HE Knows My Name

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One of the best things about being back at Chick Fil A is the relationships I have with customers.  During my first employment there (2 1/2 years) I made so many friends who were regular customers.  We celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, grandchildren, graduations, and other happy occasions together.  They supported and prayed for me while I was on a mission trip to Nigeria, and when I had surgery.  And unfortunately, I have now even been to the funerals of some of them.

So as I have gotten reaquainted with old friends, I am also making new ones. However, I am 4 1/2 years older, and learning their names doesn’t come NEARLY as easy as it used to.  I had one of them finally slide up to the counter the other day and say, “by the way, my name is Melinda, not Miranda.  Just wanted you to know”.  Sigh.  At least they are patient with me and put up with my failing memory!

The other side of this is learning their particular wants/needs.  No coffee lid for this one, no pickles EVER for that one, etc.  I make a few mistakes here and there, but I am rewarded with awesome smiles and thank you’s when I get it right.  I love serving them, caring about what they want, and making it happen! And when I can’t, I try to be compassionate in saying no.

AND YET!  God, the creator of everything and owner of it all, reminded me that He loves me (John 3:16), knows my name (John 10:3), and knows my wants and needs..except!  He doesn’t have memory issues and does not make mistakes.  He rejoices when He can make my requests happen (Psalm 37:3), and He is there to comfort me when He can’t.  He delights in knowing me, and He is always there to celebrate the victories and milestones, and to walk with me through the dark valleys (Psalm 23:4).  What a blessing to know Him, and to live in the delight of having HIM know my name!

Stock Up!

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Every job has its details that can be considered tedious, or unimportant when being done, and mine is no exception.  One of the major things front counter people do is stock…sauces, cups, lids, bags, etc, to have them at the ready at each station when the rushes come.  There is nothing necessarily glamorous or exciting about stocking 200 packets of mayonaise or jelly – and it has to be repeated frequently.  And yet!  When the customers are lined up 10 deep at breakfast with work and school deadlines looming, that stock work becomes invaluable!  The pressure of quick service is greatly relieved when I know that I have everything.I need at hand to make it happen, and I am successful.

There is a spiritual application here concerning God’s Word.  Psalm 119:11 is one of the first Bible verses a lot of us ever learned -thy Word I have hidden in my heart – and yet it is also one that a lot of us struggle with even today.  NOT that reading God’s Word is tedious (like my stocking) but memorizing it CAN seem that way.

AND YET!  When the spiritual battles rage, the trials come, and temptation knocks on our door, the ONLY thing that will keep the pressure off and make us successful is our “stock pile” of memorized verses!  And like at work, the supply needs to be replenished over and over again, to keep us going.

After all, one day our Bibles may not be in reach or available at all.  One of my favorite senior adult friends spent the last week of her life awake 24/7 in the hospital, unable to read, and yet she recited Scripture until she died.  That’s a life that was well prepared to face that week!

SO!  Let’s stock up.  We need to spend the time and effort now preparing and working to have a full supply of Scripture to face every “rush” of doubt or fear or challenge that we have!  To God be the glory!

Toast and Jam

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I am not really a toast kind of girl.  Being Southern, and having women in my family who could make mouth-watering biscuits, I much prefer those. My waistline, however, made the determination years ago that toast is my breakfast bread, and I have learned to live with it.

Eating toast at home, I stick to no butter, and only jelly/jam.  A few days ago I was dismayed to find my jelly jar almost empty, and my toast was hot and waiting.  I scraped out what I could, and smeared it on.  The result?  Awful! Toast with just enough jam to barely taste is offensive.  The hint of flavor makes you frustrated, and longing for more.  And I learned something…things spread too thin are useless.  The toast would have been better without it.

I believe God used this to remind me of something I desperately needed to hear right now.  PEOPLE spread too thin are also not doing a whole lot of good…and sometimes it can even been offensive!  There are some things that contribute to this that we have no control over – work hours, family, etc.  But in my case, and I suspect I am not alone, there are things that I CAN control.  Many times, I am guilty of overcommitting my own time, without any help from anyone else.  I love to do ministry, and saying no is hard for me even when I have no real time for anything else.  I love to write and yet I find myself not writing nearly as much as I thought I would because I am usually busy doing something else.

