fear he is a liar

Fear came into our lives this past week. It came by way of a phone call. Fear has come in the past as a call and it again came to visit me. A battle was soon to take place. A battle between doubt, fear and faith. 

As I am listening to the person on the other end of the phone, fear is slithering through the line. Slithering as if he is a snake coming to attack. He is coming through the phone and wrapping himself around my mind and my heart. 

Upon ending the call I began to cry, to weep for the "what if". Doubt was creeping through my body, and at the time, I couldn't stop it. 

For the rest of the evening fear and doubt held me captive. All day Saturday I still felt like I was in their grip. Sunday was a mind-numbing day. It didn't help that the Preacher's sermon that day was on Unanswered Prayers. I kept questioning God, questioning myself, questioning the whole situation.

I remembered what the Preacher said in a recent sermon..."faith comes out of the pain". I had to find my faith again.

Yesterday the Preacher and I had a meeting to attend in Brighton. The drive to and from Brighton takes approximately 4 hours. On this drive I had tuned our radio to the SiriusXM station, The Message. It felt like every song was lifting the fear out of my heart and mind.

"Fear is a liar, He will take your breath, stop you in your steps; Fear is a liar, he will rob your rest, steal your happiness; Cast your fear in the fire, 'cause fear he is a liar; Let your fire fall and cast out all my fears, let your fire fall your love is all I feel." – Fear is a Liar, Zach Williams

Today I feel much better. Fear no longer haunts my mind and I don't feel its grip on my heart. 

I know fear and doubt will try to slither back in on another day. But with prayer, the words of truth that I find in the Bible, Christian songs, and the love of our family, I will fight to keep fear away. 

"This is how I fight my battles" – Surrounded, Michael W. Smith

action = prayer

a field guide to NOW, by Christina Rosalie, has been sitting on my book shelf for some time. The television sits upon that book shelf and every night while watching TV, my eye seems to be drawn down to its title. 

I purchased the book in 2013. I read a few chapters but life seemed to press in and I moved on to other things. So I never finished the book. 

I feel that the Lord is bringing me back to its pages. Maybe there is something that I need to learn from Christina's words.

I read the first chapter today which is titled Action. The author talks about documenting the now, the present. Action = a gesture or movement; the process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim.

My action right now is being in continual prayer. The Lord has been leading me to several scriptures and teaching me about prayer. And I have been praying like I have never prayed before.

When will the answer to the prayers come? I don't know. But prayer is the action that I am taking.

My gesture is to lay everything at His feet and like David says in Psalm 46:10, I am trying to be still and know that He is God. 

Leap with arms flung wide toward the heart of your life. Christina Rosalie

The heart of my life is my husband and my son and right now the only thing I can do is to fight our battles with scripture and prayer.

porter

Meet Porter, our newest border collie and member of the family. 

Our home is again filled with dog toys, barking, growling, cat and dog fights, dog treats, and water spills. It is also filled with a puppy that knows that he is loved and a puppy that gives that love back to us. 

easter

 

This is me and my family back in the late 1960's. I believe we are all dressed up ready for an Easter Sunday church service. 

This is back in the day where girls and ladies wore dresses, and boys and men wore suits every Sunday. Easter was the day you were able to get a new dress and, if you were lucky, you got new shoes too. Easter Sunday was the day when you were able to wear white because, you know, it was forbidden to wear white after Labor Day the year before. Spring, if only in name, was here!

Easter seemed to be a magical day in my childhood. We got up early, went outside to find the Easter eggs the bunny had hidden. If the weather didn't cooperate, he hid them in the garage, and mom always seemed to surprise us with something special. That might have been big chocolate bunnies, I even had my first white chocolate bunny, or maybe even real, live, brightly colored chickens from the five and dime store, Murphy's, or even a rabbit. We celebrated the resurrection of the Savior at the Morristown Christian Church, and then we had a large Easter dinner with lots of family surrounding the table. 

We may not get dressed up in dresses or suits anymore. The Easter bunny no longer visits our home since our son has left our nest. But Easter still is a special day. It's still a day to surround a dinner table with friends and family and it's the one day that reminds us that death has no hold on us and gives us the hope of living forever with our Father in heaven.

