Pressure Cooker Times

September 13, 2011January 9, 2015 RefreshHerLeave a comment

I looooove those good ol’ Southern-style green beans. They’re the ones that are from fresh green beans that have been cooked for several hours, with some bacon fat or ham added to give a lovely fattening coating over those nice healthy veggies! However, because it does take several hours to make, I have usually opted for a quick version of beans that satisfied my taste for this delicacy only partially.

Then this summer I was given my mom’s pressure cooker. Up until that time I was really afraid to use one. I had visions in my head of the steam in the pot reaching such levels that I would look up only to see a lid-sized hole in the kitchen ceiling! So after getting this pot washed and ready to use, I went to the Internet to watch a video on how to safely use my new gadget. After several viewings, I learned all the safety precautions and tips on how to get those Southern green beans. I followed all the instructions and Ta-da – in 25 minutes I had beans that tasted like they’d cooked all afternoon!

As I watched the video on the Internet, I learned how to adjust the valve and the temperature to keep the steam from getting too extreme and causing pressure problems (a hole in the ceiling!). I also learned to take the pot to the sink at the end of the cooking time to allow a little cool water to drip over the lid and reduce the pressure. That preparation helped me accomplish the task!

You know what? There are also techniques in life to help us reduce the pressure. Just as I had to think through the process of cooking the beans properly, stopping to think through what we’re doing and then preparing for it will help to reduce whatever pressure we’re facing. Right now, our church is going through two weeks of revival meetings. That can add a lot of pressure to an already busy life…unless we stop to think it through, pray it through, and then prepare. So, anyone going through a pressure-filled time, ask yourself a few questions:

What can I do to adjust the “heat”?

Eliminate a few activities?
Simplify meals?
Lighten the home school load?
Lower the expectation of what I need to accomplish today?

What will add a little “cool water” right now?

Spend specific time in prayer for the meetings (or whatever is causing your pressure)

Pray for those involved
Pray for your own response
Pray for your attitude

All through the day, encourage your heart by listening to good music, reviewing Scripture memory verses, listening to radio broadcasts that will turn your heart to the Lord. Keeping your focus on Christ instead of the pressure will give you aright perspective!
Make sure you (and your children) get adequate rest.
Plan a fun activity for Friday night (our off night for revival)

I don’t use a pressure cooker every day. We don’t have revival meetings every week. Not every day is one filled with pressures Let’s make the necessary adjustments and preparations so that instead of it being an experience that we dread, it will be a time of wonderful and blessed results that are lasting. We might even learn to appreciate those pressure-cooker times because of the end result!

With love,

Denise

Christian Life

The Gracious Woman

August 23, 2011January 9, 2015 RefreshHer11 Comments

Just a warning – if you are under the age of 35 you may not like this post, and will probably be muttering to yourself as you read. Read anyway! =) If you’re over 35, you’ll probably be glad that someone is addressing this topic.

What is it? Cell phones. What a useful tool they are! What confidence it gives when we leave home for a trip, knowing that if we get lost or need help, we can hit a speed dial and get help – like the Life line on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire! What a blessing to no longer have the incredible phone bills that long distance calls used to accumulate!

However, dear friends, there are times and places to use cell phones, and there are times and places to put them in your purse. Proverbs 11:16 says that A gracious woman retains honour. Part of being a gracious woman is being a woman of wisdom, courtesy and prudence. We have to think about what we’re doing. We must ask ourselves if this is the time and place for what we are doing or saying. In regards to cell phone use, we need to ask ourselves:

Is it necessary that I have my phone out right now, or can it wait?
Am I being a distraction to those around me by lighting up my phone to check it?
Is this text message really that important that I need to read it at church during the song service or message? (Can we not give one hour to worship; totally undistracted?)
Do I need to know the time while I’m in church? If your phone is the means by which you tell the time, forget the time and trust the Lord to get you out of there before the roast burns!
Am I being courteous by taking a call or checking my messages right now?

Is someone speaking

to me personally?
at the dinner table?
In a small group setting?
in prayer?

Is this a solemn occasion?

Wedding?
Funeral? – These are two more places that definitely need discretion!

There are lots of places where you can read about cell phone courtesy, but they seldom talk about being in church or in private places or settings. We need to realize that life is about our God and people. Set your phone aside and free yourself from the appendage that it has become. You’ll find yourself getting more out of what’s happening around you. Look people in the eye and converse. Don’t be distracted by the beeping and vibrating of your phone. Turn it off and live in the moment God has given you. You know what else? That message will be there when the time is right.

Refresh others by your graciousness.

Because I care,

Christian Life

The Light That Shines

May 5, 2011January 9, 2015 RefreshHerLeave a comment

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

Proverbs 4:18

My husband and I were recently driving through subdivisions just looking at houses and yards, commenting and dreaming as we drove along. “Oh, pretty landscaping! Lovely wreath on that door!” Then we came to a house and my husband commented about how he’d like to live in a place like that. “No, that is too shady!” was my reply. “I have to have the sun pouring in my windows and doors!”

I love the sunlight. I need the sunlight. I guess that’s why I stopped and pondered over the proverbs at the top of this post when I read it in my quiet time yesterday. What a sweet reminder that the Lord shines His light on the path of the just. The “just” is simply the person who has been made right by the blood of Christ and have received Him as their Savior. As we are guided by the Word of God, we can walk in the light as He is in the light.