I have been guilty too many times of trying to do too much, and as the saying goes, not doing any of them too well. I have given people/ministries/my family the equivalent of my toast, and that’s not good. I have left them frustrated, and longing for more – of my efforts, or just more of me. My prayer is that God will “show” me a piece of toast every time I am tempted to overcommit myself, and that I will immediately stop!

Step Right Up!

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We are a society of people that know what we want – at least in the fast food world.  Here’s a couple of examples:  “I’d like a chicken biscuit, but on a bun.  Add pickles, and no butter on the bun.  Diet coke, light ice.”  Or another: ” Two sausage biscuits, sausage extra done, biscuit dark brown.  And a chicken burrito, minus peppers and onions, and oh yeah, in a bowl – don’t like the wrap”.  “Half sweet tea, half unsweet, splash of lemonade”. In other words, anything and everything is possible, within our menu, and we can cater to most people’s wishes. And most customers are not shy about asking – they are completely comfortable making their requests known, even if we can’t fulfill all of them.

I wish that I would always approach God that way in my prayer life.  There are times that I am free and confident when I pray, but…there are also times that I struggle.  When I have “regular menu” items – prayer requests for the sick, wisdom for an issue in my life, repentance of sin – I do rather well.  And I am usually assured that God is listening and will do His will concerning my petitions.

However, when it comes to “special request” items, I don’t have the same boldness that my customers do.  I believe there are times that God wants to use me in the BIG things, or times that He has laid a BIG idea or dream in my heart, and then I stutter and stammer trying to pray about those!  I mull it over, think of all the reasons that it might be silly, or me and not God, or reasons that He will probably say no.  I believe I do this at times out of fear – fear of what the request will require of me if He says yes!  Or fear of how a “yes” will cause me to move out of a comfort zone, and into the unknown.  Sometimes it’s a lack of faith in my own abilities and talents – like God would certainly choose someone else for that dream.

Whatever the cause, I want to stop.  I want to become more like those that I wait on every day, and step right up to the counter (throne) of grace and my Heavenly Father, and ask!  My prayer is that you would follow and watch Him change our world for His glory!

Love Makes Me Dance!

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VBS11VBS12VBS13I was so fortunate to capture this moment last year during our Vacation Bible School.  Robert and I kept the toddlers, and Ruthie had just been adopted from an Asian country by a family in our church.

Adopting a child from overseas is a grueling process, at best! We saw her family go through tons of paperwork, hundreds of visits, thousands of questions, and that was just to get started!  We prayed with them through the interviews, the waiting, the red tape, more waiting, and finally – a trip to Ruthie’s country.  Even then, it took many days to get her, go before government agencies, formally adopt her, and then get to take that wonderful trip home.

Although very shy at first, Ruthie quickly warmed up to her new family, her new home, and her new church family.  We were playing and singing to music and she just broke out in this dance!  And why not!  She had gone, in a very short time, from being completely alone in a cold, overcroweded orphanage where her basic needs were barely met, to a wonderful world of love, care, beauty and happiness.  She was WANTED.  And she was ADOPTED!

This is such a beautiful picture of God’s love for us!  He has gone through the ultimate to adopt us – the death of His only Son, Jesus, on the cross.  He has brought us from a VERY far away country, the land where sin and the devil reign.  He also had to wait – longer on some of us than others – for us to come to Him.  And just like Ruthie’s family took her before the ruler of her country and said “yes, we want her”, Jesus has brought each of His children before the King of Kings, and said, “yes, Father, I want them, because I died for them”,  What love!  I am wanted, and I have been adopted..I believe I need to dance!

Which Ingredient Are You?

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We still subscribe to cable at our house, and for all the nerdiest reasons.  I can live without a lot that cable has to offer, but…NOT the History Channel, ESPN in all forms, National Geographic, Animal Planet…and our personal favorite, the FOOD Channel!  We love just about every reality show they come up with, and one of the best is Chopped.

For those of you not in the know, each round of Chopped features a basket with 4 mystery ingredients that each chef has to use in their dish in some form.  They don’t have to use a lot of it, but it has to be represented.  No matter how much of any ingredient they use, they don’t dare leave it as is – they have to “transform” or “repurpose” it.  If they are given a can of green beans, woe to those who just serve them with butter and salt…they had better be pureed, spiced, pickled…something that will make them stand out and not look anything like what they started out as.  If the chef doesn’t, the judges will be sure to point it out and their score will be lowered.

