Changes

Okay, so I've changed my colors a little bit. I tried to share my blog with someone today and their computer had the colors all wrong. I couldn't even read what was there unless I highlighted it.

Change is good though. Hope this works a little better.
:)

Summertime!

Well, I sure haven't posted anything lately. Life has been crazy busy. End of school, daughter graduating, party to plan and host, clean up after the party . . . the list goes on. Now I'm getting ready for VBS.

I love VBS! I love the singing and the games and the crafts and the snacks and the community and most of all the Bible stories. This year my room has the story of Elijah after he ran from Jezebel and he heard God in a quiet whisper. So, I have to build a cave. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do that yet. All of the other VBS rooms have a guy to help out with building. My honey could build a motor any day of the week, but don't give him wood and nails. So, if it is to be, it's up to me! (My mom's lifelong motto.) I'm thinking chicken wire and brown paper. We'll see . . .

I'm also starting to think about the Bible study sessions for our mission trip this summer. We help host a camp for kids and their moms in Tennessee at Deer Run Retreat Center. I will be ministering to moms this summer. Can't wait!

Deer Run Retreat from Rick Simms on Vimeo.

"> Check out the video about Deer Run!


I've got lots of journal entries to type and post, but right now I have 2 bushels of corn to freeze and peaches waiting to become jam. So, off to the kitchen I go!

I love summertime!

America: Land of the Free and Plenty

Two things happened the other day. First, I received a text message from my friend, Tammy telling me that Oprah was giving everyone in America a free KFC meal. It said to go to her website, download the coupon and take it to KFC for your meal. The coupons would only be available for 24 hours.
Wow! What a generous offer that seemed to be. Everyone in America? Jeff and I thought she might spend around $150 million. Our number could by way off, but at any rate, she is going to spend a lot of money. More than I would ever have to spend.
The second thing that happened . . . I was reading on Beth’s blog. Melissa had just returned from India and was showing pictures and talking about the 2 Companion children she sponsors. The conditions in India are pitiful. The people are very poor. I saw pictures of people washing in little spigots on the street or in river water that looked like very creamy coffee. I saw slums where 5 people live in a room and people sleep on the roof or the street. I saw the sweet little faces of Pramila and Manot who live in a mud hut with no running water nearby or electricity. They are far from the luxury of the Calcutta slums. I saw depravity; God’s children who only ask that we pray for them.
I pondered these two things as I lay in the bed that night – our fast food computer downloaded world made a stark contrast to the mud huts, dirty water and slums of India. The thing is, we in America, no matter how poor we might think we are, live like kings compared to most people across the third world. We really have no idea what we have here.
Suddenly, Oprah’s generous offer didn’t seem so generous any more. $150 million dollars on fast food for people who can afford to own a computer and a car? Couldn’t they buy their own KFC meal? Wouldn’t that $150 million dollars have been better spent on wells that would provide clean drinking water for millions of people across the world? What was she thinking?
Television numbers? I’m not trying to bash Oprah here, but her generous offer is a perfect example of American mentality. We think of ourselves, our luxuries, our wants. We are greedy!
My husband happened to ride by KFC the day after that text message and the cars trying to get in were lined up down the road. I’m sure they were all thanking Oprah for their dinner that night, but I wonder . . . what if she had said, “For every person who clicks on this link on my website, I will give $5 toward a well in a village in a third world country,” how many people would have rushed to do that? I bet not half as many. We’re greedy. If it’s not for us, we don’t care.
America! Land of the free (will)! Land of the (I want) plenty!

