Gigi's Blog

Well, God willing Mark is on his way home from Mexico as I type.  I say God willing because if you heard about Hurricane Dolly-well that is relatively close to where he has been in Mexico.  But we were concerned as well about flight cancellations because he had his first layover in Houston.  But I just checked his flight, and it appears as if it left 10 minutes early and should be arriving in Houston in about an hour.  It’s been a roller-coaster few days.  Mark called on Tuesday and said that he had heard that a hurricane might be headed toward them but couldn’t tell for sure because everything was in Spanish.  We hung up and I began to search for info, and realized that yes indeed it was headed in that direction.  The next day I called people and asked them to pray.  I told everyone that I didn’t want Chloe to know about this, and not to discuss it around her.  She rode home from VBS that night with Holly and when she got out of the car she came straight to me. “Mommy, there’s going to be a hurricane in Mexico.”  I froze.  I couldn’t figure out what to do or say, so I told her to go in the house I’d be right in.  She was already tearing up.  I said “Holly, what do I do?”  She told me that I needed to be honest with her, because if I wasn’t and something happened Chloe would question me on why I wasn’t honest.  She suggested I tell her that the hurricane was supposed to hit in Texas, but that when it reached Mexico it should be mostly rain, which was all true.  I told her and she cried, until after midnight.  She said “I don’t care if it’s a hurricane or not, I miss Daddy.”  I tried not to just say empty things like “it’ll be ok.”  She’s way too smart for that.  We prayed and prayed.  We also prayed for the 200 or so houses Mark had saw that were made of sticks and scrap metal. She stayed in my room until very late.  Mark didn’t call that night.  He had already told me he probably wouldn’t because they were going to do a little sightseeing, and it might be late.  But with the storm, well I wasn’t sure what was going on.  Chloe did calm down by the next morning.  I ended up calling Mark’s boss and asking if he’d heard from Mark.  He actually had just gotten off the phone with him.  He was fine. 

I got to church for the last night of VBS.  My head was pounding and everything had sort of taken a toll on me, but only in a way that I was fully trusting God and in a greater understanding of my total dependence on Him.  Mother said something under her breath that I couldn’t hear.  “What did you say?”  “They’ve taken Janice to the Hospice house?”  I quickly went to find Holly.  Yes.  The Hospice nurse told Richard that she needed to go so they could medicate her in a way to reduce her pain more effectively.  The night before Rebekah had literally begged Holly to spend the night with Janice.  Holly had promised her that after the last night of VBS (last night) she could.  On the drive home from VBS Holly was forced to tell Rebekah the situation.  Rebekah cried and cried.  She and Janice are so close.  They lived with Janice for the first several years of Rebekah’s life.  Rebekah and Rachel have been forced through this situation to talk about death, and the process of dying.  It’s one of those life lessons that unfortunately you learn through experiencing it.  I mean you can learn about it, but to actually learn it, you have to suffer. 

Holly and I have both had to tell our kid’s things that we didn’t way to say, but it was the truth, so we had too.  We didn’t want them to be afraid, but to keep these situations from them would’ve been worse.  What if they would have looked at us and said “Why didn’t you tell me?”

As I said, last night we ended VBS.  I talked to a woman last night coming to pick up a youth.  I felt prompted to engage her in conversation.  She responded and began sharing things. I’m not really sure why she felt it was ok to tell me the things she told me, but I’m so glad she did.  I encouraged her to come to church Sunday and she seemed like she really wants to.  You know it’s so much easier to turn our backs on the details in people’s lives.  Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying.  I’m not saying we should point out the details in peoples lives to draw them to Christ-‘cause I can promise you that does not work.  I’m talking about taking the time to let them share with you and tell you what they need to say and then build on that.  “Hi.  Are you a Christian?  Oh you’re not, well you should be.  Now get saved!”  That doesn’t work.  I have heard story after story of people becoming saved through relationships that have developed over time.  I know the fear is a person not getting saved before they die, but the great thing is that salvation is not our responsibility, its God’s.  Holly and I decided that the eventual pain of dishonesty would far outweigh the momentary pain of honesty for Rebekah and Chloe.  The facts were the facts.  Janice is going to a Hospice house, and Mark was in the possible path of a hurricane, but to sow a seed of deceipt (even unintentionally) that might cause a lifetime of regrets, it wasn’t worth it. It would have been easier not to tell Chloe and hope for the best, and easier to not tell Rebekah and hope Janice came home, but easier isn’t always best, in fact it usually isn’t.   People need to know the truth.  It would be much easier to just say “Hi” to a person and hope things work out, (In fact, I hear people say a lot “It’ll all work out.”) but how much better it would be for that person in the long run  for you and I to be honest and helpful and willing to invest in their lives. 

