remembrance

We had a few minutes before the service started. People were chatting all around us, but we sat quietly talking about what we were about to do. He's seen us prepare for and participate in this solemn ordinance many times, but this is only his second time to partake. I asked him if he understood what it meant to prepare our hearts, to not take of the meal “unworthily” … he was solemn and serious as he answered and we talked about confession and forgiveness. And then my little wild-child closed his eyes and leaned into me. I don't know what happened in those few moments and I don't know if he will remember that moment in years to come, but I will.

I can't help but think of the gift that Jesus gave to His disciples ~ His friends ~ this gift that has been passed down to us. An invitation to remember … to never forget … to never take for granted His broken body and shed blood.

He paid a debt He did not owe because I owed a debt I could not pay.  May I never forget.

And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood:  this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 

1 Corinthians 11:24-27 

abundant life

Many moons ago, I wrote a blog post about how much I love our church's Wednesday night services. That post is still back there in the dark recesses of this little blog of mine, just in case you are interested. When I wrote that post, I obviously had a plan to write more posts on the role of the church. Somehow, I never got around to doing that, but maybe this one will speak just a little bit of what I might have been thinking back then. My love for our church and our Wednesday night services still holds true, even though we have made a few changes since then. We have begun doing six week studies led by our pastor. While I enjoy these studies, I miss the time spent with just the ladies. So, I was happy when we finished the last study and Bro. Don announced that we would take a break before beginning the next one and in the interim time would go back to breaking into prayer groups (ladies in one room, men in another).

I volunteered to do the Bible study the first week. I have had several topics on my mind lately and felt sure that I would go in one of those directions. I was wrong. Wednesday morning, I sat down to figure out what I was going to present to the ladies that night, and nothing would work. I got ready for school and we made the 10 minute drive to Daddy's and our schoolroom … where I saw my Mama's computer. I knew that she had typed quite a few Sunday School lessons for the class she had taught for more years than I can remember, so I started looking through them and I realized that I have been given a wonderful gift. My sweet Mama's thoughts about scripture and about her Savior and about the life we, as Christians, are supposed to lead. I printed some of the lessons for later … for those moments when I am needing a wise word from my Mama. I chose one to share with the ladies at prayer meeting. I chose this one because it touched my heart, so now, I am going to share this same one with you. Since it is pretty long and I am going to give it to you just as Mama wrote it, I'm going to break it into two parts … I'll share one today and the other tomorrow.

The Abundant Life

John 10:10

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came so that might have abundant life. What is abundant life? What is Jesus saying? Does He mean that He wanted His people to be wealthy? What about having the most affluent circle of friends? Does He want us to have the finest house or vehicle? Perhaps Christ was not talking about our physical life at all. Maybe He only meant we should have abundant life in Heaven. No, I don't believe Christ was only speaking in a spiritual sense about Heaven, although life there will certainly be abundant. Nor do I think He was referring to any of the other possibilities I mentioned. Christ is our example in everything and none of the ideas mentioned applied to Him, so that could not be what He was talking about. Christ most definitely lived an abundant life. Our question is not only “What is an abundant life?” but also, “Are you living one?”

1. Contentment

Philippians 4:11

“Not that I speak in respect of want:

for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am,

therewith to be content.”

One of the primary factors that seems to be important to living an abundant life is to be able to truthfully say you are content where you are. Paul made this statement as a man who was sitting in a prison somewhere, most likely in Rome. Not only was he imprisoned at the time but he had a list of other reasons as long as your arm that would be sufficient evidence to cause him to be discontent. Most likely he was a man prone to grumble and complain just as any other human. He was simply a man. Paul was no better or worse than any of us. The scripture tells us, however, that he learned to be content. Paul had learned that no amount of complaining in the world would change a situation. It would not reverse a set of circumstances that seemed undesirable. Never will complaining provide food during a famine. Paul learned that the best thing to do, if you are going to get any enjoyment out of life, is to learn to thank the Lord for whatever troubles you might be facing and be content with the situation. There is no need to fret over something you can do nothing about.

We have a good example of how contentment is key to the abundant life in Proverbs 15:15.

“All the days of the afflicted are evil:

but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.”

