Michael W. Smith

What about you?  What song best describes your life?

This post links to:

On My Heart Tuesday, www.shandaoakleyinspires.com

Tell Me a Story, http://letmetellastory.blogspot.com