The Nightmares

Lauren's been struggling with fear. Fear of bad guys. It overwhelms her at bedtime. She's afraid that they will come in during the night and take her from us. It plagues her nightly. She begs me to lock all the doors and windows and questions me repeatedly if I've followed through.

It breaks my heart. What brings this on? We've never given her reason to worry. Our house is in a quiet safe neighborhood in the country. Her Daddy is a proficient marksman, her 250lb 6'1" brother lives here, we have a security system and this.

Sure, she looks harmless NOW, and she is recovering from being hit by a car but I guarantee you, she would get all kinds of ugly on someone that tried to get in this house uninvited.

But how could she feel unsafe in this house? Why doesn't she trust us to protect her?

Night after night she simmers and stirs on the irrational notion that someone could burst into our home and snatch her from her warm bed. I sink exhausted into my chair when she falls to sleep but it's a temporary pause until she wakes shouting at strangers that she imagines in her time between sleep and wake.

She mumbles and cries, thrashing in bed, "Momma!! Mommy! No no no!" and my heart aches as I try to quiet the anxiety pouring out of her cleft scarred lips. She's not fully conscious and eventually she quiets and falls back to sleep. Often I'm summoned back during the night to lie next to her after the bad guys come back in her dreams.

As I wrestle with how to convince her that she's safe, I think of how God must feel that same way about me. He's given me no reason not to trust Him, no clue that He would abandon me. In fact I've learned that even when it looks like He's walked away and left me with my fears, I find that He was there all the time. He was just quiet for he moment, watching to see who I'd run to. Like mine, His arms ache to comfort His children.

Just like I long for Lauren to rest in the security of her home, I know the Lord wants the same for us.

Psalms 46


1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Are You Beautiful?

I've always loved this verse. I think I see something new in it everytime I read it.

1 Peter 3:1-4
The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands,responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.

How can we cultivate inner beauty?

I know the obvious answers are...read our Bible and pray. Of course, very good things!!

Let's look at it though in light of our current world.

Are we not daily screamed at as women to be outwardly beautiful?
To matter, you must be THIS size and THAT height with your hair and makeup on just so.

If God delights in gentle, gracious beauty, I think we should too.

I don't think it's UN-important to look good, but I think that (outwardly) beautiful-but mean and angry women are not beautiful at all.

Adding the word "grace" or "gracious" to beauty really ramps it up.

A beautiful woman is gracious. She shows grace to others AND especially to herself.

Are you gracious with yourself?

Are you gracious with your family?

Here are some other words for "gracious":
Elegant
Graceful
Refined
Merciful
Courteous

Obviously absent are things like: complains, resentful, angry...

Of course... and this could turn into a whole book...if we don't feel this (grace) for ourself, it will be very difficult to give it to others.

I think this verse is a powerful key to us walking in God's grace towards us and living loved:

Ephesians 3:16-19
I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will
empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
17 Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. NLT

Receive His love and grace for yourself and out of that freedom, your life will show inner beauty!

There will be no pressure to "have your own way" and "right every wrong."

Forgiveness flows freely when we live forgiven.

God loves you. Cultivate inner beauty by living loved.

Your marriage will be stronger for it.
Praying for our marriages,
Sue

Are We Living FOR God or WITH God?

Summer's busy isn't it girls?!

I have been doing something every day and having a great summer but I don't think I've ever had a busier one.

I'm thankful that I do have a few mini vacations coming up and I will enjoy them thoroughly.
Beach time, family time...can't wait!

I have had it on my heart to remind you (and myself) that through everything you are walking right now...you are loved.

If you are busy or bored, or troubled and scared.
You are loved.

He is walking right alongside you and willing to carry you when needed.

There is so much said about grace today and I'm reading several books on the grace of God. All different authors and reflections on the subject.

There is so much to learn...and I think that the more I learn, the more I realize ....I barely know anything.

I used to think I had life and God all figured out but now I see that I've only seen glimpses of who He is and there is so much more to understand about His character and His love.

So much of my own life has been spent in church ministry that naturally compels us to try and help others know "how to live"

But now I think and feel that the point is not "how" to live but WHO to live and walk WITH.

Rom 4:13-14
13 It is clear, then, that God's promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was not based on obedience to God's law, but on the new relationship with God that comes by faith.
NLT

NOT based on law or our "performance"

And then there's this about relationship:

Rom 5:6-11

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

7 Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good.

8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

9 And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's judgment.

10 For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life.

11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God--all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God. NLT

Powerful words to chew on!

I have spent so much time trying to help others live FOR God but now I feel such an emphasis on sharing how to live WITH God.

Relationship with Him is what brings healing, hope and freedom.

I pray that you also will feel drawn to the message of God's love and grace and let Him show you the peace that He brings through it.

Have a great summer girlfriends!!
I'll be around when I can.