Notice first of all the description of the afflicted. According to the scripture, all the days of his life are evil. This simply means that he sees nothing good in life. Nothing ever goes the way he wants it to. There is no joy in his life. However, “he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.” The difference is in the attitude. Both people have problems and trials in life, they just deal with them in different ways. One man sees life as nothing but negative and so he leans a miserable life. The other man, who might be facing the exact same trials, maintains a good attitude and therefore experiences a continual feast. The second man knows the secret to the abundant life. If someone can be truly content with life in all manner of circumstances, he can expect to know the meaning of Christ's statement about the abundant life. Without contentment, the abundant life is impossible.

2. Service

I Corinthians 9:16

“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of:

for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!”

Paul was keenly aware that the Lord had appointed him to a specific place of service. He was willingly serving the Lord in whatever area he was needed. Paul felt as though his life would be lacking something if he were not busy about the work God had called him to. In other words, Paul felt as if he had to preach. Never in any of his letters did he mention being tired of serving the Lord. Why is this? Very simply put, Paul was enjoying the abundant life. He had no regrets about the time he spent in the ministry. Paul would not have been content any other way, except to serve the Lord. Should we expect our lives to be any different? For a child of God, I don't see any reason to think such a thing. We are called to service. Granted, we are called to differing areas of service, but we who are born again are expected to be serving the Lord. Service is a must if the Christian intends to live an abundant life.

Tomorrow I will post the second part of Mama's lesson on living the abundant life, where she looks at the role of sacrifice and obedience in living an abundant life.

(Want to read part two? click here)

a message in a box

Our family began packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child 10 or 11 years ago.  At that time, it was just a mission project suggested by a lady in our church.  I knew nothing of the ministry of Operation Christmas Child and very little about Samaritan’s Purse.  Over the last decade, I have learned to love this ministry ~ first by simply packing shoeboxes with my family, and later as the coordinator for a local relay center (drop-off location).

Each year, from January to October, our church collects items that will be used to fill our shoeboxes during a church-wide packing party.  This is one of my favorite events of the entire year.  I have seen church members from preschool age to senior adults (some in their late 80’s) coming together to pack shoeboxes for children we will likely never meet (this side of Heaven) in countries we will most likely never visit.  I love that Operation Christmas Child provides a mission field for the entire church to work together, but this is just a piece of the story. 

While I have a part in packing many boxes each year, I always pack one special box.  This box is one that I work on all year long ~ usually for an older girl.  While school supplies, hygiene items, and other basics go in every box I pack, I choose the items for this box carefully and it is important to me that it includes certain extra things.  I always include at least one thing that is handmade and since I crochet, that item is often a scarf or small bag.  I also include crayons and a coloring book.  Finally, I always include a carefully chosen stuffed animal ~ one that carries a special message of love to the little girl who will find it in her gift.

These extra items are meant to convey the simple message of this shoebox gift. Most important to me is the stuffed animal. Though she may not understand it, I choose the stuffed animal early in the year and use it to remind me to pray for the child who will receive this box and all the others that are packed in our church.  The most important message in my shoebox, or any other one, is that  "God loves you and sent His Son to redeem you.”  I want this young woman to know that she is being prayed for and that she is not forgotten. 

The true beauty of this message isn't only revealed in the faces of the children who will receive the gifts.  It is true that they will hear, perhaps for the first time in their lives, that there is a Savior who gave Himself for them.  They will have the opportunity to learn about the amazing love of Jesus and that is nothing short of a miracle.  But, they aren't the only ones who receive a gift through the packing of shoeboxes.  Each year, during collection week, I hear countless stories of how packing a "simple gift" has impacted the lives of individuals, families, and churches.  We have received boxes that were packed by abused women in a battered women's shelter and boxes packed by adults with special needs at a local center.  These boxes are placed alongside hundreds of others ~ some from individuals, some from families, and some packed by churches of all sizes.  Each box has a story, a reason it is packed, and each box is special.

The ultimate message is this ... God created and gifted each of us in a special way for His glory.  Whatever your part in the process, from the packing, to collecting, to processing, and even to receiving, God has a plan for your life.  I may never know how God plans to use the children who receive the shoeboxes that I have a part in packing, but that is okay.  I have no doubt that I can trust Him to accomplish His will and I am thankful for the opportunity to have a small part in it.