The Preacher and I hope that you have a beautiful Easter day.

my valentines

Pook's Crawfish Hole, Santa Fe, Texas

These two guys are my life. 

The Preacher has been, and always will be, my very best friend. It feels like life didn't begin until he and I were together. 

Through my son, I know what it means to be a part of one of God's miracles. He is what completes the Preacher and I.

Happy Valentine's Day my loves!

standstill

Last Wednesday, our Women's Bible Study group got together to drink some coffee and tea and go over the Discussion Questions from the book Love Does by Bob Goff. One of the last questions was "How are you engaged at this time in your life?"

At this time in our lives, the Preacher has been ill with stomach issues for several months, and it has gotten worse in the last few weeks. He has visited his doctor, seen a surgeon and was in the ER on one occasion. During these last few weeks, our lives have been at a standstill.

Last week, after the Preacher's appointment with his doctor, we went to a local bistro and had some breakfast. (I had breakfast, the Preacher just nibbled on my breakfast.) We always sit at the same table which is located next to the front window. Looking out, you see a statue of a pioneer man and wife representing the town's heritage. I saw that statue in a different light on that day.

It felt as if the Preacher and I were that statue. Standing there just watching the world go by with us stuck in this "what are we going to do" state of mind. The Preacher is in a lot of pain most days so doing anything other than work, is on hold right now. We work in the mornings and then, when the pain gets to be too much, we go and settle into our home. If you know us, you would know that this is not us.

I am not writing this to have you feel sorry for us. Not at all. I am writing this post to ask for prayers for the Preacher. He is so tired of feeling this pain. The doctors think that it is possibly his gallbladder so they scheduled him for surgery next week. Pray that the surgery goes well and pray that this will be the solution that he needs.

Thank you for your prayers

liars will be silenced

"...all who swear by God's name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced." Psalm 63:11

photos provided by Greg Furman from the A Caring Pregnancy Resource Center's Annual Fundraising Banquet

The Preacher and I want to thank Marilyn Musgrave for her tireless work through the Susan B. Anthony List. Thank you to the many volunteers of the A Caring Pregnancy Resource Center for the work they do here in northeast Colorado. And thank you to those who donated their time and money to attend our annual fundraising banquet. 

Through you, we pray that the mouths of the liars will be silenced. We pray that lives will be saved.

sunsets

The sunsets out here on the plains sometimes are just phenomenal. There is just something about how the sun slowly sets below the horizon with the clouds smeared across the sky and the sun begins to paint her beautiful colors.  They begin as a light pink, but then as you wait and watch, the sky shows off just how bright and beautiful it can become with it's yellows and reds, blues and oranges. Many a sunset can be quick and the sun seems to set ever so fast behind the western mountains and the horizon, but there have been a few that just seem to linger, letting you stand in awe of God's wonder.

The Preacher and I have always loved the sunsets. We love the sunsets more than sunrises. Mainly because, in order to view the sunrise, you have to get up early and we are not early risers.

We have traveled to many a place just to witness the sunsets. We have driven to the most southern point in the United States in Key West to watch the sunset. We have hiked to a mountain top to witness the sun setting. We have filled a picnic basket full of food, drove to a high point, ate our evening meal and watched the sun set. When we were building our cabin, we positioned the house on the property just so we would have the best view of the sunsets.

I don't know what it is about sunsets that seem to draw people into it's beauty. It could be the beauty alone, but more than likely it's a time to gaze upon the wonder of our Creator. A few years back, we had been shopping in Loveland, Colorado, which sits just at the base of the Rockies. When we came out of the store we were amazed by the sun setting over the mountains. The sun had gone behind a mountain but it's rays were shooting through the clouds up into the sky. It reminded us of what you might think it will look like when the Lord returns. And we were not the only people who noticed. I looked around and there were several people standing there, stopped in their tracks, just to view the wonder of the Lord's creation.

Out here on the plains, after a beautiful sunset has occurred, you can go on social media and there will be several people posting their pictures of the magnificence of the sunset that they just witnessed.

