Month: October 2014

Halloween Blessings

Posted on by Wendy
Halloween is a great time to practice hospitality.
Halloween is a great time to practice hospitality.

Today is Halloween. I love Halloween. I love carving jack o’lanterns. I loved it when I was a kid, even though Mama had to drive us ten miles into town to knock on doors of the people she knew. I loved it when I had my own house, but not my own children, and got to have trick-or-treaters for the first time. I loved it when my kids were little and picked out their cute little costumes. I loved it when we organized hay rides for our neighborhood. I love it now when I get to open the door to young trick-or-treaters and their parents.

I suppose I see Halloween as a way of connecting with community and extending hospitality. Going from door to door or answering the door, is a great way to reconnect with neighbors and it’s a great way to meet new neighbors. You actually see faces and make eye contact. It’s an opportunity to extend invitations for future get-togethers. It’s an opportunity to grow community.

Handing out candy is a great way to extend hospitality. I truly believe that there’s not many things closer to the heart of Jesus than the sweet, content smile of a child. It’s also a great opportunity to extend grace. It’s good to remember that little ones have been excited all day long about trick-or-treating and they don’t get started until very close to their bed time. They also probably had a very quick dinner, if they ate at all, before they got started, so they are likely to get tired and cranky quickly. Let’s try to remember that, if they don’t say thank-you for the candy. And does it really matter if they go through the bowl to find the piece they want?

I also recently read that many children who have autism really struggle with the costume thing. We can offer grace by smiling and handing them candy anyway. And let’s not forget the parents. Most parents have worked all day and rushed home to try and feed their kids before they rush out the door. Let’s offer them a kind word when their child is misbehaving or doesn’t say thank-you. They are probably doing the best they can. Maybe we could even offer parents a bottle of water or a Snickers Bar. The kids won’t eat those anyway. They like that fruity, gummy stuff.

Let’s all try to remember that tonight gives us the opportunity to be the face of Jesus. Let’s smile a lot and be kind to everyone who crosses our path. Let’s be a blessing to others as we work on extending hospitality. And let’s pray for the safety of all of those children and parents out there. Let’s pray that God will grant patience to all of the parents as they work hard at creating memories and keeping up with wild and cranky kids. Let’s pray that He reminds us to love everyone.

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2

Happy Halloween Ya’ll!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Are You Ready?

Posted on by Wendy
Are you prepared for whatever changes life brings?
Are you prepared for whatever changes life brings?

Fall weather in Georgia is anything, but predictable. I was huddling under a blanket at a football game on Friday night and then I was sweating buckets on Sunday afternoon on a walk I took, wishing I had a bottle of water. This volatility of the weather is nothing new to me. It could be anywhere from the forties to the eighties on any given day in the fall. It’s always best to be prepared with water and a jacket and maybe even a blanket and an umbrella.

But, as I was pondering the weather during my walk, it made me think about life. It’s really a lot like the weather, very unpredictable. The skies can turn from sunny to stormy in the blink of an eye in our financial lives, our relationships and our health. When we are prepared, we can weather the storms. Have we saved money? Have we talked with our spouses about the importance of staying committed to our marriages? Do we have a good support system from family and friends? Have we been vigilant about our health, through watching what we eat, exercising and getting check ups. Do we have a good doctor before we get sick? If we are prepared, we can usually get through the storms much more easily.

What about being prepared for storms in our spiritual lives? How do we react spiritually when life deals us a blow? Do we know how to turn to God in prayer when we are shaken? Is He like a daddy to us or a distant uncle? Do we know how to listen for His voice and look for His comfort? If we have been working on walking with God when times are good, then when times are bad, we can lean in close. It’s harder to really lean on someone who we have kept at a distance.

The Bible is also a fabulous source of comfort and hope when times are tough. If we have been reading it and studying it along the way, we know where to look when we really need some encouragement. God desires to help us; but He will only extend a hand. He will not force us to trust or love Him. Christianity doesn’t work that way.

