Walkin' and Talkin'

I forget to Amen: Praying with an Absent Mind

2011-06-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Kindred,

I found this encouragement and couldn't wait to share it with you. I think this is something we all hope is true, but wonder about sheepishly. The book is called The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and "Women's Work". The author Kathleen Norris writes about finding grace in the repetitive grind of chores and relationships that must be done over and over and over again--like laundry and dishes and men. (Laughing!) Quotidian means relating to the everyday. Here's what she said:

No human being can pay full attention to the words that he or she is praying every single day, and apparently this is how God would have it. Sometimes, particularly at crisis points in our lives, we feel these words with our whole heart. They seem to burn in our chests, and bring tears to our eyes. We find that we mean them in ways that remain unfathomable ... every morning that I pray this poem, I receive a challenge, whether I consciously acknowledge it or not, and an image of holiness to strive for.

"Whether I consciously acknowledge it or not." That's the grace. Some of us did a study a few years ago on prayer, and a common lament was the way our mind wanders. One sweet girl memorably said "I always forget to Amen!"

Her words visit me so often when I don't get up quite early enough and my day stirs and comes roaring to life. I want to finish, but I can hear things going on that need my attention. Right now there is a child sitting next to me on a cooler, flipping the handle back and forth. Back and forth. What was I saying?

Oh right. Prayer! Quickly, that it's important to do it even when you're not thinking about it. We think of prayer as a mental discipline, but perhaps it would be a blessing to treat it like a physical one for a while. This one writer at least says God uses our prayers to transform us even when we're not looking. Great wonder and praise from this distracted girl right here. (We just had a broken cereal bowl. Don't think the noise of life isn't loud or that God requires you to keep on praying while someone gets injured! He knows. He knows.)

Your Study Starter for this is Romans 8, starting in verse 26. Look for the ones who pray for you when you can't or won't pray for yourself.

Let's continue to pray for each other.

Lord, be with my sisters through their everyday tasks. Reveal yourself to us as we work and hear us when we pray. When our minds are weak, please strengthen our bodies, and when our bodies are weak, please focus our minds. Use every part of us, even the prayers that bore us, to create the faithfulness that pleases you. We know that you are never bored ...

And now I really must sign off. Good day, Kindred!

New Pages

2011-06-21T04:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Kindred,

God is writing a story today and you're in it.

Did you study Joshua and the story of Rahab this Sunday? Our class did. I love the story of Rahab. It makes me proud to be a woman. God uses us now, and He used us then.

What I realized anew is how much God wants us to participate in His story. He gives us jobs to do that change the outcome of the next part of His story. The ultimate ending remains, of course. But there is much to be written in the meantime. I don't understand it, but I know it's true.

Besides heat and humidity, there is something in the air. Our story at FBCP keeps on going, doesn't it?

Well, my coffee's almost done perking, but I just wanted to check in and say "Hi"; assure you that we will still have a blog this summer despite recent appearances; and make sure you are reminded today that God needs you to do your job, whatever that is today.

Take care, Kindred. Be well.

Quiet Time: Does This Count?

2011-04-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Kindred!

We are getting on toward Easter and Spring Break. Are you as busy as I am?

Here was my quiet time yesterday: While taking a shower I sang aloud the chorus from Revive Me Again. Here's how I remember it--if this is wrong don't tell me. We first-service people are a little hazy on our hymns.

"Hallelujah! Thine the glory!
Hallelujah! Amen!
Hallelujah! Thine the glory!
Revive us again!"

Does this count as a quiet time? I don't know. On the one hand, I sang it pretty loud. On the other hand, my heart was true and longing for revival. I needed Him and the shower, and, in participating fully in His calling, had not enough time for either, much less both.

I got ready to feel guilty about it and then I just stopped. It was funny. My spirit lifted. I couldn't think of why it wouldn't be pleasing to Him. I did feel revived; I didn't remember to thank Him till this morning, but better late than never.

Am I hopelessly misguided and pitifully off the mark or am I bold in the nature of the spiritually mature? Would David do this? What about Beth Moore?

Don't have time today to analyze it! Pray for me, Kindred! I do for you!

Easter Table Attitude Adjustment

2011-04-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Kindred,

I don't know if you have had the chance to check out our new Facebook page, but head on out there when you get a second. We have some photos of our recent retreat and some Easter tablescape ideas from the 2010 Tour that I think you will be inspired by. Add Easter eggs to any one of them and you have got yourself a backdrop for a lovely celebration. Wouldn't Jane Colgan's bear table be equally delightful with bunnies instead of bears?

Speaking of fancy tables, maybe you've heard that they are doing a sequel to "Upstairs Downstairs" on PBS soon. I missed the first one; I remember my grandaddy taping them on the VHS. One of the creators of the original was talking about it on NPR this morning. She said they were watching some show with a fancy dinner party and wondering who had cooked all that food and polished all the silver and arranged all the candlesticks. She said it gave them the idea to do a story about the downstairs people--the ones who serve.

Two things hit me as I drove along:

1. At my house, the upstairs people and the downstairs people are all same one person, me.

2. Being one who serves is a Christlike thing.

It's an incredible thing we do as women, both making the celebration and participating in it. We cook the food but we also serve it and eat it. If there are tables, we set them. But we also head them up, continue the conversation, and clean up after. Historically each of these roles were filled with a separate team of people: Servant, Host, Guest. These days I sometimes feel my teams are called Me, Myself, and I.

Marie Hicks and I were chatting before early service last week. She was getting ready to go home and throw her mother a birthday party. She was about to run down her list for me, then she became momentarily silent, whelmed a bit by the magnitude of what the next two hours held for her. I understood, and I bet you do too. We never blame each other for feeling put upon. We know how it is. We share this burden as we should. We're not complaining exactly. We just want to know that someone else understands.

Read John 13 about the Lord's Supper in preparation for your Easter celebration and know that Your Lord understands. See that at this last feast he too was the host and the guest of honor. Now watch Him make himself the servant, with the towel and the bowl of water. Be shocked along with the disciples that the only One who should be served lowered himself in service. Then rise and do likewise.

I'm claiming John 13:3-4 as my attitude adjustment for this season. Because of what he will do on that cross, it all boils down to this. Once I remember that I know these same things that Jesus knows, I can gird myself accordingly for whatever comes. I can stand up, lay aside my struggles, and become the one who serves.

Happy Easter, sweet Kindred. Love each other well!

Rainy Day Reading

2011-03-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Churchwomen,

(Your name is coming soon.)

Today it is pouring rain. It’s a good day to stay inside and read. I know that many of you consider these inside days good opportunities to clean out the pantry, but give me a blanket and a book every time. It is a well-proven fact in this house that the empty cereal boxes will wait as long as you have. Even longer than the dishes in the sink.

In case you can’t tolerate long periods of reading--or books of any kind--here’s a nice thought for spring from Annie Dillard. I printed it really big and added some pictures, which is what my husband, the ultimate nonreader, has told me to do.