Holly and I are ending our two week slumber party.  It’s been a time of talking, crying, laughing and of course eating.  We’ve had Meagan B. with us, and Adam, and Richard and Megan and Ali. (Not at the same time)  We’ve stayed up ridiculously late every single night.  We went to the drive inn, we swam, we cooked, we lived without a refrigerator, we watched Natalie Grant and a bunch of other artists You Tubes when they talked about what they’ve been through, and we did so much more.  This really confirms my belief in the need for friendships.  I’ve heard James Dobson talk about this before, and he’s right. 

So to Holly I say “Tempenade! Until next time.”

Isaiah 58:6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
   to break the chains of injustice,
   get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
   free the oppressed,
   cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
   sharing your food with the hungry,
   inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
   putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
   being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
   and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
   The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
   You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

(Sing to the melody of Brady Bunch)

Here’s a story/of a girl named “Vickie”

Who had mom and baby birds in a tree

The only problem was that the momma bird

Was a little psycho and crazy

Till one day her daughter called Animal Rescue

And she thought they’d surely help them out

But they told her that a bird was more important

Maybe her mom could find a different way out of her house

So here’s the deal, my mom is being attacked by a bird.  A bird has built a nest

in a tree that is literally outside of the door of her condo.  Her neighbor has literally had her head pecked by this bird that is obviously demon possessed, or out of coffee (you understand if you know me).  So I remember that Eric (in my class) works for our local animal control.  I’ll just call him.  (My mother is terrified, and to be honest, I’d be the same way.)  So, I call Eric.  “We’re not allowed legally to do anything. Let me give you the number to Wildlife Dept.”  So, I call the Wildlife Dept. “We don’t cover that.  You’ll have to call someone and pay for it.  Let me give you two numbers of people to call. If it’s a mockingbird though, those are illegal to kill.  It’s probably a mockingbird.  She may just have to avoid the nest.” “She can’t avoid the nest.  It’s outside of her door!”   I call the first one.  “Uh.  We are exterminators.  I mean I guess I could shoot him.  Huh. Huh”  Dork.  I then call the second number GIVEN TO ME BY OUR LOCAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION. I am asked for the 4^th time, (which won’t be the last) what kind of bird it is.  I have no idea.  Am I stupid?????  Do you know what type of bird that is living in a nest in a tree on your front porch that you only see when they swoop down to peck your eyes out???  Good I feel better.  On with the story.  “We can’t kill a bird.  They’re protected. Let me give you the number to the Wildlife Federation in Atlanta. You’ll have to get a permit to kill a bird.”  Finally!  I’m gonna get something done.   I call Atlanta.  “What kind of bird is it?”  Are you kidding me!? “Let me give you the local numbers that are for Federal offices.”  I call a lady who seems interested and cares!!!!! She gives me another name and number, but says that if I don’t get results, to call her back and we’ll go from there.  I called mother and gave her the numbers and told her what the lady said.  Let me take this time to say publicly that I think it is wrong to value the safety and/or life of a bird over that of a human.  Matthew 6: 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]?

Last night Lori taught VBS.  Her lesson was on KNOWING Christ, or knowing about Him.  She gave some really good examples, and I hope those that were in that room that were unsaved as well as any of us who need to “to business” were paying attention. 

Today I literally stumbled on a blog on wordpress.com.  I’ve been posting my blogs there and Holly has too.  simplyholly@wordpress.com  and mommagigi@wordpress.com

Well this person’s blog I stumbled on looked really good.  I started clicking on links to his stuff and found a quote about Christ and said “Wow!”   It was wonderful.  But, there was a problem.  I started glancing over the page.  I saw links to Calvanlism.  See, if I wasn’t a Christian and was searching for something……………………. 

2 Timothy 3

 1-5Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people.  6-9These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself "truth." They get exploited every time and never really learn. These men are like those old Egyptian frauds Jannes and Jambres, who challenged Moses. They were rejects from the faith, twisted in their thinking, defying truth itself. But nothing will come of these latest impostors. Everyone will see through them, just as people saw through that Egyptian hoax.

A Calvanist believes in predestination, meaning that you’re either “in” with God or you’re not.  If you buy into predestination then evangelism isn’t necessary.  Does God already know who will be in Heaven and who will not?  If He does, that in no way lessens our command, to go and spread His love, because WE don’t.  Matthew 28:10 18-20 Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

Just like this stupid bird problem that’s causing me to call person after person after person for a solution, (and here I sit hoping my poor momma don’t get her head pecked) is an entire world of lost people calling out for “something.”  That something is Christ, but see they don’t know yet.  They’re just empty, and want a way to fill that void. 

Am I talking to you today??  Are you calling person after person, trying thing after thing, religion after religion, to feel ok and stable.  I’m not here to call you fool, but I am here to promise you that you don’t need to call 1-800-anybody to find Christ.  He’s waiting for you to call Him directly, and you don’t have to call anybody else.  If someone tells you that you aren’t good enough for Christ, they’re right, you’re not, and neither are they and neither am I.  We’re all sinners.  If you don’t know Christ, and feel Him wanting to come to your heart, please invite Him in as Lord today. 
And if you are a Christian today, please realize that we are preparing for war, and that spiritual warfare is happening right now.  Please stop being passive.  Care about people who need the hope of Christ!!!  If we don't tell them truth, they are going to hear a pretend truth that may make an eternal difference in their lives. 

