Month: August 2015

You Are Always Welcome at His Table

Posted on by Wendy
We are all welcome at His table.
We are all welcome at His table.

Yesterday, my pastor asked us to really think about what it means to take communion. He said that many of us think of dainty little cups with dainty little wafers. We politely sip and go on about our business. He said that coming to the table with Jesus wasn’t a one time polite invitation and that we are truly missed when we are elsewhere.

He then went on to talk about being welcomed to Sunday dinner at different people’s houses while growing up and how friends can really become family.

I was reminded of my own Sunday dinner experiences. My mama always had a big Sunday dinner and there was always room for extras. I had one friend in particular, who would call me right after church and ask what we were having, almost every Sunday. She would then be over in a flash.

Mama always welcomed her at our table and Daddy would ask where she was if she didn’t show for the Sunday meal. She was always welcome. She was family. We knew it and she knew it. We loved her and she was missed when she was away. My parents always told her so.

Mama always had a way of making all of my friends feel welcome and she always kept extra food in the freezer for extras who might show up. There was always enough. I never really had to ask.

Now that I have teens of my own, I try to provide the same welcome that my mama always did. When my daughter has friends over to study, we always invite them to stay for dinner. At first, they acted surprised at the invitation, but they usually accepted it.

Now they are completely comfortable and expect it, which is fine with me. My daughter has one particular friend, just like I did, that has her own chair at our table. She always sits in the same spot and considers it hers.

We like to engage the teens in conversation and ask them what’s going on in their lives and they like to talk about themselves. They feel comfortable helping themselves to seconds. They feel welcome. They feel like their presence matters to us.

When I don’t see one of my kids’ friends for a while, I always tells them that I’ve missed seeing them.

My pastor pointed out that Jesus feels the same way when we are absent from His table. We are all welcome. We are all family when we come together. We are missed when we don’t show for whatever reason. But, He saves a chair for us and He welcomes us back, no matter how long our absence may be or whatever the reason.

The invitation is always open and the banquet is always ready, but not for that polite, four fork, linen napkin in your lap, meal. Nope, this invitation is for real fellowship over a real meal. Think fried chicken, corn bread and iced tea. This table is for authentic communion and community.

There’s always enough. We never even have to ask. Why in the world, would we want to miss it?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Middle School Wisdom

Posted on by Wendy
The faith of the very young and very old is equally impressive.
The faith of the very young and the seniors can be equally impressive.

Last Sunday, my hubby and I started teaching a middle school Sunday School class. We had taken a break for the summer while school was out. We had done a little soul-searching about teaching this year. We started teaching middle school when my daughter was in middle school. My son came two years after and now we had two high schoolers.

Was God still calling us to teach young teens or was He calling us to plug in somewhere else? We both felt that we were supposed to continue with the middle school class and on our first class, we were reminded why.

We had been talking about how every person is special to God and that when we let the opinions of other people who label us as good, bad, popular, nerdy, etc…, matter, we take our focus off of God. His thoughts about us are the only truths that matter. We also talked about how when we label others with those same labels, we are criticizing God, who created everyone. Do we really feel qualified to do that?

One of the girls said, “Well, not when you put it that way.” Score!

We also talked about being a Christian, and the same thirteen-year-old, shared that her best friend admitted to not being a believer and that it upset her so much that she spent an hour trying to convince him otherwise. She shared that something inside her just couldn’t let it go.

I told her that she was listening to the Holy Spirit. She hadn’t really thought of that.

Therein lies the beauty of working with middle schoolers and young believers. They are passionate about their faith and they want others to be as well. They are actually concerned about their friends who aren’t Christians.

Most of us lose that deep conviction along the way. We grow up. We have families, and bills to pay, and groceries to buy, households to run, meals to cook, and so much uncertainty. We still believe, but we are so busy and tired. It may concern us that our neighbors or friends aren’t Christians, but certainly not enough to discuss it with them for an hour. We might be labeled as judgemental.

But, this teen girl was truly worried about her friend. She witnessed out of love, not out of judgement or condemnation. The love makes all of the difference.

My hubby and I talked about it afterwards and we were so impressed with her tenacity. Have you ever noticed that the seniors and the very young in the church, are often the most open about their faith? One group believes because they have no reason to doubt due to the fact that they haven’t done much living yet. The other group believes because they have been through the fire and have had the privilege of seeing God at work.

Those of us in the middle could learn a lot from both of these groups. We could slow down and breathe. We could worry less and trust more. We could pray about everything and listen to our hearts more.

