Embrace the Place

Because my car had hit the 90,000 mile point, my car dealership rep advised me that I would soon need to have my transmission flushed to keep it running smoothly. That service would be $180. I thought I might go to a nearby service shop that I had used for a front light replacement. Their price to flush the transmission was only $99. Great savings, but I changed my mind because that “Inner Voice” prompted me to take my car to the dealership for the service. I’m so glad I listened and obeyed that Voice, because they found a greater issue that, if not repaired, would have created a serious problem for me. The other issue repairs were $1700, but my extended warranty took care of it. Whew! Thanks be to God for His still small voice that I've come to know so well.

I remembered hearing a speaker who gave a talk about “Embracing the place where we are today. God knows where we're at and He has a plan for us to fulfill IN THAT PLACE, so we shouldn’t get stressed out if that place is an uncomfortable place. When I thought about the cost of the repairs, first I thought "I can save $81 if I use that service shop – besides it’s much closer to get to than my dealership. Then I thought about that “Embrace the place" message, and realized God knew about the other “issue” before my dealership did, and that prompting I had to take my car to the dealership for the service, was His best idea. He was protecting me from having to deal with a greater challenge. Father really knows best, so I settle in and "embrace this place".

Remember the shepherd boy, David, who eventually became King David? Jesse brought all his sons, except for David, to parade in front of Samuel because he thought one of them would be chosen the next king. After all David was JUST a shepherd boy taking care of sheep. But God knew where David was all the time, and he was the ONE being prepared to lead God's people. We all know David's story -- he was being prepared for royalty while he was embracing his place as he tended his sheep.

Could it be that you're ready to take a job outside the home instead of having to balance all the mommy duties that you have to tackle every day? On the other hand, you know that where you're at right now is part of God's plan for you in this season? Embrace the place. God knows right where you are.

Could it be you're ready and capable to be in a higher profile position at your church, but you're hid as you teach the little children? Embrace the place. God knows where you are.

Could it be that the job promotion you didn't get is part of God's plan today? Embrace the place. He knows.

Could it be that you've been overlooked, like David, for a leadership position, but it's part of God's plan for you to stay right there a little longer? Embrace the place. God has the best plan carved out for you. He sees.

Could it be that the loan that fell through on your dream home was a part of God's plan? Embrace the place. He has just the perfect home in His plans and it will show up right on time.

Yes, our God who knows everything about everything – our past, our present and our future -- has THE PLANS to prosper us, and not harm us. He has plans to give us hope and a great future (Jeremiah 29:11). So let’s “embrace the place” we’re in right now. Embracing the place is being faithful in this place that He's designed for us today. God knows where we're at, and at the RIGHT time and RIGHT place, He will reposition us. In the meantime, we TRUST HIM in the smack dab place He has us in right now and the place in our future. By the way – wherever those places are – He’s already there waiting for us to arrive. So, let’s embrace this place AND that place!

Abba, Father

The Life Group I’ve started attending uses the devotional book “100 Names of God” as a resource for study and discussion. When I first attended the group, and it was my turn to share about one of my favorite names for God, I shared that it is Jehovah Shalom – God, my peace. I went on to describe how the God of Peace has been so close and dear to me and I’ve realized that peace is my most treasured possession – one that I protect with everything that’s in me.

I was thinking about my Father God this week and remembered the time, when we lived in Shawnee, OK and I worked at Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative. I was in my early 30s and was their member services newspaper editor, before internet and the ability to send our projects via email for print, so I had to take my copy for print to Okmulgee, OK – about an hour’s drive away. On one particular day, I was feeling especially wimpy. I don’t remember why, but I do know that I was longing for a daddy (my daddy passed away when I was 15) to just be able to crawl up into his lap, feel his embrace and cuddles, and hear him say, “Everything’s gonna’ be alright”. As I drove, the tears began to flow as I almost immediately sensed God saying “Baby, I’m here” and I envisioned me crawling up into His lap as He spoke those comforting and loving words to me. It was then that I realized He is more than a Father figure Who is stoic, stern and untouchable. That day I realized God is as close as I welcome Him to be in my life. I realized a daddy’s intimacy with his little girl. He was WHO I needed Him to be at just that moment.

Galatians 4:6, says “And because you are sons (and daughters), God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son (and daughter), and if a son (and daughter), then an heir through God.” Jesus came to earth and hammered home the Father/Child relationship to us. In His prayer to His Father, Jesus said, “And I have declared to them Your Name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26). What name was Jesus referring to? It was the name “Father”. If there was anything close to Jesus’ heart, it was to introduce God as “Father” to us. He even showed us how to pray "Our Father, Who art in heaven......"

Once, He said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11) Jesus wants us to always have this image of God in our minds —that He is our Abba, Father. Why? Because He wants us to know that there is nothing more important or too insignificant for the Father when it comes to His children.

Back to that image of a daddy with his little girl. What if a little girl had a splinter embedded into her thumb and never told her daddy about it, but just kept enduring the pain. Her daddy would have been so concerned that he’d ask, “When did you get this?” “A few days ago,” she would answer. He’d reply “Why didn’t you tell Daddy about it?” And what if she replied “I thought you were too busy and that I shouldn’t bother you?”

