We are family!

I Corinthians 12:27 states: Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

Yesterday, Steve and I became members of Clarks Chapel Baptist Church. It was not a decision we took lightly and it is one of which we prayed over and pondered about for a while before making the commitment to join this particular family of believers. On Saturday night, Steve had asked me if I was excited about what we were about to do. I told him that I was more scared than anything.

In the past, I have been a member of two other churches. The first I joined after I was elected to be a Sunday School Teacher. I didn't know much about church politics then and was told I had to join before such an honor could fall upon me. I had gone there most of my life and I guess I just assumed I was a member there. Steve and I were married there but...we just didn't know that you had to be voted in to be "accepted."

The second church we joined was when we moved to Lenoir. We'd been attending Flemings Chapel and decided it was to be our new home. It seemed like the thing to do so... we did. It was great for a long while and we grew in different ways than ever before. But then, life happened and after about seven years or so, we made the decision to leave Flemings and we wandered about from church to church to couch to church in search of a place to be a part of yet feeling a little hesitant to just jump in again somewhere. After all, did we really need our names in a book somewhere to show we were God's children?

In January of this year, we started beebopping in and out of Clarks Chapel. Clyde was still alive at the time and we couldn't attend faithfully. But the pull was there. We kept the church in the backs of our minds and as Clyde's time with us ended, we found ourselves being able to focus more fully on the folks there. After settling most of the estate affairs and getting back to a "normal" routine, we were finally able to give this church our complete attention.

We got to know the pastor and his wife well--which was something different for us to do beforehand--as we "dated" and got to learn the expectations and hopes of one another. I was welcomed so sweetly by so many of my new sisters and as we spent more time together, the subject came up of would we like to join the church. We thought about it and again: we just weren't sure if membership was really necessary. However, as we continued learning and falling in love with the folks at Clarks, we realized that indeed, we needed to commit to these folks of our community because...because we needed them.

Gulp.

That was tough. The acknowledgment that yes, even though we had pretty much decided we were on our own since our family has shrunk so in the past eight years, and even though we don't like relying on anyone for anything, we were--like most souls--lonely and in need of a family, of friends, of fellowship. We were in need of a spiritual leader who did not compromise the Word of God nor try to inject his beliefs on us but instead was one who almost feared (reverently, that is) to be in the pulpit as much as we feared hearing what God had for us. Does that make sense? Our pastor knows he is accountable for what he says, what he teaches, and what he preaches each service. He knows he will be held responsible for the lessons he provides and we know in return that we won't be held any less responsible if we only hear the words but walk away unchanged by them.

So, long story short, the decision was made. The paperwork was filled out. We were presented for the vote and...we got in! We got a whole new set of sisters and brothers and I must say, I am so excited to get to know them better, to love and be loved, and to once again have something most of us call "family." And yes, I'm still scared, still afraid that we might not always get along, might not always agree, and might sometimes hurt one another's feelings. But what I am not afraid of is being left behind. I am not fearful that I will be rejected just because some of my thoughts and plans don't line up exactly with a sister's or brother's ideas. I am not afraid that if I mess up I will be shown to the door. These folks have opened their hearts and arms to us and I feel safe. I feel warm. I feel...

I feel I'm home.

Dear God, thank You for placing Steve and me in a community church that practices communing, that teaches truth, and that loves without limits. As we become more acclimated with one another, my prayer is that we will be a blessing to our new members, that we will honor You with our actions, and that together, Lord God, we will shine the light of Jesus in our neighborhoods and in our homes. Help us to grow together, rooted and grounded in Your truths, and to be united in brotherly--and sisterly--love for one another. May it be so is my hope. Amen!

I've Fallen...But I Can Get Back Up!

July 2, 2015

Watch your step: there's an evil snake on the loose, trying to trip you. You can't always see him 'cause he's slithering about, hoping to catch you unawares, hoping to make you at least stumble if he can't get you to fall.

Last night at church, the pastor spoke on Genesis 3, when Satan was cursed by God and made to crawl about on his belly for the rest of time. Before the service started, I was talking with a beautiful new friend of mine who was telling me of some problems she has with her legs from a fall she took. And earlier still, I read--on Facebook, of course!!--about my neighbors who are going to water aerobics because of hip problems. Lastly, during the night when I should have been resting, my own legs were bothering me.

Hmn. Not to brag, but all of the folks I just mentioned are God's children. Some evil thing doesn't want us standing, being upright, and on the move because... because when we are on our bellies and out of commission, we just can't do as much. We're likely to get looked over because folks expect when we are down that we cannot do things to help others who are up. And to an extent, they are right. It sure is hard to spread the gospel from a hospital bed or recliner and only be able to view the world rather than be a part of it.

I have this friend Betty who has been struggling with back issues for far too long. She hurts every day but you know what? She keeps going. She keeps working through this pain, knowing that one day it will end but until that day she has a job to do. Stay in her home and moan and whine about how badly she feels? Ha! Not this Betty. Nor this Brenda, nor Ed and Palma. Nor me. If ever there was a time for God's kids to stand, it's now. Just because ol' slew foot has to crawl around doesn't mean we are confined to his fate. A friend of mine who was in a head-on car crash a few years ago that broke her leg is at this moment in Honduras on a mission trip where she is touching lives for Jesus. Thank You, Lisa, for boldly going where many of us who are healthier would not.

It's easy to give in to the pain, friends. It's easy to sit back and feel sorry for ourselves. What's hard is to press on. To run the race. To bite back the screams of agony and turn them instead into shouts of joy. It can be done. It IS being done. The harvest is plenty and the workers are few. Like Ruth, let's get out there and bring in those sheaves. Our Redeemer is waiting for us. Let's not go to Him with empty hands.

Pray with me?

Dear Father, so many of Your kids have problems, physical ones that make standing for You harder than when their bodies are cooperating. Some of the problems are mental as Your children fight the madnesses and sadnesses that threaten to steal and keep our joy. Strengthen us, Lord God. Empower us to overcome the momentary sufferings and help us to fix our eyes on You. As Pastor Dale reminded us, You not only begin things: you complete them. May we be complete in You today is my prayer, asked in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Thanks, Facebook

July 1, 2015  

Ahh, gotta love Facebook for its "On This Day" posts. This one is from three years ago and it would be funny except that it reminds me this was also the last day I saw my mother alive.

But hang on here a minute. Why let the past's pains try to steal today's joys? Un unh unh.

Yesterday, I had my "first date" with the ladies of Clarks Chapel. We had a great time and did this activity where we got to know each other a little better (for us newbies). It was an I-Poem and instead of it being one that tells folks about who we were, we chose instead to focus on WHO WE ARE now, today, this moment. I may post some of those responses in another blog but I will say this: I am definitely not the same woman I was just three years ago when this picture was taken. And I am so thankful that none of these women knew me then! They'd probably never have let me in their fellowship.

Un unh unh again. That's not true. These ladies are so wonderful that 
they love me, each other, and embrace the new ones as if they were family. Do you know why? Because we ARE family. 

Three years ago I said goodbye to my earthly mother for the last time in person. Yesterday, I was embraced by women who will replace her and my sisters that I lost as well. Reminds me of what Jesus told His disciples in Mark 10:29-30. Read it with me?

Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life..."

Sounds like a great swap to me! Thanks, Jesus! My prayer is that I will be a bigger blessing to them than they already have been to me--and that's going to be tough 'cause they've been awfully good to me thus far. Help me, I pray Dear Lord, to love them as You love them and as You love me. In Your name I pray. Amen!