Who knows what our world would look like if we did?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Trusting the Director

Posted on by Wendy
If we listen to the Divine Director, we can be unstoppable.
If we listen to the Divine Director, we can be unstoppable.

I volunteered to help hand out marching band uniforms yesterday at my son’s high school. He’s a freshman so this was a first time for me. High school marching band meets throughout the day in sections. The first class of the day was drumline which includes all of percussion.

When the kids arrived for class, the band director spoke with them for a few minutes and then told them to get out their instruments. The noise and chaos (or so it seemed to me), that ensued, was close to deafening. Everyone was playing a different beat on a different instrument. I knew intellectually, that the director had been teaching band for years, but the noise, the noise….

What seemed like forever later, although in reality it was only a short time, the director took the podium. The room was silent. He gave some instructions and they played together. It was still incredibly loud, but it was music, with a beat. They were good. It made sense.

The next class was brass instruments. There were a lot more of them that in the drumline. The same thing happened. The director spoke with them for a few minutes and the noise began. Those tubas and trombones made every bit as much racket as the percussion group.

Once again, the band director took the podium, pin drop silence occurred first and then beautiful music. Towards the end of the class, I was tapping along and wanting to yell out a cheer with them. Who would have thought out of all that chaos, that beautiful music could be produced?

Well, everyone but me, I suspect. The band director knew and the band members knew too. It was the casual observer, the outsider, who didn’t know.

Later on that day, he would bring all of the rest of the groups together with the first two and have them march and play as a team. The result would be fabulous.

After I went home and took a couple of Advil, I pondered the workings of the marching band and how similar they are to the Christian Church.

To the outside observer, we often look like a mess. We run in different directions and are passionate about so many different callings and causes that it seems like we could never really come together and accomplish much of anything.

But, our Divine Director, changes everything. When He takes the podium and we listen to Him and follow His directions through the Bible, and through prayer, we become a Divine Marching Band of Christian Soldiers. We produce beautiful acts, beautiful music and we can change the world. We are a force to be reckoned with and we are unstoppable.

All we have to do is be willing to listen and follow. The results are nothing short of miraculous. Anyone feel like marching?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Are You Okay?

Posted on by Wendy
These words can change someone's life.
These words can change someone’s life.

Teenagers often get a bad rap for being impulsive. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s often deserved. Their frontal lobes are not developed, which can lead them to do foolish things that sometimes have dire consequences. They also have the capacity to drive their parents to the edge of insanity when they don’t think their actions through before acting.

But, the other side of their impulsivity is the fact that they often act on feelings and are led by their hearts and not their minds.

I came across a story yesterday about a sixteen- year- old Irish boy named Jamie. It was simply too good not to share. Last April, Jamie was on the way to the store to buy Gatorade when he passed by a man in his thirties, sitting on the ledge of a bridge. He felt that something was wrong and he went over and asked him, “Are you okay?”

The fact that he stopped in the first place, is amazing to me. Would you have stopped? I don’t know if I would have. I could probably have come up with a dozen reasons not to. The man could be dangerous. He could be just trying to trick someone into coming over, so he could abduct them. But, that’s a grown up, fully developed frontal lobe talking.

Jamie stopped. After asking the man if he was okay, the man said nothing, but tears were in his eyes. Jamie knew he couldn’t leave him and begged him to come and sit with him on the stairs. Would I have pleaded with the man? Would you have?

The man finally joined him on the stairs and Jamie spent 45 minutes talking to him. When he had somewhere else to be, he asked the man if he could call an ambulance. The man was reluctant. He said he would be fine. Jamie insisted and the man agreed. Would you have walked away at this point?

Jamie exchanged phone numbers with the man so he could keep in touch with him. They did keep in touch. The man got better and three months later he texted Jamie that his wife was pregnant and they were having a boy. They were naming the baby, Jamie.

Jamie said that those three words have stayed on his mind since that day. “Are you okay?” He told the man later that he couldn’t believe that those three words could save a life. The man told him, “Imagine if nobody ever asked you those words.”

We never know what trials the people around us are going through and unfortunately, we are often too wrapped up in our own lives to care. Adults are creatures of the mind and of intellect, and we need to be to a certain extent, but neglecting to listen to our hearts and care about those around us, is dangerous.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 He also told us to love one another. I think Jamie is a shining example of both.

Maybe we can all learn something from our teens after all.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Community Cheers for Us

Posted on by Wendy
Christian Community stands by us when times are tough and celebrates with us when times are good.
Christian Community stands by us when times are tough and celebrates with us when times are good.

Last Sunday, when our church announcements were being made, someone from the back of the church called out, “Look who’s here!”

