Easy Button

Don't you wish sometimes that you had a magic wand or could wrinkle your nose like Samantha on that old television show Bewitched? You know...like when you are in the middle of cleaning closets and everything is drug out into the middle of the house and stacked in piles... then your pastor calls and says he and his wife are in the neighborhood and are stopping by in a few minutes... dinkle*dinkle*dink! and everything is back in place, the house is spotless, you are no longer dressed in ragged sweatpants and torn t-shirt, and fresh cookies or cake is just about to come out of the oven. Ahhhh... too bad that EASY button doesn't really work... I'd be over at Office Depot right now so I could pick up a couple dozen!

2010 is shaping up to be one of the hardest experienced in a very long time here at the Kyzer Compound.  Both boys have had some "personal" problems.   True to form, my mother instinct kicked in just like when they were little and I wanted to gather them into my arms, sit them on my lap, and hug and kiss the hurt away. I tell you it doesn't work as well with men as it does with little boys. Add to the mix a cancer scare,  deployment to a war zone and the economic pressures experienced by most businesses, but in particular by small, family-owned businesses.... and well... you can imagine... the stress and pressure.

Those of you  who know me personally know I can be a tad-bit high strung at times... but in a good way... and that Jimmy is so laid back that nothing ever gets to him.  While I will sometimes get on my soap box and rant and rave... he stays calm, cool, and collected. I don't think I have ever even heard him raise his voice.  It is what makes us a great team, the perfect couple... but last night... he kept sighing... over and over again, when he thought I couldn't hear him.  The stress is now getting to him as well and it breaks my heart wide open. Winter is always a little tough on us and it seems we are not quite to the end of this season of trial in our lives and so we bathe each day in prayer and look toward Spring... it is always better in the Spring.

I might not have an Easy Button or a wand or be able to wrinkle my nose and make everything all better but I do have a power that is much better, much stronger than anything we see in a movie or on television... and that is the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!  It is the ability to stand on the Rock...the solid rock which is the foundation of our faith... knowing that the old saying "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" is indeed a true statement.  As we are refined through the fire we, as a family, will walk by faith and not by sight, knowing all the while that on the other side of these trials... we will be stronger individuals, a stronger family, stronger Christians. 

2 Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith and not by sight."

2 Corinthians 12:9 "And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

It is during these times when all we can do is give it all up to Him who is able to do more than we ask or more than we can imagine.  For truly how will we know just how smooth the flight through life is...if we never experience a little turbulence?

 Ephesians 4:19-21 "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. A-men."

Blessed are those who mourn...

Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4

We tend to associate the word mourn/mourning with the loss of a loved one. The very definition is to show grief or express sorrow for a death…to grieve over someone who has died. I ask you, “What if that someone is your own self?” What if the loss is not in death but in reality?

From time to time we all experience disillusionment or melancholy brought on by external factors (usually) beyond our control. But what happens when melancholy turns to despair and like a ball dropped from the top of the Empire State Building that despair gains velocity and smashes into the sidewalk of life… a splatter mark of hopelessness and anguish… splashing friends, co-workers, and loved ones alike with the backlash of depression?

What if the life coming unraveled is your spouse, your child, your parent, your friend?

It is so easy for people who have never experienced depression to sit upon the seat of judgment feigning Christian brotherhood/sisterhood and offer up tidbits of advice such as, “It is an attack of the devil and all you have to do is believe harder, confess whatever sin, and cast him out and you will be fine.” Ha! The advice of Job’s contemporaries runs rampant upon the lips of the saints today.

Maybe the belief is sincere and the advice given with the purest of motivation however would such a saint offer up this same advice to a fellow Christian (or non-Christian for that matter) who was losing a battle with cancer? I think not! If you would not give this advice to a cancer patient why would you offer it up to someone suffering with clinical depression?

Now a true saint, a mature in the Word saint, would drop to their knees in heart-felt prayer for healing, for comfort, for wisdom no matter the illness. They might even rally the saints for an old fashioned, anointing with oil, laying on of hands, casting out the demon, and actually pray down a healing. Then again, a healing might not come and the battle for sanity becomes a life-long endeavor.

After all the Lord himself told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in your weakness.” This after Paul had prayed three times for the Lord to remove the thorn in his flesh. In 2 Corinthians 12:7 Paul refers to his thorn as a “measure of Satan to torment me.”

For now, this day, we grasp the hem of His garment and hold fast to the faith that will move mountains, and walk in the assurance that our Redeemer lives and has power over the destroyer. That battle was won on the cross a long time ago! We take comfort that while our family may walk a steep and treacherous path through this thing called depression… whether for a season or a lifetime… He is still in control… He is still on the throne… My God is a MOUNTAIN MOVER!

