"Trust Me"

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5

Much as I hate to admit it, I like to know all that's going on in my life...the why's and wherefore's. I'm a happy camper even when unusual and sometimes negative things come into my life, if I can figure out why or how something has come about. I like to have all the pieces of a situation I can put into proper place. However in recent weeks, I have learned that I won't always have all the pieces to nicely sort out.

It's been one month since I was admitted to a local hospital. I went to the emergency room because of a reaction to an antibiotic I was taking for a kidney infection. Several years ago in Texas, I had the same thing happen so knew what needed to be done for the problem. However, a doctor in the ER decided I was experiencing a heart attack. I knew a heart attack should not only to be under consideration, but was overall ridiculous. However, the wheels of hospital protocol began to roll and I spent three days there going through just about every heart test possible including a heart cath. My mind was in a whirl. Everything was moving so fast, I couldn't keep up. I'm used to being somewhat in control of my life, but now it seemed as though I had absolutely no say in anything that was going on.

After three days in the hospital, I was discharged with my needle-punctured black and blue arms, horribly weary and really feeling sick. Even at home, I found myself wondering periodically what in the world had happened.

For anyone who has or is presently teaching the Bible in a Sunday school class or Bible study group, you know that we teachers will be held to a higher standard than those we teach. I'm thinking right now of a dear friend of mine in Austin, Mary, who is teaching the Sunday school class I once taught. I received a call one day that she had been in a horrible car accident and was critical at a local hospital. I got there as quickly as I could to see her dear husband. Mary was really torn up as a result of the wreck. It was a miracle not only for her to survive but to successfully make it through weeks and some months of therapy and recuperation. Mary, being a stronger Christian than I am may not have asked the “why's” I did, but I wondered them for her. There's no way she could have known when she left her home on that morning that on her way home would be involved in a wreck and taken to ICU at a local hospital. I can tell you though, that Mary was a blessing through it all more than she could ever know. I never heard a complaint even though she lived in a great deal of pain for weeks. She always had a smile and a good word for the Lord.

I am always so blessed when the Holy Spirit brings to mind Scriptures we have memorized through the years. Sometimes they bless us, encourage us or may even convict us. No matter what they do in our lives, such verses can teach all over again in a fresh way, the things of God.

Proverbs 3:5 and 6 are verses most of us memorized in Bible School or in Sunday school classes. Some verses may even at times seem to be over used, even stale. Even though I love both of these verses, I must admit I haven't referred to them very much in quite awhile. Several days ago while still pondering the medical events in my life and still not being able to make much sense of it all, the Holy Spirit presented me with a sweet and refreshing reminder that not only gave me encouragement for the moment, but that I feel impressed to incorporate into my regular thinking. My heart heard two words....”Trust Me.” Now as I think on any number of things for which I have no answers, my heart echoes those two same precious words. They echo even as I write and are such a comfort. Yes, for me, “Trust Me” are words of conviction, but are words from a loving Father Who wants me to realize that He is in charge of whatever comes into my life whether I understand it or not. I have known that nothing can touch my life lest it filter first through the fingers of God. When rough times come, we are tested with how deeply we believe the words we so easily express with great pomp.

Looking at the entire verse of Proverbs 3:5, I find that too often I lean on my own understanding, wanting all the answers and wanting things to go my way. When I make the decision to trust God, I also must be willing to give up leaning on my own understanding. My understanding of things will very often lead me in the wrong way or will prove to be wrong in the end. Trusting Him means abandoning what I think I know for knowing what God thinks.

At this point, I love just saying those two words because they aren't just words. You and I can trust our Father through the thick and thin of life. He loves and cares for us beyond what words can express. When He says “Trust Me”, we know He can back up those words by working on our behalf. Whatever you face today, join me in the only appropriate response we can render to our loving, caring Heavenly Father...”I WILL trust You.”

Thank You Father for lovingly guiding me through the thick and thin of life. I so often want to take the controls from Your loving hands When I do, I really make a mess of things. I'm so grateful I can trust You in everything. In Jesus precious name....Amen

THE LAST PICTURE

Jesus saith unto her, Mary.
She turned herself, and saith unto Him,
Rabboni which is to say, Master.
John 20:16

Nellie Barker was the first Sunday school teacher I remember having back to probably my kindergarten years. All I ever knew her by was “Nellie Barker” because that's what my Mother and Grandmother called her. Nellie Barker had a strong English accent and that caused a lot of friendly bantering back and forth with my Scotch grandmother. Our class was in one corner of the church basement. I always looked forward to Sunday mornings in Nellie Barker's class. I'm sorry to say that I don't remember much of what she taught, but at the time, her teaching was meaningful. There was one way Nellie Barker taught me that I didn't realize until I was an adult.