After spending today in church, worshipping and praising the Lord, and being challenged in my walk with Jesus, it occurred to me that Christianity works in a similar fashion.  God is so much more than a master chef on a TV show…but He does transform “ingredients” (us)!  He doesn’t come in and repair the old (add butter and salt) but He totally remakes us so that we no longer resemble the person we used to be- just like those pureed green beans.  We are transformed by His grace and mercy, and His plan (recipe) for winning the world to Himself includes using freshly created new people to do it!

So as we approach a new week, where we go back out into a bland, old and tired world, maybe we need to check our freshness and see what we are contributing to the recipe.  After all – the world is a very harsh judge, and they don’t miss an “unrenewed” ingredient either!  To God be the glory as He uses each one of us!

Mighty Mouse Faith

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This picture is one of my very good friends and her 12 year old son taken last year during football season.  Besides being one of myunnamed[1] (3) favorite pictures ever, it is also a tribute to great faith.  You see, Troy, her son, is on the small side of life.  He is almost 13 and yet he is a head shorter than his almost 12 year old sister.  He is also very small boned, and has a very hard time sometimes being accepted by and respected by his peers.

However, he has a passion for football.  Yes, that sport where generally the bigger and bulkier you are, the better.  Where guys his age are generally 6-10 inches taller than him, and at least 50 pounds, if not more.  Where bruises and bumps and battering are to be expected.  It was very hard for her to say yes to his playing..but he had such a desire, and the coach was willing to let him, so she couldn’t say no.

And you know what?  Halfway through the season, he was still on the team…and had earned the most envious nickname of “Mighty Mouse”!  The coach was amazed at his speed..and his ability to run in and out of the big bruisers without them having a chance of catching him!  He’s also lower to the ground, and it doesn’t hurt as much when he’s brought down!  He earned the respect of his team members and coaches by being fearless and by being able to work quickly to make a play happen.

That’s the kind of faith I want!  I want a spiritual life that reflects no fear.  I want to be able to face the big bruisers in my life – the scary things, the obstacles, the new things – with a ready heart.  I want to be able to take those bumps and falls in my walk with Jesus, and get right back up, ready to play again.  And I want to make big plays for our team –  the eternal one – the heavenly kingdom, to the praise and honor of our great God!  I want God to look at me and say, “I can count on her…she’s not afraid to step out and do _________”…whatever He needs me to do.

As it says in my life verse, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15).  So next time you are facing something huge in your life, just remember this picture- and that our GOD is bigger than anything!

No Answer But Jesus

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imageLess than a year ago, on a hot July morning, I stood outside a friend’s house, watching police and paramedics come and go.  My friend, Joe, was 43 and had just taken his own life about 45 minutes previous.  As I watched all the people gathered there, questions seemed to explode in my mind.  Why this day?  Why at all?  What if he could have known how many people would gather outside and mourn him just minutes later -would he still have done it?

And why, after losing three of my best guy friends to cancer the year before – ages 56, 50, and 39 – had Joe made this decision?  He was a member of my church too, and he watched all 3 of those men fight for their lives. What did we miss in Joe’s life??

Although my faith is strong, my love for the Lord full, and my future secure in Heaven, I couldn’t find all the answers.  I did come away convinced that sometimes, there just ARE no answers, not this side of Heaven.  Some things we are just not meant to know or understand, no matter how hard they are.  As one of my early pastors said, too, just knowing why is not enough to take away all the pain – we still bear the loss.

Yesterday, two lifelong friends of ours – Rick and Jean, their son and daughter-in-law, and their other 5 grandchildren suffered an incredible loss.  Joey, the 13 year old pictured here, took his own life on Easter Sunday.  Chad & Christy, his parents, made the decision to turn off his life support yesterday, and have now been plunged into an incredible valley that only Jesus can take them through.  Joey’s brothers and sisters are left as well to struggle to understand, and to continue on with their own lives.