Oh, but hasn’t God blessed us with plenty so that we might let it overflow to those who don’t have as much? And, hasn’t God blessed us with freedom so that we might be able to do with our money what we want. These are really big responsibilities that we’ve been given and we’ve forgotten these things. Or, maybe we never knew them at all. One thing is for sure – we are blind to others and are so caught up in our own little worlds of money and things and who has the most that we don’t look to see that we have a lot of opportunity to help others.
Will we take the time to look? Will we take the time to ask God how we might help – to be willing to reach out beyond what we know to bless others from our blessings? Or, will we remain comfortable in our cocoons of free and plenty? The choice is ours. What will we do?
Luke 6:38 says, “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Oh LORD, these are BIG thoughts for a little girl like me. I have no idea where you are going with this. I have no idea what you want me to do with these ideas. All I know is that you are going to have to do a work in me. LORD< give me a heart for your children. Make me love them beyond what I’m capable of because I think my heart is not nearly big enough. Give me a heart like yours – full of love, full of compassion, full of warmth, full of sacrifice and full of whatever else I might need. Full of courage maybe – ‘cause you know I’m a scardy cat and sometimes you ask some scary stuff out of your people. Yes, full of courage.
LORD, I know I am only one person and it doesn’t seem I could do much. But, You are everything and if I am one person FULL of You, I will be able to do whatever you’ve called me to do. So, I ask that You continue Your good work in me. Teach me. Give me a heart like Yours, eyes to see, ears to hear and courage to go forward.
I praise You! I thank You! In Jesus’ name . . .

Spring Break and Scripture

Okay, so I'm excited beyond measure that Spring Break is here. Friday morning I felt such delight at just being able to sit and read and write and not hae to rush off to work. I had sweet fellowship with my LORD that was much needed.

I've been thinking about memorizing part of Isaiah 55 for my next memory verse and I sat down that morning to think it through. I decided on verses 8-12 because they hold a few important verses that you often here, but also because they have some personal connections for me. I love the verses that say "the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." I know for a fact that He has done both those things for me. That day I sat on the porch at the river house and all the birds around came in front of me and the air was liquid with sound - oh, I know that was the work of my LORD and it was just for me at that moment. And the day I first read the verse about the trees clapping their hands, I actually got up out of my chair to figure out what the noise was outside. It was the leaves blowing in the breeze. It sounded like rain but wasn't. Too cool! Praise you LORD. I am always amazed by You.

As I was reading the verses and thinking them through I became captured by the thought of being new and how God picks us up and makes us shine like the stars. I wrote a poem. Here goes:

Diamonds

Like diamonds
formed under great pressure,
we are rescued
from our dark cave.

Gently plucked
from black corners,
we are cut,
and rubbed,
and polished by our Maker.

With no light of our own,
for in the dark
we cannot sparkle,
we only reflect -
the Light of the world,
the Light of our Savior -
Jesus Christ.

It is for Him and
because of Him
we shine!

Boy, I needed some God time on Friday. Thank you LORD for obliging.

Now, if I could get something done on Spring Break - one project- and not feel overwhelmed by all the things that need to be done, I'll be okay. I'm a dreamer, not always a doer. I want it done but don't always get it done. Oh, how I envy those folks who can get it done and still have time left over. How in the world do they do it? Sigh . . . .

Scripture memory verse #6!

Okay, so I haven't memorized all of Psalm 81:8-16 yet. I have 8-12 down but I'm shaky on 13-15. Verse 16 I had already memorized, so I'm good there.

For #6 I decided on Philippians 3:8-9. Here goes (from memory - mostly):
"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

I found this one when I was looking for scripture for some of my devotionals and it caught my eye. Then, not 5 minutes later, I was reading Beth M's blog and her intern had typed it at the bottom of her post. I knew that was my cue to adopt this one.

And today when I was running through my scriptures on the way home, I began to realize how they all fit together with these ideas: faith, righteousness, light. Back in January I wrote Psalm 37:5-6 on my second card and thought I would memorize that one. But, I decided to work on Psalm 19:1-4 instead. So, that card has been on my ring since then and I've not really bothered to look at it until today. I know why now - because I had to understand this concept of righteousness that comes from Jesus - "righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

Psalm 37:5-6 says:
"Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in Him and He will do this:
He will make your righteousness
shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like
the noon day sun."