Nellie Barker received pictures of Bible stories and scenes for the classroom. They were probably 15x10...good sized pictures. She would attach them to the wall and they sometimes surrounded us at least on three of our four walls. There were all of the usual pictures...Jonah in the whale, Adam and Eve sharing an apple, Moses on the mount getting the commandments, and then we came to the New Testament. There we saw Jesus as a baby in a manger, talking to the elders in the temple, blessing the little children, and then there was THE one I didn't like...Jesus on a cross. I remember sometimes looking at that picture and wondering how that could have happened to someone who was such a nice man. I was saved from further thoughts on that by the last picture of Jesus standing in front of a place where there was a huge round rock behind Him that had been moved away from a doorway. He stood with arms out...a hole in each hand...talking to some ladies who were on the ground. I'm sure they were all happy, but I didn't see any smiles. I often wondered why pictures didn't show Jesus smiling because He seemed to me to be a happy person.

Nellie Barker will never know how her Sunday school pictures influenced the mind and yes, heart of a little girl. I often have thought back to that room, that English accent and those pictures, especially that last one. ...yes, THE last picture. That last one showed Jesus risen from the dead. However, it really isn't the last of anything where Jesus is concerned. I'm more in wonder in these more advanced years of how God does and has done all of His miracles and performed wonders far beyond comprehension.

So we have just finished celebrating that last picture on Nellie Barker's wall. Some folks wore new clothes to church, some even showed up for church, Easter eggs were hunted by children all over our country and choirs presented their Easter cantatas. But guess what, that last picture is still on the wall of my mind. Was it all just for one day or can we continue every day of the year to sing those wonderful songs and hymns that celebrate that last picture.

I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today.
I know that He is living, whatever man may say.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, all fear is gone.

He lives! He lives!
Christ Jesus lives today.
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life's narrow way.

Nellie Barker has been in Heaven for many years now. If she was a typical Sunday school teacher, she probably wondered at times if there was anything getting through to that group of snotty-nosed, overly energized little kids. She may at times have felt the tedium of plodding along, Sunday after Sunday doing many of the routine things Sunday school teachers do. Those of us who have taught, have felt that at times. We knew though that Nellie Barker loved us and one of the main ways I knew that was through those pictures. She didn't have to post all of them, but she did. For me, they were a touch of love from her.

In all probability, Nellie Barker hasn't received her “well done” yet because I don't think I'm the only one who came under her influence who remembers her being in our lives. Even today, in this grown up body, there is still a bit of that little girl who thinks back to that last picture of the risen Christ who within five years or so from that time would come to be my Savior. This picture in my hall of remembrance ever reminds me of my victorious Savior. It's also a picture not for just one week or Sunday, but for every single day. Thank You Jesus...and thank you Nellie Barker.

Thank You Father, for sending Your Son to die for me. Thank You, Jesus for Your love in dying on that cross for my sin that I might live in relationship with You and have the privilege of being with You in Heaven for eternity. Thank You for the victory I still see in that last picture on that Sunday school wall. In Your precious name...Amen

TEAR IT DOWN!

To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under
the heaven:
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time
to build up.
Ecclesiastes 3:3

There are a couple of shows on TV I thoroughly enjoy. Perhaps some folks think I could find something more beneficial to watch. The one program I especially like is hosted by the couple from Waco, TX who have a house renovation type program. They are good kids so appreciate them, their work and their testimony.

I'm always amazed no matter who has chosen a beat up, damaged house to redo, to see how they approach the challenge of making something beautiful out of a place that has undergone such damage. They often look like very hopeless projects, but I've learned to stay tuned because a really miraculous end is coming by the end of the program.

Something I have looked at as a an older house is being evaluated is the foundation of the house. Rarely does much of anything have to be done to the foundation of a house no matter its age. It is usually made of cinder blocks, bricks or concrete of some sort. Perhaps the flooring on the inside of the house may need some replacement, but the foundation originally laid for the building of a house is there.

It's amazing the damage folks do to the inside of a house. Some damage, of course, is a result of age. Kitchens usually age out and I smile when I see some of them. I like to see nice kitchens. Aging out usually happens to a bathroom as well. Many older houses have only one bathroom, but if there are two, some real updating is usually called for. Many times, windows in an older house need replacement as well as outside doors. Many older houses have real problems with fireplaces. Some have to be torn down completely or can sometimes be painted a color that matches the new paint in the living room.

The part I would like to have a part in is to be handed a sledge hammer so I could tear down a desired wall or some old cabinets. I think that would help the project, and looks like it would be such fun. We have lived in a few houses, usually new ones, in our married life. Some we still own but they are aging. It hurts me at the thought of someone going into one of those houses where in some cases may need a lot of work down the road to do any demolition work.. After all, we raised our children, shared sweet memories and shared life and love together in those places. I sometimes wonder about the original owners of those old houses I see on TV that have fallen into such disrepair and how the original owners would feel about what was being done to a place once precious to them. There are some old and empty houses we see on our way to church. They are in the process of being torn down, parts of them burned making way for newer construction. I have said to Brian that in those old and dilapidated houses are lots of memories of some families where they shared life together.

Demolition of any building happens, but that building feels no physical pain. There may be emotional pain on the part of some owners who have long-lasting and loving memories of the building that has been torn down. But back to my TV program. Those young renovators look at a dismal and lonely looking house and they see potential, warmth, beauty and a home being prepared for a family. When the end product is revealed, there is great joy. You see, they started out with a building that was broken and in some cases even vandalized. But that young couple looks through such a place and their eyes begin to sparkle as they look at all of the potential that can come from something that seems so hopeless and not worth much.

