Wonderful Words of Life...

Walk A Mile In Their Shoes...

For as long as I can remember, my Grandma has

had this quote taped to her fridge door, just at eye level.

Thinking back on life now, I wonder what it was that

caused her to tape it there. Perhaps I'll ask her one day.

I thot of that quote today as I read a post that caused me to go

"Uh, there's more to people's stories than the reason you gave for

them not doing the thing you think eveyrone should be doing for their health, my friend"...

We do that, tho. Put people in boxes. Shaped by our own narrow thinking.

We say things like "It just an excuse that She says she doesn't have time
after taking care of  husband and children to help him with his bills
 by selling products from

home that would swell their bank account in no time"...
or
"She has a problem with her weight because
(fill in the blank) and (this) would fix it,
which may or may not be true in both cases,
and thousands of scenarios just like it. 

I sound a warning, my friends...Is that really fair? Do you even know

why that would look overwhelming to the woman who just turned you

down when you asked her if she wants to join your team
of wonderful salespersons?

Maybe she gave the husband and children as her reasons,

and I would say that perhaps that is "ALL" she can actually get accomplished

in a day's time...

Seriously...being a full time wife and mother is hard, hard work. It takes

real dedication to keep the house relatively clean, the family fed nutritious meals

that either required you to grow and preserve, or get out of the house to shop for...

then there's the homework or homeschooling, and the clothes to wash, sew, or buy...

besides all that, there are eternal souls in your care that will never die.

For many women this is a monumental task. 

Most women would look at the friend I mentioned above and say,

Well, good for you if you can do more than that. I don't wish to.

It would be too much of a distraction for me to run a home business,

besides the work I signed up for when I married and had children.

I do not write this post against women who have home businesses. 

If you can do that and help your husband out, go for it.

Proverbs 31 women do all kinds of things,

including buying and planting vineyards

(I believe culturally that passage means she actually hired

servants to plant and harvest her vineyard, to be brutally honest here).

And about the woman who has the weight issue you would love
to prove your product or way would be her lifesaver...
if you truly care, and found a way to share it, but she
wasn't really into it, let it go. Maybe she doesn't have the
money or the mental capacity just now to think about it.
Do you know that she may have PCOS
(look it up. It's real and it's hard!)
or some medicine that is preventing her weight loss,
no matter how much she wants to.
Perhaps down the road, she'll be ready,
and God will use you in her life,
but be patient and kind and please above all,
let's not be judgemental and holier-than-thou about it.

The point of my post is to say that we should be very careful how we

judge other people. Seriously, they may have a ministry you do not

even know about, including a ministry of prayer that takes TIME,

hiding them away in a prayer closet you do not see...

all the while you are judging them for not getting enough done

with their days.

It is so common for us to jump down someone else's throat
(or gossip about them or judge their situation) 

for something we do not understand...

like why they eat what they eat
(they bring their own food?! how rude! when if you took 

the time to learn about their life, you'd soon understand that

they honestly have a conscience against eating the rich foods

that are often served, or they have a serious food addiction/allergy/disease

they are healing from that rich food aggravates/slows down)

Or perhaps you can't figure out why they would not let their 

child have a sleepover ever. If you learned to know them,

you might find out that they feel it's better to be watchful and extra

cautious than to be as carefree about it as their friends are.

Or maybe you and your friends discuss why a woman doesn't

care to go to women's Bible studies...after all, what does she

do with her day?! Maybe she is busy in a deep time of personal growth,

or maybe she feels truly maxed out with her schedule and 

would rather have some time open instead of having every

spare moment crammed with planned activities, good as they may be.

Or maybe you cannot understand why someone is missing from Bible study

on a Wednesday evening. It's a good thing, and it's important...

but think about it. He's a farmer. Farmer's make hay when the sun shines.

They cannot make hay (or harvest corn!) when it rains.

This is his livelihood, the way he provides food and raiment for his family.

How about blessing him for taking his responsibilities seriously,

instead of idolizing collective Bible study?

What about having an opinion about someone's everyday choices
that have no eternal value? Do those things really need to be said?
Or are you simply a controlling person who cannot stand to leave
things unsaid if you feel your way is the best way?
What is in our hearts spills out. Jesus said as much.

Yes, this subject is a passion of mine.
I think it partly comes from living with
my dear Farmer for 20 years. He is the most
unassuming, gentle, 'benefit of the doubt' person
I have ever seen and I believe that he has
taught me alot about how to live this way...
and Jesus changed my heart, too because I
used to be a very easily critical person.

Let's be kind.

