Taking a Stand

While raising my sons, if I said it once, I said it a thousand times… “Sometimes you have to do what you don’t want to do solely based on the fact that it is the right thing to do.” Determining what is “right” in this day and age seems to become harder and harder by the minute.

Where once morality was a black and white issue…the lines have been blurred to the point where even people who profess to be Christians live in the gray area: walking the tightrope between selfishness and righteousness. Either being blind to what is actually right according to God’s Word or worried about the consequences of taking a stand. Imagine all the excuses you have either heard or used. “It doesn’t directly affect me or my family. It’s not my business. What difference can one person (or a small group of people) make? I don’t want to get fired, don’t want to lose a good customer...” and on and on and on.

Exodus chapter one shows a clear picture of what God will do when we stand firm and do the right thing according to His Word. The Hebrews in Egypt were fast outnumbering the Egyptians and it worried the king. He then ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill all the newborn boys.

Exodus 1:17 “The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.”

The midwives faith in God gave them the courage to take a stand and do what was right in sparing the lives of the Hebrew babies. God does not expect us to obey the authorities over us when those orders ask us to go against Him or His Word. The Bible is full of examples where people were willing to risk their lives in order to obey God or save others. Whole nations can be caught up in immorality; thus following the majority or the authority is not always right.

Acts 5:29 “Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!”

In the Bible right and wrong is still black and white...no middle ground, no gray area. When we take a stand for what is right, solely based on the fact that it is the right thing; God will bless us.

Exodus 1:20-21 “So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous (21) And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.”

We don’t take a stand for the blessing…we take a stand because it is right in the eyes of the Lord. How do we know what is right… by knowing His Word, by living a life of love and devotion to Him; by having that one-on-one intimate relationship with Him.

Most assuredly taking a stand can be a thing fraught with fright. However, when we are submitted totally to Him…His Spirit guides us and we move and act almost without thought.

What’s stopping you from taking a stand? Let your fear of the Lord overpower your fear of your circumstances or consequences…and let courage replace your apathy.

1st Corinthians 16: 13-14 “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. (14) Do everything in love.”

What Are You Wearing?

I love Mike Waters' cartoons! I use them for the newsletter I put together for our church. Please visit his site at http://www.joyfultoons.com/ you can subscribe and get a new cartoon on a regular basis. Have a great day...and don't forget to wear your praise where eveyone can see!

Children, Bibles, and Spaghetti...O MY!

Ms. Theresa (fresh out of bed) Pastor Greg, Ms. Kristina, Ms. Mary, Pastor Sid, and the children before church camp.

Being the Sunday school superintendent I am known by the children church-wide as Ms. Theresa. I show up before the bus leaves for church camp and pray with them, I am involved with Vacation Bible School, sometimes I teach classes when their teacher’s are sick or on vacation, and I attend as many of their functions as possible.

As stated in previous posts, our church is located just outside the gates of the Air Force base and we are home to many transient congregants. Some of the Air Force personnel simply attend services, some teach…some step into a leadership role; and when orders are cut for the next duty station our church family really feels the loss.

We were in that place last year…the crunch…several of our leadership left for the call of duty…some left because of God’s call…some just left. Never-the-less it was crunch time. Our once burgeoning youth group was graduating and heading to college or taking on their first job. Along with these fresh-out-of-high-schoolers we had many young adults, some with families, some without… all searching for their place within the congregation.

Our church is relatively small and offered three adult Sunday School classes. Most adults attended one of the two 6:00 p.m. classes as the one offered at 9:00 a.m. was just too early. I had long prayed for something for these young adults…a class…a teacher…a program. We needed a young adult pastor! Someone who would step in…keep our young people involved and shepherd them toward a life of committed service. That’s when Greg and Kristina entered our lives.

They lived and attended church several towns over. Greg was full time Air National Guard, studying to become a chaplain, and was attached to our base. One Sunday, a holiday Sunday, I can’t remember which holiday; they visited our church because evening services at theirs was cancelled. Don’t you just love it when God sits an answer right in your lap?

Pastor Greg Armstrong

A short time later, Pastor Greg, his wife Kristina, and their three small children moved into the parsonage next door to the church. I love those Armstrong kids and soon there will be one more. But what I love most is Kristina. I love everything about her! She loves the Lord with all her heart, is outspoken, and has great ideas. She’s a take-charge kind of gal who gets things done…you know the kind…sees a need…fills it! Even better…she has a heart for the children’s ministry and it shows in everything she does.

