“Left Behind” Opportunities

“Left Behind” Opportunities

“When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality”

Romans 12:13 NLT

Awhile back my daughter & I went to Walmart to get a few groceries. We got to the self check out and began scanning our groceries. My daughter had money with her and decided to buy some gum. When I was done checking out and ready to pay, I got my wallet out and immediately panic set in. I couldn’t find my debit card anywhere! Instant alarm arose in me. Ladies, I am sure you know the feeling!

In my panic induced state, my daughter is still going on and on about which pack of gum to buy! I was trying my best not to snap at her, but she was greatly annoying me, and that just seemed to increase the anxiety! It was definitely a chaotic moment. As I was unloading my purse in the middle of Walmart! I finally gave up and ended up paying with a check. So I push the check button on the register and this cashier comes over and informs me that I needed to load all of my groceries back into the cart and go to another register!

Meanwhile, I am still in panic mode, totally absent minded about my debit card being gone. And my daughter, bless her heart, is STILL going on about the pack of gum. She was not being helpful at all! I finally paid for my groceries and my daughter paid for her gum! We finally got to leave Walmart!

When I got out to my van I was trying to retrace my steps in my mind. What had I done with my debit card? And....Sarah is still talking about the pack of gum she bought!!! She was all excited about what a good deal she had got on it!!!! It had been a busy weekend for me with a women’s event. It took up most of the weekend. And I just couldn’t remember where or when I used my debit card last.

As I calmed myself down and really focused my thoughts, I finally remembered where it could be. So I texted my husband and sure enough, He found it tucked in my coat pocket where I had left it. How careless we can become when we get too busy.

But that’s not the end of the story…..

We got home, I had Bryce unload all the groceries. At least I thought I had! I told Sarah to put some of the groceries away. I got side tracked doing something else, so a couple hours later I decided to put the rest of the groceries away. To my panic, once again, half of my groceries I bought were missing!

I asked Bryce if he got all the groceries out of the van, he said he did. But I had to double check, and sure enough there were no groceries in the van. I was missing 2 bags of groceries!! Somehow, someway in the midst of all the chaos of checking out at Walmart, I managed to leave them in the bagging area when I had to move registers.

I called Walmart and explained what happened. They wouldn’t tell me anything over the phone and said i needed to come into the store! So I drove all the way back over to Walmart. I got to the customer service desk and the lady pulls this binder out with a label on it that said “Left Behind”. My heart instantly stopped, I even looked at my husband and pointed it out. In that binder it contained every single item that people had managed to leave behind at the registers. Other people, in their busyness and chaos had done the same thing as me.

But what is the lesson in all of this? What was dropped in my lap by God? We as Christians live busy lives doing “good” things! But in the chaos, we loose focus, become stressed out and forget about things right in front of us. We go about our day going through the motions and somedays even leaving some of those motions out!

But God was not talking to me about my groceries at that moment, he was talking about people! In the chaos of our day what things get left behind? I know in my chaotic trip to Walmart I left a lot of things behind. More than I care to list! But also simple acts were left behind. A simple act of helping someone with their cart, a simple act of letting someone go before me, a simple act of just smiling at someone, etc, my list can go on and on.

But in all of this I felt God saying, “Don't go out among my people and “leave behind” opportunities to be present with them”. Ladies, we cant just go through the motions! When we do, we miss out on opportunities that God has for us! Has God placed someone in your path that needs something that you have to offer? Do people around you need prayer, an encouraging word, an encouraging smile or just a simple act of kindness?

This quote sums it up for me!

“Christ has no body on earth but yours. No hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are they eyes through which Christ’s compassion for the world is to look out. Yours are the feet which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.” 

St. Teresa of Avila

Ladies, lets not get caught up in our chaos and end up with “Left Behind” Opportunities. Let us go out and be God’s hands and feet…even at Walmart!

"Up or Down the Mountain"

"Up or Down the Mountain"

Having a teenage boy and a pre-teen daughter, things can get really interesting in my house! I get so upset with my kids when I hear them talking negatively to themselves about themselves. There was one day I had all I could possibly take! One of my kids was talking so negatively, I looked at them and said:

 “You can talk yourself up the mountain 

or you can talk yourself down the mountain. 