OCC 2011 ... in pictures

National Collection Week is finally here!  It has been a good week so far and we still have 3 days to go.  I always love the excitement and even the busyness of collection week ... I enjoy the time spent with the people who volunteer with us.  In the first few years our church was a relay center, most of the volunteers were from our church, with only a couple of exceptions.  Now, we have lots of people who come to help us and I love seeing new people get a feel for the ministry and leave excited about what they have done, knowing that this ministry has eternal significance!

As usual, I have taken tons of pictures this week (and at our church's packing party) but I'll just share a few of my favorites today ... don't miss the last picture, it is my favorite!

Packing party with our home school group

JW and LB teaching their new friend how to fold the boxes

Amy and Poptart packing a box

The busiest table in the room ...
getting the boxes tagged after they are packed

Glenn and Don adding hygeine products

Some of the finished boxes from our church



Trying to get the group together for a picture



one of the first groups of boxes that was
brought to our relay center





Morgan and Caitlin "man-handling" a carton full of shoe boxes



LB and the CLIF guys unloading boxes

JW ... if his arms were just a little longer, he could carry six!

Amy doing the hard task of numbering the filled cartons, while LB looks on.
I sure do appreciate Amy doing that unpleasant job!

 We do see some unusual things come through the relay center ...

for instance we got six boxes from one lady, all stuffed to the gills with notes taped to the top.

 In case you can't read the writing, it says

boy 4-9 ... contents listed ...

Please don't remove anything ... I know it's full - just tape the ends

list of the contents in the box

One of my favorite things about collection week is seeing all the cartons lined up,

waiting to be moved on to the next location ...

Okay ... now for my favorite picture ... 



Brad and Ronnie hamming it up at the church's packing party ...
it is a shame that they didn't have matching ties!



legacy

If you have been reading this little blog of mine for very long, or if you happen to know me in the real world, you probably already know my passion for Operation Christmas Child.*  What you may not know is how our church came to be involved in this ministry.

Ken and Mae joined our church in the final weeks of my second pregnancy ... I remember being surprised that they came to the shower the church gave us (which was after the evening service on the day they joined) and I still remember the cute little outfits that they gave us for our first son.  Little did I know then how God would use this precious couple in my life.  Many things about the years that Ken and Mae were with us stand out ... memories of her sense of humor even through terrible trials and his amazing talent in creating beautiful backdrops for our VBS stages, but it is for her love of Operation Christmas Child that I will always remember Mae and this ministry is her greatest impact on my life.

In 2002, when Mae first suggested we pack shoe boxes, I don't think that very many of us were familiar with Operation Christmas Child.  I am not sure that I had even heard of Samaritan's Purse, though I did know who Franklin Graham was.  I think I packed one box that year ... our church packed 32 total and we were pretty happy about that.  We would continue packing boxes over the next several years and in 2005 we became the only drop-off location in our county.  I remember that first year, receiving boxes and packing cartons, mostly in the hallway of our church where we were tripping over each other and laughing and, for me especially, learning more about these ladies I had known for years and yet didn't really know all that well.

Fast forward a few years and we are still a relay center and we now have several church members who are year-round volunteers with Operation Christmas Child.  In November we will go back to Atlanta to work in the processing center preparing the shoe boxes to be sent to their final destination, the children!  By the way~it is so exciting to know that you are the last person to touch a box before it is placed in the hands of a child. 

So now you know that Mae's willingness to encourage us to do something new has greatly impacted our church, but the story doesn't end there ... and this is the part that gets harder to tell.  In August of this year, Mae went home to be with Jesus.  She will be greatly missed by those of us who worshipped and served with her, but the legacy of her mission work still goes on.  While preaching Mae's funeral, our pastor shared about her work with Operation Christmas Child and how this ministry has touched hearts in our church and how God is using this ministry to reach children all over the world with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and equipping local pastors in the areas that receive boxes to reach children they might never have been able to reach before through the power of a simple gift. 