Let's not criticize.

Even if they would be doing something

wrong, it is much better to pray for them

and to appeal directly to them about

the need in their life

rather than despising them,

or criticizing them,

or gossiping about them to your friends.

PS
This in no way means that we never speak truth
into another person's life. I realize it's hard to cover
all the bases in one blog post.
This post is meant to focus on
being quick to respect,
and very slow to judge or criticize
based on our personal opinions.

The Fellowship of the Saints...

This has been on my heart as the Lord has been walking me thru this the past few years...

I guess I'd say my 'enlightenment' started in 2004, when I followed my Farmer East from MO to manage my dad's farm. I was a new Christian, and had been so blessed to have my sister-in-law nearby to disciple me and to share hearts with in the Titus 2 model, and in my new surroundings, I wasn't part of a congregation where the ladies easily talked about the Lord in their conversations that surrounded gardening, tupperware parties, and new dress fabric. I love discussing the everyday things of life, but it always felt lonely that there were many Sundays I would come home from church without having any deep conversations with anyone. I was glad for a very close friend from another church also was used to disciple me and to share hearts as sisters in Christ...for about a year after we moved, until she was called to another state 10 hours away. I was devastated. And lonely. But trusting God with the need of my  heart.

As the years rolled by, and my husband and I were called to go thru some trials and troubles, and to walk alone in many things, God brought to me a deep settled peace and contentment about all that. If He has me wherever He needs me to be, and how can I be unhappy about that, and instead why not simply plug in and minister to whoever He calls me to, while fellowshipping with JESUS?

I was devastated again when a friend shared that she doesn't like to be in conversations where others are speaking Scripture and encouragement into her struggle. She said she already knows what to do, she just wanted a place to vent. Since that time, I've met up with other women who feel the same way, and I wonder why? My heart desires the model for fellowship that God set up, one of them being 'speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs...' I delight in it when someone goes out of their way to share like that with me. I love it when there are good sharing conversations going on in the simplicity that is in Christ (not mixed with other religions).

God's heart is also that we fellowship with believers. The model he set up for fellowshiping (mentioned above), and the example we have from the early church where they 'daily' gathered together for prayer and sharing is an amazing window into what a gift God has given us in encouraging and teaching each other, sharing what God has been doing in our lives and thus, helping each other along the way to find courage, stability and new growth. I wonder why would we not all be jumping for joy if we are given those opportunities?

(could it be that some of us are too proud to let others speak into our lives?

could it be that we have oppressed people so much by the legalism found

in many of our religous backgrounds and we are gun shy?

could it be that we have gossiped about and slandered others and shot our wounded,

thus rendering people fearful and untrusting?)

I had to go thru a season where I walked a wilderness of loneliness, learning to be totally fine with the fellowship I found with JESUS, and the few that I found to share with who had moved away but could still communicate in other ways. I learned to be deeply grateful for fellowship in whatever form it was given to me, and to not insist that it happened in the way I thought it should.

I have been incredibly blessed with fellowship these days from many different places...The wonderful world of technology can be used for the glory of God, folks, if we but let it! I have known the joy of sharing on numerous techie places...the inspirational interaction with my friends on Facebook and Google plus is great!...the group hangouts and voxer chats I've known that centered on the fun, the godly, the serious, the funny, but always because Jesus as our common Denominator, have been quite a blessed encouragement to me... the texts messages and the Pinterest pins I am sent are amazing and delightful, challenging, encouraging, and uplifting. I've loved interacting with young people each year at Youth Bible School, and I've enjoyed hearing my daughters' hearts throughout the weeks God has given us.

We NEED each other and I would say that however you can be an encourager, 

go for it, if it is a godly way. 

In my journey, I have learned that it is not a good idea to push thru and insist that people have conversations that involve sharing hearts in the Lord if they do not want to. But I learned to appreciate community wherever it is found, and to get involved in whatever spiritual discussions land on my doorstep, delighted that God would send that my way. If you know of people that do not want to share with you in this way, then move along, let them be them, respect them and find community for yourself that is similarly minded. If you cannot find that, wait on the Lord. He will send to you who you need and when you need it.

If you have known loneliness, you just might be needing to let GOD be your all in all. He does that with His children who are serious about letting Him grow them and change them. He knows that we need that time of wilderness sometimes to get us to totally depend on Him for everything we need. 

My Father supplies all my needs. Thank you to each of you, my dear friends, for the encouragement  you have been to me...from wherever you are and however you send it to me. I am glad to know fellowship locally in my own geographical location, too...Thanks ladies from my church and surrounding churches. You have all been a blessing to me.