Mark is out of town.  He has been for one week.  He’ll be home in a few days.  I’ve been trying to keep Chloe occupied because I knew that she was really gonna struggle with this.  She’s been away from us for a week when we’ve gone on youth trips.  We’ve been on about 6 or 7 trips.  But not like this long.  Not without her Daddy.  Those two are crazy about each other.  She lost it last night.  Broke my heart.  “I miss his hugs and kisses.  I wish it was the end of the week.”  She cried and cried.  I miss Mark too.  I know he misses us too because he’s called a good bit, and he called and left messages yesterday that he was really homesick.  The refrigerator went out last week, so I had to throw everything out, and we’re just putting water in a cooler ‘till he gets home and figures out what we’re gonna do.  So pretty much as soon as he gets back he’ll be bombarded with yards to cut, a broken fridge, we’re cooking at the shelter Saturday, and who knows what else.

VBS started last night, and I’m helping in the youth.  “Outrigger Island” is the theme this year.  Lori and Megan B. really did a great job decorating the room.  There were 74 in youth last night!!  Isn’t that awesome?!    Adam taught last night and it was really good.  There were a few scriptures that I really pondered over last night. 

Exodus 14:13 Moses spoke to the people: "Don't be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians today for you're never going to see them again.

 14 God will fight the battle for you.
      And you? You keep your mouths shut!"

15-16 God said to Moses: "Why cry out to me? Speak to the Israelites. Order them to get moving. Hold your staff high and stretch your hand out over the sea: Split the sea! The Israelites will walk through the sea on dry ground.

There are certain times in the Bible when God says “Be still.  Stand firm.  Stand strong.”  But after reading this last night I was thinking: Moses told them to stand firm, and God would do everything. But God said “Get moving.”

Ecclesiastes says there is a time and season for everything.  I am so unsure and insecure, I almost always assume that what God wants me to do is to- “be still and know that He’s God.”  But in this story God says “Get moving!”  To see success and live required action.   There are times when we should “wait on the Lord.”  I believe (after reading this last night) there are also times when our faith needs to have movement.  There’s a fine line between trusting God and saying “I’ll just sit here God and let your do your thing in my life” and I spend far too much time on the wrong side of that fine line.  Sometimes it takes greater belief to take action. 

What if those Israelites wouldn’t have been willing to “get moving”?

It’s hard to know exactly what God wants us to do in life sometimes, because there aren’t specifics about certain things.  Sometimes we must pray, and pray and pray and pray.  We must wait to hear from God.  We must be still.  We must move. Not every situation and answer will be the same, because God is mysterious, and we don’t know His ways, because they are higher than ours. 
When I was little and starting to get older I would always to try corner mother into giving me blanket answers about when I’d be allowed to do certain things, and she never would.  She always said “It would depend on the situation.”  Sometimes I think we all wish every situation was exactly the same so we wouldn’t have to spend the special prayer time, and Bible study time, and waiting time.  But everything is at the will and in the hand of God.  Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD;
       he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.  So this gives me the belief every decision is in God’s hands.

Today my challenge is follow God’s leading and direction.  Don’t assume that God’s answers for a situation 3 yr. ago, or 3 weeks ago, or 3 days ago are necessarily what He’s answering today.  If he says “be still”, then you be still.  If he says “get moving”, then get moving. 

I choose to believe that God will give me direction and you direction when we look for it. 

I’m shredding paper.  Lots of paper.  I’m under conviction because even though I answer the phone here, I could definitely offer to say “if you need me to do something, just let me know.”  But instead I wait for someone to ask me if I will help them-clever, right? No, wrong.  I’ve been very, very frightened to do anything, just because of messing something up, which I seem to do a lot.  I’m not sure if I’ve used that as an excuse or what.  Ashley D. said I could help her with some date entry type of stuff, but it’s not quite that easy.  It has to be done is Word rather than in Excel because of the way the lines need to be; therefore it takes about 4 times as long.  So I worked on it yesterday until 5:00.  Then this morning she said that she would do the data entry if I’d rather shred paper.  I was all for it. 

I’m utterly amazed at the amount of paper shreds these stack of paper are generating.  I’ve done less than half, and have filled the biggest trash bag I’ve ever seen.  I know that often this paper is recycled to use again.  Isn’t that something?  One of these quotations that I’m shredding may eventually be a milk carton. 

