Sharing Our Grief Can Help

I was sitting in a room with over 200 other women waiting for the conference speaker to take her place on stage.  Along with those around me, I settled into my seat, ready with my pen and paper for anything that was note worthy.  I grabbed a kleenex out of my bag, just in case.  I knew the speaker had a difficult testimony to share, and I wanted to be prepared for the emotions that may creep up without any notice.

As she began her presentation, it was only minutes when I needed to reach for that kleenex.  She'd lost a baby just a few short hours after she was born.  It was more than any momma's heart should have to bare. After sharing her story, she did the unexpected.  She asked women to stand if they had ever suffered a miscarriage, a still birth, or lost a newborn baby.  I hesitated only a moment before moving to my feet, chin quivering and tears rolling down my cheeks.  I couldn't bring myself to turn around to see how many were standing, but I could tell by the rustle of chairs and see from my peripheral vision that over half the audience was standing in still silence.

As those who stood took their seats again, I had to leave the room.  The unexpected stirring and longing in my heart was so strong, I was sure it would overtake me. I hurried to my hotel room where I could release the pressure to my throat and chest, and grieve my losses with an ugly gut retching cry as if my two babes were lost just yesterday.

Grief seems to abide by no time-table.  Whether a loss is suffered weeks or years ago makes no difference.  We all feel the void in our hearts and in our lives when someone is missing. 

We do our best to manage the grief, as our human minds are incapable of understanding why these things happen.  God's sovereignty is far above our ability to grasp His plan.  But He does offer us comfort.  Through many hardships I have faced, I always fall back to 2 Corinthians 1:3:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

Though I don't understand God's plan in miscarriage,  premature death,  cancer, or depression, I do know that he has commanded me to comfort others who are experiencing the same things that I have endured.  I am to share the comfort I received from God with others.

Sisters, your heartache is real.  But can I encourage you to share it with others?  Talking it out can also be very therapeutic in itself.  Part of sisterhood is not only sharing the good times of celebration but also sharing the hard times of grief and loss.  This allows others to pray for you, comfort you, and love on you.  Sometimes it even gives more meaning to their own loss, as they carry out God's command to "love one another". 

YOU are not alone.

Sweet Jesus, you are our Great Physician who can heal all our wounds, both physical and emotional. Please come lay your hand of healing on any grieving mother who visits here today. May she experience your peace that passes understanding. Amen.

Rebuilding Mitumba in Nairobi, Kenya

November 19, 2011 was a horrific day for those 30,000 people living in the Mitumba slum of Nairobi, Kenya. Everything they had was bulldozed to the ground by the government that day. What little they had, was now gone.


The Demolition of Mitumba - Eastviews Response Video from GOYA Ministries on Vimeo.

Amongst the ruins lay the remains of a Christian school, orphanage, and clinic.  Pastor Shadrack  and his wife Violet were devastated.  Their years and years of work were gone in an instant.  The families and children were scattered to the wind.  After several weeks of searching and very little sleep, they were able to find all of the children and brought them into their own home, 30 sweet souls without parents.

Just months before this tragedy, the ministry of GOYA teamed up with Eastview Christian Church to support the work that Pastor Shadrack was doing in Mitumba. A visit to the United States was planned, to visit the GOYA offices and the new church partnership with Eastview.

Last weekend Pastor Shadrack and Violet came to visit Eastview, my home church.  Our Senior Pastor asked for a special offering to be taken that could buy some land to rebuild the school, orphanage and clinic.  We had high hopes of trying to raise $40,000.  That Sunday evening they gave a presentation updating us on how things stand now in Mitumba.  Our Pastor of Outreach stood to give an update on the special offering taken that morning.  We didn't get the $40,000 we were hoping.  Instead we gave $206,000!!!  The place erupted with laughter, applause, crying and overwhelming praise for what God can do!

All of the glory belongs to God alone, as he stirred the hearts of his church to give.  The doors are wide open for the school to be rebuilt and expanded to include high school!  A much larger church can now be built to accommodate all those who have been coming.  God has big plans in mind for Mitumba and it was an honor for this church to be a part of that movement!!