 What Bro. Don didn't know as he spoke that morning was that there was a lady in attendance who knew Mae outside of the church.  She also knew about Mae's involvement with OCC and after hearing the sermon that morning she was inspired to find out more and to take this ministry back to her own church.  They had been involved at one time, but not in the last several years and she felt led to encourage them to pack boxes this year and the ladies of their WMU have agreed to do just that!  Wow!  Since each box that is packed represents an opportunity to share the gospel with another child and possibly with that child's family, I am always excited to hear about even one more box that someone plans to pack.

I only knew Mae for a few years and I am sure that there are many things about her life that I don't know, but I feel certain that the impact of her love of mission work and her commitment to serving our Lord will continue to be felt in the years to come.  I know that I will always be thankful for her impact on my life.

*If you want to know more about Operation Christmas Child, check out their website or ask me or anyone who works with this ministry and we'll be happy to tell you how to get involved.

Sweet, Sweet Spirit

Today, our church celebrated twenty-five years of ministry.  The preparation for this service has been the number one topic at church for weeks.  A tremendous amount of planning and work went into the day and now that it is over I can say, without any reservation, that it was all worth it ... at least it was for me.

The church was filled to overflowing, our normal crowd of 60 or 70 swelled to well over 125 and I kid you not when I tell you that we had standing room only.  I wasn't prepared for what happened when we stood at the beginning of the service to sing Holy Ground.   I was filled with a rush of emotion that immediately brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes.  That same feeling would come again and again throughout the service.  I was moved by the emotion evident in each person who had a part in the service.  A short history of the church was given by the widow of the first pastor.  The former music minister spoke about his days serving the church and sang The Longer I Serve Him.  When our pastor spoke about his nearly twenty years at the church, it brought tears to my eyes again, especially as he thanked his sweet wife for her support of his ministry.

Surprisingly, I listened with new ears to what is now a familiar story to me.  I was there when the church celebrated 15 and 20 years of ministry, I remember hearing much of this same history and I enjoyed being part of those days, but they didn't have the same affect on me that today's service did and I have been trying to figure out why.

Somewhere deep inside me I am trying to articulate an answer to that question and I am finding it to be a difficult task, but I can say that it has to do with the love that God has given me both for the group of people who make up this church and for the ministry they have been so faithful in building.  The struggles of those who have been part of the history of Crossview, who were willing to persevere in what they believed God was calling them to do, have laid a foundation that we are still building on today. 

I think what I am beginning to realize is that this means more to me today than it did five or ten years ago, because these people have come to mean more to me over the years and their lives have become inextricably intertwined with my life and with my family.  No matter where God leads our family in the future, this fellowship of believers will always be a part of who we are. 

I can close my eyes and look back across that congregation today and memories come rushing in as I see the ladies who rocked my babies in the nursery and showed them the love of Jesus before they could even crawl, and the youth that were the reason we were called to the church in the first place~now all grown-up and married, some with children of their own, not to mention the ladies that I have come to love and respect as we have prayed together on Wednesday nights, and the men who provide the leadership needed to keep us moving in the right direction.  The truth is that no matter how hard I try to capture in words what is in my heart, I will never succeed in doing it justice.  The attempt brings to mind one of my favorite lines from the movie Skylark "...sometimes, words aren't good enough."

The service today was concluded with a wonderful sermon, delivered by a former pastor who challenged us to not only remember the things that God has done, but to look to the future for what He is calling us to do.  What a fitting challenge for a day that could have been too wrapped up in the past.  As our pastor said at the conclusion of his testimony today, what has been accomplished at this church isn't because of what we've done, it is because we serve a great God and He has done great things.  Amen, Brother, amen.

a box filled with hope

Livia Satterfield

In 1999, this young lady was a twelve year old girl living in an orphanage in Romania.  Her mother had placed her there hoping to give her a better life.  Last night, I had the wonderful privilege of hearing Livia tell her side of the story at a gathering at our church beginning the countdown to the 2011 collection season for Operation Christmas Child.

Livia's story is a powerful one.  It is a story that is hard for me to grasp here in my comfortable home with well-fed kids who, along with their parents, have never known anything but abundance.  Livia told us that there were days when they had an abundance of food and the children were given bread stacked with butter, so much butter that to this day she can't stand bread and butter.  Then there were the days when food was scarce and they were given hard, moldy bread ... her words: "we just had to try and eat it, gulp it down, because that was all there was." 

