How To Be the Greatest Blessing to Your Children

November 3, 2016November 2, 2016 RefreshHer4 Comments

As parents, don’t we all long to be a blessing to our children? There’s so much you could do, and it can sometimes be overwhelming, can’t it? I mean we could…send them to a private school, homeschool them, give them private music lessons, take them to every service at church, feed them the best organic foods, make sure their immunizations are up to date, or bake them your famous chocolate chip cookies. But is all this enough? Too much?

I love how God’s Word breaks down Truth for us in a way that simplifies what we tend to complicate. I read in Proverbs 20:7 yesterday –

The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.

The “just” person is a woman who has trusted Christ as her Savior and now has a standing before God. She is “justified” and God sees her through Christ as having never sinned. Amazing, isn’t that?! After that amazing transformation, she walks in integrity, and in so doing, is a blessing to her children.

What does it look like for a woman to “walk in integrity?”

She is steady. She’s not waffling all over the place – hot and cold, back and forth, up and down. She has her heart towards her Savior and her face towards heaven.
She is sold-out. Her life belongs completely to God. Therefore, she is in His Word daily, in His house regularly and on her knees consistently.
She is sparkling. This doesn’t mean she never sins, but she is not involved in things that would cause someone to question her integrity. Relationships are guarded, her heart is pure and her eyes are shielded against the things that would distract her from her spiritual goals.

Did you notice that none of those marks are things you do for your children? It’s nothing you buy for them or cook up in the kitchen. It’s all about who we are in our heart that makes us a blessing to anyone. As we live out a faithful life for Christ, we are a blessing to those that we rub shoulders with, and who do you rub shoulders with more than those in your own home?!

So, what are you doing today that reveals your integrity? Stay steady, sold out and sparkling, and you will be a great blessing to your children and grandchildren! Oh, but go ahead and bake them some chocolate chip cookies! A little sweet treat never hurt any mom’s reputation!

With love,

Encouragement · friends · Gifts

Refresh Others

April 22, 2016April 21, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

It’s easy to know what you could use to refresh yourself – a little quiet, a hot, soaking bath, a cup of coffee or glass of tea, a magazine full of great recipes, and on an on. But have you considered what you could do to refresh someone else?

This week I realized it had been a long time since I’d made any Sour Dough bread, because we’re trying to steer clear of such delicious carbs. But I was reminded that I have a couple of neighbors that might appreciate a loaf! One of them loves homemade bread; the other had given us fresh eggs from his hens and I thought a loaf of fresh-baked bread might be a good thank you. So, I quickly mixed up two loaves and let them rise. One loaf has been delivered and the other is set out and ready to go next door after Bible club. It wasn’t a whole lot of trouble! I love to bake! I had everything on hand to make the loaves. I sent them with a longing to be a blessing, and to represent Christ – the Giver of every good and perfect gift. How can I not share with others?!

What do you have that you could give this weekend?

Time to make a visit to someone who may be lonely or discouraged?
An extra batch of cookies?
A book or magazine you’ve read and could share?
A meal?
A helping hand with housework or yard work?
A card with encouraging words?
Chocolate?

Proverbs 11:25b

He that watereth shall be watered also himself.

When you refresh others, you’re refreshing yourself! So…

Stay refreshed,

Christian Life · Encouragement

Impact

January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 RefreshHer1 Comment

This past weekend was special, really, really special. Our son-in-law had been studying for his ordination into the ministry for quite some time, and this past weekend was the time for him to sit before a council of godly men and give a defence for his doctrinal statement. That was on Saturday.

It was a long, grueling four or so hours as the men asked questions and Andrew gave a biblical answer about what he believes God’s Word teaches. But it was even more than just getting the right answer – it was also stating his call from God into the Gospel ministry. He didn’t just decide one day to “be a preacher.” No, as a young lad, he had heard God’s Spirit leading him to be a preacher of the Word of God.

For years he has been praying, preparing, preaching, and looking forward to the day when it would all be official, and he would be in a place of serving God full-time. That time is now, and that place is at Boones Creek Bible Church. Our church. Wonder of wonders that only God could have done. It wasn’t planned or sought after by us – it was all the Lord’s doings and we stand amazed.