Look at an overwhelming ball of buzzing bees, or a turtle under ice breathing through its pumping cloaca. Look at the fruit of the Osage orange tree, big as a grapefruit, green, convoluted as any human brain ... Look, in short, at practically anything--the coot’s feet, the mantis’s face, a banana, the human ear--and see that not only did the creator create everything, but that he is apt to create anything. He’ll stop at nothing.

If you're in need of some creative power in your life I hope this encourages you. It did me. He hasn't forgotten. He is not sleeping. He will stop at nothing to create what we've been hanging on for. Whether we know what it is or not.

Interview with Jamie Thorn

2011-02-21T08:11:00.000-08:00

This week I had a quick phone conversation with Jamie Thorn who is busy planning the Women's Retreat next weekend. I caught her while she was picking up her kids, and she was kind enough to answer my questions.

Ginger Myers: Do you have a title?

Jamie Thorn: “The Chair” is what they said. I’m heading it up, but I’m not doing near the work that everybody else is.

GM: So who do you have on your team?

JT: Amy Minchin, Publications

Kirsten Wert, Registration

Miley Gowing

Jeanna Lankford

(Long pause and the sound of a baby making noise. You know how they do when their mommy is on the phone.)

Pat Ford is programming, making sure that everything that the speaker is not doing gets done. From music to drama

Christy Roth is doing decorations

Karen Brantley is doing the food.

Karen Shell is prayer.

Linda Hinson is the overseer. Is that ten?

GM: Yes it’s ten, including you.

JT: Yes, that’s it.

GM: Tell me how it has been working with the Hampton Inn on Pensacola Beach.

JT: The really nice thing about doing it local is we have the flexibility for everyone to come to this, from the ladies who don't drive anymore to the new mom nursing a baby. It is a lot easier to get there. Anybody can come.

GM: So, I am hearing a lot about this year’s speaker. Have you read her book?

JT: I have not read it, but many of the team members have, and everyone that I have spoken to has said that they could not put it down.

GM: How did you decide on this year’s theme?

JT: Just a minute ...

(Pause while Jamie tries sweetly to quiet the baby. He’s not buying it, and continues to make noise.)

JT: We really felt like most of the previous retreats were based on how to be a good friend, and how to be a good mom, and more enrichment for ourselves. This one is we feel more like stepping beyond ourselves and doing the work that the Lord has for us to do.

GM: Jamie, thanks for your time. Sounds like you need to go.

JT: Have you got what you need?

GM: Yep!

JT: Okay, thank you!

Friends, think for a minute that ten of your sister churchwomen, despite the regular course of their usual responsibilities, have also made the sacrifice of time and effort to plan a place for you to get before the Lord. Do you feel blessed? I do. Were you planning your own time before the Lord? I wasn’t. They have enhanced our lives this day, and I am so grateful.

Quick Cold-Weather Tip

2011-02-11T10:26:00.000-08:00

Hello, Friends!

I just got back from the grocery store. Walking into the building in the freezing cold with the wind whipping my hair into my mouth, yuck, reminded me of a cold-weather tip I can share with you.

Did you know I used to live in Michigan? I sure did. We spent two long years in the grayest, coldest place on earth where mammals still survive. Perhaps the ice caps are melting now, but in 2002 and 2003 Michigan was still frozen solid. They have no preschool in Michigan. Did you know that? It's just one of the reasons that no one there is friendly. My attitude gave new definition to the words "bitter cold." However, I learned something during that time that gave me great encouragement in my day-to-day that I thought we might all be able to use in the current cold snap.

Here's the tip: You can leave your groceries in your car while you run other errands!!! Isn't that exciting? Haven't we all had a list of things to accomplish before winding up at the grocery store? Because you can't keep your milk and frozen pizza in the hot car while you return things at Dillard's and mail a package to your nephew for his birthday. But then you get stuck in the drive-through line at the bank or the roll of paper in the cash register runs out, and there you are. Standing still. The clock ticks, and the paper won't roll like it's supposed to, and your mental grocery list gets shorter and shorter. Poof! It's gone. No time for grocery shopping. Time to whip a meal out of thin air using your last half-apple and that stupid box of teeny Saltines that you can't remember why you bought.

Well, while the weather is this cold, fear not! Get your groceries and then go run all those errands! Your milk stays cold. Your chicken nuggets stay hard (not that it matters with all their preservatives anyway). Park your car in the garage with the groceries in it, and go put that baby down for his nap. Check your email. You've got lots of time.

So there you go! I hope I have saved you some time and groceries today. Or perhaps you are encouraged just knowing that you were never so pathetic as to be excited about something like this. Either way I hope your weekend goes smoothly, that you stay warm, and that your meals are satisfying no matter where they come from. Give thanks for them. And I do for you.

See you Sunday!
Ginger

More About Names

2011-02-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

My Bible study lesson was about names today. All this week actually. The names of God. I think that is just so interesting because I am still pondering a name for you, the readers of our First Baptist Women's Ministries blog. But since I haven't come up with anything yet, let's talk about God's names, okay?

I think I told you already I'm doing Experiencing God on Sunday nights. Our exercise today was to think about how we experience God and give Him a name based on that experience. The example was given that when God sent a husband for a young woman, to her He became "The One Who Provides Partners." This kind of exercise is fun to me because it's tangible, and it makes me feel Biblical. How often really can you repeat the actions of Abraham? When a time comes along, I always try to take advantage. You just never know.

The very first one I thought of was "God: The Shifter of My Focus." I thought this might need explaining. I tend to get obsessive about certain thoughts, and once I get started it's hard to stop. I can remember doing this from a very early age. It's kind of like being stuck on a song. As I got older it became more controllable, but it can still be distracting. Only recently, during the last decade, did it occur to me that perhaps God has a hand in these opportunities to change the subject. And once I started thinking about it that way, I feel His presence so strongly that it gives me goosebumps sometimes. Especially when I am being terribly selfish or bitter. Sometimes, it's for all the world like He shoves me into the door frame. Seriously, I think in prayer "Ouch--you're right. Sorry!!"

It's silly, I guess, but Beth Moore does stuff like this all the time. Not to repeat myself, but when a Godly person does something, no matter how cheese-y, if you get the chance to do it too, there's just not a lot to lose by giving it a try. Here are my other names:

The One Who Calms My Fears

The Great Unexplainable

I guess those are easy enough to figure out. What are yours?

Welcome to the Net, WM!

2011-01-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

Hey there, friends.

I am still working on your special name. You would not believe some of the things I have learned about pop culture in an effort to find a feminine nickname with no connotations. It has taught me a lot about how pervasive sin is. Calling God the Blessed Redeemer suddenly means so much more.

In other news, we are moving toward Facebook. That's right. Women's Ministries is working on citizenship in the world's third-largest community. Keep an eye out for that opportunity to friend us.