But, as Livia's story unfolded, we learned that while the food supply might have fluctuated, one thing was always the same ... the lack of love.  There was no one to comfort them when they had bad dreams, no one to touch them or hug them,  no one to tell them that everything would be okay.

Until one day when the children found out that some people from America were coming to visit them.  I could share the story Livia told us last night, but she tells it much better ...





A box filled with hope ...
Livia reminded us more than once that to those children in her orphanage these boxes represent hope.  Hope and, perhaps for the first time in their lives, an expression of love.

We all know how important it is to have hope and to know that you are loved and I for one know that I have never truly experienced a lack of either one. 

I cannot imagine what it must be like to desperately want something as simple as hair clips of your own and know that you have no hope of ever receiving them.   Yet, God used a simple shoe box gift to not only give her the hair clips she wanted but also to show her His love for her.

Livia described packing a shoe box like filling a box with sunshine to light the world of a child somewhere in darkness ... how amazing is it to have the opportunity to be a part of something so simple, yet so special, so potentially life-changing for a child.

Livia's story has a beautiful, full-circle ending since she was adopted by the woman who gave her the shoe box and now volunteers with Operation Christmas Child.  But, even for those children whose outward circumstances don't change, they still receive the message that there is someone, somewhere who loves them enough to fill a shoe box with gifts for them.  And much, much more importantly, they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is the ultimate reason that we keep packing shoe boxes year after year.

One more thing Livia told us that really stuck with me ... how easy it is to pack a shoe box.  We hear so many stories about the kids who get exactly what they want or need and that might add extra pressure, thinking that we have to put in just the right thing so that the child receiveing our box will be happy.  Yet Livia told us about a boy in Costa Rica who received mittens, a scarf, and a hat and how excited he was to put them all on, even if they did make him sweat.  The key is not stressing over what you put in the box, and instead taking the time to fill the box with prayer.  According to Livia, the two most important items to fill the box with are prayer and a personal note with a picture.  Not hard at all, is it?

Here are a few more pictures of our Countdown event ... only 66 more days until National Collection Week!

Jamie Hardenbrook - Regional Director of the Southeast region in Atlanta, GA

Most of the OCC people and year-round volunteers that were there last night

Frances Fair - the Area Team Coordinator for Jackson

Livia and me

The Longer I Serve Him

I have been debating whether or not to write this post, but since I've decided to go ahead with it, I do hope that I can do it justice. 

He called me Jenny. 

No one has ever done that before and I still don't know how he got started doing it, yet somehow I didn't mind it too much coming from this gentle man.  Now he is gone and memories are swirling around in my head ... prayers he prayed, snatches of conversations, his ready smile and soft chuckle ... all good memories of a man that will be greatly missed.  There are two stories from the years I have known him that seem to keep coming up in my mind that just speak clearly to the life he lived.

_______________________

When Ronnie became the Sunday School director for our church several years ago he decided that we needed to have teachers' meetings on a regular basis.  For the first couple of years we had prayer partners among the teachers.  The plan was for the partners to be secret until the end of the year, when we would reveal who we'd been praying for all year.  I will never forget when Bro. Jimmie told me that I was the one he had been praying for.  He told me that he took the card with my name on it and put it on the mirror in his bathroom and prayed for me each day.  Every day, for a whole year.  I was amazed and I was convicted.  I wouldn't be able to look at the person I had been praying for and speak those words to them.  Their card had been in my Bible and I prayed for them each time I came across the card, but I knew that I had not been the faithful prayer warrior for my partner that Bro. Jimmie had been for me.  As I sit here, typing these words and picturing Bro. Jimmie in my mind, I can hear bits of prayers that I have heard him pray over the last ten and a half years ... prayers for peace and comfort and healing, and I am incredibly thankful to know that he lifted my name up to our Father.

___________________

Just a few weeks ago our choir began working on the song The Longer I Serve Him.  When we finished singing through it the first time our choir director had a questioning look on his face as he looked at Bro. Jimmie ... as we had sung the song, he had cried.  A few years ago I don't think I would have truly understood the significance of his tears, but I do now.  This song meant so much to him because he lived it every day.  He could attest to the truth of the words that are only just beginning to take on real meaning to me. 

The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows. 

The more that I love Him, more love He bestows. 

Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows. 