What if today was our last day on earth? Does the thought frighten us or fill us with dread or are we okay with that, knowing the end here is simply the beginning of eternity?

We are not meant to live in fear. We are meant to live in love and joy. We are meant to have courage and peace in all circumstances, knowing that whatever happens, if our heart belongs to Jesus, we are covered. God has a plan for each and every one of us and knowing that, we are to start each day with a peace that can only come from an intimate relationship with Him. He will be our blanket, umbrella, raincoat, jacket, bottle of water and anything else we need in rough weather. All we have to do is follow His ways and we will always be prepared for anything and everything.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

What Can You Do?

Posted on by Wendy

 

How can you serve?
How can you serve?

Perhaps one of the most famous speeches ever written was John F. Kennedy’s speech that contained the mantra, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?” It was his inaugural speech and it was written in 1961. He asked all Americans to ask themselves that question.

I think it’s still a good question. We have drifted far away from public service. We have become a society that wants and expects to be served. We have become entitled and we often ask what the government can do for us rather than the other way around.

I think this new ideal has trickled into our churches as well. When we visit a church, our initial question is often, “What can this church offer me?” ” Are there strong youth and children’s programs?” ” Are there Sunday school classes in place?” ” Are there ongoing Bible studies?” ” What can I get out of it?”

But, perhaps the better questions are, “How could I serve in this church?” “Is there any place here where I can use my gifts and talents?” “Can I help make a difference here?” “Is this a place where I can really serve Christ?” “Can I learn more and become more like Jesus here?”

We really don’t even have to leave the church where we are to ask these questions, but they are questions that need to be asked. The heart of Christianity is love and service grows out of love. No, service doesn’t get us into heaven. But, once we know Jesus, we are supposed to want to grow to be more like him.

That requires more work and commitment  than sitting on a pew on Sunday. Jesus was a man who washed his followers’ feet. He wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty to show his love for humanity. He fed the hungry and healed the sick and touched countless lives in his short three years of ministry here on earth. In the end, he willingly paid the ultimate sacrifice with his own life. Then after the resurrection, forgave his followers who doubted him. He even cooked them a meal. Love, forgiveness and service were huge in his ministry.

So perhaps if we truly want to know Jesus better, we should try to act more like him. Maybe our first question should be, “What can I do to serve God?” If that becomes our mantra, then it spills over into church life. When we have a church full of people who are willing to serve, that spills over into our communities. It just grows bigger and bigger, until perhaps once again, we become a country full of citizens who ask themselves how they can serve their country and not the other way around. We can become a country who makes God proud.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong of the family of believers.” Galatians 6:9

What can you do to serve?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Are There Dumb Questions?

Posted on by Wendy
When we pray, are we seeking God's will or our own?
When we pray, are we seeking God’s will or our own?

I used to believe that there are no dumb questions. I want people around me to feel free to ask anything that is on their mind. Now that I have been a substitute teacher for eight years, I have changed my mind. There are some questions that are dumb, mainly because the person asking them is intentionally trying to be a smarty pants and get a laugh from their peers.

I recently heard a pastor preach about the Sadducees trying to catch Jesus, by asking him a dumb question. What if a woman marries a man and he dies and then she marries his brother and he dies? This scenario goes on through seven brothers. They wanted to know whose wife she would be at the resurrection. It was a ridiculous question, and was intended as a trap, but Jesus answered. He told them there was no marriage at the resurrection. We all just belong to God.

The pastor went on to talk about other ridiculous questions like, was the creature who swallowed Jonah, a fish or a whale? The answer was, “What difference does it make? God got Jonah where He wanted him.” That’s a perfect answer to that question, as far as I’m concerned.

There are people who ask questions simply to hear themselves talk. They are not seekers of truth, but are more interested in causing doubt or division. That got me to thinking about prayer.

Are there dumb prayers? Maybe.