Wherever you are, whatever time the sun sets in your place in the world, stop, turn to the west and wait for it. Wait for that beautiful bright sun to go down, wait for the amazing array of colors to form, and thank God for His beauty and majesty.

anticipation

"Looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them."

– anne of green gables

l.m. montgomery 

celebrations

The Preacher is at a Christian school, he has played his Native American flute and now he tells the children a story of a little Indian boy who is in charge of his own celebrations.

The Preacher is at a women's luncheon, he has played his flute and now he tells them of the same little Indian boy. 

The story is from the book, I'm In Charge of Celebrations, by Bryd Baylor.

How can I be lonely? I'm the one in charge of celebrations ...it's true. I am. I put myself in charge. I choose my own. Last year I gave myself one hundred and eight celebrations–besides the ones that they close school for. I keep a notebook and I write the date and then I write about the celebration.

I have heard this story twice now within the last few weeks and upon hearing it I wondered, do we choose our own celebrations? And then I remembered some of the celebrations that we have celebrated within this last year.

We celebrated the beautiful western sky sunset by texting a friend saying only ..."sunset alert", and them knowing that we want to share the beauty.

We celebrated the night sky by sitting on a picnic table with friends, watching the stars shooting across the sky.

We celebrated when we received a card from a friend saying that they miss us.

We celebrated by traveling to places that we had not seen in a long time.

We celebrated when we heard the voices of little children singing the praises of our Lord.

We celebrated when we looked up and saw the last of the season's aspen leaves hanging on until the very end.

We celebrated when we drove down the road and our favorite song was playing and we sang loud.

We celebrated when finding an old photo of a father now gone for 36 years.

We celebrated when we saw a son's face after being separated for too long.

We celebrated when we looked across a crowded room and saw the one we love coming near.

We celebrated when we found that perfect gift for a loved one and seeing their face light up after the unwrapping.

Are you in charge of your celebrations? Celebrate the ordinary and the extraordinary.  

Choose to celebrate!

  

what a gift; what a promise!

Last month, the month of October, churches all over America celebrated Pastor Appreciation Month. 

DaySpring, an online website where you can order faith-based cards and gifts, wrote an article titled, "A Real Day in the Life of a Pastor". 

I want to share an excerpt from an article today, because a Pastor, no matter what church he pastors, needs these three things everyday, not just for the 31 days of October. 

They posed this question to many of the Pastors that they know, "How can we best show our appreciation?"  In every case, the following three points were mentioned:

1. Be constant in prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 5:25 (MSG), Paul says, "Friends, keep up your prayers for us." Paul understood that even great men of God are human beings. Just like us, they sometimes find themselves weary, discouraged, confused, and vulnerable. Your pastor depends on your faithful prayers for him, his family, and his ministry.

2. Be faithful to encourage. If you think your pastor gets his or her encouragement from God, you are right. However, God often delivers that encouragement through our words and deeds. Proverbs 12:25 (KJV) says, "Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad." You can begin by taking your pastor's hand and delivering a heartfelt thank you. Keep your words simple and positive, filled with life. For example: "I learned something important from your sermon this morning. Thanks for all the time you spent preparing it.", "Thanks for your prayers. They are making a big difference in my life." 

3. Be ready to lend a hand. Typically, the smaller the church, the more the pastor is asked to handle. Be ready to jump in and help. That might mean the physical upkeep of the building or helping with hospital calls and visits to shut-ins. You can also express your thankfulness through monetary gifts, babysitting, gifts certificates, or by delivering a nutritious, family meal. Running errands may not seem like much but in a pastor's harried day, it can mean a great deal. Keep your eyes and ears open and you will soon be aware of many ways to bless your pastor and lighten his load. 

Your pastor is a gift to you from God, placed in your life to teach, encourage, challenge, strengthen, and keep you growing spiritually. Paul says it best in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 (MSG): "Friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility or urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!" Like the Great Shepherd, they give their lives daily for those who have been given into their care. Jeremiah 3:15 (KJV) says, "I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding."

What a gift, what a promise!