God continues to extend the depth of our ministry communications. It seems like each of our three products--The Walk, Walkin and Talkin, and now FB--offers a slightly different flavor of us. I love it, and I didn't see it coming. I don't know if there are two people more non-plussed by technology than Linda and me, but we are trusting God to fill in our blanks--our blank stares when we think about computers. You should have heard our recent conversation about how social networking works. If I wrote it down it would make a great skit. We said things like "Now, I don't know what a server is, but I think it has something to do with the server." The only server I know is the man who brings my black bean soup and half sandwich at O'Brien's, but I digress.

The two of us doing this on your behalf is a far stretch. It might not amount to much. We have certainly put it off. Most of you could probably do it better. Yet when someone cares about you they should go to great lengths to keep up with you. God does that, and your WM leaders are struggling to be like Him in that way. We care about you, but if you don't know that we do, it doesn't mean much. Be patient with us, sisters. Extend us your grace. The road is rocky, and we don't have a map, but we make up for it with effort.

Is it ridiculous for me to compare our venturing onto the Internet to going boldly while following God? Maybe. I realize it's not the war-torn wilderness. However, everything I read says He invites all people to share the joy of His kingdom. That means us downtown Palafox church people too. That's right. God cares about us. He wants us to demonstrate His care to each other. If this means something to you, would you pray this with me?

Teach us, Lord. Teach us how to receive your love from our sister church members. Open our eyes and let us see it. Give us a taste. And then you'll probably have to teach us how to give love too. Are we ready, Lord? Only You know. Thank you. Amen.

Keep your heart rate up, ladies-sisters-friends! (I just can't decide what to call you ... )

Monday on Tuesday

2011-01-04T09:10:00.000-08:00

Hello, Friends!

I got on here to tell you "Happy Monday!" That is one of my favorite things to say to people on Monday because it takes the negative connotation that Mondays have and turns it into something slightly festive, like a birthday, and then maybe the person you say it to is a little more happy to be in it. It's just a little game I play with myself to lighten the steps on the journey a little bit. Which is great ...

Except that it's not Monday. It's Tuesday. That's right. My children started back to school today which makes it Monday in my head, but the calendar says Tuesday. Four-day weeks make those of us calendar-challenged people even crazier than we already are. I realize that it seems very straightforward to just look at the calendar and then go back and look at it again. Cross off the days you have already spent and there you are. No guessing or confusion. That's what adults do, and I so want to be one. Sort of.

So my weekend dishes are still on the counter, because since it's Tuesday I can't figure out what they're still doing there. Those can't belong to me. The bills are still in the file. Shouldn't those be paid already? The laundry is done; that seems Monday-like. I'm replying to emails, but I can't write "Happy Monday!" even though I feel it in my soul. My rhythm is off.

Anyway, I got on here to share with you that Beth Moore has started her scripture memory challenge on the Living Proof Ministries blog this week. I'm not doing it, but I like to keep tabs because it is so inspiring. She has so far had 7,796 people sign up. Doesn't it thrill you to know that almost 10,000 women out there across the globe are memorizing scripture. Doesn't that just make your Monday-except-it's-Tuesday happy? While I have been typing this six more women signed up! Good stuff. Go look at it if you want to.

Beth's blog and scripture challenge were what got me to thinking our Women's Ministries might enjoy and support something like this. I thought it might reach across all the many different groups that make up our church body. It makes a community based more on who you are in Jesus, perhaps, than what stage of life you're in. Although we need both, don't we? The encouragement is different and all necessary.

Another fun thing lots of bloggers do is give their readers a name. Beth's are "Siestas." Another girl I know lots of you read uses "Rovers." I have been thinking and thinking about what one word covers the women of First Baptist Pensacola, but it's difficult. There are so many of us, and we don't all fit into any of the same boxes. And lots of the good churchy ones don't seem to fit me. I am going for something fresh. A fresh word as it were. However, I think I have come up with one. I'm researching to see if it has any unseemly sides that I'm not aware of, and I'm going to run it by Linda. I like to stay under the authority of my leaders, just in case. Wait, I should pray about it. I'll do that. Can't you cut the excitement with a knife? I can! A butter knife.

Oooooo, toast. Gotta go. Happy Mon-Tuesday!

A New Start

2011-01-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Today is a new start.

I hope you all had a blessed holiday and worshipped God in wonder at the way He works, through kings and infants and infant kings and everything in between. I read a line in a poem yesterday that applied quite well to my holidays. The poet W.H. Auden wrote that he “attempted--quite unsuccessfully--/To love all of our relatives, and in general/ Grossly overestimated our powers.” A good laugh makes a prick to your conscience so much less painful doesn’t it?

I want to show you something.

This is what I have been looking at this year while I have prayed for the women of our church. Then God started putting it on my heart that my family needed this prayer too. I honestly didn’t see the need (grin), but a one-sentence prayer doesn’t take that long, so I started praying it for the people inside my house, as well as for all of us here at Walkin’ and Talkin’. Thankfully I did because some challenges jumped up that I didn’t see coming. Some I think we weathered well, and some we fouled out on a couple times first.

Oh the mercy of a new start.

Some of us saw Beth Moore in Birmingham at the beginning of December, and she told a lovely story about seeing a fresh snow fall and accepting the promise that God has made her whiter than snow. We don’t see much snow in Pensacola, but I took a picture in my yard before it got so cold and stormy of what I think a White Christmas in Pensacola looks like.

Those are camellias, y’all! If you squint doesn’t it look like a light snow? No? Are you squinting? Squint more!

I grossly overestimated my powers to take pictures and post them and to encourage you with a blog. Grossly, as in the photo quality is actually gross. I thought these phones were supposed to be smart. Everyone in the free world but me, children even, can take pictures with their phones and post them on the computer. But like Paul I’m out here boasting about my weaknesses and hoping, hoping God will come and create something that will bring Him laud and bring you encouragement in 2011.

Hurry, Lord. Have you seen these pictures?

Talk to you next week!

Love,

Ginger

Day of Prayer

2010-11-01T11:36:00.000-07:00

I just ate the most delicious chicken salad sandwich for lunch. It was provided for me by the kind FBCP women who put on today's World Day of Prayer. If you didn't make it, I highly recommend it for next year.

There's something about guided prayer stations in a quiet room that brings a calm over me I can't describe. I swear some of the wrinkles on my face relaxed. They had set up seven or so prayer tables with simple, hand-made decorations from the area of the world that was designated. I especially enjoyed the nativity scenes from different cultures. You read a list of the countries in that area where there are Baptist women and pray over their needs. Some were what you'd expect and some were not.

Two things surprised me about the day.

1. The last station was North America, and I found that I approached it with a fresh perspective. Something about praying from "outside" all the other countries gave me the feeling that I was "outside" of our country too. It was almost like looking into the U.S. from far away.

2. I made new friends from outside my stage of life at FBCP. If you don't have any friends outside your age group I highly recommend finding some. They may not remember my name, and I may have to look them up again in the picture directory, but I think that's okay. The important thing is that God brought us there together to share a quiet moment. That is refreshing and wholly satisfying.