This is not just any light – it’s a shining light. When I walk in it, it’s noticeable not only to me, but also to others. So let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matt. 5:16

This week I had a need for someone to go visit my aunt who has had a stroke and is in a hospital many miles from here. She was alone, and I wondered if a pastor in that area would go see her. A call was made to the church and we were assured that someone would go. I also mentioned the need to a friend of mine who lives in the same area where my aunt is hospitalized. She told me she and her husband would go when they were able. I told her to do what the Lord led her to do…it was in God’s hands.

Later that evening my friend called me. She and her husband were on their way home from the hospital. They’d been able to visit my aunt, but the blessing of it all was the way the Lord directed them there at just the right time. While they were in her room, her son called from the Atlanta airport. Due to some mitts they’ve had to put on my aunt’s hands, had they not been there, she wouldn’t have been able to answer her phone. The other blessing of that phone call is that the Lord has especially burdened my heart for this cousin of mine that called. We’ve recently added his name to our prayer list at church. My friend’s husband was able to tell him why they were there visiting. Surely my cousin saw the shining light of their good works. I’m praying that this will be a part of drawing him to the Savior!

Praise the Lord for the light He gives so we can obey his bidding. Praise Him, also, for the way the light of the just can shine for others to see so that they, too, might trust Christ. If you’re praying for some one’s salvation, be encouraged that the light of your life and other believers can help direct that lost person to the Light of the world!

With love,

Christian Life

Your Presence – Is It A Blessing To Others?

January 14, 2011 RefreshHerLeave a comment

Many years ago there was a woman in my circle of life that was just one of those kinds of people that we affectionately call “EGR” people – Extra Grace Required. I mean no ill in saying that; it was the truth. If you knew her, you’d say the same thing, even if you have a sweet disposition like that of Melanie on Gone with the Wind! This poor woman was nearly always crabby. Her face was twisted up in discontent and she’d let you know exactly and specifically what was troubling her the moment she entered your presence. It was for those reasons that people pretty much avoided her.

On the other hand, I have known other people that I’ve gravitated to. There was one woman when I learned she was going to attend a certain event I’d hope to be seated near her because of her kind ways, fun-loving disposition and encouraging words. She talked of the Lord freely and as a part of her daily and moment-by-moment life. I learned by experience that being with her was always a blessing!

In Genesis 30 we find Jacob approaching Laban about taking his wives and children and going home. Laban isn’t real thrilled at the prospect. He answers Jacob by saying, “Tarry. For I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for thy sake.” He wants Jacob to stay with him because he’s recognized that because Jacob was with him, he had received blessings from the Lord. Wow. As I read that the first thought that pops into my head is, “Does my presence bring God’s blessings to others? Or would people rather run when they see me coming?”

How about you? Are people blessed because you’re around? Do they know by experience that the Lord’s Spirit is abiding in you and they’re encouraged when they’re with you? If we have a crabby, critical or caustic attitude we can be very sure that people would rather run from us than retreat to us!

I’m asking the Lord to give me the great exchange today. I’m begging Him to take my ugly sinful nature and replace it with His Divine nature. May, I, like Jacob, be a blessing to others who are near me!

See you in church Sunday!

With love,

Christian Life

Waiting For the Rain

October 7, 2010 RefreshHerLeave a comment

When you teach children in church, it’s necessary to digest the Bible passage into small tiny pieces so you can have the details entrenched in your heart. How familiar the story of Noah is to most of us. We think of the animals that came 2 by 2, the arc being built, and the rain that fell for forty days, and the rainbow in the sky, but I’m telling you, that the Lord has allowed me to see some things in this known story as I been studying it to teach to my Sunday school class. They are precious truths that I needed to learn!

This week my Sunday school class will learn about God shutting the door on the arc and then the rains coming. As I studied the passage, I read in Genesis 7:10 “And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.” Think about it – all the animals were in the arc. Noah and his family were safe in the arc, and not one other person would heed Noah’s warnings that God was going to send a flood. Now the door is shut, and as I pictured the event I could see the whole Noah family looking upward to the windows of the arc. Was it raining yet? No. Perhaps they even had a hard time looking upward because the sunshine was beaming into their eyes! The next day, perhaps they thought this was the day the flood would begin and God’s promise would be fulfilled. No. The next day the sun continued to shine. Day four, day five, and day six all passed with no rain. Were they wondering when this would happen? I wonder if there marks on the wall of the arc for every day they waited for the rain? Noah’s family was flesh, and I think they had to be wondering when this was going to happen.

Finally, on day seven – drip, tap, splash…the water began to come from the sky. The clouds caused a darkness to fall over the arc, then the darkness was divided by a flash of lightening piercing through the sky. They would write in their journals, “Today, on day seven the floods began. God has kept His promise to send judgment.”

How often I am looking for a promise of God to be fulfilled in my life…in my timetable. I sit in my arc waiting for that promise to rain down, and I begin to question – “Am I misapplying this promise? Is God going to do this now?” But there are no “rain clouds in sight” and I grow impatient.

The Lord reminded me through Noah and his family, however, that He will keep His promise. It will rain, and it will be the perfect time. His promise is sure and He cannot go back on it. So, today, I choose, whether I “hear the flood waters” coming or it’s still clear skies, to rest safely in my arc (the Lord Jesus).

Whatever you’re praying for, it may not be answered until “day seven,” but you can rest assured that God is in the heavens and he will do whatsoever He will please. Psalm 115:3 It will be the perfect time, and He will be glorified in it. Just as He was seen in the flood, it will be evident that His hand has moved in your situation too! Continue to trust Him.

Safe in the arc,