Friday, January 23, 2009

"A new Thing"

this afternoon, 2 of my co-workers were giving me a hard time. They were reminding me that I often say "I was not always a Preacher's wife". On this particular occasion, one was questioning the photo on my blog. She thought it was a tattoo. (It is a heart shaped leaf skeleton floating in the water. the caterpillars had eaten all the tender part of the leaf and left the skeleton which, to me, looked like lace. I took the picture either this summer or last, but when I saw it, it was if my Heavenly Father had sent me a little love letter, just to let me know He was thinking of me.) I told them "like I would have a tattoo" and they promptly reminded me that, you guessed it, I was not always a preacher's wife.
On the way home tonight I thought about that. It is true, I was not always a Preacher's wife. When Satan's minions start whispering in my ear "remember when...", I am tempted to travel back down the road of my life. I am tempted to stop and visit all the bad choices, broken hearts, embarrassing moments, and blatant sin. A few years ago, I chose to break this cycle of lamenting the past and looked for God's hand in it all, from my parents' divorce, to the broken hearts of my teen age years and early 20's, through all the dark moments...I asked God to show me where He was in all that mess of a soul that was me before I became "a preacher's wife". And He did. In more ways than I can list here, He was there, guiding me, calling to me, drawing me to Himself. He allowed me to stumble and fall, time and again until the hunger and thirst in my very soul was so great that only He could quench it.
Isiah 43 says to Forget the former things and not dwell on the past.See! I am doing a new thing, Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. (verses 18 and 19) I am humbled at the new thing Christ did in me. He touched me. He quenched the thirst in my soul. He completed me. He filled the longing in my heart. He created in me a love so pure and so strong that I can honestly say that I would do absolutely anything for Him and I trust Him completely and totally without question....well, without many questions.
My prayer for the Ladies in my life, the Ladies of FLO, the Ladies in my Sunday School Class, the Ladies I work with, friends, family...is that each one of you falls totally and completely head over heels in love with your Savior. He will satisfy the longing in your heart...that nagging, gnawing "something is missing" feeling. He will quench the thirst in your soul for "something more". He will curb your appetite for lesser things such as possessions, power, lust, and physical beauty and will create in you a desire to grow His kingdom, to be humble, to be pure, and to exude inner beauty.
He loves you enough to make you a princess....a daughter of the King....
Hugs!
K

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Just One

I know that this is not an original idea, but I don't have any idea who to give the credit to, so, wonderful person, where ever you are, I am not trying to take credit for your idea.

For the Christian, the idea of leading others to Christ is natural, all be it frightening. Once Christ has touched a person's heart, it is difficult for that new Christian to keep quiet about it. A "New Christian" wants to evangelize the world. Then we get setteled into our new life and that moment when we first met Jesus fades into a distant memory. THEN we begin to fear "witnessing". Most people do truly fear rejection and we do risk rejection when we "risk" sharing our faith. Of course, there are all the "what ifs"...What if they ask me a question I don't know the answer to? What if I forget the scripture I am supposed to recite? What if they just tell me that they are not interested?
As if this was not enough to deter the Christian from "witnessing", there is the sheer enormity of the task before us. I read a statistic that says that something like 2/3 of the people IN CHURCH on Sunday do not actually have a relationship with Christ. 2/3....wow. Add that to the people who are not in church and yes, it is a daunting task.
Christian, let me pose this question to you...."Can you share Christ's love with one?"
I believe that we each have people in our lives that will come to know Christ simply because they know us. How exciting! What a responsibility!
So I challenge you, Christian, who in your life is watching you? To whom in your life can you be the hands and feet of Christ?
What if every born again believer in Jesus Christ invested in the life of one non-Christian or un-churched person? What if every born again believer in Jesus Christ made a decision to strive to live like Christ every day? We would have a revival in the Body of Christ.
Do you know Him? Do you sense His presence as you go through your day? Do you remember how it felt when you realized for the first time that GOD, the creator of the universe, knows the number of hairs on your head? Do you remember the amazement you felt when you fully realized that the same God that picked out the colors of the most breath-taking sunset also chose the color of your eyes? Do you remember what it felt like when you understood the weight of your sin? Do you remember how it felt when you realized that God Himself became a man and died to pay for your sin....before you were even born He provided the way for you to get to heaven? Christian, do you really want to keep that to yourself? Who is your "one"? Who has God put in your life? Who does God want to reveal Himself to through you?

Monday, January 19, 2009

Pastor's Wife

"Senior Pastor's Wife"...What a title. I knew that "one day" Calvin would probably be too old to be a Youth Pastor and that the logical progression would be for him to stand behind the pulpit, but I never gave much thought to it. After all, "one day" is, well..."one day".
"One day" became to be "today" in February of 2008.
I had a lot to live up to. The former Pastor's wife was exactly what most anyone would picture when asked to describe a pastor's wife. Kind, Gentle, compassionate, modest, humble, selfless...I could go on forever! Come to think of it, I cannot think of a single time that I saw her lose her temper or heard her say anything negative about anyone the entire time I served with her...about 9 years.
That's a hard act to follow for an outspoken, opinionated, and hard headed control freak like myself. For the first few months of 2008 I really struggled to be what I thought "the preacher's wife" should be. Then I met D. She changed my life with one thought.
We were at a meeting for Sr Pastors' wives. I was stressing about all the self-imposed demands of being the preacher's wife and lamenting over the extra time demands being put on my husband...time that took him away from us.
D let me know that MY responsibility was to my Pastor. God chose ME to care for His pastor so that His pastor could care for His flock.
What an awesome responsibility! That was a turning point in my life. Totally took the focus off of me and put it on my sweet Pastor. I love watching him as he prepares his sermons. I love watching as he grows in his relationship with his Savior. I love praying for him. I love the fact that our Heavenly Father often gives me a gentle nudge when I need to pray more. Most of all I love being the one person closest to him. I have the distinct privilege of being the hands and feet of Christ to my sweet pastor as he is the hands and feet of Christ to everyone else. Pretty cool stuff.
Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE being the FLO coordinator ( the For Ladies Only ministry at our church), teaching the Ladies Wednesday Night Bible Study, Teaching Sunday School, Leading Music for VBS, and Singing in the Choir. However, none of these services to my Savior come close to measuring up to the service I truly believe He created me for....Caring for His pastor.