It had been quite some time since our church had a Bible Quizzing team and that is where Kristina began her service to the children of Jacksonville First Church of the Nazarene. Her small band of quizzers would come to church the Sunday after a meet and gather up on the stage where she would present ribbons, certificates, and other awards. There were even trophies as they made their way through the end-of-the-quizzing-year tournaments which leads me to spaghetti, children and bibles.

This coming Sunday afternoon, after church the Quizzers are having their first annual spaghetti fund-raising lunch. I don’t know about y’all, but we love to eat…especially on Sunday afternoons when it only costs a donation! I had planned on showing up for the dinner, visiting as I always do, dropping a twenty in the bucket, eating…then heading home for one of those good ole Nazarene naps between services. However, that was before Kristina leaned over in my ear and whispered, “I need you to be on the adult quizzing team.”

Ms. Kristina...champion of the children!

The ADULT quizzing team, what do you mean the adult quizzing team? They have quizzing for adults? “No, no, no.” she said smiling. “After we eat lunch the adults are going to challenge the children to a quiz match.”

“Uh, OK, what do I do?”

“Just come prepared” was her response. “We are doing Exodus.”

When I asked her to be more specific…she nonchalantly informed me…the entire book of Exodus. Now, these kids have been studying Exodus for quite some time already… Oh, man…I gotta quit writing and get to studying!!! What will the kids think if they beat me?

Hummmmm... maybe they SHOULD beat me!

Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to our children and to their children after them.”

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. (7) Impress them upon 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.”

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

This Christmas Brings A Deeper Faith

Thanksgiving has come and gone. The last of the leftovers have been given to Spot, our grandson’s dog who lives in the barn. The tree is up, lights adorn the outside of the house, and in seventeen short days, Jake will be home for two weeks.

The dawning of December this year brings with it more excitement than it has held since the Christmas Hunter turned three. Jake left in mid-August for Army basic training. Freshly out of high school… stuck between the boy he used to be and the man he will one day become.

It was harder on him than some in his group. I don’t know if it was because he had a sheltered life, that he was a homebody, or the fact he had never had anyone in-his-face screaming and cursing when he didn’t do things perfectly. More than likely it was that all these things collided at one time, hundreds of miles from home, with no telephone or computer…his only means of communication left…handwritten letters. And to one born in the instant communication generation…it seemed to take a lifetime.

The first weeks were hardest…he was homesick…thought he had made a mistake…and wanted to come home. Oh, how I remember the days from my own boot camp experience. It is the natural progression of emotion that takes place during basic as the individual is broken and the team built. Just about the time he decided he wanted to stay…he suffered stress fractures in both knees. It was a roller coaster ride of emotions for both the boy transitioning into warrior and the mother who could not go and “fix” things…could not put her arms around her little boy, pat him on the back, and tell him everything was going to be fine.

As I sort through the basket on my desk, stuffed with important bits of his mail and the letters he wrote; I run my fingers across sentences written from his heart… words taken from devotions… and scriptures he clung to in the days when he felt alone… sentiments expressed as he came to grips with exactly what he has signed up for…his commitment becoming a reality.

“I am a man of a forceful nature; but glory and doom walk hand in hand. I can not cast these emotions aside. I am troubled that I am being trained to hunt, kill, suppress, and destroy another. If someone were to ask me what the most stressful, most depressing or most unsatisfying part of my life was; it would be now. The way it is here. Do what you are told. You can not go and you can not stand to stay.”

“Give your cares to God and He will lift your burden.”

“The days drag on yet we still live our lives. We can not feel, notice, or sense the earth’s movement, but we know it moves. God is in the motion. Like the earth, we can not see it, but we know that He is there.”

“My faith has definitely grown stronger in this place.”

It is to this last sentence I cling… it’s what I’ve prayed for night after night, day after day…draw him to You; Lord…put your arms around him when I can not. It is in this place where mother and son come together, two hearts closing the miles… with one prayer…to guide…to protect…to always know God’s presence… not my will, Lord, but Yours be done.

He graduates MP training in January and will be stationed in Missouri…just six hours from home for one year. And on those orders…the word feared by mothers across the United States… deployed. His response when I tried to press for information, “I have three words for you where that’s concerned, Mom…hazardous duty pay!”

So for now we focus on the joy of homecoming, the closeness to home of his first duty station, and the fact that after the first of the year we have the freedom to visit anytime he has a couple of days off. And as always…we trust in God, the giver of life, the divine protector, the guardian of children and soldiers alike.