The other day I was thinking about my past.  Almost confused as to how I share my testimony about my past if God can’t remember my past.  How is God glorified if I’m talking about something He’s unaware of?  I believe the answer if that God forgives and forgets about our sin.  I believe that he sees our past, but absent of the sin.  I don’t know quite how to articulate what I’m trying to say, but it’s like if a person commits a crime and serves their sentence, they are free.  Roger talked about stealing last Sunday.  I told you I was convicted and guilty of some of the things he talked about.  If I ask God to forgive me, and then want to share what I went through, I think God can still see that situation, but now as free of sin.  It makes no sense, but the ways of God don’t make sense. 

So just like this shredded paper has the potential to eventually be a milk carton, or maybe some construction paper, or something else; in the same way your life has the potential to be recycled into a new creation.  Yes you have a past, but now God sees it in a different way.  What freedom!!!

The Bible says that when God forgives us, He “remembers our sins no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). This does not mean that the all-knowing God forgets because He forgives us. Rather, He chooses not to bring up our sin to Himself or others. When our former sins come to mind, we can choose to dwell upon them (with the resulting guilty feelings), or we can choose to fill our minds with thoughts of the awesome God who forgave us and thank and praise Him for it (Philippians 4:8). Remembering our sins is only beneficial when it reminds us of the extent of God’s forgiveness and makes it easier for us to forgive others (Matthew 18:21-35).

  From gotquestions.org

Well I sit here with a half-eaten can of Pringles Salt & Vinegar.  If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE to eat.  Mark really hit the nail on the head last week about me.  He said “Gina, you are you’re Mamaw.  You are a 36 yr. old grandmother about wanting to cook and everybody to eat, whether they want to or not.”  He is 100% right.  My Mamaw Dee wasn’t educated, but had a lot of godly wisdom, she had a heart for the needy and faith that God could do anything.  Now I’m not saying I’m all that she was, but my heart (I do believe) is in tune with the way her heart was.  Mamaw always struggled with her weight, because her favorite place was in the kitchen cooking for people she loved, or sittin’ round the table with coffee and dessert with the people she loved.  As I said, I am very much like her.  So I guess I’m trying to justify this Pringles thing.  After I had already decided  I was going to eat as many Pringles as I wanted, I glanced at the portion size.  I laughed internally.  The can says 6 serving per container.  15 crisps per serving.  Ha!Ha!Ha!  Portion size for who??  I don't live in munchkinz-land.  So I said “forget this, I’m eatin’ what I want.  And that’s what I’ve done.  Now I’m at that stage of  questioning.  “Why did I do that?  Why did I not do that?”  I’ve been doing better about my eating, and had really done good at Fuge and since, but last night started my decline.  I had a few guests- Rachel, Rebekah, Holly, Megan, plus my own Meagan Adam and Chloe.  So as we sat around, I grazed like a cow at pasture.  Then today, even though I’m not even supposed to eat for minimum 30 minutes after I take my medicine, within about 10 of taking it I was eating Pringles (before 9:00 am!!)  I hate it when I do this.  I’m in the wrong.  I know that I’m in the wrong. I feel gross and disgusting. 

Psalm 103

 1-2 O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I'll bless his holy name!
   O my soul, bless God,
      don't forget a single blessing!

 3-5 He forgives your sins—every one.
      He heals your diseases—every one.
      He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
      He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
      He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
      He renews your youth—you're always young in his presence.

 6-18 God makes everything come out right;
      he puts victims back on their feet.
   He showed Moses how he went about his work,
      opened up his plans to all Israel.
   God is sheer mercy and grace;
      not easily angered, he's rich in love.
   He doesn't endlessly nag and scold,
      nor hold grudges forever.
   He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,
      nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
   As high as heaven is over the earth,
      so strong is his love to those who fear him.
   And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
      he has separated us from our sins.
   As parents feel for their children,
      God feels for those who fear him.
   He knows us inside and out,
      keeps in mind that we're made of mud.
   Men and women don't live very long;
      like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
   But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
      leaving nothing to show they were here.
   God's love, though, is ever and always,
      eternally present to all who fear him,
   Making everything right for them and their children
      as they follow his Covenant ways
      and remember to do whatever he said. 

Have you done something today and are faced with the reality of it?  Maybe you’re in financial disaster because you put yourself there.  Maybe you have heart disease because you ate too much grease.  Maybe you have ugly hair because you’re never satisfied with it, and now it’s all fried. (That was for the ladies)  Maybe you have a sprained back because you tried to look tough and do something that you really weren’t physically able to do (that was for men)  My sins are my fault.  Many of the situations I find myself in today are my fault.  Sometimes I feel so ashamed to be me.  But today I have hope and you can too.  God wants us both to realize that our life truly is saved under his love.  He knows that when He rescues us in unexplainable ways in an outpouring of generous mercy, we realize that we truly can not say it was us.  Sometimes he allows us and things to get really bad so that we can realize we really are bad-outside of Him.  The hope is that at those times we realize that nothing about us caused a good thing to happen. 