It's All Good

The past couple of weeks have been a bit difficult to say the least. I have been battling the head crud and just about the time I think I am getting better I wake up with a headache, sore nose and sore throat. I finally have antibiotics and hopefully they will take effect soon. Add to that the trips up to Missouri every weekend in February and the underlying stress of Jake's deployment... and I just plain don't feel so good.

I cannot begin to tell you the emotion that is involved when one sends their child into the throws of war. No matter how well trained he is, no matter the fact that he can hit 49 out of 50 shots consecutively...no matter how well prepared he is...mentally, physically, spiritually... it makes a mother’s heart tighten.

One would think a veteran would be a bit calmer about the whole thing. You know… been there, done that, and got the tee-shirt kind of attitude. That I would have the ability to know that the training takes over and one reacts instinctively. I tell you now…motherhood trumps veteran every time!

It is the combination of not being able to call and talk to him when I want to, the inability of being able to rush in and calm his fears as I did when he was little, the simple fact that I cannot look at his face and know everything is fine. Not being able to put my arms around him and whisper, "I love you." It causes a bit of melancholy… a bit of despair…

As a mother of faith, one would think a bubble of peace, joy and happiness would encircle me and I would be like a little girl skipping through the park smelling the flowers and watching the little birdies fly. The simple fact that I know God gave this child to me…for HIS purpose and not my own… that God WILL watch over him and protect him at every turn should be enough…shouldn’t it?

Yet the rush of anxiety sneaks up on me in the strangest places. Fleeting moments where I am a woman wringing her hands in anguish as fear and sadness engulfs me. The reality that he could get caught in cross-fire or be the casualty of a road side bomb flashes before my mind’s eye. Heartache that my baby will not see his baby born… the fact his child will be a year old when “Daddy” returns brings tears to my eyes.

It is during these times that I feel your prayers. The times when I am laid prone on the floor with arms spread wide… crying, desperately holding on to the hand of our Lord… sobs replacing words… and the Comforter comes… ministering… His Spirit to my spirit… wiping tears, whispering words of encouragement, smoothing the hair, patting the back and embracing me with love and peace. Removing the fear… the sadness… the insecurity… and in the blink of an eye… it’s all good.

Jake called mid-way during his travels and can you believe it? He sounded happy, excited even! As I write this post it is day one at his destination. I received a text that said he had arrived safely, don’t text back… it costs too much just e-mail, and keep praying.

As peace and assurance replace anxiety and fear I realize… it IS all good… God is good, He is in control and I should just let Him do what He does and take it one day at a time… step by step… walking in faith… sometimes being carried upon the backs of the praying saints… and no matter what happens He will get us through… for there is nothing impossible with God.

Go where He leads...do what He says!

Why is it that we sometimes fight God's direction? We tell Him, use us...send us... then we are content to stay put doing the same old thing, the same old way, day after day. When we don't see the results of our ministry (or our actions) we tell ourselves we are just in a "be still and wait on the Lord" period and in time He will reveal His purpose, His lesson, His results. We ignore the signs, for lack of a better word, and we chalk up the lack-luster results of our work for Him as someone else's fault when in reality if we were actually serving Him when, where and how He desires the results would be phenomenal.

Don't get me wrong...I do believe we have to be still and wait sometimes but should we not evaluate our own relationship with Him during that time, do a little self-analysis, some soul searching, a little introspection if you will? Shouldn't that be a part of our regular relationship with the Lord? The self-evaluation, I mean? While praise and worship, reading the Bible daily and a healthy prayer life are very much an important part of that relationship, how often do we honestly, evaluate the condition of our own hearts?

Charles Swindoll stated in his book Intimacy with the Almighty that "solitude is the place where struggles occur that no one else knows about. It is there that God probes our deepest thoughts and opens our eyes to the things that need attention... Solitude is the furnace of transformation" It is in those be still and know that I am God times that "He makes us aware of those things we try to hide from others." It is in the solitude and silence that we are transformed, that we become more like Him.

Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." KJV

If we read His word, NO...if we meditate on His Word and apply it to our lives daily...have a meaningful prayer life and by that I mean...not just bringing Him a laundry list of what we want Him to do for us and what we will do for Him, if we truly worship Him...if we exercise this discipline of solitude and reflection of our own lives...examining our hearts with honesty and giving over to Him our weaknesses, our sins....how then can we go about doing what we have always done when we know in our heart of hearts His will is elsewhere or simply in doing something different?