Protecting Your Heart

Be careful not to protect it so much that it becomes a fortified prison...

From C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

To love at all is to be vulnerable.

Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.

If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even and animal.

Wrap it careful round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.

But in that casket-safe, dark, motionless, airless-it will change.

It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable....
The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers....of love is Hell.

Loving Women That Despise Us

Jesus was asked this question:
"And who is my neighbor?"

Here is His response:

Luke 10:30-37
30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.

31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.

35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
NIV

Mark spoke at a Backyard Bible Blast this week and his message was: "Who is my neighbor?"

He did a great job teaching the kids about helping others and reaching out to those people who need us no matter who they are. Under normal circumstances, the Jews would have had nothing to do with the despised Samaritans, but that was exactly who ended up reaching out to this Jewish man, a despised Samaritan.

I was thinking about this for myself and the girlfriends in my life (including you!), who is my (our) neighbor, and how do we reach out to them?

Looking at the story literally, I can not imagine walking by a woman who is laying there bloody after an attack or having been abused by someone. Of course any one of us would reach out and take care of her wounds.

But let's look at this from another point of view.

What about the women who are hurting emotionally around us? What about those women that are living with pain in their hearts everyday?

It's easy to love the one sitting with us over coffee while tears in her eyes telling us her story of pain. But let's think about the women in our lives that have hurt us. What about the ones who've spoken bad about us or our family. What about the women in our lives that are despised?

AND: What about the women that despise US?

Who is our neighbor?

Will we love those women who have not always been so good to us?
What about the ones who have hurt us?
What about the ones that don't like us at all?

Jesus' message of love goes so much deeper than I have even begun to understand. I pray that He shows you and I how to reach out to women around us that need us, and ultimately that need Him.

Discouraged, depressed, shrinking back??

Feeling depressed and unmotivated? Struggling with discouragement, been tempted to shrink back lately?
So was Timothy:

2 Tim 1:3-7
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.

5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
NIV

Paul was encouraging Timothy to fan into flame the gift that God had given him, so obviously Timothy had let that gift grow cold.

How? Paul acknowledges that he is feeling fearful and intimidated and then reminds him that God didn’t give that to him, instead He gave him power, love and a sound mind:

2 Tim 1:7
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and
of love, and of a sound mind.
KJV

It can happen so quickly!

Look at Elijah, God had used him powerfully to show forth His glory.
(You really should take the time to read the whole chapter, it is awesome!)

1 Kings 18:36-40
36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.

37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."

38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD-he is God! The LORD-he is God!"

40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. NIV

I’d say that’s some pretty powerful stuff!! I think I might be walking on clouds after that, feeling pretty good about God using me so mightily.

But in just a few verses, Elijah gets intimidated by the woman Jezebel and it sends him fleeing in fear.

1 Kings 19:1-5
19:1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them."
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,
4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."
5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.
NIV

Seems so hard to believe that Elijah could be intimidated and running in fear so quickly after such an incredible victory, but I’ve seen it happen in my own life, have you?

Things are going well, you’re walking hand in hand with the Lord and feeling His peace all around you, then you hear something that someone else says about you.
OR, you see someone who represents a painful situation in your life.
OR you compare yourself to another person.
SNAP, you’re intimidated and you start shrinking back.

You suddenly feel inadequate, you no longer hear the Lord’s voice or sense His presence.

I am focusing on us as individuals, but this spirit can be at work in churches and ministries also. It seeks it’s own way and will do whatever it can to destroy God-given authority, usually cloaked in a person who seems very strong in their faith.

Listen again to Paul’s words to Timothy:
2 Tim 1:7
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
KJV

The first step out of this pit is recognizing that God did not give you this spirit of fear (intimidation). It is not from God, so you don’t need to put up with it for one more minute. Pray against it, confess God’s word over your life and put off (rebuke) the lies of the enemy. Don’t let them determine one more step in your life.

Second, recognize what God has given you- NO MATTER WHAT anyone else may says…He’s given you power, love and a sound mind.

Third, acknowledge that no one can make you feel inferior without your permission. There is a side of this that we must look in the mirror and see. If we let ourselves get intimidated by others, that means that there is a part of us that is more concerned with what others say than with what God says.
Pride causes us to want the approval of others more than the approval of God.
Therefore, repent and choose to look to God for all the love and acceptance we need.
HIS Word should mean more to us than anyone elses.

I pray that if you have been affected by intimidation, you would rise up out of it today! Don’t let the enemy have one more minute of your life by keeping you under this darkness.

July Winner and my thoughts on love...

The July winner of Praise and Coffee is:

Alexia!

Congrats Alexia, email me your home address

and I will send out your coffee and CD!!

*****************

I have been thinking alot about walking in love lately. Maybe it's because I'm being challenged in this area right now.