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn because your righteousness comes from Jesus and Jesus is the light of this world. If you would trust in Him, the light of Jesus would shine on you and your cause. You would be covered in His righteousness. I needed to know that before I understood the righteousness in Psalm 37.

Wow! I want a Philippians 3:8-9 attitude. I want to consider Christ my gain and take on his righteousness. I want the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. Thank you LORD that you would even promise that to me. I pray LORD that I will continually commit my way to You and will trust in You. I pray that my heart would not be divided but would be all about You. Give me the strength to live like this, LORD, so that I may count it all loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord! In Jesus' mighty name . . .

Crossing Bridges

I was talking with an old friend the other day about the calling she feels God has placed on her life and how she is scared to move forward. I know that feeling. I even expressed to her the reason I had to go forward with the thing God was calling me to do. Several years ago, when I first began my adult “walk with God”, I was attending a WMu meeting. There was an invitation for people to pray and I knew deep down in my heart that God was asking me to do the praying that evening. Oh, how I didn’t want to do that. I had never prayed in front of others. My heart was racing. My palms were sweating. I had the words on my tongue but I let the moment pass by and someone else prayed. I knew I had blown it. That was my moment. God had given it to me and I didn’t take it.
Later, I felt like God had backed away from me. It took days in prayer to feel like He was by my side again. I didn’t like that, so the next time He gave me that opportunity, I took it. I prayed out loud in front of others. It really wasn’t that bad and soon I was comfortable praying in public. God had opened me up to something I probably would have never done on my own.
After I talked with my friend, I began to re-think this event. You know, I might have felt like God backed away from me when I didn’t do what He asked, but I was really the one who backed away. Consider the idea of “walking with God” . . . you are walking along, learning, talking, all that good stuff. You are happy to be near God, when – BAM – suddenly, you are in a place you haven’t been before and didn’t see coming. A bridge you’ve never crossed. You’re scared, unconfident and like a spooked horse, you begin to back up. “Whoa! I’m not sure I want to go over that bridge. I’ve never done that before.” And all the “what-ifs” start playing in your mind.
What if I fail?
What if people think I’m strange?
What if I make a fool of myself?
What if this isn’t right?
What if . . . . on and on . . . .

God is still standing at that bridge. He is coaxing you to cross. “It’s okay. I’m right here. I’ve got you. Don’t be afraid.” But, your heart is pounding, your palms are sweating, you’re shaking and the moment is quickly passing by. If you don’t take the opportunity to cross this bridge, it might be a while before you get back there again.
Never fear, though, God is always by your side, but sometimes it takes a while to recover from a bridge moment. More than likely, you’ll get another chance to cross that bridge. When you do, you’ll realize it wasn’t that bad in the first place. Secondly, the peace and satisfaction that comes from knowing you walked over, with God, is grand. It is worth the trip. And then, you are in a new place, freer than you were before because, with the help of God, you have conquered your fear.
As a Christian, I think the first bridge we come to is the bridge of salvation. Can you remember that feeling when you realized Christ was calling you? Nervous. Shaking. Unsure. Can’t ignore it. Heart pounding. Emotions flooding. There he was – calling you. You wanted to go . . . but should you?
And, oh! The sense of peace and joy and satisfaction that spills over you when you step across that bridge – it’s priceless! Redeemed. Ransomed. Bought with a price. Free. A child of God. The reward for crossing the first bridge is eternal life. Wow! Now, that was worth the trip, wasn’t it?
But, remember that feeling when you stood at the bridge and knew Christ was calling you forward because you’ll feel it again some day. Maybe he’ll ask you to pray out loud, like He did to me. You’ll feel the call, the heart beat, the sweaty palms, time is ticking. Will you go? Or, maybe your bridge is an invitation to sing, or speak or teach a lesson. Maybe you’ve been asked to hand out tracks. Perhaps you have a friend that you feel you need to witness to. Should you?
If you are walking with God, bridge encounters are inevitable. They are going to happen because you can’t walk forward with God without having to do something new and different. He will take you outside your comfort zone. Never fear! He is with you every step of the way. Lean on Him. He’ll get you across. And, before long, you’ll be crossing a bridge without a second thought.
If you aren’t having bridge encounters, then perhaps you’ve stalled out. Perhaps you aren’t walking with God in the way you should. Maybe you’ve gotten comfortable somewhere and decided to sit down. Get up! You’re not going to get where God wants to take you just sitting there. Grab hold of His hand and know that you can do all things through Christ.
When you feel that nervous feeling and your heart begins to race . . . when you know a bridge is up ahead . . . don’t turn and run! Hold on to Jesus and go across. You’ll be glad you did!