When we pray, if we act like God is a genie or a Magic 8 Ball, that might be a waste of everyone’s time. If we spend our time praying to win the Lotto; that may not be considered wise prayer.

I often hear the teenagers that I have worked with complain that God doesn’t answer their prayers. My answer has always been that He does answer prayers, but the answer is sometimes, “no.” But, the next question is, “What are you praying for?” If you are praying for another person to like you or for it to snow in August so school will be cancelled, you are not praying for the right things. This usually makes them think.

Jesus taught us to pray for God’s will to be done. That means we should be asking for guidance, not begging for favors. We are supposed to ask for our daily bread, not for riches, which means we are supposed to ask for enough, not abundance.We are supposed to ask for forgiveness as we seek assistance in forgiving others. We are supposed to ask for strength when dealing with temptation and deliverance from evil. We are supposed to end our prayers by glorifying God.

I admit that my prayers don’t  always look like that, but I suspect we get answers to prayers following that template more than others. I think the key is God’s will, not ours. It’s about God focus not self-focus, a tricky concept in today’s society. When we pray for answers concerning His will, we will get them eventually. We sometimes have to be patient and watchful, but we will get them.

Now, I totally believe in conversational prayer and I believe that we are supposed to pray about all things that concern us. But, if we believe that God consistently denies our prayers, then maybe we need to take a good hard look at what we are praying for. Sometimes the answer is, “no,” but sometimes it’s clearly not in God’s will. If we seek His will in our lives, we may find that our prayers start looking a lot different than when we were seeking our own will. We also may find that the answers come much faster.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Use Me

Posted on by Wendy
Try asking God to, "use me," when you pray and see what happens. Expect to be surprised.
Try asking God to, “use me,” when you pray and see what happens. Expect to be surprised!

I recently received a text from a friend of mine that read, “Hi, wanted to tell you something. I was looking for an old e-mail, but instead I landed on one that explained Daniel 8, the angel. You are being used. Have a good day.” Of course I couldn’t resist. My reply was, “By whom?” Her answer was, “God.”

I smiled as I read it. We had been talking about angels in the Bible the day before and the Book of Daniel, and she had been given some answers she was seeking.

The phrase, “being used,” has a negative connotation for most of us. We don’t like to be used. People can use us for our money or our status or our connections. We can’t even buy used cars anymore. They are pre-owned.

But, our relationship with God should be different. We are supposed to want Him to use us in whatever way He deems appropriate. That can be an uncomfortable concept because we don’t like to give up control, (or the control we believe we have over our lives.)

I found myself pondering the concept over the past week and I decided to try it out in prayer. I have been asking God to “use me.” I have had no idea what that may look like until yesterday.

My family has been visiting a small church. On our first visit, a woman approached me and told me she could tell I was a singer. I laughed and told her I used to sing in church all of the time while I was growing up. It’s been over twenty years since I sang up in front of a church. I have been busy serving other places and no one ever asked. She told me I should think about singing with the choir.

Yesterday after church, a different lady approached me and asked me if I would like to sing in their Christmas Cantata. I told her I might, and she told me when practice was.

At this point, I’ll have to admit I was kind of stunned. I began my faith walk singing in church. I have since been involved in teaching Sunday school and working on Christmas plays and helping to coordinate Vacation Bible School. I have been an organizer and a planner. I prayed for a week for God to use me and to guide me where He wanted me. I have now been asked to sing twice.

It certainly was not what I expected. It’s so very different from what I have been doing, but you never know what you are going to get, when you intentionally decide to listen and obey the will of God. So, I’ll sing in the Christmas Cantata and I’m sure I will be incredibly blessed, the way I always am when I practice obedience. The journey is never dull.

And today, I have a challenge for you. Try the “use me,” prayer over the next few weeks. You may be surprised at where God leads you. I would love to hear about it.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

That’s Who We Are

Posted on by Wendy
Loving others make Christians different. That's just who we are.
Loving others make Christians different. That’s just who we are.

