Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy birthday to me,

Happy birthday to me,

Happy birthday, dear Faith,

Happy birthday to me!

            Yes, happy birthday to me.  However, it’s not my physical birthday.  I’ll celebrate that next month.  That birth happened in Wheaton, Illinois.  My parents lived on the third floor of my grandparents’ home at 512 W. Franklin.  I was the second grandchild, only behind my older sister Lloys Jean some twenty months earlier.  I’ve been told that my grandfather bought a new red Buick to bring me home from the hospital.  If you need any further details about that birth, you could ask any one of my aunts, who were teenagers and younger when I was born.

            But this month is my spiritual birthday.  I remember this day, as I do not remember the other day.  I was four years old, almost five.  Of course, you would be shocked to know that I was an ornery, independent child.  (My grandmother used to say she loved the way I stuck my chin out.  My mother did not share that sentiment.)  As a little one who had grown up with family devotions and regular attendance in church (my father was the pastor), I knew well enough what sin was and that I myself was a sinner. 

The particular evidence of my sinful nature that day is mercifully hidden in heaven with my mother, but I knew I needed a Savior.  I knelt beside my parents’ bed in Augusta, Kansas, and told the Lord I was tired of my sin and oh, so sorry.  I asked Him to forgive me and make me clean.  And He did. I wish I could remember all of the details, but I don’t.  I do know, though, that I found a relationship with Jesus that continues to grow.

When my children made decisions for Christ at that same early age, I wanted them to remember more than I did.  I kept a journal, the date first of all, then what led up to their asking to talk to me, what I said, what they said.  I got to lead all of my children to make a profession of their faith.  Then for a number of years we celebrated their spiritual birthday, read aloud the journal entry and thanked the Lord for them.  I don’t know why we ceased that practice.

Shouldn’t we celebrate spiritual birthdays just as we do our natural birthdays?  Those birthdays represent eternity.  I don’t know the exact day of my second birthday, but I know it was in February, so I celebrate the month.  So, happy birthday to me, a very important birthday.

Happy birthday to you?

                                                ~~Faith Himes Lamb

It's the Little Things

I never tire of the winter sky. The truth of this statement takes me by surprise because I really am not a fan of cold weather. But there’s something about bare tree branches outlined dark against the gentle blue and gray of a winter afternoon that is so very lovely to me. Thus I am reminded to find the beauty in every situation.

In a recent Wednesday evening Bible study, Amy O’Rear asked us how we stay focused on truth when there is so much trouble in the world. There were various answers:

“Turn on uplifting music.”

“Find friends to pray with.”

“Just keep showing up even if you don’t feel like it.”

We had many good ideas to discuss and ponder as we left the room that evening. But another idea kept coming to my mind: Allow yourself to enjoy life. The book of Ecclesiastes includes many passages that talk about rejoicing in the work God has given us and enjoying the reward of our labors. (See 5:18-20 among others.) The New Testament teaches us that God “gives us richly all things to enjoy” (I Timothy 6:17). I am not pushing the near-heretical notion that “God wants me to be happy.” There are too many scriptures about denying the flesh and practicing self-discipline for me to think this is His highest goal for me.

But in following the example of Jesus himself, I see that he attended a wedding, enjoyed dinner with friends, noticed the beauty of flowers and birds, and took time to hold children on his lap. These are ordinary, everyday pleasures that come with living in the lovely world God made.

So when I’m caring for a sick family member, I can allow myself to enjoy a fragrant cup of tea; standing at the cemetery around an open grave, I can smile at a little girl digging quietly in the dirt; and in the middle of a busy work day, I can pause for a moment at the window and thank God for the beauty of the sky.

And it is so beautiful!

--Sherry Poff

The Job

A few years ago, I was excited about a new job. It meant more money, and we really needed it with two girls in college and their subsequent weddings. It had been a long time since I had worked a job with full benefits including a membership to a fitness center, and it felt good. I felt I was contributing in a meaningful way to the household expenses. Everything appeared wonderful. But it was a trap, and it took six years to wriggle free. The stress saddled me with an unbearable load. The work was tedious, the commute tension-filled, and certain coworkers added friction. In addition, I felt dismissed and unappreciated by those in authority. It was one of the most difficult times of my life – a refining fire. Every morning I sat in the parking garage begging God to give me the strength to get through another day and to do it with holiness. The circumstances squeezed me in ways that challenged my sin nature daily. I didn’t like the things I was seeing in myself. I begged God to help me love the people who made my life miserable. Yes, it was a trying time.

Once we were in a better place financially, I left that job. Today, I work part-time at a job I love. My life is more balanced and less stressful although I stay busy. I feel valued and appreciated. I am healthier physically and mentally. These verses remind me of these circumstances, because God heard my cries and truly has brought me out to a place of abundance:

Psalm 66:10-12: “For You, God, tested us; You refined us as silver is refined. You lured us into a trap; You placed burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us out to abundance.”

Vs. 3, “…’How awe-inspiring are Your works!’”

Are you in a difficult place right now? Ask God to show you steps for a way out and then take that first step, followed by the next. If that’s impossible now, lean into Him for daily strength and take one day at a time. Practice self-care too, so you can serve others better.

joyce hague

MY YELLOW SHARPIE

To study and “share” Shakespeare (“Yes! You WILL appreciate Shakespeare!”) was one of my favorite parts of teaching high school literature (Sherry knows that!). There have been periods in my life, and maybe yours, when I could quote with heartfelt meaning part of his SONNET 29:

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries...

During some difficult periods of my “journey,” I was so sure Heaven was “deaf” to my “bootless cries.” God was not hearing me. Maybe that is how you feel today.  These doubts did not always disappear quickly, even though, “Of course, the Lord was there! Of course, I knew He was!” How???

Some of you have heard me talk about what a blessing my prayer journal has been to me. Several years ago, before I started a journal with my requests, I had a hodgepodge way of keeping track of requests...random lists, 3 x 5 cards, my memoryJ. The hard part was when a friend thanked me for praying and I wasn’t sure what the request had been!

God’s Word has to be the foundation of our prayer life. In Matthew 18:1, Jesus told the disciples to always pray and “not give up.” Why should we follow this directive? Because Hebrews 4:14 tells us: “We have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God,” And verse 16: “Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

A little added thought...What if Jesus had died on the cross, had arisen from the grave and had decided to build a church in Jerusalem? He HAD to ascend to the Father to complete his ministry for us. There He is TODAY, on the right hand of the Father, waiting to hear our heart cries so He can take them to the Father for us!! Wow!

My dad was such a prayer warrior that I realized one day after he was gone: “Maylou, you had better get serious about your prayer life.”

This might not work for all but...My journal is very simple...I just list things as they come to me...not in categories. # 2 might be my son David’s job while # 370 might be another request for him. I date each one when I jot it in. So it is really a diary of my requests over the years and how God has answered them.

Where does the YELLOW SHARPIE come in? As I pray almost daily for every request, I mark over the request when it is answered with my sharpie and also write “ans.” My answer might be “no” or “yes.” Many I have prayed about for over 25 years before they were answered. Some are still unanswered.

We need to be serious about praying for others. We want others to see, through our prayers, that as Isaiah 4:20 states (one of my favorite verses) “That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this.”

 --Maylou Holladay