You see, when it comes to many such buildings that are broken, there are those who feel they can renewed and renovated with new purpose. They don't just picture new walls, kitchen fixtures, flooring and a pretty new shower in the bathroom. They envision people...people who need a fresh start in their lives, a house to make into a home. They may see a family who can bring joy, happiness and love to those walls that many years ago, heard and felt the same things as a family moved into it.

Paul tells us that we are temples, houses of sorts where the Holy Spirit dwells. Some have forgotten the importance of these houses of clay that are ours. Perhaps through the years, our houses have sustained a lot of damage, not just physically but spiritually as well. We may feel at times that we are pretty torn up and yet, Scripture tells us there's a time to build back up. We're never given a command in Scripture we can't accomplish with Holy Spirit strength. I often feel I need a renewal in so many ways and when I yield to the changes that should be made, I feel a refreshment in my life. I feel renewed in every way when I allow God to come in and do business with me.

Here we are in the spring time of the year. Remember spring housecleaning? I hardly hear the term anymore but perhaps it wasn't a bad idea. When growing up, I hated it when it was time to clean wallpaper, take down curtains and no telling what else. I wonder in the whole process when completed if our house smiled...a smile I couldn't see of course.

I wonder if God doesn't smile when He sees our willingness to tear out the old stuff of our lives and let Him come in an not only help with the cleaning but also with the beautifying. Yep, there's a time to break down but it becomes a disaster if rebuilding up doesn't follow.

Thank You Jesus, for doing a work in my life. Sometimes it's uncomfortable, but I really want to make a difference for You in the lives of others. Grant me Your power in whatever process is necessary in my life right now to bring me to all You want me to be. Thank You for seeing potential in my life when I don't see much. In Your precious name...Amen

"I Forget"

Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended: but this one thing I
do, forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13,14

Now that I'm at the age I am, I am feeling that the last thing I ever need to say to anyone in response to a question or statement is “I forget” or “I forgot.” If you pay attention around folks 60 and older, there is a hesitancy in using those words. I can understand the hesitancy. There are some conditions that afflict elder citizens that cause lapses in memory. To say they forgot something of some sort may appear to others to indicate one of THOSE conditions.

My problem is that I've never had a good memory, especially when it comes to names. We have resided in five states during our married life. I don't even recall all the women I have taught in Bible studies or Sunday school classes through those years. I've made it a habit to at least memorize first names of folks in my present although I've done poorly in memorizing some of those. When put on a spot regarding names, I almost have a panic attack trying to remember a person's name who approaches me, knowing I should remember the name. I've met ladies several times who have said to me, “Do you remember me?” Oh, I hate that question. Even if I remember someone like that, I draw a blank with that question.

People forget things for any number of reasons....illness, too busy to think, too much time has passed, medications, or maybe never had clear cut information to begin with. We should be alert all the time, no matter the age, to possible health issues. We mustn't, however, be quick to make judgments when it comes to trivial comments of forgetfulness.

The one area I am usually good at remembering are those things I should forget. There have been times in my life when I know I was a disappointment to the Lord and then to some family members and friends. I know I hurt people at times not realizing I had done it. There are so many of those things I wish I could forget, but tend to remember them, often chastening myself mentally over and over to no avail. Even with God's forgiveness, I often find it hard in forgiving myself.

It's also easy for me to remember past hurts and Satan is so wonderful in reminding me of some of those over and over. The problem with that is nothing is solved or cured. There are those who have hurt me and don't realize it. If they do realize it, they may not care if they know I'm hurt. God has helped me in my older years to measure within myself what is important to harbor in my mind and what isn't. There are things I am choosing to ignore, giving them to the Lord in prayer.

There are things we can remember both positive and negative that can be very valuable, lessons in life. The positive things we learn from are usually things that can create a prideful attitude which is a lesson in itself. Those negative things that humble us help us greatly in learning about dealing with people and the negatives in their lives.

In it all, there are things I never want to forget. I want to remember that I am loved by God more than I can imagine. I love remembering things from the Word of God that encourage and bless me even when I don't have my Bible near. I never want to forget how much I love my family...hubby, children and grandchildren and others. I want to remember how much God's church means to me where I can learn, worship and serve. All of these things bundled together have such meaning in my life along with so many blessings God pours into my life on a daily basis.

How is our memory doing these days when it comes to the things of God? Perhaps if we take time to remember those things instead of hanging onto all of the negatives that have happened in our lives, we would be healthier in every way whether in our dealings with people in general or in our personal thought life. I have to often remind myself that to God, our thoughts are words. He's well aware of the things that trouble us, especially on a long-range basis. How can we be fruitful blessings in the lives of others when we choose to harbor so many things in our minds we should have chosen to forget a long time ago. Forgiving is possible when necessary and even when that happens, forgetting is possible as well.

Sometimes when we are forgetful about some things, isn't so bad.

Thank You Father for Your thought of us. Your Word says You know each of us by name and keep us in Your mind. Thank You for loving each of us that much. In Jesus name...Amen