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A Peek Inside the Parsonage

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Can I just give you a little glimpse into the heart of a pastor?  Since I am married to one and share his parsonage, I have an up-close look at his heart towards ministry. 
Each morning, the first thing he does (after making our coffee) is head to his office to pour over God’s Word and his journal.  He spends time reading, writing what God says to him, and then praying for the names pasted into his prayer journal.
He loves his God!  He is first in my husband’s life.  It’s what’s on his mind 24/7.
It amazes me how tirelessly he serves.  Last week after spending a good bit of time ministering to a family in need, he came home late in the afternoon and headed straight to his office.  A little later, I heard his voice on the phone.  He was singing “Happy Birthday.” to someone from our congregation.  Then a few minutes later, I heard the song again, then listened as he encouraged them and listened to their heart share a burden.  Then he was praying with them over the phone.
He loves his people!  He cares for their needs.  He longs to see them grow.  He is jealous when they are doing other things aside from being faithful to their God. He prays with compassion for their concerns. 
Later that evening when we were out, he gave a tract to a stranger – someone the Lord put in his path.  He sat across from me and was sad in his heart over watching a family that seemed to have no relationship with God.
He loves souls!  He witnesses.  He gives the Gospel so faithfully.  He hands out tracts.  He prays for our waiter or waitress at a restaurant.  He weeps over the lost family members of our congregation.
I listen to him talk to his girls and their fellas.  He spurs them on to growth.  He’s more concerned for their spiritual life than that they are happy in this earthly life.  He encourages me spiritually.  He encourages me to do what God gives me the opportunity to do.
He loves his family!
My husband may or may not be your pastor, but if you have a pastor that loves God, his church members, souls, and his family, how about writing him and note to tell him how much you appreciate him?  Oh, that reminds me – another thing my husband loves – encouragement!  =)
Thankful to have the best pastor ever,
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Trusting Him Moment By Moment

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I have always loved the song, Day By Day.  It says,

Day by day, and with each passing moment,

strength I find to meet my trials here,


Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,


I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.


He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,


Gives unto each day what He deems best,


Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,


Mingling toil with peace and rest.

However, when I was speaking with a friend recently and she asked how I was doing I honestly said, “I’m all right at the moment!  Forget ‘day by day'”, I laughed.  “I need the Lord to help me each minute!”  I was referring to my migraines – I can be fine, then in an hour be struck low with a splitting headache.  I’ve learned not to say “I don’t have a headache today.”  One can pop up so quickly!  Yes, it’s trusting the Lord moment by moment for my very life.

Migraine sufferers aren’t the only ones in need of God’s grace each moment – every child of God stands with the same need.  One minute we’re being obedient, trusting His Word, standing strong in His Truths, the next, something happens and we’re filled with doubt, tempted to sin or disobey.  Moment by moment we need Him.  Moment by moment He sustains us.

It’s taken you a moment to read this – He still has you in His care.  In another moment, He will provide your needs as He did in the past.  The next moments will find His grace sufficient for whatever you’re experiencing!  Trust Him for each moment!

Moment By Moment – Daniel Whittle

Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine;

Living with Jesus, a new life divine;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Refrain:

Moment by moment I’m kept in His love;

Moment by moment I’ve life from above;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Never a trial that He is not there,

Never a burden that He doth not bear,

Never a sorrow that He doth not share,

Moment by moment, I’m under His care.

Never a heartache, and never a groan,

Never a teardrop, and never a moan;

Never a danger but there on the throne,

Moment by moment He thinks of His own.

Never a weakness that He doth not feel,

Never a sickness that He cannot heal;

Moment by moment, in woe or in weal,

Jesus my Savior abides with me still.

With love,

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What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

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My Sunday dinner was comprised of tried and true recipes made upon request.  I fed my daughter, her boyfriend and college roommate.  When my college student comes home, she gets to choose the menu!  This was her first time home all semester, too, so she was anxious for some of her favorites.  I made the Lemon Greek chicken that I shared here.  We also had corn saute’, cooked apples, low-fat Angel biscuits, and for dessert, Hot chocolate Cakes.

 

 

Let me share another recipe that I made this weekend that is super good.  I made it for our Sunday school fellowship.  It’s so flavorful and makes plenty.  It calls for ham and chicken, but you could use just one of the two and it would be just as good.  The flavor comes especially from the wild rice.  We love this soup!