Is it the fear that someone you love and respect will not acknowledge that you even know God's will? Is it that someone you love and respect will not agree with the direction in which you feel led? Is it the fear of letting them down or the fear that if it fails...your relationship with God will be examined and judged by friends and foes alike? What exactly is it that keeps us from stepping out whole-heartily, smack-dab into the middle of His Will, with excitement and unwavering faith and assurance?

I think it has to do with surrendering. By definition to surrender is to yield to the power of another, to give up under compulsion...relinquish. And guess what? It's a verb! It takes ACTION! It IS an ACTION! It is so easy to bandy the word about with all the other "Christian-speak" we have become comfortable using, isn't it? But to do it...well that's a different story entirely, is it not? If I were to be honest with you and with myself, I would have to admit it is sometimes difficult for this Type A, planner who demands perfection, who expects measurable results immediately. Why is it so hard to completely surrender? To be sold out 100% to Him... to His will?

We get caught up in activities in our personal life, in programs, promotions, and church socials, and what we think is the work of God. We are busy, busy, busy and we miss the mark...totally miss the mark...miss His calling, miss His direction...shoot right past His Will for us and hit the bulls-eye of the work of our own hands and we can't understand why we are not receiving a blessing.

How busy we have become and as a result...how empty all because we tell ourselves we are surrendering to His will yet have our plans all tied up nice and tidy in a neat little package with a pretty little bow subconsciously considering how it will look to others, and who will be pleased. All the while we are not still or quiet enough to even know if it is His voice we are hearing.

How assuring to know that He patiently waits for us to yield, to quit fighting Him, to allow His plan to run its course, to turn to Him for our security and significance. As He witnesses our doing that, He begins to reveal Himself and His will in greater depth.

If we don't slow down and listen...He will get our attention. If we pledge to be of His service and then do our own thing....if we promise to be used by Him then refuse to act when called... He will cause His purpose to be accomplished one way or the other. Two situations come to mind...Esther, who was told that deliverance for her people would rise up from somewhere else but to not think she would be spared if she took no action...and of course, there is Jonah..who went the opposite direction of God's will only to find himself in the belly of a great fish for three days while God got his attention.

As we step forward into a new year, let us be sure we are walking in His will...always keeping in step with the Spirit, being renewed and transformed daily, trusting Him whole-heartily, leaning not on our own understanding but acknowledging His grace...knowing His will...and walking by faith to accomplish His purposes... His good and perfect will.

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths." KJV

I say it again...in ALL thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.

A Mother's Anguish Collides With Her Faith

Think back to the day you saw your child for the first time. You looked into that tiny face how long? Fifteen minutes, Twenty minutes…half an hour before you counted all the fingers and toes? You tried to figure out who the baby looked most like as you focused on the nose, the ears, the eyes…the hands and feet. O and the virtually indescribable feeling only a mother who just gave birth has…the rush of relief mixed with hope, love and joy tempered with a smidge of fear. Exhaustion overcome by expectation and the excitement of the sheer magnitude of experiencing this miracle of life.

Now imagine a law has just gone into effect that this very baby had to be put to death…thrown into a river and drowned. That at any moment he could be stripped from your arms and there was nothing you could do about it. This is exactly what Moses’ mother was facing.

Exodus 1:22“Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: ‘Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.’

My ‘mother’s heart’ leads me to imagine her pacing and praying…while fear, sadness, and worry mesh with the unconditional love a mother has for her child. With tears streaming, bouncing and rocking the baby boy “Look at him! How can we throw him into the Nile? I cannot do it! I won’t do it!” The only conclusion: to keep him, care for him and to hide him for as long as she can.

When hiding him became impossible she mustered all she had, stepped out on faith, and did the only thing she knew would keep him alive a little longer. With hope and trepidation in her heart and a prayer on her lips she began working on the basket that would protect him. And as his big sister kept watch the mother slipped her young son among the reeds along the banks of the great river.

Exodus 2:1-4 "Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds, along the Nile. His sister, stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. "

Exodus 2:5-9 “Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. ‘This is one of the Hebrew babies,’ she said. Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?’ “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.’ So the woman took the baby and nursed him.”

What happens next is clearly the hand of God. The baby is plucked from the waters edge not by your average, everyday, run-of-the-mill Egyptian. It was Pharaoh’s daughter! And who just happened to be there…standing in the shadows…with a suggestion for a nurse but the baby’s own sister. The Bible does not mention protocol or whether this little Hebrew girl was afraid to approach the princess. However, she seized her God-given opportunity and not only provided care for her baby brother but a blessing for the entire family!