I had a situation recently that seemed to be improved.  I tried to think of what I had done to change that situation.  I truly couldn’t come up with any tangible thing.  My prayer time about it hadn’t changed.  I wasn’t any more committed than I had been.  I just couldn’t say that anything had been different and I think maybe for this first time I realized that  God wants me to understand  “God is sheer mercy and grace;
      not easily angered, he's rich in love.”  And I did understand.  If we could achieve peace and happiness and a fruitful life strictly on the basis of what we do to achieve it, then our focus would be on our own strength.  So God allows us to fall, and then through his sheer mercy and grace, helps us.  The bi-product is the desire to do things to tell God we love him, and show it by our actions. 

I remember a while back that I was struggling and wrestling with this.  I wanted to be able to give a person a 3 bulleted outline of how to obtain God’s mercy.  But when I had gotten from point A. (the problem), to point B. (the answer), I was left with confusion.  It was like “OK, I went through all this and now its better, so what?  How did I get here?  What did I do get here?  What can I share with people?”  But the “so what” is this: There’s no certain amount of steps that GUARANTEE you’ll get any prayer answered, or that this or that will happen (I believe).  What I realized is that my life is totally in the hands of God.  It shows who he is when he takes a person who is in a really bad situation, even when it is of their own making, especially of their own making, and says “If you ask, I’ll forgive you. I’m gonna get you out of this mess, if you want my help.”  We must accept God’s love and want his help for us to receive this undeserved goodness. I’m not saying your help with be any certain thing, but I am saying God will be your help.  This concept is contrary to popular belief.  Popular belief says “Anything YOU set your mind to you can achieve.”  Popular belief says “You got yourself into this mess.  Now you have to get yourself out of it.”  Popular belief says “God helps those who help themselves.” Popular belief says a lot of things.  Just remember…………..Jesus wasn’t popular, and we won’t be either.      

The Sermon Sunday morning was very good.  “Thou Shalt Not Steal” Exodus 20:15 was revealed to me yesterday in a new way.  Many times we think of stealing as taking a physical, literal object you can put your hands on.  But Roger stated several things that I had to say “guilty” about.

*Taking credit for something I didn’t do.

*Illegal downloads

A new sense of what this could mean, just again helped me scream out emotionally “Oh God I need you so much!! Thank you God that you love me and forgive me!”

Last night was the children’s musical and it was so good!  There were a few little mic malfunctions, and briefly forgetting line, and some kids that were really jamming out to the music, but for me-that’s what makes it.  When I was Chloe’s age, anytime I was in a musical or recital, I always wanted to put on make-up.  So, last night I asked Chloe if she wanted to put a little make-up on.  She looked at me like I was crazy and said “Why in the world would I want to do that?!” 

Today at work the exterminating man came in.  I asked him how I could eliminate the existence of ants, and he told me that wasn’t possible.  He said that even if a product or person tells you they can completely eliminate ants, they aren’t telling the truth.  I explained to him that as a child in Tx. I’d laid down in a bed of fire ants and now have an extreme phobia.  We started talking about a few other phobias and such.  He told me that he used to be a volunteer firefighter and that he had a phobia of moving from the fire ladder onto the house.  He then told me about a lady that he exterminates for that has a phobia of leaving her house-so she doesn’t.  As in she doesn’t even go outside.  He told me that if she needs to see a physician that he either comes to her home or that an ambulance comes and that she must be sedated and then she goes to the Dr.  My goodness.  I teared up. He said that his daughter has helped her clean her house, and that sometimes he’ll take vegetables over there.  Last time he did, she said “Well, I hope you can eat with me.”  He told her, “Of course, that’s why I brought this.”  You know on the outside looking in at this woman, most of us would say “Just come out.  It’s ok.  Get over it.”  In her mind though, she just can’t.  It’s too much.  It’s so hard to “help” the kind of person that looks like they don’t want help.  But I believe even though this lady looks like she doesn’t want help-she does.  The exterminator told me that when he goes to her house that the only part of her body you will see outside is her hand slipping out the door just enough to unlock it. 

That’s it in a nutshell.  We look at people illogically locked inside their house of sin and say “leave!!”  This is correct.  They do need to leave.  But people need to know that you care about them first.  Jesus did this.  He cared for people openly. 

A person may unlock their heart in the most unassuming way and then go back inside to see what’s gonna happen.  If that exterminator wasn’t looking for her to unlock that door so he could come in, she’d miss it.  If you and I aren’t looking for that moment that God wants you to impact a person in whatever way is best for Him-we’ll miss it. 

Our M-fuge camp pastor Moses said this “Others don’t want to only hear ‘I love you.’ They want to see it.”   I believe he’s right.

The Way of Love

 1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

   Love never gives up.
   Love cares more for others than for self.
   Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
   Love doesn't strut,
   Doesn't have a swelled head,
   Doesn't force itself on others,
   Isn't always "me first,"
   Doesn't fly off the handle,
   Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
   Doesn't revel when others grovel,
   Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
   Puts up with anything,
   Trusts God always,
   Always looks for the best,
   Never looks back,
   But keeps going to the end.