Much like the bliss of eating a sandwich made by someone else!

Appliance Anarchy

2010-10-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here’s a quote from a sermon I heard this week by Tim Keller*. It’s based on Genesis chapter 3, which you can look up if you want, but it’s the serpent in the garden story.

“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; anarchy has been loosed upon the world; that’s what we have now.”

The reason I personally know this to be true? My washing machine and dishwasher broke last week. And while broken appliances are themselves enough of an indicator of the fallen world we live in, I have found that their presence in my home unleashes all manner of sins of the heart. Anger, frustration, guilt and condemnation are just a few of the ways in which I have chosen to respond to the situation.

After about two short days of dealing with broken machines, the monologue in my head goes something like this: “Well, if I give up washing machines and go back to beating my clothes against a rock, I would also have to give up penicillin. On the other hand, the way my family gets head colds and UTI’s, we won’t live very long without penicillin. In fact, if I don’t serve spaghetti for dinner I probably have enough clean clothes to last until the infections get us and we’re all in heaven.” You’re impressed, I’m sure, by my focus on the hereafter in difficult present times. I’m very Pauline that way.

Thankfully, and seriously folks, the One I serve gives life. In the face of every form of death, destruction and the slow trickle of wear and tear, He stands with ice-cream scoops and sterling silver punch bowl ladles and, sure, clean plastic laundry detergent bottle caps, measuring out the life. He pours on rest and refreshment and power and solutions, where before we only stood there pushing plastic buttons that wouldn’t respond.

The Psalms we have been studying in Sunday School are helping me tremendously by reminding me that nature doesn’t break. Trees may die and flowers fade of course, but while God has created them and gives them life, they never just stand there inexplicably refusing to work the way that machines do. You know, you never go to bed when everything is fine and then wake up the next morning and find that that nice tree you love so much that was perfectly shady yesterday just won’t give shade today.

So anyway, you’ll find me in the word on Sunday. I need some more cooling water from the Psalms. Unless, you know, my car breaks. If your car is broken or you are otherwise stuck at home, get into Psalm 19. There are some great truths there about nature and what it says to us about God. Drink deeply and enjoy it. See you soon.

*Tim Keller is the pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Ross quoted him extensively from the pulpit a couple weeks ago. This quote I am using is from a sermon of his entitled "The Garden of God." I highly recommend it, but I can't give you my cd because I enjoy it too much. Anyway, they are his words, used without permission but with a grateful heart and full credit.

Tour Notes

2010-10-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from the lunch session of the Tour of Tables 2010. It was so inspiring. I can't wait to get the total numbers of how many were there. I know Baptists get a bad rap for being all about numbers, but it was a lot of people, and I want to know how many. I can't wait to find out.

There are many great pictures from the setup yesterday and the folks today that I'll put up here in case you couldn't join us this time. I have learned one thing about the women of First Baptist. We do not want to have our pictures taken. It's true. After two days behind a camera I know it full well.

No one wants to be that person behind the camera or in front of the camera, but just remember I'm not taking pictures just of us. I want to capture what God has done with us. In spite of us. Not just "There we are!" Something more like: "There we are, and look what He made!"

Anyway, I'll be back later. So excited!

Separation Anxiety

2010-09-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

It is my experience that children do not learn lessons from their parents nearly as often as they teach lessons to their parents. Whatever purpose God may have for my children in their adulthood, their main function in the early years has been to humble me and remind me of my position before a benevolent God. Sometimes I imagine God twisting them together into something like a belt sander and applying them on “high” to my conscience. Or pounding them like a spike right above my forehead in that spot that Motrin never seems to penetrate. “Wake up!” “Pay attention!” I say it to them, but I hear it from Him.

Mine eyes have seen some Type A, major kindergarten separation anxiety this month. Kicking, screaming, grabbing the doorway, clinging to my favorite shirt and stretching it all out, she’s very thorough. Loud. She is also firm that she cannot control it. “I can’t help it.” That’s what she says, and I know it’s true.

Fear doesn’t ever change, does it? It is always unexpected, and it changes behavior almost never for the better. The reminder I seem to be getting this week, though, as I watch her kick and scream all over town, is that some of that same anxiety comes when I separate from the arms of God. If I don’t talk to Him, don’t think about Him, don’t read my Bible or listen and ponder in Sunday School, fear and anxiety and tears will rule my waking moments in ways that I cannot control.

I suppose it makes sense. The nature of our being is that we will always be ruled by something. That’s sheep for you. If we are not allowing God’s law to penetrate our minds and transform our actions, then something else will. My decisions never happen without some sort of motivation. Christ desires to be that motivation, and leaves me free to draw close anytime. He invites; He doesn’t force. He persuades; He never intimidates. He creates the hunger, and we must come and get it.

One thing this holy separation anxiety does is make me weak, so in the spirit of immediate help and strength I won’t make you look it up. Help right here right now.

Zephaniah 3:14-17

Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away His judgements against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”

He is in our midst. What a promise. We can be encouraged by it. It’s difficult to “be” encouraged when you’re just not. “I can’t help it,” we say. Many times I honestly feel this kind of encouragement takes too long. But then the immediate kinds of comfort cause other problems or they don't last. All I know to say is wait for the Holy comfort. He is in our midst. Depend on it. It’s coming. Read again. Ask again. Wait and trust.

Speaking of separation anxiety, the laundry calls. God bless us today, every one.

Friday Benediction

2010-09-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hey there, friends!

Happy Friday!! I am so happy it is. Got some girl time coming this weekend. Going to the beach with 11 ladies that I graduated from high school with back when we were girls. So I don't have long to talk. I have to go throw more things in my suitcase, which is already too full.

Sometimes Larry Hicks ends our Sunday School class with a benediction. He has it committed to memory, and I have thought it sounded Biblical, but never knew where from. As soon as it's over we all bolt out of there and down to the nursery and children's hall, so there's never time to ask where he found it. By the next week, I've forgotten all about it.

Lo and behold, I found it today. It's in Jude. It's the last verse of Jude. In honor of it finally being Friday I'm going to use this as our benediction for the week. I'm blowing it up so you can't miss it. It's that good.

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

Hear it, friends! See you next week.

Support Partners: Pink Ribbon Pot Luck

2010-09-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Missie Baker sent me several upcoming opportunities for all the pink-ribbon wearers and supporters in October. Her group, Support Partners, provides assistance and comfort for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer.

First is a mighty cute invitation to the Support Partners Pot Luck Luncheon. There will be yummy lunch and a talk from a local breast health nurse. Everyone will enjoy the goodie bags and the glow of being surrounded by women who are traveling the same path. All breast cancer patients and survivors are invited to come, and you should totally grab an invitation at the welcome desk. I'm such a sucker for anything with polka dots. Aren't you?