The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.

Bro. Jimmie wasn't with us on Sunday morning when the choir sang this song in church.  Beginning Sunday evening and for all of eternity, this gentleman, who impacted my life in such a powerful way, is experiencing the reward for a life lived in devoted service to his King.  I cannot mourn for him, but I will miss him and I can look forward to seeing him again one day. 



But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:  and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

would you join me?

It begins today.

The third week of November.

The final week before Thanksgiving

(bringing with it the beginning of the holiday season).

National Collection Week 
for Operation Christmas Child

Beginning today, more than 3000 locations around the country will be collecting shoe boxes for the next week.  I have no idea how many volunteers that number represents, but I can guess that the number is quite large.  Between now and next Monday, these volunteers will have the opportunity to meet thousands of people who have packed a shoebox.

They will meet ladies who have a passion for this ministry and spend months each year planning and preparing shoeboxes.  I know two women from another local church who do just that ... they transform a garage into a storage place for shoeboxes and then hunt for any and every way they can fill that garage each year.  God is blessing their efforts and each year their church gets more involved and packs more boxes than the year before.

They will also meet children who have packed boxes with their school or their Sunday School class.  Children who are excited about what they have done and who want to have the opportunity to tell about their experience.

They will meet families who want their children to know that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Or maybe, they will meet a mother who has packed special needs boxes because she knows first hand exactly what should go into a box for a special needs child.

And, if these volunteers are anything like me, they will be inspired and encouraged by the stories they hear from those they come in contact with this week.

The stories and motives behind each box that will enter our relay center and others just like it across the country this week are as diverse and special as the people who bring in those boxes.  And, in truth, the opportunities to share the Gospel through a shoe box begins today, in those relay and collection centers, where we never know who might come in needing to hear about the love of God. 

So, would you pray with me this week? 

Pray for the thousands of volunteers who will be working this week ... for safety and energy and most of all, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit as we have the opportunity to meet and talk with thousands of people who are being the hands and feet of Jesus and helping to share the Gospel with a lost and dying world. 

Pray for a hedge of protection around these volunteers.  Our adversary does not like what is being done through this ministry. 

The Light of the Gospel is penetrating dark places and hearts that have belonged to him. 

Churches are gaining greater unity as they work together in serving the Lord. 

Lives are being transformed.

This may sound melodramatic, but I don't think it is overstated.

For where two or three are gathered together in my
 name, there am I in the midst of them. 

Matthew 18:20

There will be thousands of drop-off locations open this week with their two or three gathered in the name of Jesus and He will be there in each one of those locations and His power will be displayed across this nation. 

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season
 we shall reap, if we faint not.

Galatians 6:9

I believe with all my heart that God is working through the ministry of Operation Christmas Child and Samaritan's Purse and I am so thankful that He has allowed me to be a part of this ministry.

an overdue thank you and an unexpected blessing

I have been referring to VBS in my last couple of posts and now that it is done, I realize that there is something I should have said that I haven't ... yet.

In my last post I mentioned that sometimes people save their hard work (on decorations) and share it with other churches.  We benefited from several of these churches this year, but there was one special person who helped my husband out tremendously by providing the stage decorations.  Not only did he allow us to use his hard work, he came out to the church twice to help Ronnie set it all up (or more accurately, for Ronnie to help him set it up!) and, now that we are done, he came back again and took it all down.

Some of you know him ... his wife is both a blogging and a real life friend of mine ... so Rie, please thank your "He's too good to me" for being so nice to us. 

We truly appreciate it! 

By the way, we'll try to come up with something else he can help us with, just so you can have Burger King! ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now on to the unexpected blessing.  I am finding it hard to find words to express this one.  Last Thursday night, at the end of our VBS Family Night, our friend Brad informed Ronnie that he had a couple of presentations to make.  We knew about the first one.  Brad is our missions teacher and he gave a very cool prize to the children who brought the most supplies for the mission project ~ Operation Christmas Child. 

The second presentation was a complete shock to me and left my husband speechless ... which was apparently what they were going for.