 8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

 11When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

 12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

 13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Yesterday at about 4:30 or so it got really dark here at work.  It started lightening and thundering, and you knew a storm was approaching.  

I was raised in Tx. where there are some real bad storms that I remember.  One of the neighbors even had a storm cellar.  My grandma Ella (my mom’s mom) was terrified of storms.  As she grew older someone had to stay with her at night if she even heard that it might storm.  Meagan will do almost anything without fear.  She’ll drive places alone, she’ll do outgoing things, work a job, but one thing that scares her is a storm.  So I guess that with my history and family history of storms, when I’m in one or know one is coming, I usually pay attention.

Well at about 4:45 yesterday Lynne said “Gina, you go ahead and leave.  The storm will be here soon.”  In case you can’t tell, I like to talk.  So as I’m bidding farewell to all my co-workers and telling them what I feel can not wait until the next day, the downpour hits.  If you were in Gastonia, NC yesterday you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Lynne said “Gina, I told you to leave!!  Now look, you’re stuck!”  I said “Lynne, if I had left when you told me to, I’d be on I-85 in the dead center of this storm.  I’m very glad I didn’t leave.” 

You know it’s so easy to offer “advice” or tell people “The Lord wants you to………….”

I’m not saying you shouldn’t accept godly advice, the Bible talks about it.

Proverbs 15:22 Refuse to take advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed. 

But, I do believe at times people give “suggestions” about things they don’t know about handling in a godly way.  And worse than that sometimes the people we think of as godly give us advice based on their own thoughts and beliefs, but the problem is those opinions are more theirs than God’s.  So, we, because of their status, assume its right. 

What if Job would’ve listened to his wife and friends????
 
If I would’ve left when Lynne told me to, I’m not sure what would’ve happened.  Lynne is my friend.  Lynne cares about me.  Lynne was trying to help me.  Sometimes when people see you, as their friend hurting and in need, they’ll do almost anything to make you feel better.  They don’t want you to hurt.  This is tough to say, tough to hear, but sometimes you have to pull back from advice (that even when given to help your hurt) is wrong.     

I Corinthian 10: 23-24Looking at it one way, you could say, "Anything goes. Because of God's immense generosity and grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster." But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.

So if a person will tell you anything just to make you feel better, even if it’s wrong……….well, I think they aren’t helping you live well.  I am guilty of both things.  I can’t stand it when people are hurting, and will often do anything to stop it.  Plus, if I’m hurting, I’ll let you tell me anything to make the hurting go away. 

I wouldn’t say I have a “to-do” check list to know if advice is good or not.  It takes more of a commitment in our hearts to seek and search for God’s will, and not stop until we find it.  And I also want to say that I am by no means implying that when you give godly advice that you do it in a rude or unkind way.  When you do, then you’ve lost any chance at that person hearing and accepting what you’re trying to say.

I Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

You know if we could prepare our hearts to receive divine instruction from God I think much of this confusion would be avoided.  But so many people don’t want to search for truth as a treasure, so they’ll take advice any place they can get it.  Psychic.  Horoscope. Priest.  Anybody who’ll do it for them. And the problem is these people aren't getting truth. God wants YOU!  He wants me! Christ died so that we can have access to God and be freed from the need for intercessors. 

There's a new show on television called "Wipeout."  It’s like an impossible to achieve obstacle course. Last night one of the obstacles involved people standing on their own little platform and then jumping over this huge bar with little distractionary (Yes.  Made that word up) dangly pieces of foam.  It was so funny.  These people would think they had it, and then just bust.  ****This is a side note of unimportance to you, but I love it when Mark watches things like this that make him laugh out loud.  You can be upstairs, and hear him start chuckling, and then cackling  then I start laughing, and I don’t even know what he’s laughing about.*****  Well, it was down to 2 players standing.  The dangly foamy bar thingy comes around and the guy falls. But wait!! He catches himself.  He gets back up just as the bar is approaching.  He still has a shot.  He jumps and makes it! But then………he falls.  He just wasn’t standing firm enough to make it.

I watched Beth Moore this morning, and tried to purpose in my heart I was going to listen to what she said, and asked God to help me do it.  Didn’t take long for her to get my attention when she said “Is there anybody listening and you don’t know what to do?” 2 Chronicles 20:12 O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."  OK.  Now I’m listening.  I’ve read this story over and over, but today to hear it again, it was a needed reminder. 

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chronicles%2020%20;&version=31;

One thing Beth said that really struck a loud chord of conviction was this: “Many of you won’t experience victory because all you talk about is your defeat.”  Preach it sista’.  If you read the entire story, you’ll notice that the focus, the intentional focus of the people was on God, and not on the enemy.  If the people would’ve went around and talked about how the enemy had wrongly come against them, and they couldn’t possibly win, and they were sure they were all going to die, they would have. 