We recently had a new family move in down the street from us. They moved here to Georgia, from New York. I made a plate of brownies and gathered the family to go pay them a, “welcome to the neighborhood visit.” When the husband opened the door and I told him why we were there, he looked at me like I had two heads and called his wife. They kind of nervously shook our hands and chatted for a very short time. We said, goodbye and headed home.

My daughter inquired why we always bake something when people move in. We are baking for perfect strangers. I told her, “We make it our business to welcome new people to our neighborhood. That’s just who we are.”

I shared my story with another new neighbor. They moved here from Charleston, but were originally from Connecticut. She laughed hysterically. “They don’t do that up North.” I found myself saying again, that welcoming new people with baked goods is something we do, whether the new neighbors are from up North or the other side of the world.  “That’s just who we are.”

When we were going though a period of time where my teens were really complaining about going to church on Sundays, I made it very clear to them under no uncertain terms, that we go to worship service on Sundays. That’s just who we are. They also pointed out to my hubby and me that we are the only family that they know who eat dinner together at the table every night. You know my response at this point.

All of these conversations have been swirling in my head about how we define ourselves. What in our lives matter the most to us? What are the behaviors and traditions that we simply will not budge on?

What about our faith walk? If we know who we are in Christ, who does the world see in us? Do people suspect that we are a Christian when they cross paths with us? Do they know it instantly or do they have no idea who we belong to? The Bible tells us that we are supposed to become more Christ like on our journey. Does our growth match the time that we have been believers?

Jesus told his followers that the most important commandment was to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these.” Mark 12:29-30. Those are red letter words, so they are really important. In Luke, he goes onto explain who your neighbor is by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Jews did not like the Samaritans. Jesus knew that, yet he told the story anyway.

Love is what sets Christianity apart from the rest, our love for our God and our love for others. It’s not about hate or force or fear. Those are the opposites of Christianity and the opposites of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Those things come from another source entirely.

We are supposed to render aid whenever we can. We are supposed to feed the hungry and nurse the sick and befriend the friendless and try to help the helpless, whether or not they are Christian, because in doing so, we are showing the lost, the face of Christ. In doing so, we become more Christ like. In doing so, we may be the pivotal force in helping those who don’t know Jesus become those who seek Jesus. In doing so, we are loving our God and our neighbor and that’s just who we are.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Feeding Yourself First

Posted on by Wendy
Keeping your emotional gas tank filled is a necesity if you want to be a good servant.
Keeping your emotional and spiritual gas tank filled is a necessity if you want to be a good servant.

If you have ever traveled on an airplane before, you have had to sit through the safety video. Just for the record, I always pay attention to those, not because I’m a nerd who always follows the rules, (which I kind of am), but because I was sitting next to an air traffic controller one night on a really turbulent flight (so turbulent that one of the flight attendants got sick), and he told me that most airplane crashes are survivable, but you have to know what to do and most people ignore the video. Point taken, I always pay attention to the boring, but short, video.

The video says that if there is a situation where cabin pressure gets lost, that oxygen masks will drop down from the ceiling. It then goes onto say, that if you are traveling with a small child, you are to put on your own mask first and then the child’s. Those instructions have always bothered me. They probably trouble most parents. We always put our children first. If somebody goes without oxygen, it’s going to be me, not my child.

But, the reason for those instructions is that there will likely be panic and maybe turbulence. If you quickly get yourself situated, and you can if you were watching the video, because you listened to the instructions, then you can easily help your child or anyone else nearby.

Many of  us often frown on the idea of ever putting ourselves before our family or others. Putting yourself last makes you a good Christian, right? It’s an age-old myth that is very easy to buy into and get twisted up in.

Yes, we are supposed to give our time and resources in service to others. Yes, we are supposed to feed others when we can. But, if we never feed ourselves, won’t we eventually starve and have much less, if anything to give? This is called burnout and this is what many of the givers and servers often find themselves experiencing. We can get so burned out, that we just walk away from all of our acts of service. Who wins then?