Support Partners Pot Luck Luncheon
Date, Time, and Place: Friday, October 8, 11:00 am, at the ROC
RSVP: Missie Baker at 433-6828

Next from Support Partners is the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Mall to Mall Walk. The "Ladies First" team from FBCP will be back this year. I haven't done this, but I always hear it's fun. Everyone is welcome to walk the route from University Mall to Cordova Mall. Contributions are also welcome, and y'all know they hate to ask.

I would be willing to bet that some will be walking around inside the malls later that day as well. Can you seriously call University Mall a mall anymore? I'm not sure.

Making Strides Mall to Mall Walk
Date, Time, and Place: Saturday, October 30, 7:00 am
More info: 475-0850

Beauty has a place

2010-09-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Beauty without vanity. That's what we're going for. Daughters of God have been beautiful since the beginning (Genesis 6:2). We must be careful, though, not to seek beauty for its own sake. Proverbs 31:30 says "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." We want the kind of beauty that points the world back to its Creator, not distracts from Him.

May I please point out our beautiful new blog header? Designed by our own Hannah in the church office, the new header explains what we are about around here. Our blog exists for the women of First Baptist Church, but not because of them. We always want the blog or any other Womens' Ministries endeavor to point us back to the Creator, the maker of heaven and earth. Anything that's only about us will turn ugly before long.

The beauty of the earth praises Him. It shows us that He loves beautiful things. Since we are like Him, we like them too. That's why I want the blog to be better-looking this year. As long as we seek Him, we can honor Him with beauty. It might be a fine line to walk, but I hope He will bless the striving this year. We want to have pictures and pretty colors and all the things that bring beauty to the screen. In the end, though, we want to encourage each other to seek Him out. Above all else. Our beauty depends on it.

So the new banner is a great start. When you see Hannah tell her how good it looks!

Welcome Back Fall!

2010-09-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, y’all, I’m back. It’s fall, and I’m geared up. I hope you are too.

I know by now you’re starting to feel like you’ve heard it all before from me, so I thought I would lay out for you some of my goals for this space, and then you can hold my feet to the fire over getting them done.

Here’s what I hope you will find when you visit the blog this year:

Encouragement
Bible-study jump-starters that you can use when you have those stolen, quiet moments
Pictures of our Women’s Ministries events (Though it’s going to take a little longer while I develop the technical skills. God will have to create something out of nothing for sure!)
Book descriptions coming soon: Radical and Hole in the Gospel as recommended by Linda in last month’s newsletter. Call me if you have a suggestion!
A sense of enthusiasm over being a woman at First Baptist Church Pensacola

That’s right. I’m not satisfied with us being resigned that we go to church together. I’m going for something closer to thrilled. It’s okay that Jesus is the only thing we all have in common. He’s enough. And if He’s all we share we are in good shape.

So that’s what I’m going for at least once per week. I am hoping for twice per week, but as I mentioned yesterday, I’m a woman in transition. But truly aren’t we all? To be a woman is to be in transition. Let’s cut each other some slack and enjoy what we are able to bring forth by God’s grace.

I am praying for you, for us, that we will learn to love each other. That He will teach us and not we ourselves. Take care, and I’ll see you Sunday!

Holding My Breath

2010-09-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends! Happy Fall. All that rain finally left and, momentarily, took the hottest heat with it. So nice to be able to take a deep breath outdoors!

I have been thinking about breathing lately. Waiting for school to start always feels like holding my breath underwater. I know the relief is there, but I can’t feel it, until suddenly there it is! And then the running around panting starts and doesn’t let up until Christmas is over.

Anyway, that’s not why I have been thinking about breathing. Over the summer I did a lot of painting. I’m not very good at it, but I’m trying to get better, and I noticed that I get a much steadier line next to the trim if I hold my breath.

Now, when there is painting happening at my house, it usually indicates a time of transition. We have historically either just moved or are about to move. We are buying a house or listing a house or moving furniture to accommodate a new baby or a growing-up baby. The household is in an uproar, more so I mean than the usual clamor.

We are not one of those families where one person makes all the decisions on wall color no matter how much I have hoped that we would be. So if someone is finally painting that means that we are at the end of some major, ahem, discussions.

Discussions of this nature are also strained by the circumstances surrounding whatever life change we have just undertaken. New cities mean new churches and schools and jobs. Uncertainty prevails and patience is low. Conversations about paint become deeply personal, filled with hidden meaning. One person will feel like their breath has been wasted on whatever input the other person didn’t follow. The silences between the discussions are often syncopated by deep sighs or exasperated huffs. All of these things take up oxygen.

When I noticed that holding my breath made my painted line go smoother it hit me that holding my breath might make all the paint color negotiations, and therefore the life transitions, go more smoothly too. I wondered whether the Bible might say something about breathing being related to speech. Because, you know, maybe it didn’t, and then I could go back to sighing until I got my way.

Alas, the Bible did have much to say on the subject of breathing, and it was a bit more serious than I was prepared for.

I found several references to God blasting people with the Breath of His nostrils. Or clearing ground with his hot breath. So first of all, yikes. It did not in any place that I could find mention anyone besides God doing this which indicates to me that it’s not okay for people to use breath as a rebuke. Or it’s only okay if you’re holy already, which definitely leaves me out. So much for blasting people with my hot breath over the color of the laundry room.

Also dismaying was how closely linked the words for breath and breathing are to the same meaning as what we would think of as our spirit or soul. It’s the essence of you that goes when you die and leaves behind your lifeless body. I’ll spare you the Hebrew words if you’ll check out the following verses:

Psalm 33:6, 104:29-30 (God’s breath or spirit lives in us.)

Psalm 135:17, Jeremiah 10:14 (Nothing we create holds any spirit or breath.)

Isaiah 42:5, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Daniel 5:23 (God gives the breath of life. The Ezekiel passage is especially vivid. The Daniel one especially humbling.)

Psalm 146:4, Ecclesiastes 3:19 (The breath He gives us is temporary.)

Let’s just say that whenever I look for simple little self-betterment texts in the Bible, it almost always reveals the pridefulness of my nature. In other words, in connecting my breath to my speech I was thinking too shallow and too small.

My breath indicates a connection to my Maker. It is the essence of His life in me; it’s the tangible presence of His creative force. Each time. Ponder that for a minute. Each breath is His gift. Just because I have one breath today does not mean that another will follow tomorrow.

Having read these, I just want to be much more careful how I dole them out. With each breath am I giving life or laying waste? Do I create or destroy? Am I giving relief and refreshment or something different?

Changes

2010-07-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hi, friends! Just checking in with a quick note to say I'm thinking about you this summer.

How do you like our background? Well, after waiting around for a while to see if God would send someone who "does computers" I decided just to jump in and try it myself. It's so pink that I'm not sure I'll be able to stand it for very long. The fact that it looks different is a huge praise, though. I know the banner needs work. I'll have to keep at it! Pray for me. Nothing steals my joy like modern technology.