2 Chronicles 20: 15 He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.' "

That man fell off his platform when he took a position, but didn’t stand firm.  Are you there today?  You think you know what you might believe could happen. Ya, I’m there too.  If we don’t believe God for the impossible, then the impossible won’t happen.  If we expect the worst, we get the worst. 

Read this story again.  Stand firm.  Expect the unexpected.

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=173d0b2dc088166981cf

http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Grits/They-All-Fall-Down.html

July 4^th is Nanny Vickie’s birthday.  So every July 4^th for the past…………I’d say 15+ years, my entire family is together somewhere enjoying the 4^th.  This year though Nanny wanted to go eat lunch, and then said for everyone to just do “whatever.”  Holly and I conspired to go to Carowinds.  So after eating lunch we headed off.  I had read on their website that they would be having an all-u-can eat buffet for about $12 a person.  Now if you’ve been there lately then you know that a drink cost $3.75, and to get a portion of food that could feed a toddler cost about $8.00.  So I suggested that we should buy a ticket for this buffet.  First thing when we got there we bought our ticket and went to the water park.  The water park was very crowded, but we still had a good time. After swimming around in the wave pool and being bombarded by the people who had inner tubes (you have to pay for them, so we didn’t one) Holly, me and Rachel went to the lazy river and Rich, Mark and the Rebekah and Chloe rode slides. We stayed there until our meal and then headed over for our food extravaganza (or so I thought).  I said “Oh, this is gonna be perfect.  We can eat and then we won’t need to buy anything else.  This is gonna be so good.”  We walked up and there was a long line of people waiting to eat.  What was this line all about????  A man who looked like a manager came up and said “Hey how are y’all doing?  Just wanted to let you guys know we have a chicken delay.”  Now Richard is one of my favorite people on the planet, ‘because he loves to tease and joke with people.  He said “Chicken delay.  Hm.  Chicken delay.”  He then starts asking him silly, funny questions, and all of a sudden the manager knows he’s joking around, and then the manager (I think) feels a bit relieved to encounter a person that’s not mad.  Then the joking was really on.  Richard would go up to people and say “Have you heard there’s a chicken delay?”  It was so funny.  There were only 2 actual buffet lines with food, when they had it set up to make you think there were many buffet lines.  So we tried to get soft drinks in a place that didn’t have any, went to a buffet line with only plates and cutlery, and stood in line for about 20 minutes because of the “chicken delay.”  Then…………..finally……….chicken!  Ya baby.  It was so on.  I start loading my plate with hot dogs and chicken.  We sat down and I started eating.  Eating very, very salty hot dogs. Eating chicken that was-well, sort of ok.  Drinking in very small glasses so that it would only take a few gulps and I’d have to travel up hill, both ways in the snow for 10 miles to get a refill (Ok, I made the up hill snow part up.)  We left and for the remainder of the day rode rides, and watched fireworks, and then waited about 1 ½ hr. (no joke) to get out of the parking lot.  

We went to the shelter and cooked Saturday and it was good and yet it was also, well I don’t know exactly.  But my passion for the homeless has yet again been renewed and I had conversations with people, and encountered a gentleman who was very, very intoxicated last time I saw him, but this time wasn’t.  It was incredible how different he was when he was sober.  I mean not just his actions, his entire demeanor. I feel very passionate about my desire and what I believe is a call from God to reach out to people and say “You know what?  God loves you. God accepts you.  He’s not waiting for you to do this or that.  You are loved, already.”    This is my conviction, and my belief.  Other people have strong convictions as well about what they believe their callings are.  They aren’t all the same.  Whatever you believe is your calling from God, please PLEASE, PLEASE go after it with all your heart.  If we did that as Christians-watch out!  Something would happen.  But, mediocrity is where most of us are.  I realize that I am passionate about the things that I am passionate about, and maybe not as concerned about other things, even that are in the body.  But I AM passionate about God.  That’s what I want for you, to be passionate about God.  When I’m in the presence of lukewarm, I get sick.  I get distracted, depressed, selfish, and on and on.  I’ve come to the realization since I’ve returned from M-Fuge some simple facts:

1. When I am doing things for Christ, I feel good and I feel satisfied

2. The simpler, the better

3. The things that I once banked my happiness on all seemed to be like a bounced check,        worth very little, maybe nothing. 