And yet.  My “and yet” God has promised never to leave us or forsake us (Joshua 1:5).  He understands the pain of death (John 11:32-36).  He has told us in His Word that the day we are born, our last day is also written down in His book (Psalm 139:16).  And the best promise is that we will be reunited again (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).

So, as I pray for another family facing the unthinkable death of their child, I will still ask the Lord a lot of questions.  I will wrestle with the hard truth that Joey’s death did not “surprise” God – that he knew it would happen before Joey was ever born.  And I finally I will give in, again, to the Truth that Jesus is the only answer and I will not know it until I see Him face to face.

Over and Over and Over Again

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I was reading a most interesting article today on the internet by a writer who was disputing the recent “no chemicals” approach to eating that many people today have taken to extremes.  The writer was a highly educated scientist of some unpronounceable degree, and had many valid points about the chemical “hysteria” that exists right now.  And they were knocking, in particular, a blogger whose fame has taken off with their “toxic eating” campaign. He also made the point that this “fad” would fade away soon, because it wasn’t real. However the most striking thing he said was in order to get people to follow this lifestyle of “detoxification”, you have to convince them that “they have been toxed“.

Isn’t that so true in the spiritual realm too?  Our pastor regularly says that you cannot share the good news with someone and get any kind of result, until they understand the bad news!  The bad news is that we were all born in sin, and have a sinful nature, and we cannot fix that on our own.  Until a person understands that and believes it, nothing will happen.  The good news that Jesus died for them to redeem them from the penalty of sin is not significant unless they realize that they need it.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where today’s bad news is quickly yesterday’s false scare.  Every other “scientific study” will completely discredit the last one. Sugar is good today, bad tomorrow.  This causes cancer today, and yet tomorrow it is only a maybe.  Same with people, except in reverse.  Today’s hero – politician, athlete, television personality – is tomorrow’s headline maker for all the wrong reasons.  Nothing seems to be the same from one day to the next.

Then what are we to do?  Live it.  Over and over and over again.  The world will not be impressed by another “here today, gone tomorrow” in ANYONE’S life.  Part of the problem that we encounter in witnessing to others is that sometimes it looks like just another fad in our lives..and that it’s not real.  We will never convince anyone that they are “toxed” – sinners in need of a Savior – by saying we have One and then living like we don’t!

So, let’s detoxify our lives, and our witness by being the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  And let’s show others that there IS a problem with their lives if they don’t know Jesus, and then let’s live it to the point that they believe it’s real!

Living Easter Day by Day

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10403285_943106499066799_9100973137571227845_n[1]Celebrating Easter yesterday was amazing.  It was joyful, exciting, and had so many beautiful songs of worship and praise.  In my case, it also included watching our young children do their Easter program.  The church was filled with beautiful clothes in pinks, light greens, and all pastel colors in between. It was a sparkling blue day outside, with hardly a cloud after a week of gloomy cloudy weather.

However – our community has lost 3 young people in the last few weeks – a 15 year old and a 19 year old to auto accidents, and a 14 year old to a freak accident on a baseball field where he was hit in the head.  It is always hard to lose that many lives in such a short time, but even more when they were so young. It has sparked a lot of conversation about life and death at work, in our churches, and in our community.  During Spring Break last week, one of our elementary school principals died of a massive heart attack at the age of only 51.  There was a whole school today that was in mourning on a very tough first day back.

Thinking about all this today I could relate to the apostles.  Just after experiencing the unbelievable excitement and wonder of the resurrection of Jesus, they were “left” by Him after 40 days when He ascended to Heaven.  And I am sure their question was the same as mine today – now what??  After all, Resurrection Day for them was filled with awe, relief, and affirmation that Jesus was who He said He was.  And then…they were alone again.  The Holy Spirit was coming, but the physical reassuring presence of Jesus was gone.  AND He left them with the commandmant to take the gospel to the whole world!

We face the same situation today.  The world that watched us celebrate Easter yesterday is still watching.  They want to know how we handle the day after.  They want to know if it really makes a difference in daily life. In my community there are people grieving and trying to go on after major loss, and they want to know how our faith can help them.  They need to know that Jesus is not just there for the good times, but in the tragedies as well.  And WE have been commanded to show them.  My prayer today is that God will be glorified as we share Him in the midst of life after Easter.