Wonderful Words of Life...

Wonderful Words of Life...

Wonderful Words of Life...

Make it Count...

So many thots swirl thru my head as I read, ponder, observe, experience, and do each day. So, in the 'spaghetti-brained' fashion that is so often a description of a woman's mind, I take the plunge this morning and 'pen' a few lines.

Life is a gift. You may feel depressed, or be stumbling in grief, or pine for what isn't that God created to be but someone is unfaithfully neglecting their post, or you may be passive and complacent without vision or goal... Wake up, my friends. You are here on this earth for a specific reason. You are in this generation because God needs you to love Him and others, drawing to Himself all who will come to Him (and using the redeemed to be His witnesses and drawing power, many times). This life that is a gift is not to be squandered away in pornography, or petty focus, or in hobbies that require time that you could be giving to love and bless others (I'm not talking about the 'down time' that we need sometimes in the 'desert' to rest, but in your resting, be productive. Feed your soul, become refreshed by refreshing others even in little ways, and always be in tune with the Holy Spirit's direction in your day). Don't waste the day being sad and pining for what you wish was. Get out there, embrace the day! Feed your body wholesome fuel so that it can be healthy and well to do the work God is calling you to do. Go on country walks and admire the beauty of wildflowers, using some of that time to pray the Creator of the wildflowers about whatever He puts on your heart to speak to Him about. Take some of that time to be quiet and listen to the thots He downloads into your heart. Take the time to admire the sunsets He paints (how many thousands do we miss?!) Plunge yourself into the Word of God and in whatever fellowship of the saints that God gives you (Be careful! Fellowship is an idol to many where God intends it to be a gift to spur us on to doing His work. Receive it however He gives it and do not insist that it is given in the way you feel it should be. God always provides. YES, I'm being vulnerable here and sharing what I've learned from personal experience...) Take the time to enjoy your people, whoever they may be (do you know them? What they appreciate...what makes them smile...etc or are you too busy scrolling Facebook posts and playing on your phone to notice? Yes, this is preaching to me, too!)

Stoop. Bend to tend that broken person that God brings to you today. Kneel to hear a child speak. Be aware of your surroundings, and of how the Spirit is moving you to meet whatever needs He puts in your path. How many days do we sail thru, 'mindlessly' (there is no such thing, according to Scripture!) missing so many opportunities to make a difference in someone's life because we are busy doing our own thing, feeding our own pleasures, and even walking in sinful behavior that no one else but God can see?

Only one life we have. Then it's all over and we will spend an eternity answering for how we lived God's commission on earth.

There are many young people needing discipling. There are parents whose weary hands we can lift up. There are grandparents who could use our physical help and our time to listen to them teaching and reminiscing on their life. No matter what age a person is, if God brings them into your life, seek His heart on how to relate to them and how to encourage them. Make your moves count. Make your
life count!

Are you sad because your family is broken? Are you sad because you never were (and still aren't) close to your parents? Does the pull of addiction lap at your feet daily? (You can fill in the blank but I name some addictions here that are more common among those who name Jesus' name than you would think: pornography and overeating/eating junk food. Both give that dopamine push in the brain that drugs do, which satan uses to pull us over to his side during times of sorrow or weakness. Be aware of it and plan your strategy before tragedy/trauma/sorrow hits!) Do you spend your days pining for different circumstances? I am well aware of these things, both in myself or in the people I have mentored/encountered in life. Please know that there is hope and joy and LIFE abundant in the name of Jesus. Whoever will call on the name of Jesus WILL be saved. Call on His name and walk in His presence. In His presence is FULLNESS of joy. It's true. I can say it's true, both because God says it in His word and because I experience it. The freedom in surrender is beyond words. Try it. You will know it too.

Life is short. Eternity is long. What are we going to do with those 86, 400 seconds in each day that God gives us? Will we spend the seconds living for Him, or will we spend them for ourselves? The difference shows ups fairly quickly in the fruit that grows from our choices. I know Who I want to use the seconds for. What about you?


Because of Jesus, for Jesus, by the power of Jesus...for His glory always.

~Marcia

PS
If you feel alone without anyone to pray with you or for you, or if you wish for counsel/discipling, please feel free to drop a comment here. It does not get publicly seen unless I choose to publish it. I will never publish private information but dropping a comment here is one way that I can be contacted. I have a little group of friends who are willing to pray with people, disciple people, and pray for people with heart needs. We extend our love and blessing to you today.

Wonderful Words of Life...