I’m in a very strange place today.  Emotionally I mean.   See just like that chicken, which was a buffet of OK food, my life lately has been like a smorgasbord of OK-ness with God, and I’ve realized there isn’t such a thing.   I must break away and out of the shell that I feel like others require.  Can I be specific??  Ok good.  Is it Ok to go hang out a bar and witness?  I mean have a coke, sit down, and share the hope you have in Christ?  I can tell you right now, unequivocally that Jesus would have ABSOLUTELY been at a bar and witnessed.  But the problem is if someone I knew saw me there, how quickly they would get home so they could call tell what they’d seen.  Shouldn’t be that way.  Shouldn’t be that way at all.  You know me, or you should.  We should have enough faith in each other that we don’t have to wonder if we’ve “slipped in sin” and if you wonder, then ask me-not everybody but me.  What I’m saying is do what God calls you to do.  You must.  Do it with all your being.  Do it with all your might.  Do it with all your heart.  Don’t pay the price of your daily life to digest a buffet of what others tell you that you must eat.  Do and be whatever God tells you. 

I Corinthians 10 19-22Do you see the difference? Sacrifices offered to idols are offered to nothing, for what's the idol but a nothing? Or worse than nothing, a minus, a demon! I don't want you to become part of something that reduces you to less than yourself. And you can't have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next. Besides, the Master won't put up with it. He wants us—all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less?  23-24Looking at it one way, you could say, "Anything goes. Because of God's immense generosity and grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster." But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.  25-28With that as a base to work from, common sense can take you the rest of the way. Eat anything sold at the butcher shop, for instance; you don't have to run an "idolatry test" on every item. "The earth," after all, "is God's, and everything in it." That "everything" certainly includes the leg of lamb in the butcher shop. If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going, go ahead and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each course as it is served. On the other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you that this or that was sacrificed to god or goddess so-and-so, you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from, he isn't, and you don't want to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping.

 29-30But, except for these special cases, I'm not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say; I'm going to stride free and easy, knowing what our large-minded Master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God for what is on the table, how can I worry about what someone will say? I thanked God for it and he blessed it! 31-33So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you're eating to God's glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God's glory. At the same time, don't be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren't as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone's feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too.

“Well, how do I do it?” I ask myself this question quite a bit. If you know me at all you know there are 2 things that get me riled up. 

1. Running out of coffee
2. Homelessness

Well for whatever reason only my Father in Heaven knows, I went to the Gaston Gazette website yesterday.  I don’t visit the site.  I did during the Father’s Day online contest when I was voting for Rich, but that’s pretty much the only time.  Yesterday, I typed in www.gastongazette.com.  I was immediately drawn to a story.  It was about a rehab place that is going to be shut down because of the code violations it has.  Well I saw the comments section, and clicked.  I think part of the problem was I already knew in my mind what I would read and when I did I could feel myself losing it.  What caused me to feel I had to comment was when I read that there were choices and options for people who are homeless, and I felt that this person was also criticizing the man who’s running the place as if he has many places he can go to get this house up to code.  It reminds me of that German word meaning: tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive-BOLOGNA.  I believe that this is one of those hot button issues of discord within churches.  You have men and women who have worked hard their entire lives, suffered, struggled to put food on their table who say “If a man doesn’t work, he shouldn’t eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10.  You have men and women who have been taken advantage of and tricked and fooled.  I understand all this.  My belief though remains.  If God tells you, or me to give that person standing there $1.00 and we do, and they go buy a beer, that is between them and God. If God tells you or me to give that person standing there $1.00 and we don’t, that is between us and God.  People use scriptures of instruction that God is giving to us to apply to our own lives as a means to justify not helping people. 

Matthew 8:20 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."  I wonder what the Sadducees and Pharisees thought of Jesus “homelessness?” We look at these people and think we have the blanket answer as to why everyone of them is homeless. John 9:1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

  Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. 

Two reasons I see here for some afflictions.

1. To display the work of God
2. To entertain angels

I stopped a long time ago trying to win over people to my opinion on this.  But I am still passionate about my belief.

After my online opinion was displayed I’m left thinking “the problem is me.”

Because they don’t care and they won’t do anything, but I do care, and I’m not doing anything.  I have struggled with this for years.  Feeling called, but unequipt.  No money.  Not much support.  Not much understanding.  But I was reminded of the story we’ve all read numerous times of the loaves and fishes. We focus on the fact Jesus provided, but often we miss the point.  There were needy and hungry people in their midst and the people God chose to help them didn’t have the means to help them.  Sounds like a familiar modern day story of where I find myself.  Wanting to do so much, but “with what?” I ask the Creator the universe as if He can’t make a way.  What if Jesus would have waited for the scholars of the law to respond to the needs of ordinary people in His day????

I guess I’m so very passionate about the needy, because I’m one of them.  A mess up.  A person who has been involved in bad things.  A person who has made so many mistakes.  A person who would be exactly, exactly, where they are had it not been for help given to me, even as recently as Sunday night, when sweet Ashley B. said she wanted to buy Holly B’s cd for me, ‘cause I didn’t have the money.  When we got back from M-fuge Nanny Vickie had bought some groceries and put them in our fridge.  Mark’s parents, my family in Tx.  Some of you.  I’m not better, or different than them.  I AM them. 

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