If you were that father, wouldn’t it break your heart to hear your child say this to you? A splinter may be a small thing, but there is nothing too small when it concerns our children because if it affects them, it affects us, too. And, here’s the very good news. No matter how old we are, we are still God’s children, so we should never think that our problems are too small for Him. If it is important to us, it is important to our Father, too.

I pray that today, wherever you are, and whatever you’re facing that you slow down long enough to go to Abba, Father and allow Him to hold you, embrace you and reassure you “Everything’s gonna’ be alright! I am with you, and I will always be here to remind you ‘You are mine and my banner over you is love.’ Trust Me. I’ve got this! And always remember…..Father knows best!”

Temple Tuesday Was Just That

Tuesday of Holy Week could be called "Temple Tuesday," because in Matthew 21 we read how Jesus spent this day of Holy Week at the temple -- teaching and using parables to make his points. He was constantly confronted by religious leaders. They challenged his authority to teach the people, and lamblasted him with unreasonable theological questions. He answered them so successfully that "no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions".

I had a sweet Temple Tuesday day because 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" Nancy Crow and I enjoyed a birthday lunch celebrating a dear friend, Sharon Ray at Wild Fork. We talked a lot about the faithfulness of God, the many ways He has blessed us and how we are here on this earth -- not to be a part of the naysayers, the cynics and those who seem compelled to live on the side of frustration, anger, and fear, but to be a part of the solution -- living lives of complete trust in God because FATHER knows best! I loved it when our waiter, gave a private birthday concert to Sharon. He said we "made his day" when we were leaving, and He made ours.

Then tonight, my Life Group (12 of us) went to see "Miracles From Heaven". Yesterday, I posted that I would give my review of the film. Let's just say....it would be well worth it to see it sometime during this Holy Week. For sure you will see our God Who is alive and well in the lives and hearts of His people, and how He is still in the miracle working business. In contrast to all the "noise" and "violence" in this world, as I watched that movie, I thought about the "safe place" we are in when we are in the presence of God.

A friend in my community went to see it earlier today. She called me to say "This movie should be seen be everyone in the world. There is no way they won't believe in God and His miracles if they see it. But be sure to bring tissues." And I wholeheartedly agree. Whether you’re a believer, non-believer, or agnostic, you will find it hard to hold back some tears at various points throughout the story. The fact that it's a true story heightens those emotions.

Much of what draws out the emotion in us is Jennifer Garner's character, the mother of the little girl. She revealed such warmth and vulnerability and determination. Her faith and her family's faith was tested to the core. Faith was the most crucial component of the movie -- the need for it and the validation of it, but most of all the "stuff" we go through....could very well be for changing lives around us.

Our Life Group came out of the movie, exhilarated, emotionally drained by the ups and downs of the story line, and praising God for yet another affirmation that "Nothing is Impossible With God". Do yourself a favor -- see this movie. It could easily have been one of those illustrated sermons that Jesus gave in the temple in explaining what trust in God can do. Aren't you so glad you get to be alive to see the visuals played out in movies and real life of God's wonder-working power? I know I am.

These Two Gals With Me From the Start

Day 354 of Photo Inspirations -- These Two Gals With Me From the Start
Yesterday Mom (my mom-in-law) and Karen (my sis-in-law) had our little gift exchange before I head to Texas today.  These two gals are so dear to me. We've been together since the very beginning of the courtship of my sweetheart and I.  Mom was always for me.  She and my Mom were in cahoots as they prayed and conspired to help these two kids see the light about our "match made in heaven and on earth".

And, Karen, four years younger than her brother, would sit at our booth when we went to Kip's Big Boy Restaurant after Sunday night church.  Karen would snicker when she'd look under the table and see Ronnie and I holding hands.  

God blessed me with these precious women, who are not only my Mom and Sister (forget that whole "in law" thing), but have been my prayer partners, confidants, encouragers, loving caregivers, and dear friends for 54+ years. They've stood with me during the best of times and the worst of times. When I think of God's blessings....they are right up there at the top.

We were almost rolling from laughter when we were using my selfie stick to get the photo of the three of us.  Mom said, "I just love using that 'mirror'.  We've come a long way in photo technology since the start of our relationship.

For many years, one of my Christmas gifts to Mom is the "Photo Calendar" that I make for her.  I love to be "in the moment" in taking photos throughout the year for the main purpose of putting together her calendar.

Mom loved looking at each page of photos -- some that I pulled from the archives -- like the one of all Mom's grandkids and great grandkids playing her organ, as well as the one of Alexia and Madison in their princess dresses and Payton laughing hysterically at them.   Mom keeps the calendar in a prominent spot in her kitchen.

Before the two gals were ready to head home, we did what we've always done best together.....we prayed earnestly for each other, our families and friends, and for our country.  It was prayer that bound us together years ago and prayer that continues to bind us together today.

And those prayers have stood the test of time......we've seen so many answers to prayer, some of which weren't answered the way we wanted, but the answers came the way God wanted.  Father ALWAYS knows best.  

We'll continue to pray because, of all the uncertainties in this world, there is a CERTAINTY that is unfailing.....God HEARS and ANSWERS our prayers.

I'm so grateful that this beautiful time of the year gives us plenty of opportunities to be thankful for those things that matter most.....those things that money can't buy.....those things that we'll take to eternity with us.  

"For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,  I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers."  Ephesians 1:15