Yesterday afternoon when he called, laughing and telling animated stories of his training, talking excitedly about what is left in the syllabus; joking with his friends in the background…I realized the boy is indeed a man... and both he and his mother’s faith has definitely grown stronger in this place.

Psalms 139:13 “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

Jeremiah 1:5 (a) “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”

Matthew 10:28-31 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (29) Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. (30) And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (31) So don’t be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows.” ~NIV

Johnny Appleseed's Christmas Lesson

My grandson, Hunter, is in a reading contest at school. Each week the books become larger and more complicated. Every Wednesday afternoon he takes time to read a little bit to anyone who will listen. This past week he brought home Johnny Appleseed. You remember the story... old Johnny traveled across the United States planting apple trees so people would have food and shade? It’s even rumored he wore his cooking pot on his head for a hat. It is hard to separate truth from myth where this American legend is concerned.

Hunter and I looked on line and found a little factual information about the man born as John Chapman. He was a pioneer nurseryman, who planted apple trees across Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. His legend began while he was alive due to his generous spirit and leadership in conservation. Hunter thought it was so cool that Johnny Appleseed was a missionary. He said, “That’s why he was generous, huh Granna?”

We are all a bit like Johnny Appleseed, aren’t we? In our every day life our every day actions are planting seeds. Seeds of hope, trust, compassion, generosity, kindness, forgiveness, snippets of God’s Word…all seeds of the faith… sewn in words and deeds.

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas fosters the feeling of responsibility to provide for the poor, feed the hungry, and in general a heightened sense of compassion and generosity. Christians and non-Christians alike drop change into Salvation Army kettles in the front of stores and on street corners through out the country. Old coats are gathered, cleaned and made ready for redistribution. Extra canned goods and non-perishable items are purchased and dropped in boxes placed in rows by cash registers in local stores and in church lobbies. Paper Angels with a child’s name and pertinent information are plucked from trees in malls across the nation and toys are purchased, wrapped and dropped off in time for a less fortunate family to experience the Christmas they always dreamed of having.

It would be a wonderful world if everyone everywhere were about the business of sewing the seeds of faith, love, and hope but sadly, that’s not the case. Seeds of a more ominous kind are also sewn in deeds, words, and actions…or lack there of…seeds of despair, hopelessness, discouragement, anger, apathy…seeds of hate...sewn intentionally or by careless conduct…especially during this season set aside for love and generosity.

An unkind word to a cashier that doesn’t check you out fast enough, a look of disgust or revulsion to the stranger on the street who just wants enough change to buy a dollar hamburger, a grumble to the store associate who informs you that what you want is no longer available or if available, not for the sale price; the fist raised at the person who cut you off in traffic or took the parking spot you waited on for ten minutes, the beat of impatience tapped out by a foot directed toward the person who needs a price check or doesn’t have enough money in the check-out line in front of you… grumpiness, irritability, and grouchiness because there is too much to do and not enough time to do it in… the scenarios could go on forever.

It has become an American holiday tradition…this busyness of the season…running to and fro…shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking…giving. Add to that practice for the Christmas cantata or play, the additional dinners and programs at school and church…the holiday dinner party; and even we who profess Christ can get caught up in the hustle and bustle and brush past someone who needs nothing more than a mere smile, a word of encouragement…an act of patience…a Merry Christmas.

Over the next couple of weeks I pray we keep our eyes open and our hearts prepared to see the soil God has set before us. That we plant seeds which will draw all we come in contact with into a closer relationship with Him. That if they do not know our Savior, it is in our actions, words, and deeds they get a glimpse of the One who is truly the reason for the season. May His light not only shine upon you...but through you this Christmas.

Matthew 25:40 “And the King shall answer and say unto them, ‘Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’” KJV

Happy Thanksgiving

Here I sit at 3:30 on Thanksgiving morning with my first cup of coffee in hand. I love this holiday and woke up early so I could steal a little time alone. In a few hours the place will be filled to overflowing with friends and family. The house has been properly scrubbed from crisp white ceilings to shinny hardwood floors. The cobwebs have all been swept away and the dogs bathed and warned to be on their best behavior. The children’s goodie bags have been put together and color pages, puzzles, and mazes printed out. Pies and cakes have been baked and casseroles prepared and stashed in the fridge. In just a few minutes the bread will be rising and the turkey all dressed and in the oven.

In about an hour the boys will arrive for their annual Thanksgiving hunt. This year it must be ducks since they are taking Bruno along. Jimmy started the tradition when Richard was twelve. Now the hunt includes nephews, grandsons, and this year since Jake is still in training a handful of his friends are stepping up to take his place. They will be back around noon, cold, happy and hungry…sneaking a taste of this and a taste of that before showering, dressing for dinner, and turning on football.