Let me encourage you to keep at it too. Summer is the right time to get in God's word. Don't wait for a study to come along. Summer is free and easy. Pick a book of the Bible you have never read before. Mine this week has been Lamentations. Before you roll your eyes, let me tell you that what shocks me so often about reading the Bible is that it almost never conforms to what you expect. Not all of Lamentations is sad. There are some wonderful promises here.

For instance, I have been looking for a verse that I had "lost" a few years ago. It was very encouraging to me when my children were babies, but per my typical pattern I didn't memorize the reference or write it down. Last year I remembered it and started looking for it, convinced that it was in Psalms. Couldn't find it, but, you know, Psalms is long. Anyway, I opened up Lamentations yesterday, and lo and behold, there it was! I had underlined it and everything. So exciting. Am I a geek? Maybe, but I am one encouraged geek.

Here it is so you can look it up: Lamentations 3:22-23. Keep going on through v.26 if you have the time, and then come back later and pick up the context in all of Chapter 3. Chapter 3 is so where my head is at during February and March.

Our souls need encouraging during summer because autumn keeps getting larger and larger on the horizon. Soak in it now, and store it up. You'll need it before long.

Enjoy your summer days however you spend them!

Holiday Stress--Own It!

2009-12-16T17:49:00.000-08:00

Hi there! It’s mid-December. Do you know where your Christmas presents are? Having two holiday birthdays in our family means that I often struggle to keep up with all the presents I’m supposed to be responsible for this time of year. I do pretty well with the presents, actually, but those birthday cards that come in the mail from the long-distance relatives don’t always stay where I put them.

It happened this week. I lost a birthday card from Nanny in San Antonio. It had money in it and everything. I found it already--just in time for the party. Not soon enough however to save me from having a complete come-apart.

Have I taught y’all that word yet? Come-apart is a Dothan term for hissy fit. Otherwise known as a howling spell, but the kind that the less spoiled rotten of us have. It may present with light tears or a full-on falling down kicking and screaming on the floor kind of thing. I usually throw myself crosswise across the bed, but, you know. It varies.

I was clicking along through Thanksgiving with all kinds of major important tasks to hold down and check off. I won’t say I was fine, but I was praying through it. Not having quiet time exactly, but definitely letting God in on my days. Then one little temporarily missing birthday card sent me into full-blown meltdown.

Now you think I’m going to chastise you with all sorts of verses about being still and the joys of simplicity. But I’m not. I’m going to ask you a question.

Does it really make sense for us to try to relax during the holidays? Women? Sisters, daughters, mothers? I ask you. Is this realistic? Or is this one more way for Satan to guilt us into immobility? Doesn’t the birth of the Saviour mandate celebratory sorts of behavior? Should we be daunted by the extra work and the estrogen levels it brings? Or is this the kind of celebration that merits our above average ambitions?

Here’s another question: Which honors God more? A woman who flies apart over a birthday card, and, in order to avoid more such episodes, decides to forgo any further once-a-year stress-inducing activities, like cooking Christmas dinner. Or a woman who cries the tears, considers them a normal reaction to the battle she is fighting, and after having dried them continues on in a manner worthy of her calling. With God as her witness, she embarks on an unapologetic, riotous, highly decorated season of feasting in honor of her Jesus come to earth. Complete with appetizers and hand tied bows.

Can we defend our amped-up activity levels during the holidays? Biblically, I mean.

Well, let’s see.

In defense of Christmas cards: Phillipians 1:2-3, 7-8

In defense of meal planning: John 6:4-5 (See? Planning ahead for meals is a Christlike endeavor. When great multitudes of people come to visit, they have to eat.)

Re-read John 2. (It has always seemed to me that this first miracle taking place at a wedding meant, among other things, that Jesus is okay with our celebrations of life. This time I had to laugh at what a prominent part Mary plays in this story. If she hadn’t stepped in would this have been the first miracle? Do you think she was stressed out on behalf of her friend? Was she trying to save the family some stress?)

I know. You don’t have time right now to read. That’s okay. You’ll catch it in January maybe. Or April. Whenever. God has time for you to spare.

One more question: Can God handle your stress? I dare say He can. Don’t forget that. He may not want you to stop working, stop doing. He may want to transform you through the very force of your efforts. He may want you to tap into His power to do more than you would have thought was possible. Every memory of the holidays is an altar to remind future generations that what you believe is worth the celebration. We don’t make a big deal out of it. It is a big deal. It is worth the stress. Worth the tears. Worth the battle.

Go work hard right now. Hang in there. Do your absolute very best and whatever that entails at your house in your family. Jesus surely deserves it.

Take care. And Merry Christmas!

More encouragement to pray

2009-11-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

Hi First Friends! It's stormy weather here today. Hope you're staying dry. I'm praising God that the storm has weakened. During the hurricanes a few years ago we got our worst damage from a tropical storm, so I tend to get a little punchy when I hear those words.

I received a note today from Susan Hill regarding the Moms In Touch prayer event at the ROC this Saturday. Whether or not you plan to attend, I thought this quote from one of the ladies in the group was a terrific encouragement to pray.

"These moms, like you and me, care deeply, yet know well the reality of the pressures on our kids in these crazy times in this crazy beach town. We choose to deal with this stress and feeling of lack of control by bringing our cares each week to the foot of the cross, and handing them over to our GOD who can help. We've been doing this for years, and have seen countless prayers answered.

Fast forward to this Saturday, and get a glimpse of this group and hear the stories of moms like you and I, as we join together for a morning of prayer. Across the nation, thousands of moms will be watching via video and praying together. Be assured you can participate as a SPECTATOR only!! You will not have to talk or pray in front of the group!!! Just come and be blessed by seeing how our mighty God can be a victor over anything in your child's life!! "

I love the way this event encourages us to deal with stress by taking it to the cross. Isn't that a great reminder for the holiday season?

Don't you love her for saying "You will not have to talk"? It's funny to think of being a spectator at a prayer event. We were all raised to keep our eyes closed. However, relieving yourself from talking during prayer time can be powerful. One of my favorite verses on prayer has always been Ecclesiastes 5:2. Go look it up. Don't forget to wear your slippers. When I walked across the kitchen just now to get my Bible I stepped on a bean from dinner. Yuck!

Did you read it? Doesn't that go against everything we usually say about prayer in Sunday School? Now read verse 7. Wow, right? So different from the way we usually pray. Let's take traveling as an example.

In our usual method of prayer you must make sure God knows which airline you are flying on, and you have to make sure He has your flight numbers. You cover the time, the date, cities of departure and destination. Then you must give some attention to the people in the seats on either side of you. You can thank Beth Moore for that. You must cover the pilots and their families. You'd rather be praying for your own family, but you know that they are better served by you keeping your plane in the air. This is one way to interpret "God cares about the details" and it's valid. There is no wrong way to pray. When I'm already upset, though, this method exhausts me. I'd truly rather take my chances with the Department of Homeland Security than get up and look at my calendar so that I don't inadvertently wind up praying for someone else's flight.