The Word of God says:
1 Cor 13:1-3
13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
NIV

It seems that no matter what I do...if I don't walk in love, it is all for nothing.

Even if I speak with words that pierce people's heart and sound like the angels themselves speaking, it matters not -unless I walk in love.

Even if I am flowing with wise words and my faith changes my life and those around me, it matters not unless I walk in love.

Even if I give of my life like Mother Teresa, and am willing to sacrifice my life for others, it matters not unless I walk in love.

If I truly want to honor the Lord with my life, it will be one that is marked by my love for people.

Here's what God says that looks like:
1 Cor 13:4-7
4 Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
5 It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
NIV

1 Cor 16:13-14
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith;
be men of courage; be strong.
14 Do everything in love.
NIV

Gal 5:14-15
14 The entire law is summed up in a single command:
"Love your neighbor as yourself."
15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other,
watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
NIV

This really hits me. I've got a long way to go. It humbles me.

This one really gets me too:
1 Peter 4:7-8
7 The end of all things is near.
Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled
so that you can pray.
8 Above all, love each other deeply,
because love covers over a multitude of sins.
NIV

Above ALL???
In other words- this is more important than anything else you do. Wow.

But God, do you SEE these people you are asking me to love???
Do you see what they are doing???
Really?

1 John 2:5-6
5 But if anyone obeys His word,
God's love is truly made complete in him.
This is how we know we are in Him:
6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
NIV

This is how we know we are in Him...in other words-
my reputation should be-more than anything else- that I love people.
Oh, how I want that.

God's Word is life.
Let's meditate on it and see how the Lord would have us love deeply and completely.

Two shall become One ~ Love

Love
Such a common word, but powerful, none the less.

Let’s go right to the source and break it down:

1 Cor 13:1-12

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

So, what IS love?

4 Love is patient
Does that mean…like…when he is not doing something that I want him to do- WHEN I want him to do it???

Love is kind
Even when I am exhausted and he comes home late?

It does not envy
But what about when I do something and HE gets all the credit??

It does not boast
But I AM more spiritual than him and I read my Bible way more often than he does.

It is not proud
But I WAS right. Why should I be the one that ALWAYS has to apologize?

5 It is not rude
Is calling him a jerk rude? He really did act like a jerk!

It is not self-seeking
I really kind of like things MY way though.

It is not easily angered
~sigh~

It keeps no record of wrongs
Oh…I can forgive, but I’ll NEVER forget, I may need “that one” for another argument!

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth
7 It always protects
So….I shouldn’t tell others things that embarrass him?

Always trusts
Always hopes
Always perseveres
Always??????????????

8 Love never fails
Ok Lord…but You are going to have to help me with this….

I think that pretty much says it best.
The Word has set quite a high standard for us, but God never asks us to do anything that He won’t help us do.

Whenever I read this chapter it challenges me.

I challenge you to read these everyday this week and ask the Lord to help you do them throughout your day.

Your nugget is: LOVE.

I’m praying for our marriages.

Our hope is in Him,
Sue

The Fruit of "Love"

Hello!
I got a good nights sleep and I feel a little more on my game - finally!

Family update:
Lauren is doing good, a little testy about the fact that she is on a liquid diet, but doing well.
We still don't have an address from Matt and haven't heard from him since last Saturday.
Mark is traveling this weekend, he went through the storms in Wisconsin yesterday and we now have golf ball to baseball size hail damage to the motorhome! He saw several semis and cars with busted windshields so he was thankful that didn't happen to them.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I can honor the Lord with my life.
I want so badly to give Him all of me and be a reflection of Him to others.
I keep coming back to the fact that LOVE is what He is all about. Loving Him first and then loving others.

I want people to see HIM in me and be drawn to Him.

Galations 5:22-25
22 But the fruit (the evidence that He’s there) of the Spirit is
love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
23
gentleness and
self-control.
Against such things there is no law.
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
NIV


How do we know what an apple tree is? We see apples on it.
You know what kind of tree it is by the fruit that is hanging on the branches or vines.

The same is true of our lives.
The fruit or “what is being produced” in our life, is the evidence of what kind of a tree we are.

Matt 7:16
16 By their fruit you will recognize them.


A look at the fruit of LOVE.

First, love God.
Deut 6:5-8
5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
NIV

Impress them on your children.
Do your children know what you believe?

It is our job as parents to teach them the Word of God. Sunday school and youth group should enhance that, but WE are the ones God has appointed to teach these children the Word of God.

We love God first, then we are to love others.

Matt 22:37-39
37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

Paul told us very clearly what it looked like to love people:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

4
Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
5
It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
6
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
7
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
8
Love never fails.

There it is, I can't say it any better. This verse makes me take inventory of my life.
I fall really short- but our God is faithful and doesn't call us to do it alone- thank You Lord!
His mercies are new every morning.

Lord, help us to live a life of love that beautifully reflects who YOU are!