All week during VBS, Brad quietly, with the help of our adult class, planned to honor Ronnie for the hard work he puts into VBS each year.  This is our 10th VBS at Crossview and though he hasn't been director for all of those years, he has always worked behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly.  It brought tears to my eyes to hear Brad express the appreciation of the church for his service, but what came next was the real shocker.  Brad handed Ronnie a certificate and an envelope and asked him to open the envelope and read what it said.  That in and of itself was a little unusual and the look on Ronnie's face told me that he was completely shocked by what he saw when he opened the envelope.

When Ronnie finally composed himself enough to speak, he read a gift certificate giving him an all expense paid trip on the mission trip to Kodiak, Alaska next year.  Wow!  He has always wanted to go and now he will be going.  What a blessing!

So, I know what Ronnie will be doing next year on Memorial Day ... I guess the kids and I will be looking for something to do with ourselves!

Thank you Brad (and Amy) for your part in this and even though I don't think any of you read this, thank you, Crossview, for blessing my husband (and me) in such an unexpected way!

wednesday nights - part one

This past Wednesday night, for the first time in months our prayer meeting was the way it used to be.  Not that the way we have been doing it has been bad.  In truth, I have learned to enjoy the differences, but still, I have missed the old way.

For years, Wednesday nights were my favorite meeting of the week.  You see, when we came to this church 10 years ago, I was 26 years old and clueless as to how to fit into this group of ladies who were all a good bit (anywhere from 20-50 years) older than me.  So, I chose to just hang out with the youth.  After all, Ronnie was the youth minister at the time, so it made perfect sense for me to spend most of my time with his group.  And besides, they were a great group and I really did enjoy being with them.

But, after a year or so, I began to realize that I really didn't know any of the other adults.  The ladies never included me in any of the planning for anything, never asked me to bring anything to functions.  Basically, it seemed, that as far as they were concerned, I was just another youth.  When I told Ronnie what I thought, he reminded me that they didn't even know me.  I had never shown any interest in being a part of anything they did.  I taught youth Sunday School and I helped Ronnie with the youth on Sunday and Wednesday nights.  For once, I listened to him and so, with much trepidation, I decided to join the real adults on Wednesday nights.

I am not going to tell you that it was easy to fit into the group, but I will say that it was in those Wednesday night prayer meetings that I began to see the heart of these ladies who have now become so important to me.  And it was in those Wednesday night prayer meetings that I began to understand what church is supposed to be.

Up to this point in my life, church had always been something to do.  I had always gone to church but had never really grasped the fact that church isn't an activity. 

My lack of understanding of the purpose of the Church was coupled with more anger than I really realized I was hanging on to over the actions of the church Ronnie had been serving when we were first married.  I'll skip the gory details, but suffice it to say that Ronnie and I both walked away angry and hurt and wary of investing ourselves totally in another ministry. (It was nearly two years after we left that other church before we took this one.)

Fast forward to those Wednesday night prayer meetings that I mentioned earlier.  I guess I should tell you what makes them different from other prayer meetings I have been involved in.  It isn't complicated.  We begin the meeting together, then after the singing and taking of prayer requests, the women and men split up.   Each week, a different person brings a short devotion and then we spend time in prayer.  

At this point you are probably thinking, is that it? 

Yes, that is it.  And it made all the difference in the world to me.  I thought that I would easily be able to explain the reasons why this group of women meeting together and sharing our burdens has become so much a part of who I am, but as I type this I am finding the words hard to come by.

Through the months and years that have passed since God led me (through the wisdom of my husband) to join with the adults on Wednesday nights, I became one of them.  I don't think I ever truly understood the importance of this in my life until I found out that my mother had cancer.  There were many nights that I fought to contain my tears as I listened to them pray for her (and me) by name.  Not only did they pray for us, they shared their own experiences, even the painful ones, with me so that I could understand how God had carried them through those experiences and know that He would do the same for me and my family.   On more than one occasion I felt a compassion and understanding that I had never experienced in any group before. 

This was the Church in action.  These ladies weren't attending church ... they were actively, purposely allowing the Holy Spirit to work through them and minister to my life and to the lives of the other women in that room. 

I can't say that every woman in those meetings experienced the same thing that I did.  I can only say that I have no doubt that God used what I experienced to bring me to a greater understanding of what the role of the church is in the life of a Christian. 