Mitumba Response-Vimeo from Eastview Christian Church on Vimeo.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Does A Spirit of Unbelief Undermine Your Faith?

"For even his own brothers did not believe in him."

John 7:5

As I read and studied this week the lessons for James, I kept coming back to the unbelieving household of Jesus family.  I sense that we may all be like Beth Moore, in wanting to know more!  Tell us what it was like in their house.  What did they do for fun?  Did they fight like normal brothers and sisters?  How did Jesus act when he was in a quarrel with family members?  Did his mother not sit the family down around the dinner table and explain to them who Jesus was?  Yet, we're told in several places that his brothers did not believe.  They even scoffed and made fun of him, inferring that he was crazy.  The whole scenario just does not make any sense to me!  Can anyone else agree?

So if the people closest to Jesus did not believe he was the Son of God, does it surprise us that we have trouble going "all in" with our faith?  Because we can believe in some of those big promises from God, but do we really believe all of them?  Does our life reflect a person who chooses to go "all in" with God, placing our entire trust, well being, decisions, and life in the hands of the Almighty Father?  Or is easier to hand over only those things in life that we feel we can't handle?  Do we run to the Father only in those instances when life has gotten over our head and we need a hand out of the hole we have dug for ourselves?

Let's decide to be like Abraham.   He set a high example for all of us:

"Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."  Romans 4:20

I am guilty.  Some promises I can repeat over and over in my head and truly believe them, like Jeremiah 29:11, but others I can read and not truly take them to heart, like Ephesians 3:20, 

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations."

More than we ask or imagine.

Are you "all in"?

What would it take for you this week to be "all in"? How different would life look if we pushed every area of our life into the Father, and said, YES, I am all in!

Would you share with us today an area of your life that you need to turn over to Jesus that you have been in unbelief?

We'd love to know how God has been stirring your soul this week through the study!

"Everything is possible for him who believes." Mark 9:23

Ten Reasons to Boycott Offensive Advertising

Our family looks forward to the Super Bowl each year for the fun of hanging out with family and friends, eating great food, watching superb football, and being entertained by fun commercials.

This year when I saw that GoDaddy.com was featuring a Super Bowl ad, I was immediately apprehensive because they haven't always shown the best taste in the past.  Unfortunately, they proved me correct again this year.  I won't send you to their website to see the commercial because I don't want to give them any traffic, but the commercial was essentially two guys dreaming of half naked women telling them about web hosting.  Trust me when I say you paid very little attention to the information, because the women were in high "Victory Secret" regalia of very little clothing.

Here are my Top 10 Reasons to Boycott GoDaddy.com:


1. Super Bowl time is family time-still in prime time. My children don't need to see this kind of low advertising.
2. The commercials were a simple means to peddle soft p*rn through my living room.
3. The marketing approach was obviously created by men for men.
4. I didn't appreciate the 90% naked women being flaunted in front of my husband.
5. What are you selling?  It certainly wasn't clear from that commercial.
6. Using sex to sell is entirely degrading to women.
7. They offended 50% of their target market and especially the powerful mommy bloggers.
8. The $3 million spent on that commercial could have provided clean water for thousands of people, or food and shelter for those without.
9.  Using sex to bring attention to yourselves is insulting to our intelligence.

10. It's time to send a message to advertisers that we are tired of smut being displayed in the name of advertising.  Let them know how you feel -- don't use their services.


...stepping down from soap box.....


What do you think?  Was I the only one offended??

Need an alternative?  Go check out www.puritynames.com.  They've got it going on!  Purity Names was founded to give individuals and organizations a chance to establish their presence on the internet without having to patronize companies who enable and profit from the spread of pornography. As the world's first and only family friendly domain name registrar, we ensure that the domains we sell and the websites we host are not used for pornography. Unlike other companies, we turn away those who want to engage in the distribution of obscene material because we don't want to be associated with such activity.