Below is a picture of Alli and Andrew on Saturday. They took a break from questions to have lunch. Many sweet ladies at church provided a fried chicken dinner (what else would you serve a group of preachers?!). We were so grateful for each who cooked or served.

While Saturday was special, Sunday eclipsed it by far. Sunday morning’s service was given to the ordaining Andrew for the ministry. My husband preached a great message about why we lay hands on a young preacher, what the church’s responsibility to Andrew is, and then he challenged Andrew about his responsibility to the ministry. I cried so many happy tears that I’m sure it looked like I never applied makeup that morning! But, oh, the joy of seeing our deacons and my husband gather around him to pray God’s blessing and power for his ministry! My heart was so full of God’s blessings!

How did Andrew get to this place? It was by the impact of a praying mother who had begged God to use her son. By the impact of his faithful pastor while he was growing up. By the impact of a youth pastor who gave him the opportunity to preach when he was a very young man, and to use the gifts that God had put in him. By the impact of a father-in-law and deacons who have encouraged him and welcomed him into their church to serve, to lead and to begin again this process of impacting others as he had experienced for 24 years.

This last photo below is Sunday night. The process of impacting that I just mentioned is evidenced again as Andrew has spent a couple of months pouring into the young teens in the youth group at BCBC. He’s been helping those that wanted to prepare a short message to preach in our Sunday night service. Sunday night was the second service in which we heard young men preach.

You could hear in them the Truths they’d learned from the passage they’d chosen to preach. You could see in them the eagerness to share what they had worked so hard to prepare. You could hear in them the desire to be used of God as they preached. Andrew has had impact in their lives!

Then while this young man was preaching, he was having trouble with his lapel microphone, so my husband went up, and with hands that have hooked up a mic many, many times, he hung it on young “C” so he could be heard. I wonder if God will call this young man to the ministry one day because of the impact of others?

There’s another side to this story that I’ll tell you tomorrow. It’s my story and the work of God when I wondered where He was. I hope you’ll come back then!

Who has had impact on your life, and how are you influencing others?

With love,

Encouragement · Prayer · Uncategorized

Divine Help Is On The Way

November 19, 2015November 19, 2015 RefreshHer2 Comments

I just finished reading a captivating book called, Relinquishing my Dreams, by Sue Burrows and Tricia Bradley. The subtitle is “How to Survive a Prodigal.” This is the true story of one family that dealt with their daughter’s rebellion beginning when she was fourteen years of age. The book also includes survival tips in each chapter, biblical characters to study, and then it ends with a Bible study of twenty-six different Bible characters that will help one to have hope and know how to deal with their prodigal. It’s excellent.

It’s not surprising that one of the characters that the authors study is David. David had a prodigal son named Absalom. Though I haven’t done the study in my new book yet, I did just recently read Psalm 55 where David addresses the hurt and pain he’s experiencing because of a betrayal. This came in the form of an old counsellor of David’s –Ahithophel. Now this man is giving Absalom counsel – against his father. Wow! A double whammy!

David reflects on his relationship with Ahithophel in the early years. In Psalm 55:12-14 he says, for it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it; neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God incompany. David is referencing Ahithophel’s betrayal in II Samuel 17 where Ahithophel says to Absalom: Let me choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night: and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid; and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only.

It wouldn’t be half as bad if we would read that Absalom cries out, “No! How could I do such a thing as to betray my own father, the king?” But sadly it reads instead, And the saying pleased Absalom well…

Is there any burden so great as the rebellion of your own child? How did David deal with this pain? We read in Psalm 55:16, 17

As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

David found comfort in prayer. He reminded himself that God would hear him. Note that he doesn’t just whisper a prayer, he’s crying out!! He’s desperate for God’s help and intervention.

None of us like the thought of going through something as hard as what David is experiencing here, but it will be good for us if it does what it did to David – it drove him to his knees. It’s as though that burden is bearing down on us until we are bowed down. It’s that place where we realize that the greatest resource we have is prayer.

Whatever your burden is today, whether you’re dealing with a prodigal, financial struggles, health issues, relationship problems or your own flesh, let it drive you morning, noon and night to cry out in desperate prayer.

David’s God is your God. Divine help is on the way!