Cream of Wild Rice Soup

2 C cooked Wild rice
1 large onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery rib, finely diced
1 C finely diced ham
1/2 C butter – I reduced this to 1/4 and it was plenty
4 T. flour
8 C chicken broth
1 ! cooked diced chicken
salt and pepper to tatse
1 C light cream or half and half (I used fat free half and half)

Prepare the wild rice in a 4-5 quart dutch oven.  Set aside.  Saute’ onion, carrot, celery and ham in the butter about 3 minutes or until the vegetables have softened slightly.  Sift in the flour a little at a time, stirring and cooking until the flour is blended in well, but not browned.  Slowly add the chicken broth stirring until all the flour, butter and vegetable mixture is blended well.  Add the wild rice, cooked chicken and adjust seasonings to taste.  Heat thoroughly.  Add the cream and reheat gently, but do not boil.  Yields 12 servings.

What was cooking in your kitchen this week?

With love,

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Thanking HIm For All Things

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I just finished re-reading The Hiding Place – the story of Corrie Ten Boom’s imprisonment in the German Concentration Camp.  It would be easy at the onset of the book to wonder why God would allow these innocent people to suffer as they did.  Starvation, cold, fleas, lice, cruel punishment, humiliation, and hatred were only some of the hard things the prisoners endured.  Why, Lord?  Why?
Life is full of hard questions, isn’t it?  Have you ever asked or been asked questions such as:
  • Why do God’s children suffer? 
  • Why is a faithful Christian taken to heaven when they’re young? 
  • Why do young children, who are so innocent get terminal diseases? 
  • Why doesn’t God stop people from doing sinful things to innocent people?
If we really want answers, we need to do what this proverbs says –
 They that seek the LORD understand all things. Proverbs 28:5b
We must seek the Lord.  If we open God’s Word (the place where we find answers about God), we will understand all things.  That doesn’t mean we’ll have the answers to all things, but we will understand because we will come to understand our God.  If I am seeking the Lord, I learn that He loves me.  I learn that He wants to conform me to His image. I find out that I am always under His care.  I see that God gives men a will to choose Him or reject Him.  I am reminded that one day He will righteously judge all sin and that men won’t always get away with the evil they have done. 
In The Hiding Place Corrie tells about being sent to a barracks that was infested with fleas.  Corrie asked her sister, Betsie how they were going to be able to survive such conditions.  Here is Betsie’s wise answer:
Corrie!  He’s given us the answer!  Before we asked, as He always does!  In the Bible this morning.  Where was it?  Read that part again!  It was in I Thessalonians.  Here it is – Comfort the frightened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all…rejoice  always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus–.  That’s it, Corrie!  That’s His answer.  ‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’ That’s what we can do.  We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!
Betsie then prayed and thanked God for everything – including the fleas, because, as she said, “Give thanks in all circumstances.  It doesn’t say’ in pleasant circumstances.’  Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.”  Corrie said she was sure her sister was wrong about this! 
During their stay at these particular barracks, the guards seldom came around, giving them much liberty to have Bible studies and prayer times with the other women prisoners.  Some time later, they learned that the guards avoided their barracks because of the fleas!  So even these little annoyances were part of God’s plan.  Because Betsie sought the Lord, she understood this simple truth.
Are there “fleas” that you’re dealing with right now?  Or perhaps they may seem more like elephants because of their enormity.  Remind yourself to keep learning about your God so you, too, can understand that God is using even those difficult things for a purpose that we might not have answers for right now, but perhaps He will enlighten our understanding so that we might trust Him  and thank Him for all things…even the fleas.
With love,

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A Peek Into the Parsonage

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 Pajama Runs and Family Fun

A happy home doesn’t mean that problems and difficulties never exist.  A happy home is a place where the people who live there deal biblically with the issues at hand.  The family inside a parsonage has as many troubles and struggles as their neighbors, and have to work just as hard at maintaining a right mind- set about dealing with the hard things and remembering to have plain ol’ fun together.  Having fun as a family is so important!  The Bible reminds us in Proverbs 17:22 that a merry heart is good medicine. If parents have a merry heart they can make a merry home by loosening up the stress and having fun as a family.

Just yesterday I read this entry in my diary from May 16, 1999.  (Our daughters were eight and fifteen at the time)

This evening after the girls had showered and gotten in bed, Dale rang a make-believe bell and hollered,

“Pajama run!  Pajama run!  Everyone in the van!” 

 We piled in and drove through Dairy Queen for a treat.  Allison was so tickled at the fun of it all that she came up to Dale’s seat while we were in the drive through line, put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.  Whitney enjoy it too.  Her words were, “I don’t have any make-up on!” 

It was a fun family memory builder.

Those little fun times did wonders to bind our hearts together as we laughed (usually at Allison’s antics or comments).  They relieved the stress of many things – ministry, discipline issues, hard work, or just growing up. 

The family in the parsonage sure isn’t perfect – we’ve dealt with many hard things, but when things got tough we tried to remember to loosen up and have fun!

Does your family need a pajama run and family fun?  Go for it!

With love and laughter,