Now that is a company I can stand behind and support!!

A Prayer Life that Alludes

"Today He sits on the throne of His Majesty on high, and He holds out to us the sceptre of His power.  Shall we touch it and tell Him our desires?  He bids us take of His treasures.  He yearns to grant us "according to the riches of His glory," that we may "be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man."  He tells us that our strength and our fruitfulness depend upon our prayers.  He reminds us that our very joy depends upon answered prayer.


And yet we allow the devil to persuade us to neglect prayer! He makes us believe that we can do more by our own efforts than by our prayers--by our intercourse with men than by our intercession with God."


"Shall we begin today to be (wo)men of prayer, if we have never done so before?  Let us not put it off till a more convenient season.  God wants me to pray.  The dear Savior wants me to pray.  He needs my prayers.  So much--in fact, everything--depends upon prayer.  How dare we hold back?" 


"Do we spend ten minutes a day in prayer? Do we consider it important enough for that? Ten minutes a day on our knees in prayer--when the Kingdom of Heaven can be had for the asking?  Ten minutes?  It seems a very inadequate portion of our time to spend in taking hold of God!  If God were to answer the words we repeated on our knees this morning should we know it?  Should we recognize the answer?  Do we even remember what we asked for?"


"He does answer.  He has given us His word for it.  He always answers every real prayer of faith."

 The Kneeling Christian, author unknown

Oh Lord Jesus, will you teach us to pray?  Will you give us the unquenchable desire to come before you each and every day and lay our lives down before your Throne, asking for your will be done, seeking your desire, aching as your heart aches?  Father, will you beckon us to your Throne room, kneeling at your feet, soaking in your Radiance, bowing before your Glory.  Show us your heart, Lord, so that our prayers may be in step with the Spirit.  Draw us close, Jesus.  In your name, Amen.

It's Super Bowl Weekend - Are You Ready to Support Your Husband?

Unless you are living under a rock, you are aware that this weekend is the Super Bowl. (at least I HOPE you are aware!) I know as women sometimes it may be hard for us to get all excited about sports, but what is important is that we support our husband if he is excited for this weekend!

Wouldn't your husband just love if you whipped up some fun snacks and sat with him during the game?  Better yet, what if you had a little football information under your belt that you could blow him away with your knowledge?

Here is a quick Cliff Notes version for you to be prepared!

• It is Super Bowl 46, happening in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

• Kick off is 6:30 ET.

• The game features the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.

• Tom Brady is the very famous and talented quarterback for the Patriots. This is his 5th Super Bowl, having already won 3.

 

• Eli Manning is the Giants quarterback.  No slouch himself, he has also had an impressive career.  This is his second appearance at the Super Bowl, having won the first appearance.

• This game is a rematch of Super Bowl XLII in 2008, which the Giants won 17-14.

• Madonna is the half-time performer and has promised no wardrobe malfunctions!

So there you have it!  Hopefully you can go impress your husband, enjoy some tasty treats and enjoy those ridiculously priced commercials.

Angels in the Battlefield

In some reading I was doing this week in the book of Daniel, Chapter 10, I came across a passage of scripture that got me to thinking:

10 A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said, "Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you." And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come." 

I was given a strange comfort in knowing that there are times God has sent his angels to us in answer to our prayer requests, and sometimes even the angels encounter battles with Satan that keep them from administering to us right away.

In the previous parts of Daniel we learn that he had been fasting and praying for 21 days, the exact amount of time that the Angel was battling the demons of Satan.

If we had x-ray vision, I wonder what kind of spiritual wars we would witness going on all around the world each day as Angels are dispensed to go to battle on our behalf. 

Just something to think about..... 

The James Study Introduction

WELCOME TO OUR ONLINE STUDY

"JAMES: MERCY TRIUMPHS"

BY BETH MOORE

Natalie and I are so excited to get this study started! We have both been through the first week and the first video of the study, and in true Beth Moore fashion, she has knocked it out of the park!  Each day's homework will only take you about 15 minutes to complete, so I think we can all handle that!