Of course, we all whipped our heads around to see who it was. We all began to clap and cheer when we realized that it was Miss Bonnie. Miss Bonnie will proudly tell you that she is 90. She was widowed while very young and raised five children, essentially on her own. She was a cheerleader at the University of Georgia and puts on her uniform that she has kept all of these years, at the yearly homecoming game and cheers with the current cheerleaders. She is also a retired professor with a PHD.

As if all of this isn’t impressive enough, she’s a hoot and I loved sitting next to her at our Bible study last winter. She really enjoys sitting near our teenagers during church service and I have often jokingly told her that I don’t know who I should tell to behave during service, her and her friends or the teens on my row. She always laughs at that.

Last spring, Miss Bonnie fell and broke some bones. After several weeks, she wasn’t healing. She saw specialists and her kids took turns coming to look after her. She was added to the prayer list. The congregation sent cards and many visited. I had heard just a few weeks ago that she had gone to stay with her son in Atlanta.

I silently wondered if I would ever see her again. I missed her sassy presence. But, on Sunday, she surprised us all and came through the door, assisted by her son. She had lost some weight, but she looked great and the congregation erupted in cheers.

I have often written about the importance of Christian community. We pray for each other and support each other when times are tough. We come together and celebrate when times are good and sometimes we have to cheer for each other because we are just so overwhelmed with joy at one of our church family member’s accomplishments. Sunday was one of those days.

We all matter to God as individuals. You matter. I matter. We are all precious to Him, the one who made us. The Bible tells us, “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” Luke 15:10

Heaven cheers when we get it right. Jesus told his disciples to love one another and I believe that strong Christian community is one of the closest things we have to Jesus on this side of eternity. Jesus cheers with us as we cheer each other on.

True Christian community is a gift. If you are part of one, give thanks for it. If you are not, I encourage you pray about it and go where God leads. It’s worth every step of the search. I pray I’ll be as loved as Miss Bonnie when I’m 90.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Faith’s Blessings

Posted on by Wendy
We worship the God who created the universe. Is anything too had for Him?
We worship the God who created the universe. Is anything too hard for Him?

Last October, my family visited a new church, well, new to us. This church had been started fourteen years earlier by a core group of believers who were looking to worship together. They began as Independent Methodists and they met at a local school.

Over the years, they bought a building and then realizing they had no room to expand, sold it. They met at a local funeral home for a while and became part of the Wesleyan Denomination. They were always looking for something permanent, but were unable to find the space they could afford. There was an  empty church in a nearby town, but it was too expensive and needed a fair amount of renovation. That group of believers was adamant on staying together as a church.

The summer before my family visited, they were given thirty days notice to vacate where they had been worshiping. They had nowhere to go and could find no viable, rental space. Many newer members, abandoned ship for greener pastures. But, the core group, continued to pray and hold fast to what they felt they were called to do, worship together and stay together.

A garage-type space opened up, no rooms, no sheet rock, just walls. That core group of believers did what amounted to an Amish barn raising and created a space that would work. It was small, but it was theirs and they had a lease. They had some breathing room while they searched for something else.

My family visited that little store front space and we were immediately drawn in by how welcome we felt and the amount of love we felt there. We could feel God. We ended up joining.

In May, the leaders of the church were informed that the little church that they had looked at earlier, but found too expensive had dropped in price. They invited the entire congregation to take a look. While it was small, it sat on seven acres. We took a vote and everyone voted to purchase it.

Here’s where God got busy. We were told by our denomination, if we could raise $50,000 in six months, that they would match our funds. The entire idea seemed incredibly out of reach. Our church is very small, with less than 100 members, but a capital campaign was kicked off in July. Yesterday, 40 days later, we had surpassed our goal.

We were all in shock, although I don’t know why. We worship the God who can turn water into wine, the God who parted the Red Sea, the God who called the stars into being, the God who fed thousands of hungry people with a few fishes and loaves of bread, the God who sent us His son to save us. Is there anything He can’t do?

For fourteen years, this particular Body of Christ has remained obedient and faithful and they have waited on God and His timing even though all seemed lost at times. They stood fast and today, they were rewarded for their faith.

In October, we will move into a little white church on a hill that will have been completely renovated to welcome all who would come, to know Christ. While we are all giving stunned thanks for the amazing blessings which we have been given, we wait in wonder to see what God will do next.

Yesterday, we were all reminded of Gabriel’s famous words to Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:27

Maybe you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

He Calls Out

Posted on by Wendy
It's not the flower that makes the gardenia so special; it's the scent. It's not something we can touch or see, but sense.
It’s not the flower that makes the gardenia so special; it’s the scent. It’s not something we can touch or see, but sense.