The Bible tells us that Jesus himself, sometimes needed a break. “But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.” Luke 5:16

Jesus is the picture of the ultimate servant. He could heal people. He could cast out demons. He could resurrect people from the dead. He did so regularly with an open heart and I truly believe, just because he could and he hated to see all of the human suffering. The crowds hounded him. There were always more sick people, more questions and more need.

He often, took quiet time to pray. I think that Jesus is a good model for us in that, we need to give ourselves some space to breathe. We have to take time to take care of ourselves and our own hearts before we can help others. We need to intentionally take some quiet time for ourselves in prayer. We also may need to sleep late for a day or find time to take a walk or read a book.

We need to keep a close watch on the needle of our emotional and spiritual gas tank. When it gets low, we need to take note and fill it up in whatever way allows us to get out there and happily serve again. Sometimes that means feeding ourselves first, but if that’s what it takes so that we can help feed the multitudes, don’t you think that it’s worth it?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

What is Your Ministry?

Posted on by Wendy
We all have a ministry. What's yours?
We all have a ministry. What’s yours?

A friend of mine and I were sitting in the car rider line yesterday hashing out faith questions and religion. She is fairly new to the faith and she has lots of questions and a few complaints. For example, she asked me today how long she would be considered new? That’s a good question, one I never really thought about, but then again, she always gives me lots of food for thought. She went on to ask if there was some type of boot camp or something. I chuckled at that, I told her, not one that I know of.

She dove in head first at her new church and not only attends worship service and Sunday school, but a women’s study too. She says that the life timers treat her differently, but she feels like she has had deeper experiences than many of them.

She raises an interesting point. Those who have spent their lifetimes engaged in church can sometimes lose sight of the life changing, breathtaking beauty of grace. People who have lived much of their lives separated from God feel like grace is as precious and essential as oxygen. It’s brand new to them. It’s a lifeline.

The life timers, as she calls them, know this too, but we can lose sight of, “How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.” New believers are often desperate for knowledge and understanding and those of us who have believed for as long as we can remember, really need to remind ourselves how very important each sheep that has been found, is to God. Maybe we should all do a little better at welcoming them and make a better effort at answering their questions, remembering we were all lost at one time.

They may have questions that we need to be asking ourselves. Her second question for me today and the one that really stuck with me, was what does it mean when people talk about their ministry? I told her that just meant how you share God with the world around you. She wanted to know why they just don’t say that. Maybe we all have a little Pharisee in us with the overuse of religious terminology.

Whatever you call it, all Christians have a ministry. It doesn’t have to mean that you stand in a pulpit and preach every Sunday. You may teach Sunday school or you may keep the church nursery. Your ministry may just be to the little ones you are raising at the moment or it may be being the face of Jesus in your work place. It may be welcoming new believers to the faith and taking them out for coffee. But here’s the deal, if you belong to Jesus, you have a ministry.

Sometimes it’s a good idea to stop and ask yourself what it is. Does it need some definition? Has it grown stagnant? Maybe it’s time to start something new. If you don’t know, pray about it. It’s all about the journey. Jesus is ready when you are.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Can You Feel God?

Posted on by Wendy
Seek and you will find.
Seek and you will find.

My family visited a church last Sunday. It was small. I know small isn’t cool these days. The mega-church is where it’s at. But, my hubby and I are traditionalists. We like small. We realized long ago that we kind of swim upstream where society is concerned. We also decided that we are okay with it. I spoke with the pastor at length, before we visited. After that sweet man, gave me over an hour of his time, he simply said to me, “Come and visit. Either you will feel God here or you won’t.”

Wow, such simple words, yet so profound. There are a hundred different ways to worship. Some people like a rocking service with a complete band. Others prefer kneeling and tradition and quiet. Some feel it’s very important to take communion every Sunday. Some have to have a cup of coffee in their hand while others would never allow food or drink in their sanctuary.