Let me introduce myself to any of you who may be here for the first time or are visiting from Natalie's blog.  My name is Cherie and I have been blogging for about 2 years.  I've been a Christian since childhood, although I've had my share of difficult times throughout my life.  But above all else, Christ has always been my Rock!  I've been married for 15 years to my fantastic Husband, and we have 3 girls, ages 21, 11 and 10.  I work part time as an Administrative Assistant, and I do some Virtual Assistant work on the side from home.

Now let me introduce you to Natalie!  You are going to absolutely love her heart and her encouragement!  I met Natalie through blogging (it turns out we only live a few hours from one another), and then had the pleasure of meeting her in person at The Relevant Conference and the Hearts at Home Conference.  Natalie is the real deal!  She is a momma and wife, and is one busy woman!

Shall we get into the details of our study?  Each week you'll have some daily(5 days) homework to complete, which includes some reading and answering of questions.  Then on Wednesdays you'll come check in here for our discussion questions.  I will host the odd weeks and Natalie will host the even weeks, so week one will be back here at my blog.  We have also set up a private Facebook group, so if you feel you want to share prayer requests or something personal, you can feel comfortable sharing there.  We'll work very hard to get everyone friend requested and added to the group quickly.

You also have the option of heading over to the Lifeway site to purchase and download each week of Beth's sermons prior to that weeks homework.  We want to be sure that you know that this is OPTIONAL!  You will have a very enriching study with or without the videos, so please feel no pressure to have to purchase the videos.

Our schedule is as follows – facilitator listed in parenthesis!

February 8:  Discuss Week One and Video One (Cherie)

February 15:  Discuss Week Two and Video Two (Natalie)

February 22:  Discuss Week Three and Video Three (Cherie)

February 29: Discuss Week Four and Video Four (Natalie)

March 7:  Discuss Week Five and Video Five (Cherie)

March 14:  Discuss Week Six and Video Six (Natalie)

March 21:  Discuss Week Seven and Video Seven (Cherie)

March 28:  Concluding Thoughts and Wrap-Up (Natalie)

So there you have it!  If you plan to follow along with us, be sure to contact either myself or Natalie so we can get you hooked up with the Facebook page.  Other than that, start your study today and we'll see you back here next Wednesday for some fellowship and questions!

Now, let's start with some chit-chat!  Introduce yourself in the comments below!!

LifeWay Women's Newest Study - Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break

I don't know if you guys are familiar with LifeWay Women, but they have some incredible bible studies over there!  I am really excited that their newest study, Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break, by Kelly Minter, will be kicked off  tomorrow with a live webcast and Facebook party at 11 a.m. (CST) Feb. 1, 2012!

The party will get started with live segments and online guests participation with special guests Beth Moore and Lisa Harper.  Oh and did I mentioned giveaways?  The “Nehemiah” Facebook party giveaways include:

● Kindle Fire
● $100 LifeWay Gift Card
● Bundle of other LifeWay Women products, such as No Other Gods Bible study,
Ruth Bible study, Loss, Love & Legacy CD, and a Nehemiah kit
● Nehemiah kit
● Tickets to LifeWay’s new Abundance event

Here is what the author, Kelly Minter had to say about the study, “My goal in this study is not to uncover every word [in Nehemiah], but to follow missional themes about service, Kingdom work, tender hearts, prayer, love of the poor and the sacredness of Scripture,” said Minter.

WOW!  I don't know about you, but that sounds like an amazing study to me!  I can't wait to get my hands on this book!!

I hope to see you over at the party tomorrow!

No Matter What - OUR GOD REIGNS

OUR GOD REIGNS

nation wars against nation

OUR GOD REIGNS

famine wars against innocence

OUR GOD REIGNS

disease wars against flesh

OUR GOD REIGNS

Satan wars against souls

OUR GOD REIGNS

children war against parents

OUR GOD REIGNS

peoples war against governments

OUR GOD REIGNS

evil wars against good

OUR GOD REIGNS


"God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne."
Psalm 47:8