Seasons

Each season makes its mark on this earth. We know that summer can bring blistering hot weather, but also very beautiful sunsets. As fall approaches there are hurricanes in some areas, but also beautiful colors of the trees. The harsh cold weather of winter is hard to deny, but so is the beauty of fresh fallen snow.  As spring approaches with wind and rain, I look forward to the beautiful flowers and trees as they blossom.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-14 says “He has made everything appropriate in its time.  He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor – it is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.”

Not unlike the seasons of the earth, our lives travel in and out of various seasons as God orchestrates His plan in our lives.  When I was younger and experiencing a rather hard season of my life, it was hard to live the truth I knew so well.  In this season of my life, I can see the beauty of God’s plan much clearer. As I look back and see His hand lovingly and perfectly orchestrating His plan, I prepare myself for what lies ahead. There is nothing better than a little R&R (Resting & Rejoicing).  Join me, won’t you?

Tina Laubscher

Spread His Fragrance

Have you ever considered how fragrance plays such a unique part in our lives?  I was thinking the other day of certain fragrances that pull me back – either to a place, or to a person. 

My grandfather was a pipe smoker and although there aren’t too many men who smoke a pipe anymore, I know that if I smelled that familiar sweet tobacco fragrance again I would be transported back to those lovely days spent in my grandparents' home.

Who can forget the distinctive smell of Crayola crayons?  That always carries me back to my childhood.  However, I have to say that our son “confessed” to us not so very long ago that he once pushed a piece of crayon so far up his nose that it eventually fell down the back of his throat!  Perhaps there’s more than one reason why I remember Crayola crayons!

“Sierra” is a fragrance that our daughter called “hers” some years ago and on those rare occasions when I’m spending time at a perfume counter I can never quite resist spraying my wrist with that particular perfume.  It reminds me so much of her. 

Not so long ago our Sunday school lesson led us to II Corinthians 2:14, where Paul shares that through us the Lord spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.  The next verse is so touching because it tells me that we are to God the fragrance of His Son.  

 I truly pray that the fragrance of my life is a joy to the Father and, to those about me, a sweet reminder of the Lord Jesus Christ.

***Carol Pappas

    

Not by Sight

Faith has been coming up in a lot of my conversations recently. According to the writer of Hebrews, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (11:1). Jakob Dylan declares that "faith is believing what you see ain't so." Jennifer Rothschild, the author of our Wednesday night Bible study, says that "it takes just as much faith to bear a burden as it does to believe that it can be removed." I don't want to suggest that I'm putting Jakob Dylan and Jennifer Rothschild on the same plane as scripture, but these are the things I've been hearing and reading.

When we started this Bible study on faith, there was a page where we were invited to write down three areas in which we felt we were "walking in the dark" and in which we would have to "walk by faith, not by sight," as noted in 2 Corinthians 5:7. I wrote down two issues that I am dealing with now and one that I foresee for the future (as if I could foresee the future!)

I am so thankful to report that I can see God working in my life in these relatively small issues, and it gives me hope for the bigger things. This past week, I was responsible for planning field trips for two different groups. (I will just say right here that I love teaching. I love teaching, not going on field trips. But sometimes they intersect.) I was dealing with getting people into acceptable groups and making sure everyone knew what to do and where to go and how to get there. This may not sound like a big deal, but every teacher out there will sympathize.

One of our field trips was on Monday, when we had all that crazy weather. Every step of the way, Mr. Turner and I were saying, "Well, it's not raining yet." We made the whole trip in safety and almost completely without rain. About fifteen minutes after we returned to school, there was an announcement to bring everyone to the downstairs hallway for the tornado watch. Perfect timing. The second one on Wednesday didn't have the drama of bad weather, but it too was successfully completed with no problems and with commendable behavior from all our students. If God can get me through these small things, I know He can get me--and you--through much weightier issues.

We looked at John chapter 2 this week in Sunday School. The water was turned to wine as the servants obeyed Jesus. In Joshua, the waters of the Jordan parted when the priests by faith put their feet into the water. The ten lepers Jesus healed found themselves clean as they went on their way in obedience. Faith requires action. I don't understand just how it all works, but these are the things I am learning as I seek to walk by faith.

--Sherry Poff

Sister, Sister

1 Corinthians 13:3 says, "And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." 

With all our talk about "neighbors" over the last months, I'm afraid this verse blindsided me this week. God's been stretching me as I've tried to apply the things Pastor has been teaching us, and I THOUGHT I was doing a pretty good job of getting out of my comfort zone. That is, until I realized that I was failing miserable IN my comfort zone...

If you have a sister, you may be able to identify with the random attacks of missing her dearly. I have two sisters, both of whom live H.U.N.D.R.E.D.S. of miles away, so my attacks come rather regularly. One such attack came this week as I was driving home from work. I couldn't stop thinking about my baby sister, who is four weeks away from having her first child! I thought about the times I used to get so irritated with her. She knew better than to get in my personal space...haha! Poor girl!  ;)  But there was not a day that I wouldn't defend her to the core and stick up for the sister I loved with my whole heart! There is NOTHING my sisters could ever do or not do to lose my love. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-11(NASB) is often quoted as our definition of true love:

 ⁴Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,

 ⁵does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

 ⁶does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

 ⁷bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 ⁸Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

 ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part;

 ¹⁰but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

 ¹¹When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 

When applying these verses to my relationship with my sisters, I feel like I'm doing well, especially now that I'm an adult and have done "away with childish things (vs. 11)." It's easy for me to rejoice with my sisters, and I don't feel envious of them. I'm proud of them, and I'm thankful for what God has given them! I can't even remember the times they wronged me, well, except for that one time... ;)

As I was thinking about my sister on that drive home, it hit me like a ton of bricks that my relationships with my "sisters in Christ" should be exactly the same! I should love my sisters (and brothers too) as I love my own flesh and blood. Sure, there are things that will irritate. But if I'm going to reflect mature love in Christ, then my love for my sisters (okay, AND brothers) should be that of patience and kindness, free of envy, selfless, and humble.