The Bible doesn’t give many specific instructions on the right way to worship. The point is we are there to worship God, our Creator, the Creator of the universe. Personally, I don’t believe that the specifics matter that much. But, that pastor’s words stuck in my head for two weeks before we visited. “When we attend worship, can we feel God?”

In the end, that seems to me to be the only question that matters. As Christians, we don’t worship a far away, absentee landlord, God. We worship a living, breathing God who is very involved in our lives. We worship a God who sent His son to die for us. We worship a God who sent the Holy Spirit to inspire men to write a guidebook called the Bible to instruct us and tell us how to live and grow in spiritual maturity, a book that keeps us safe.

Our God doesn’t strike us down for making mistakes. Our God doesn’t instruct other Christians to strike us down for making mistakes either. Although, there are religions out there who do. Our God is a God of love. The word love appears in the Bible 551 times in the NIV.

So, the question, “Can you feel God?” is a huge question. Feeling God where we worship is of utmost importance, but as I thought about it, I wondered about feeling God in other areas of our lives. Do we feel God when we pray, or in our relationships? What about when we are making decisions? Can we feel God at the family dinner table?

I have found myself pondering this question for a couple of weeks. I think it may be one that we should all ponder. The Bible tells us, “Keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

I take this to mean if we seek God, then we will find Him. Can we feel God in our lives? If the answer is, “no,” then maybe it’s time to do some seeking. Can we feel God where we worship? That may be a hard question, but one that needs to be asked. If the answer is “no,” then we maybe need to ask why and do some soul searching.

As for us, in the little church we visited, the answer is a resounding “yes!” and it was awesome!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

To All of the Prayer Warriors

Posted on by Wendy
Prayer works. Let's keep praying.
Prayer works. Let’s keep praying.

Last Tuesday, I wrote a post about prayer warriors and who qualifies as one, and the importance of them. I then asked my readers to please pray for a woman named Carolyn who had been called to go to Sierra Leone to help with education in the Ebola outbreak. You can read that post here, if you missed it. http://gracefulgaines.com/2014/10/14/calling-all-prayer-warriors/

I got such a huge response from that post and many shares on Facebook. Ya’ll are awesome!  She was scheduled to leave at the end of October. I have been praying for her safety and God’s protection over her family and her mission and I suspect you have too.

Today, I received an e-mail from her sister-in-law. Last week, a nurse who didn’t know she was infected with Ebola, flew from Dallas to Ohio to visit her mother and fiance.Can you guess where Carolyn and her hubby live?  If you guessed Ohio, you are correct. The government group that Carolyn works for, has decided due to her extensive training, that she needs to remain in Ohio and help educate the people there. They have postponed the trip to Africa.

Is the hair standing up on the back of your neck yet? This young woman was called to Sierra Leone to assist in the worst Ebola outbreak ever. She willingly agreed to go. She has received training and immunizations to prepare her for this trip that would take her to the other side of the world. She is a very strong Christian who has a heart for God and for service.

Many of us were in prayer for her. Then out of the blue, there is an Ebola scare in Ohio, right where she lives. She has the ability, training and willingness to offer assistance and just happens to live in Ohio.  There are fifty states here in the homeland. What are the chances? God is always at work. He has His hands in this situation. There are no coincidences where He is concerned.

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Do you see how that fits here? Truth can be amazing.

Another Bible passage that came across my desk this week was from Psalms and too good not to share. “If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone….The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.” Psalm 91:9-14

People will say the Bible is irrelevant.  I say that Ebola is definitely a plague.

Prayer works. Please keep praying for Carolyn and her safety. Pray that God will keep her under His protection. Pray that God will protect those exposed to this plague as well as all of the health care workers not only in this country, but all over the world as well, who are working to stop it. God is in control. Let’s all try to remember that as we put on our Armor of God and pray.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