I am not sure why I felt compelled to share this story with you.  (To be honest, I will be surprised to find that many people have even stuck with it to this point.)  I only know that church has been on my mind and heart for a long time now.  Sometimes, even in this group that helped me begin to understand what church is supposed to be, I still feel like we are just playing church.  I can't explain it, but sometimes I feel that we are on the edge of really experiencing a life-changing outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but I am not sure that we are even looking for that moment, much less passionately seeking it.  I can't even tell you that I am where I need to be in this, but I can tell you that I desperately don't want church to just be another activity on my weekly list of things to do.

_________________________________________________________

I am going to end this post now, even though I am really still only half through with my story.  The rest of the story will have to wait for another day ... and I am sure that if you have managed to hang on this far, you are thankful that I am done for now.

a weekend to remember

I've never been much for Black Friday shopping, but this past weekend, I did enjoy seeing all the full parking lots as we traveled along the almost empty interstates to reach Atlanta for our time in the processing center for Operation Christmas Child.

The processing center itself was quite exciting to see.  One of the first people to greet us as we came in the door was a young girl named Livia.  She is from the Ukraine (I think, or maybe Romania) and she told us the story of the shoebox she received as a child and how it changed her life.  Few things could underscore the importance of what we were doing like hearing a personal testimony of the power of a simple gift. 

After a short training session we were placed on the floor under the instruction of one of the red shirted ladies who oversee the process and answer questions and such.  The process is simple.  Each box must be opened and checked for money, then passed off to the next person to be inspected for inappropriate items before being taped and sorted by age and gender and then placed in shipping cartons.

At the insistence of my friend Amy, I spent some time doing each part of the processing.  I suppose it is good to see it from every angle, but I'll just go ahead and tell you that I am no good at the cartonizing end of the process.  Ronnie spent the whole first night doing it and from the looks of this picture, he enjoyed himself ... I can't say the same for my 15 minutes of trying to fit 14 boxes in every carton.  I didn't mind checking for money ~ to me that was the easiest part.  I liked inspecting the boxes except when they were too full and I couldn't get the items returned neatly to the box.  I spent a good bit of time taping the boxes closed. Now that it is all said and done, I'd say that inspecting and taping were my favorite parts of the process.

There are two great benefits that I am claiming for this weekend. 

First, I believe that I will be able to take what I learned from processing the boxes this weekend and use that information to do a better job packing shoeboxes next year.  I know more about what to pack and what not to pack and even got some ideas for things that I have never even thought about packing in a shoebox before this weekend.

The second benefit has nothing to do with the shoeboxes, it has to do with having fun.  It is rare that we get to spend time with our friends from church outside of church time.  I hope we can find more ways to get to know each other better in the future.

Some of the group worked on getting to know each other better by playing cards.  This group seemed to be enjoying themselves while Amy and I watched the games (cards and football).  Normally, I love card games, but I was happy to sit this one out and just relax.

I feel sure that we have begun a new Thanksgiving weekend tradition for our little group.  Hopefully, prayerfully, the group will grow, both in number and in less tangible ways as we serve together. 

prayer walking

1st Sundays in our church mean one thing ... prayer breakfast. The concept is simple, you eat, you pray; except somehow, it got to be more about eating and less about praying. So, as the time for the 1st, 1st Sunday of the new church year rolled around, the wonderful lady who organizes our time together decided that we needed to change the focus. Let me just say, well done, my friend!

Today, instead of taking my kids off to hang out in the nursery while the adults prayed in the fellowship hall, we prayer walked our church while the adults spent a few minutes in corporate prayer before they also dispersed to pray throughout the building. We started in the sanctuary with the list my friend had prepared especially for the kids. During our whole walk, I only prayed one time. My children amazed me with their understanding as they prayed for the staff of our church, our instrumentalists and the choir. We walked down the hall and my 3 year old son prayed for his Sunday School class. Upstairs, the older kids did the same thing for their classes, as well as for the other classes that meet in those rooms.

I hope that this doesn't sound like I am feeling prideful about how "spiritual" my kids are. Just the opposite. I am truly humbled by what I experienced with my children today. This morning, through a 15 minute prayer time, God opened my eyes to what it means when in Matthew 19:14

Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

I am thankful for new insight into who my children are and how open they are to taking the needs that they see around them to the Throne of God.