I can’t control how you talk to yourself.”

Then, you know how God always tends to work in funny ways! About a week later, I was in a position where I was just reading myself the riot act...in my head of course! Something had upset me!  Before I knew it I was allowing all these negative words to consume me and to be spoken to me....by me!

At that moment what I had spoken to my children came flooding back into my mind. “You can talk yourself up the mountain or you can talk yourself down the mountain. I can’t control how you talk to yourself.” 

We can’t control how others talk about themselves or others. But guess what ladies, we can control how we talk to ourselves! God can control how we talk to ourselves! How do you talk to yourself? Let’s not allow ourselves to talk ourselves up a mountain. Let’s take control of how we talk to ourselves about ourselves. 

When we participate in conversations with ourselves, more times than not, we are led up the mountain. We get all worked up, which ends up filling ourselves with anxiety & fear. 

Instead of participating in that negative conversation with myself, I should have participated in a positive conversation with my loving Father. I should have asked Him to take control of my thoughts and feelings. I should have let Him lead me down the mountain.

“So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always. Follow the example of all that we have imparted to you and the God of peace will be with you in all things.”

Philippians 4:8-9 TPT

So why should we let God control our thoughts? Why should we let Him lead us down the mountain? Because He loves us! He wants to speak life into us, not deplete us of it. He wants us to live in peace, not in anxiety. 

Let’s push aside all the negative thoughts and feelings! Listen & look to our Heavenly Father! He is the “God of Peace”. 

Evidence

“Evidence”

“Yes, God raised Jesus to life! And since God’s Spirit of Resurrection lives in you, he will also raise your dying body to life by the same Spirit that breathes life into you!”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:11‬ ‭TPT‬‬

My daughter, Sarah, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 9. It has always been a struggle trying to maintain her blood sugar levels. But over the past couple of months, it was a CONSTANT struggle. It was taking its toll on Sarah’s body. No matter what we did, we couldn’t get her blood sugar under control. It was so bad that her daily blood sugar readings were averaging in the mid-high 200’s (it’s supposed to be between 70-120).

Sarah & our family were stressed. I remember one night, Sarah’s blood sugar alarm just kept going off constantly, alerting her that she was above 300. There was nothing we could do and it was in the middle of the night. She was exhausted and not in the mood to be messed with. That night ended with us both crying and wanting to give up! We were at our limit! Nothing was working.

A few days later, Sarah went to our church’s youth retreat with her brother & Dad. The first night there, the youth pastors wife had Sarah & another girl stand in the middle of a prayer circle. All the youth & staff gathered around and prayed over her. My husband said he had never seen such passionate, fervent, fierce & persistent prayer! It was powerful! He was just overwhelmed with tears! God’s presence was intense. He couldn’t help but believe that something had changed in Sarah.

The amazing thing is that ever since the retreat, Sarahs blood sugar readings seemed to stabilize. I couldn’t believe it! One day I decided to download her blood sugar records onto the computer. I wanted to see the evidence. I needed to see it with my eyes!

When I looked at the chart I couldn’t believe what I saw. She takes her blood sugar about 4 times a day. When I looked at the chart she went from having 3-4 high sugar readings EACH DAY to now maybe having 3 high readings in a WHOLE WEEK. Hallelujah! The evidence was perfectly clear! God had moved in Sarahs life!

I wanted to shout it from the rooftops! I knew that I had to share this with other people! Others needed to hear about what happened at the youth retreat. They needed to hear about the powerful, persistent, fervent praying that the youth did at this retreat! They needed to know that God’s power is within us! They needed to know that we can pray over people with confidence!

During this time the song Same Power by Jeremy Camp came to my mind:

“The same power that rose Jesus from the grave
The same power that commands the dead to wake
Lives in us, lives in us
The same power that moves mountains when He speaks
The same power that can calm a raging sea
Lives in us, lives in us
He lives in us, lives in us”

Ladies, this makes me want more!!!! Does it make you want more?!?!? I always KNEW that we held the same power in us. But this made me BELIEVE it! It makes me want to shout & jump & dance!!!! It makes me want more of God!