So sisters, as we continue to give to the poor, let us not forget our family. After all, it is by our LOVE for our sisters and brothers that our "neighbors" will know that we are joint heirs with Jesus (John 13:35).

Precious and Plentiful

I find myself once again thinking about time. On Sunday morning, when Robert Meyer sang "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me," he talked about the "treacherous shoals" of the song. Robert said that danger for ships comes when the water is not deep enough or is not free of obstructions. These obstructions, he said, don't have to be rocks or sandbars. They can even be schools of fish. It reminded me of the Bible study that I attend on Wednesday evenings. We are using Jennifer Rothschild's book about faith, and this past week we discussed obstacles in the path of life. One of those obstacles is priorities---specifically, wrong priorities that crowd out the really important things of life.

This is not to say that it's only bad or "wrong" things that get in the way of our serving God; often good things crowd out the best things. I know that God has given each of us different abilities and callings, but I sure don't want to miss my work for God because I was busy doing something else.

I have a little book that I picked up from the free bin at McKay's. It's about life in a monastery. While the monks have many strange views, they do offer some wisdom. This book suggests that "time, while precious, isn't scarce." We have sufficient time to do whatever it is that God wants us to do. Finding a way to let everything else go is the challenge.

Perhaps the best way to get perspective is to be quiet before God. When I begin my day with prayer and meditation on God's word, I have found that the rest of the day makes more sense. The psalmist heard God saying to him, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). When the people of Israel were frantic about their safely on the shores of the Red Sea, Moses stood before them and counseled, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD" (Exodus 14:13). Being still is the first step to having a productive day.

My prayer to God today is this: Help me live today in such a way that I will come to the end of the day without regrets. Annie Dillard, one of my favorite authors, takes the idea a step further. She observes, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." Time is both precious and plentiful. May we use it wisely.

--Sherry Poff

OVERFLOWING

Yesterday morning, our speaker commented that his "...cup was full..." My cup, too, was filling quickly as we sang "Blessed be Your name..." and "...Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." My cup was reaching the brim as Mr. Rhodes shared the ministry in Louisiana, and just when I thought my cup couldn't hold any more, I walked into our lobby where people's conversation was not about where they'd be eating lunch, but rather where they'd be serving the Lord in the weeks to come.

Then, to top it all off, Sunday evening was filled with testimony after testimony of what God is doing in our community and around the world through the people of Grace Baptist Church. I'm gonna have to get a bigger cup!

My prayer this week is that the ladies of Grace Baptist Church will, as our dear Pastor has been challenging us, be intentional and be prepared for the things we do not intend. May the words of Paul to the Corinthians empower you to obey the Lord this week.

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

6  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 
7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 
8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 
9 As it is written:
   “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
   their righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 
11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 
13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 
14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 
15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Add to our cups by leaving comments here or on our facebook page about what God is doing in and around you!

With Exceeding Joy

If you follow this blog regularly and read all the comments, then today's entry will not be entirely new to you. I want to follow up on what Rebecca was saying last week because it's been a theme in my life recently, and I'm guessing several of you can relate.

Rebecca's remarks about the quilt and finding beauty in apparent randomness reminded me of the times that Pastor Euler has talked about our lives being like tapestries. From the back--which is what we see most days--it looks all messy and disorganized, with thread hanging off and lines going every which way. If we walk around to the front of a tapestry, however, we see a beautiful design. We realize that it's just two sides of the same thing. Occasionally, God allows us to see the big picture of life, and we realize that his plan for us is really a lovely thing, with order and design.

His order shows up in all kinds of places. Today I was opening the blinds in my dining room when a spot of yellow caught my eye. My crocuses are blooming! Down in the corner of the yard next to some rocks Larry hauled down there in a wheelbarrow years ago three little blossoms shone like a bit of sunshine.

After we ate dinner, Larry and I took a walk, and I stopped to admire the crocuses up close. I saw buds of three more that will be blooming within the week. Brushing away dried grass and old leaves, I spotted the green tips of hyacinths poking through the ground. Some of the daffodil leaves are already three or four inches tall. I love knowing that all the beauty of spring is there--down underground where we can't see it yet. Little by little, it will rise up and show itself in pink, yellow, and purple splendor.

There are days when I worry and fret about what the future holds. Sometimes the sorrow of every day seems too much. Other days, God's goodness and mercy are abundantly evident. In the midst of it all, I know He has a plan. I Peter 4:12 & 13 remind us of a future hope: "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."

Like patterns in a quilt, threads in a tapestry, and bits of green and yellow bursting through the cold, brown earth, our lives are evidence of a designer, a planner, who is creating in us and through us a life of beauty and glory. Be glad.