On the first day of my summer mission trip, we were told to keep an eye out for something at the house we were working at, that we could bring back to our host church and share with the rest of our mission team. It could be anything, but it was supposed to be something of significance to us that represented something special about our week.

I heard the teens talking about it all week. Some of them had no trouble finding an object and some of them struggled to the very last minute. After we all shared communion together, we all went up one-by-one and shared our objects and our stories and left them on the altar.

It was a very moving ceremony and there wasn’t a dry eye in the sanctuary. Some of the teens were very nervous, but it was amazing to see how they supported one another in love and friendship after only a week together.

There were shingles, nails and all types of items that though they seemed insignificant at first glance, the accompanying story that linked them with God made them extraordinary. Of course, God has the power to do that in all of our lives. We can give Him the tiniest, everyday, anything and He can make it magnificent. We just have to be willing to give it.

When it was my turn to share, I went empty-handed. I didn’t have a physical object. I had plenty to share. I saw God at every turn that week, but not necessarily in the physical.

I have shared on my blog before that I pray when I walk in my neighborhood and quite often, when I am really struggling with an issue, God sends a hawk across my path. It has happened way too often for me to discount. I mean, it will fly right in front of me.

I have always reasoned that if God can call every animal on the planet to get on a boat two-by-two, He can certainly send hawks across my path. If He can make a donkey talk, He can send me a hawk. It’s a spiritual connection I have with Him.

A large part of my work on the trip was working on the roof. Roofing isn’t really that hard, but it’s very hot and very tedious. The entire week that I was on the roof, a hawk cried out close by. I mentioned it to my daughter, several times. I would smile and look at her and ask, “Do you hear it?” She would smile and nod.

I never saw the hawk that week. I only heard it, but I knew God was close. I could feel Him.

The second thing I shared was that there was a huge gardenia bush next to the house, the largest I had ever seen. Every time I passed by it, I got a whiff of its sweet scent and I found myself thanking God for planting it there. I couldn’t see Him, but I could sense Him. That gardenia bush could have been anywhere, but it wasn’t. It was right beside the house.

The entire experience reminded me that God calls out to us in so many ways. We can see Him and feel Him in the world around us if we seek Him. We don’t have to be able to hold these encounters in our hands; we only have to hold them in our hearts.

Perhaps you needed a reminder today to seek Him.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Living by Faith Not Fear

Posted on by Wendy
Maybe if we depended more on God and less on self, we would see more Divine intervention.
Maybe if we depended more on God and less on self, we would see more Divine intervention.

I was recently having a conversation with my pastor about the need to start some new Sunday school classes at our church. We were talking about people who might be good leaders. He named one person in particular, who had said she felt completely unqualified to teach. He said he thought that made her very qualified.

God’s kingdom work has always worked in kind of an upside-down fashion like that. He seems to delight in calling those who seem the least likely in human terms to do His work. The last shall be first thread runs throughout the Bible.

But, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Those people who think they know everything or consider themselves invincible, don’t feel the need to call on God. They feel like they can handle anything on their own. Then the plan becomes, man’s plan, not God’s. I think God seeks out the humble and sometimes the least likely to do His work, because they are more willing to acknowledge Him and listen.

I think it’s no accident that some of the greatest modern miracles often come from missionaries who are living day-to-day sharing their faith. They don’t have a 401k or a nest egg and often not even any type of health insurance; yet they often have the most powerful stories of Divine intervention.

I can think of two missionaries right off-hand, who survived Ebola decades apart. Coincidence? Perhaps, but not likely.

My hubby had a missionary visit his prayer group yesterday. He and his wife travel the United Sates, sharing the Gospel. They were far from home and completely out of money, when in a parking lot, they saw a man who was standing alone. The missionary said he felt drawn to the man and talked with him for a couple of hours. He gave him his card and told the man to feel free to contact him if he ever needed him. When he and his wife returned to their motel room, the guy from the parking lot had transferred $1,000 into their checking account. Another coincidence?

The missionary had several other miraculous stories and they all made me wonder if we would all see more of God if we were less worried about our financial security and things that make sense to us and were more focused on following Him.

What would today’s church look like if we all decided to put God first and had faith that all of the rest would be provided. What if we put our insecurities about not being enough, aside and blindly followed where He calls, despite our fears? What would today’s world look like if Christians walked in fearless faith, depending on God and not on self?