Read: (I’ve been praying for what to put here. Don’t have it yet! Any ideas?)


Daily Prayer: LORD, I know you have bridges for me to cross. I know I will need some help. Please give me the strength to cross over. Fill me full of your Holy Spirit and lead me across. I want to go places with you. Let me not be comfortable sitting still. Keep me moving forward always following your lead. Thank you! In Jesus’ name . . . .

Scripture Memory Verse #5

So, I picked out my memory verse to post on Beth Moore's blog and I thought I would be the only person with this verse. It isn't a well-known verse and maybe some folks have never even run across it, so I didn't expect to see it posted. I had decided on Psalm 81:10 &16 for very personal reasons. But, there it was! Except, someone else had posted the whole thing - 81:6-16.

Oh, I was taking the lazy way out thinking I would just do the two. But, now I'm thinking I really do need to memorize more. The thought actually crossed my mind earlier but I was just thinking easy. (And, to be honest, I've already memorized 10 &16. ) So, I will try to memorize 7-16, I think.

I chose this verse because it was an answer to a prayer I had several years ago. I believe I was doing Beth's Believing God study at the time. I remember one Friday afternoon, doing my Bible study at the kitchen table, I became overwhelmed with the urge to pray for God to put His words in my mouth. I prayed it over and over. It was a fervent prayer and I felt so passionate about what I was asking Him to do. At the time, I didn't know why I was asking for that. It was the first time that prayer came into my conscience or crossed my lips. And, when I say I asked over and over, I mean I was pretty much begging. A very strange experience.

The next day, I was randomly writing scripture on cards as I sat at the table and talked with my husband and his brother. I didn't really pay much attention to what I was writing but just wrote some things down that looked good to me at the time.

Monday morning, during my quiet time, I pulled out the cards I had written and began to read over them. When I read the card with Psalm 81:10 - "I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it!" - I was floored. How could I have not noticed what it said when I wrote it Saturday morning? It was a direct answer to my fervent Friday prayer.

I was completely amazed that God would speak to me in this way. First of all, it was obviously meant as a personal answer to my begging.
"Put your words in my mouth!"
"Open wide your mouth and I will fill it."
Wow! I'm still shocked that God would speak to me in this way. Who am I that the God of all the universe would speak directly to me? No booming voice. Just words on a page - just for me. Amazing!

At the time, I had no idea what God was doing. He is like that. He doesn't show you the whole thing all at once. Walking with God is like scenery on the road - you can only see so far ahead. Now, I know that He has given me words. I have spoken at several church events and I'm now in the process of writing a devotional book that will be used as a fundraiser for my church's youth mission trip this summer.

I didn't know it then, but God was letting me know that He was going to give me words to say. He promised to feed me with the "finest of wheat; with honey from the rock [He] will satisfy [me]' (v. 16)

Oh, Jesus, my rock, is satisfying and he is sweet.

Thank you LORD, for your amazing words. Thank you for filling my mouth with your words. Thank you for satisfying me with your good things. Your mercies are great! I do not deserve your attentions, but you give them anyway. Hesed love: covenant, faithful, bound, loyal. Your love endures forever! Praise the LORD!