Can you imagine the excitement as Miriam ran to find her mother and tell her what happened? “The princess has found the baby and she wants to keep him for her own! She needs someone to take care of him, and she told me to find a nurse! Hurry, Mother, hurry...RUN!”

Now imagine Jocohebed’s reaction. Can you see her clapping her hands, putting down what she was doing, jumping up and down a heart full of praise and worship as she heads out the door to meet the person who has rescued her son? Realization dawning that in just a short time she will once again be with the son she thought she had lost forever.

God used this mother’s courageous act of saving and hiding her baby to begin the plan of rescuing His people. She had no idea at that time what God was doing but He was definitely at work! He really doesn’t need that much from us to accomplish His plan does he?

When faced with a situation that seems humanly impossible to overcome instead of focusing on the predicament we should concentrate on God and His power, trusting Him for the way out. That is all He needs from us.

Revelation 3:7b-8 “What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

He Hid My Keys!

We are in the second part of ‘severe weather’ season here in Arkansas and the above picture is a storm cloud recently spotted over the Kyzer Compound. I heard a statistic recently that stated we have had over eighty tornadoes this year. The average is about twenty-something. It reminded me of another small miracle.

I have always been a bit frightened to spend the night at home alone. I’ve traveled all over the world and stayed in hotel after hotel until they blended into one homogenized brand. Never once was I afraid in those places filled with people. But…put me in my own house, out in the country, all by myself, in the dark… the dogs start barking, the cows bellowing, the owls hooting, the coyote’s howling…and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. Needless to say, I have had some serious prayer sessions during those few times.

Several years ago Jimmy was traveling a lot between Ester, Missouri and North Little Rock, Arkansas picking up plants for wholesale. It must have been around Spring Break because on this particular trip he decided to take Jake along with him. I had been working grueling hours on a new marketing campaign was looking forward to some alone time and peace and quite. I stopped at a drive through on my way home and after checking and locking all the doors and windows headed up stairs to eat, read, and watch television.

I must have fallen asleep quite early because at ten o’clock I was startled awake by the weather alert system on television and the weather man describing a tornado touching down in Little Rock...just twenty miles west and it was heading my way! “Stay calm, stay calm…first thing is…I have to get to safety. Do I hide in the stairwell closet? What if something happened and no one found me?” So I did what any “good southern girl” would do…I called Daddy. My parents live half a mile away and if anything happened at least we would be together. I grabbed my purse, briefcase, shoes and sweats and headed downstairs.

By the time I reached the kitchen I was finally dressed and reached into my purse for my keys. They were not there! I rummaged through my briefcase, not there either. Most who know me, know I have this thing about my keys…they are always in my purse, always. You know…everything has a place and everything in its place. Wasting precious time, I headed back upstairs to see if by some remote chance they were on the night stand. Not there either, hummmm.

All of the sudden, the lights went out and the winds were still…eerie silence crashed down…as if all sound had been sucked from existence by some giant, cosmic vacuum cleaner. The only sound left was the pounding of my heart as the cherished minutes drummed on…I slid down the stairs step-by-step on my bottom praying the entire way. As I reached the landing, the wind kicked up again…this time with a vengeance. It sounded like sand blasting the windows as twigs, dirt and other debris slammed into the front of the house. I hit the kitchen floor face down, sprawled out and started praying…the louder the storm…the louder the prayer. It was over as quickly as it started.

I sat up trembling and lit a candle. I was trying to decide if I should stay home now that the tornado had passed or go to my parents. I looked outside but couldn’t really see any thing. I needed to go to Mom and Dad’s…but first...I had to find my keys. Absent mindedly I opened my purse and there they were…right on top.

I was still recovering from the fear of the storm and joy of the answered prayer when my little brother began frantically hammering on the door. I’ll never forget the fear in his voice as he repeatedly called my name. I stood on wobbly legs and let him in. He had come to rescue his big sister and take her safety.

Heading out we surveyed the damage and were shocked at what we saw. The worst was my truck…the driver side was smashed…door caved in, windows broken, fender dented so bad it couldn’t be driven. We picked up pieces of the trampoline for months and have yet to find the grill.

I know that night God had His hand of protection upon me. I never saw those keys in my purse until after the storm. If I had, I would have been on the road when the tornado hit. I truly believe the Lord kept me from seeing them so He could keep me safe in His arms until the storm calmed.

Are you in the middle of a storm right now? No matter what you are facing in your life…if you will simply call upon Him and trust in Him…He will hear…He will answer…He will deliver you…

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”