I can not help but think of Psalm 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” KJV

We have another family tradition in the Kyzer compound Thanksgiving Day festivities. Everyone goes around the table at tells what they are thankful for and Psalms 100 is read. Jake was the first to read it…his idea when he was nine. His class had to memorize it for school one year and he fell in love with the scripture. When his turn came around, he stood up and said, “I am thankful that I don’t have to read this…but I want to read it"…and proceeded. My big brother, the Baptist minister, could have preached a sermon and almost did during the prayer! This year, for the first time, our seven year old grandson, Hunter, will be doing the reading.

We will definitely feel the void with Jake’s absence this year. I am almost positive the chow hall turkey and trimmings can not compare to his mama’s. smiling here… However, we know that the miles that separate us can not separate our hearts and our family is together in spirit.

My heart is full this day of thanksgiving…this day to share love…this day of joy and my soul sings to the Savior who rescued me…while I was in my worst state. He who showers me with blessings… and as I look into the faces of the 23 adults and 9 children…I will be reminded of that eternal love.

The things and people I am thankful for this year are far too numerous to be named here, but rest assured your name is among them. Happy Thanksgiving…I pray our Lord smiles upon you and yours as we enter this season of hope…this season of love. God bless you all.

Psalms 100
1) Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands,2) Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.3) Know ye that the Lord, He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves: we are the sheep of His pasture.4) Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.5) For the Lord is good: His mercy is everlasting: and His truth endureth to all generations.~KJV

Conversation Is Art

Conversation is a subtle art. Words joined together to make sentences that meander along paths of thought, winding around unexpected corners of love, up little hills of anxiety, and at times plunging into deep valleys of fear or despair. Sometimes participants in this art run smack-dab into an utterance that contains a treasure so wonderful… that one grabs hold of it and stuffs it in a pocket for safe keeping. Expressions to be brought out time and again to relive emotions associated with mere words. That’s how I wound up sitting on a bridge back in the late 1950’s overlooking a babbling brook.

I intended to be there just a few minutes. I wanted to pick up my guitar and grab a couple snap shots of my daddy’s antique Gibson. Many of my happy childhood memories are wrapped around that old guitar. Daddy would sing and play to relieve his stress or entertain us kids while Mom was cooking dinner. We loved when he and his brother played their guitars and my aunts would sing at family get-togethers. Then there were the times when my little sister would bring out her saxophone and my brother would tap out a beat…precious, sweet memories. We were reminiscing about those times. Talking about how he should really play for his great grandchildren more since they spend so much time at his house and our conversation began its journey.

He talked of playing the guitar when he was young… of living in the boarding house where he met my mother. He told stories of dates, of their wedding, of their first house, of jobs…stories I had heard a hundred times. Then our discussion took a little detour…to a brook located along an old country road. He had taken my mother, his two children and her daughter to visit his parents. They had only been dating six months or so…but if you would have asked my granny, she would have told you they were destined to be married.

While the children were napping my parents went for a walk. Strolling along, hand-in-hand, he said he was thinking how pretty she was, what a great personality she had, and how she treated his children with love and respect… like they were her own. When they came upon the brook they sat down on the bridge to try and skip some rocks and talk. They were looking out over the water… just talking… when she placed her hand upon his shoulder and told him how beautiful it was there.

“That was when I knew I was in trouble.” He said. “I thought to myself, uh-oh, here I go again.” It was the moment he fell in love with her.

OBEDIENT

Only Christ can save the lost.
But still we spread the gospel at all cost.
Every life could be made whole...every need met.
Delivery of the enslaved is certain…when we simply cast the net.
If we follow the Lord’s command to go, teach, and do…
Every tongue, every nation, every land could be impacted because of me & you.
Now love, energy, prayer, money and time is all we need invest.
The day of the Lord is at hand...the fields are ripe for harvest.


Matthew 28:19,20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen ~NKJ

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.”

A Grandmother, a Chihuahua, and a Lab…

Our dogs are almost as spoiled as our children were. Here are some things they have taught me over the past few months of retirement. Hope they make you smile as they have me.

• One new roll of bathroom tissue can be spread over 3,000 square feet by a six pound Chihuahua in the thirty minutes it takes to run to the store.

• If your Chocolate Lab is used to being vacuumed…you have to use it on him before you use it on the pellet stove or he will knock you over.