We might get to witness a lot more of the miraculous. We might be unbelievably surprised at the outcome. It might be worth a try.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Seeing God at the DMV

Posted on by Wendy
God is everywhere. We just have to take the time to look for Him.
God is everywhere. We just have to take the time to look for Him.

I recently took my sixteen-year-old to get her driver’s license. My little town doesn’t have a DMV so we had to travel to a neighboring county.

After our arrival, we were filling out paper work, when a very large teenage boy walked in the door. I’m sure he played football for some lucky high school team because he looked like a linebacker. He was grinning from ear to ear and saying, “yes!” over and over in a loud whisper. He was making deep sighs of relief and actually broke into a happy dance.

This kid’s joy was infectious. I couldn’t help but smile at him and call across the room.

“Did you pass?”

“Yes!” he said, grinning wildly.

I gave him a thumbs up and he returned the gesture. My daughter, who was nervously waiting her turn, relaxed a little. It was impossible not to. This kid was so excited that it spilled over to all who sat in the room. I found myself saying a little prayer of thanks for getting to witness his utter joy.

As I thought of it later, I wondered what the world would be like if all Christians walked around with that kind of joy. We have so much to be joyful about. We have the best retirement plan ever made. We get to spend eternity in Heaven. Our biggest enemy has already been defeated. We have forgiveness and grace. We are loved beyond even our own understanding. Does it get any better than that?

But, we live on this side of Heaven and we get bogged down in the worldly. We sometimes forget. Sometimes we need a little reminder from a teen doing a happy dance, or snuggling puppies, or a babies’ tiny feet. Our world is full of reminders of God’s presence. We merely have to look for them. God shows us His handiwork at every turn if we pay attention.

After the happy teen left, an elderly lady came and sat behind us. She asked me where to get a number and we got to talking. She told us that she was 78 years old and I was amazed. Her face was remarkably unlined and she was incredibly spry.

She shared with us that she had five children, had been a foster mother, worked at Head Start and still volunteered several days a week. She said that was why she felt so young. She was also very active in her church. We talked about church and prayer and I told her we had been praying that my daughter would pass her driving test. She looked at my teen directly in the eyes and told her that she needed to be praying herself and not to rely on her mama. My daughter assured her that was the case. She left shortly after and wished us luck.

I pondered the conversation and marveled about seeing God everywhere. Who would have thought a woman would talk to my teen about prayer at the DMV? It settled her nerves. She passed her test. Did God put that teen boy there at that moment to help my daughter relax? Did God send that sweet lady? Who knows? Is it possible? Oh, yeah.

With God, all things are possible. (even at the DMV) Never stop looking.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Staying Full

Posted on by Wendy
We can keep our own wells filled like the hummingbird feeder with some attention and commitment.
We can keep our own wells filled like the hummingbird feeder, with some attention and commitment.

My hummingbird feeder is right outside my kitchen window. I have had it in the same spot for years. I usually only refill it every few weeks, at most. I just rarely have that many hummingbirds. I have always enjoyed them, but I just haven’t had that many.

This year has been different. I have had at least six dive bombing and squawking at each other for a turn at the feeder. It gets empty quickly. I keep a very close eye on it because I read somewhere that once you hang a feeder, they really depend on it.

I have found myself refilling it at least once a week this year. I have even had to go and buy more sugar for them. I try to keep some sugar water in the fridge, so they never have to be without.

As I was making another pot of sugar water for them today, I began to think about how convenient it is to actually physically see when they are running low. They never have to run out because I keep a watch on the level of water in the feeder.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we kept a close eye on our own emotional and spiritual levels, like the hummingbird nectar? Wouldn’t it be nice if we knew when we were starting to run low on all that we give to everyone around us, so that we could come to a complete stop and refill?

I think the problem is that we so often pay attention to everyone else and all that is expected of us, that we don’t give any thought to our own inner wells and we allow them to run almost completely dry.

We find ourselves frazzled and grumpy and at wits end in general. We snap at the ones we love and find ourselves saying things that we regret. We can apologize later, but once words are out, it’s really difficult to take them back. We can also find ourselves making decisions we might not have made. We can even make ourselves sick from too much stress and busyness.

So how can we keep our wells properly filled like the little hummingbird feeder? I think we have to spend some daily quiet time with God. It can be close to impossible with all of the noise, but I have found that it’s worth it. Even if I have to wake up thirty minutes early, (ugh!), I have always found it to be worth the sacrifice.

Beginning the day with a little Bible reading and a little prayer, really can make all of the difference. If you can’t seem to find the time, I challenge you to try getting up early for a week. I think you will be delighted with the results.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