Here's how I picture the Ecclesiastes method of prayer with air travel. You sit down for quiet time and can't focus because you're so worried about the flight. Push your Bible to one side or place your finger on a verse you can meditate on. Now. Ask yourself this question. Which do I fear more: death or God? Tell God something simple like, "I'm frightened, and I want to fear you more than I fear this." Now wait. Sit there with your finger on your verse and don't talk any more. When the worries creep back in ask yourself the question again. Open your eyes to read your verse and repeat the steps. See what happens.

Susan's event is this Saturday from 9 to 1 and it's free. Just let them know you're coming at www.Momsintouch.org.

Do You Pray Better Than a Fifth Grader?

2009-11-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

First off, my apologies if this title makes your stomach tight. I know, and you know, that prayer is not a contest. If you’re praying at all, you’re doing it right. However, I had a prayer experience this week that had me thinking about that game show where the grownups compete with school children and the way that some things change and some things stay the same, especially concerning prayer.

Let me explain. Wednesday night at Awana we did a prayer walk. If you have ever helped with Awana, or been in the church when Awana was going on, then you know that it is not for the faint-hearted. Combine an after dinner hour in midweek with confined spaces and varying degrees of hunger and hosility. It makes for a sweaty, cranky bunch. They all need to get a spanking and go straight to bed. I’m talking about the leaders mostly, but some of the children too. It serves the purpose, I guess, but it’s not pretty. You don’t automatically think, “We should try a worship service.” Unless you are Miss Jean. For last week’s activity time, we had a prayer walk in the chapel.

I’m no stranger to prayer walks with children. It’s one of my favorite tricks for burning off that last 30 minutes before parents come to pick them up from VBS. It gets them moving, changes their scenery and lets them do something real. As I said before, I think that all prayer is real whether or not everyone has their eyes closed or is quiet or is pretending to be a ninja or whatever.

My Wednesday night attitude, however, doesn’t generally allow for a lot of creativity or good feelings or flexibility. I need to get in the zone and get the job done. So full of myself and my humanity, I marched my three little charges up the giant staircase and into the chapel to pray without ceasing for thirty minutes until I could go home.

It was pretty much as I had expected. They were into it for a while. They took turns reading the cards and bowed their heads. But then one wanted to go this way and one that way; they started fighting over who could stand where. One had to go to the bathroom, and one wanted to pray for her family members, specifically and in great detail, at every single station. More and more groups poured into the chapel and started moving through the stations. The volume level went up. Some got a bathroom break so we did too, and then we got done with the stations and sat down on a bench to wait.

Maybe it was the low lighting. I started looking around and watching and got that still, small feeling in my chest that God needed me to pay attention. Y’all, I’m not kidding. All those children walking around praying reminded me of us. You know, the grownup church. They were jockeying for position. There were fights over who got to be in a group with whose friend. Some think they can’t pray, and some think they really can. They were bored. They had the world weariness of a group of God’s children who have seen it all and done it all but are too weak to do anything different.

Usually these displays of our fallen nature render me sad and depressed, but this time somehow it made me smile. I can’t explain it. I think Jesus showed up for the Awana prayer walk. Those children, they were beautiful. They laughed and fought and talked and walked and complained and wrote and hugged and hit each other. They prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. And they were us.

They prayed even though they were bored. A few were into it, but most prayed because there wasn’t anything else to do and someone was leading them. You could tell they weren’t going to pray when they got home. Isn’t that just like us?

We will never grow up. We will continue walking, fighting, posing and pretending. We know that everything we do is temporary and we want to do something real. And that is why we must pray. Prayer brings Jesus down from the realm of eternity into our everyday. Grace falls and changes us, as they say, from a common use to a holy use. I tell you if God can make me smile at Awana, He can make your kitchen table glow like the ground under the burning bush. Like the faces of the children in the chapel. I think the glow is always there. The glow is His presence. It’s just that when you pray, He invites you to glimpse it.

Just in case you’re not convinced I’m adding some verses on prayer that I’ll be mulling over this week. Join me, won’t you?

Luke 11:1 (A good catch phrase. To be repeated several times a day as needed.)

Luke 18:1-17 (The publican probably is most closely related here. How cool that it’s attached to the story about Jesus and the children. Have you ever been taught the story of Jesus and the children as being about prayer? I don’t think I have.)

1 Thes. 5:17 (Always a friendly reminder!)

Welcome Back, Blogger!

2009-09-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends! I’m back after a lazy, freewheeling summer hiatus and a purposeful back-to-school transition. Tell the truth, now. You thought I had forgotten you. Yes, you did. You thought that I had gone out and made new friends and forgotten all about Walkin’ and Talkin’. No, no. I would miss our virtual stroll. After a summer of actual sitting by the pool I need the exercise. (Virtual exercise counts, right?)

What I did forget was how to get on the blog. Just momentarily, but still. Forgot the password, forgot the address, forgot everything. After a few minutes of typing in various combinations--wretched use of eternal minutes that I will never get back--it finally let me in. I hate computers. When your Bible study teacher tells you that God will stretch your boundaries for His service, pay attention. I never thought I would be working in such a technical field. I’d really rather write each woman in the church a pencil-and-paper note every week. Sometimes I actually think it would be faster. This week, however, I have some encouragement that can’t wait.

Go look up Psalm 27:13. Go ahead. I’ll wait. It’s a good one. It’s my new theme verse for fall, and it’s funny.

All of Psalm 27 is about trust. In my Bible the subtitle is “A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.” David is having some trouble with the toxic people in his life. He tells us about evil doers who “devour his flesh,” false witnesses who “breathe out violence,” and parents who won’t help him. They’re probably out of town the way my parents always are when I am having a crisis. I love David. He’s so extreme. He, like me, never passes up an opportunity to have a colorfully detailed vent. He vents to the Lord, and I vent to my bathroom mirror, but whatever.

Then in verse 13 he switches gears and says “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Don’t you love his nonchalance? As it to say he hasn’t even started to get upset. “I would have been worried about these violent breathers, but then I remembered the Lord. I would have tried to shake off all these people trying to bite me, but then I thought of my faith. I would have sent my parents a pouty text, but then I remembered Jesus and all.” It makes me chuckle every time I think of it.

I encountered this verse several weeks ago and can assure you that it plugs nicely into almost any situation. When you lose your keys: “I would have despaired, unless I had believed.” When you get home from the grocery store with lots of nice items, except the one thing you went there to get: “I would have despaired unless I had believed.” When your child puts you down, and then slams the door in your face: (Take a deep breath first and with power) “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Okay, that one’s not so funny, but you get the picture. It’s an antidote for that wave of panic or that rising anger in your throat.

Try it and see if it doesn’t restore your inner chuckle. (Yes, even rueful laughter counts.) What’s your favorite verse to fight off despair? Send me a comment. I panic often, and I could use the extra help. I have a couple more notes about the second part of the verse, but I’m out of time right now. I’ll be back. Keep your heart rate up!