• When a Chihuahua grabs the ice that fell from the ice maker…it will stick to her tongue…and she will run all over the house at the speed of lightening… until she deposits it in a pair of new shoes.

• A Labrador can and will spread three loads of sorted laundry all over a room if left alone for the time it takes to make a pot of coffee.

• If a clean load of whites is left in a basket on the floor for the length of time it takes to post a new entry into a blog…a Chihuahua will find it a great place to take a nap…only after she has rolled in the dirt outside.

• A Chocolate Lab will jump into a freshly filled bathtub if the door is left ajar.

• One-half a roll of fruit flavored Certs left over from church will make an entire ottoman sticky when attempted to be eaten by a Chihuahua.

• When it gets cold outside a queen size bed is not big enough for a Labrador, a Chihuahua, an ex-college linebacker, and a grandmother.

• You can not take a teenagers favorite shirt from his dogs after he leaves for basic training…it is not a pretty sight…if you manage to sneak it from them…they will hunt it down, find it and promptly return it to their bed.

Psalms 17:22 (a) “A cheerful heart is good medicine…”

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Psalms 68:3 “But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God, may they be happy and joyful.

1st Thessalonians 5:16 “Be joyful always”

Proverbs 15:13 (a) A happy heart makes the face cheerful

The B-I-B-L-E Yes That's The Book For Me

I don’t know about you but I love my Bible. Twenty years ago when Jimmy first asked me to go to church with him I ran up to Wal-Mart and bought the standard King James Version. It was kind of tough deciphering exactly what it meant. But, it didn’t really matter at the time because I wasn’t going to really read it anyway. I just needed it because people who went to church carried one. I surely wasn’t going to be one of those sisters that showed up every time the doors were opened…

However, the Monday after I got saved I went straight to the small Christian bookstore in our community and told the ladies at the counter. “I just got saved and I need a Bible that’s gonna teach me what to do next.” I’ll never forget the look on their faces…and the shock at the price of a Bible. I mean I’d only paid $10.00 for the old one. Never the less, with a discount…I purchased a red, hard back NIV Life Application Bible.

I had a plan…I was going to read the New Testament first, then start at the front and read it all the way through. I devoured that thing…I couldn’t get enough! I remember Jimmy telling me, “Honey, its 2 o’clock in the morning…you need to turn that light off and go to sleep.” My response was always, “Just a minute, I am almost finished with this story.” And he would roll over and go back to sleep.

By 1995, that poor Bible was bedraggled. It had notes in the margins…well, pretty much any place that was free of the printed word. It was underlined, sometimes high lighted…it had sticky notes that marked my favorite passages. The inside pages had been taped repeatedly with masking and scotch tape. When I resorted to using duct tape on the outside…Jimmy told me to go get a new one…I just couldn’t do it. I took it with me back to that same Christian bookstore and purchased a cover.

By that time…I was no longer a stay-at-home mom. Jake had started school and I had gone back to work. The biggest adjustment was how to accomplish in just a couple hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening what had taken all day in the past to get done. One of the short cuts was to do laundry in the morning. So most mornings, I would fold laundry on the dining room table while reading my Bible and drinking my first cup of coffee. Every evening I would come home, get dinner started, and put away the clean clothes.

We had been experiencing an eary spring cold snap and for a couple of days Jimmy would build a fire at 4:30 before he left for work so we would be comfortable when we got up latter in the morning. It was one of the things that made me appreciate him. However, that all changed the morning of March 12. He called the office around 10:30 a rarity in itself…when I answered, I knew something was wrong. His first words were, “Did you leave the screen off the fireplace this morning when you left?” “No why?” I asked. He said, "Your mom just called and said the house was on fire." She was the dispatcher and lived just half a mile up the road. I rushed home and sure enough…the driveway and front yard was packed with fire trucks.

After the all clear, Jimmy and I went inside. One of the deacons from our church was the captain of the fire department and stayed with us as we walked through the steamy, sooty air surveying the damage…shocked…as the fire fighters and a few neighbors hunted for our poodle…waiting on the insurance adjuster…he said, “I thought you’d want this” and handed me my Bible.

What? I couldn’t believe it! I was standing right there looking at the dining room table, almost unrecognizable, charred like the long burned out logs from the fire place. While the table had burned, the Bible was not scorched, didn’t have a mark on it…the cloth cover didn’t even smell like smoke! I grabbed that Bible and hugged it tight to my chest and began crying.

While I've worn out several Bibles since then, I still have that red NIV...it sits in the shelves in our bedroom...a reminder... that in all things He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine....

Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”