Storms

2009-04-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

We certainly have had some stormy weather lately! In honor of our April showers join me in contemplating what Pat Evans has to say about "Storms." This is an excerpt from her devotional book Honey for a Woman's Heart, used with her permission. Stay dry and enjoy!

Storms

" . . . The righteous will live by faith." Habakkuk 2:4b

Living here on the Gulf Coast, we are used to storms and even hurricanes. We are used to high winds and lots of rain. Several years ago, my pastor preached from the little book of Habakkuk giving us three simple points that we can apply to our lives today.

Chapter one: "Looking at the storm brings confusion."
My husband and I have sat on our back porch and looked at hurricane force winds and horizontal rain, wondering what was this storm going to do to us, to our property. It always brings confusion.

Chapter two: "Looking through the storm brings confidence."
It's here that the Lord says to Habakkuk, "the righteous will live by faith." When we look through the storm with faith in our Abba Father, we do receive confidence because He is Almighty God, sovereign and in control even of the rain and wind. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Chapter three: "Looking beyond the storm brings comfort."
Habakkuk prays to the Lord, ". . . I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known."

The little book is ended with the magnificent praise: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD. I will be JOYFUL in God my Savior. [Because] The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of the deer, He enables me to go on the heights."

He takes away my confusion in the storm; He brings me confidence through the storm; He brings me comfort as we look beyond the storm and though we may not see it we can know He is our strength and we can be joyful!

2009-03-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

Clouds from the Bridge

Genesis 1:6
Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. And God called the expanse heaven.

Psalm 89:5
The heavens will praise Thy wonders, O Lord; Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord?

Today when I was driving back from the church the clouds hung in a stunning arrangement in the sky above the bridge. There were so many of varied beauty that a question appeared "Would God paint a picture just for me to see?" Yes. I paid attention and looked longer.
Cumulus, stratus, cumulonimbus. The names I learned as a student came easily, but didn’t carry with them any definitions. These were just the kind of clouds you imagine sitting on in heaven but don’t often see. Big, puffy, white cotton-ball clouds, the kind that usually wear gray and carry rain, today came down close to the water. Their visit was not work related. They were on a social call.

The center seemed a large mass of hundreds of clouds some stripy, some fat, some lacy, some fully formed. Then I realized that it wasn’t one large mass, but layers and layers with holes here and there, through which I could see the ones behind and the sky higher up.

The sky was a blue just right for clouds like these, and though I can’t locate the sun’s position in my memory I know light shone down in wide, round channels. Where a cloud sat, blocking, light traced the edges. Below the water flashed and twinkled. Tiny mirrors of light, winking and popping up in circles, played like a school of fish who know the pelicans are not diving now.
Did God create these clouds for me? He created clouds in Genesis, and they must have been important because it was only the second day. Human form was not needed until the sixth, after the fish and the pelicans. Still, God is as much about set design as he is about the plot. So what purpose do these clouds perform this day? At that moment, and in that moment, there was no quick answer the that and other questions beginning to form. All I could do is stare at the picture splashed across the sky.

After a while, though, it dawned on me that, if light is glory in a created form, these clouds both exposed and withheld God’s glory. A cloud suspended in the midst of the light seemed formed by it. And in the center where the light couldn’t penetrate the cloud was darker, heavier. Similarly, I am darker in the places where I refuse entrance to His light and become heavy with holding it in. When it penetrates my shape is changed, and beauty results despite my tendency to bring rain. But that's the Sunday school answer--the one that appears after time to process.

The truth is the heavens praise His wonders. They don’t explain them. They don’t make practicable applications. They praise. They don’t praise how easy God is to read. They praise how hard it is to ever comprehend Him. They sing for joy that we don’t know what He means. No one bound to the earth can do what He does, or even always say for sure that what they see is really Him. We stare at the heavens and we wonder. And it is a beautiful sight.

Coffee Thoughts

2009-01-30T10:18:00.000-08:00

A few years ago some FBCP women did a summer Bible study together. The major theme was moving toward God through positive attitudes. It seemed simple enough. However, we would start out talking about having a positive focus and pretty soon we’d be locked in an intense discussion about where God’s will stops and our sin begins. It amazed me then and continues to now how we try to study one aspect of the Christian walk and we keep bumping into all the same old stuff: God's will, His infinite mercy, His love vs. His sovereign law.

I was mulling this over when I pulled up to the Starbucks window around that same time, and I bought a cup of coffee, which isn't notable, except that they had just started printing quotes on their to-go cups. The one I found on my cup was from fashion designer Todd Oldham who among other things said: "An open, non-judgmental mind is the best tool for brewing creativity." I drove along sipping my coffee and thinking about Todd. His most recent creative contribution, besides apparently a book also mentioned on the cup, was a collection of sixties mod furniture for, of all places, La-Z-boy. I started feeling a little guilty because here Todd had said I wasn't supposed to judge and, not a minute later, I was thinking how tacky his furniture was and how his agent must have had a hard time getting him the coffee-cup gig.

That's when a thought hit me so hard that I almost stopped the car. I disagree! I disagree with Todd and the whole Hollywood line that suggests that a complete lack of boundaries fosters creativity. I think creativity grows best from within limits. Why do you need to be creative if you can just do whatever you want? And furthermore it seems to me that being creative is one of the best ways in which we reflect God's image. He's the Creator, and so we create. Consequently, it stands to reason that we would be most creative when harnessing ourselves within the bounds of God's law. And there it was. God’s law. I bumped into it again.

It’s an exciting time to be a woman at FBCP because your Women’s Ministries leaders are exploring their powers of creativity on your behalf. It’s easy sometimes as women to get trapped in thinking only of our limits: Too little time, too little money, too busy with work, too burdened by family, too little family, or what have you. The stage-of-life divisions of modern churches serve many fine purposes, but they also highlight our differences rather than our commonalities. Into this gap jumps your fearless Women’s Ministries team bringing you, among other options, the Women’s Retreat, Let’s Do Lunch, and The Walk, our revamped newsletter. They know that whatever divergent paths God has put us on individually, we all still need a to take a regular break, to eat lunch, and to know what’s going on.

This blog is another idea. It’s a monthly email in your inbox: an attempt to find God in and through all of our divergent paths. We offer it as an experience we can all share that won’t tax the already overstuffed calendar or the under-stuffed billfold. Hopefully it will be an encouragement that doesn’t add to your to-do list. Contributors will include Chaun McGuire, our newsletter editor, and me, Ginger Myers. Pat Evans has graciously allowed us to dip occasionally into her Honey for a Woman’s Heart. Hannah Evans continues the graphic design. We love feedback, so send us your own creative, caffeine-induced ideas.

If your coffee cup can add meaning to your life, won’t God mercifully do the same and for greater impact? Whatever teeny moments we give Him he will multiply long after the caffeine buzz has worn off. So grab yourself a cup of coffee or whatever else you prefer and enjoy the perks of being an FBCP woman.

And watch out for that to-go-cup theology. It’ll burn ya–no pun intended.