Let’s not hold back! Let‘s BELIEVE that this power is in us, and act like it! Let our prayers be powerful, passionate, fervent, fierce & persistent! Then look for the evidence, because it’s all around!

I Need What You Have

“I Need What You 

“You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:14-16 MSG

One morning I was sitting in the living room. I was doing some work on the laptop when my son Bryce came in. He looked at me and said, “I need what you have.”

When he said it my immediate response was to jokingly say, “Why, of course you do!” For some reason, I just haven’t been able to shake this statement. The statement pierced me!

I have sat and pondered this for quite awhile. Wondering what message God had in this simple statement. The question that came to my mind was this. Am I living my life in a way that people will look at me and say “I need what you have”? Do they notice a difference in me and how I live my life? Do they see Jesus when they look at me?

1 Peter 2:11-12 MSG says:

“Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.”

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Reading these verses made me stop and look at how I live my life. It made me wonder, “How does my life look different from others?” Am I living an honorable life? Am I doing beautiful works for God? Am I winning others over to Christ?

I’m not just talking about when we are at church. I’m talking about when we are at home. When we go into the grocery store. When we are driving down the road. When we encounter a stranger.

When there is no one around that we think we know, would someone look at us and know there was something different about us? Would they NEED what we have? Do we shine Jesus to those around us?

Ladies, the greatest compliment any one of us can receive is for someone to look at us, see Jesus and say “I need what you have!”

This has challenged me and has caused me to do an evaluation on how I live my life. I hope it challenges you too! Ladies, let’s live our lives in a way that others will say “I need what you have!”
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Music For You:

* Let Them See You by Colton Dixon

Walk the Path

“Walk the Path”

“Stand on your feet alert, then you’ll always be ready to share the blessings of peace.”
Ephesians 6:15 TPT

One of my favorite things are fuzzy socks! I absolutely love them! Sometimes after wearing shoes all day, your feet ache. Nothing feels better than coming home and putting on a pair of fuzzy socks.They can comfort you after a long day and just make you feel warm.

You see, our feet carry all our weight.They carry us through our day and we use them with every step we take. Feet also keep us steady when we stand.

For many of us, we have to walk in places we might not choose, but God has promised to protect us as we walk with Him. We need to protect our feet so that we can continue to walk the path that God has for us! But we also need to protect our feet so that we can walk with other women down all their paths.

Handprints

“Handprints”

Your hands do a lot of things and are responsible for a lot of things.They clean our houses, they cook our meals, they fold our laundry, they pay bills, they change dirty diapers, they give baths, and the list goes on and on.

But our hands also get the privilege of wiping tears, holding peoples hands, carrying our babies and caring for our friends & family. They even give us the privilege of laying our hands on others as we pray for them or using them to worship God.

What would we do without our hands? We need to keep them nourished and protected so we can continue to do what God has created us to do.

“Jesus has chosen to leave his handprints on the world through our hands.”
David Jeremiah

Refresh & Nourish

“Refresh & Nourish”

“His massive arms are wrapped around you, protecting you. You can run under his covering of majesty and hide. His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm.”
Psalms 91:4 TPT

Different weather environments wreak havoc on our lips. Causing them to be dry and cracked and even sometimes bleeding. But, we don't have to let that happen.

We know when the weather change is coming.We know when we will be in conditions that could damage our lips.  Because we know, we have the ability to prevent this and protect them in advance. We can pull out this little tube of Chapstick and nourish and refresh our lips.

Ladies even through times when the “environment" or “weather” is wreaking havoc, when it is the least desirable to us or maybe even to other ladies around us, we have the power to call on God for ourselves & for others. He has the authority to prevent & protect. Just like this tube of chapstick,God alone will refresh & nourish our Lips.

Words of our Mouths

“Words of our Mouth”

“So may the words of my mouth, my meditation-thoughts, and every movement of my heart be always pure and pleasing, acceptable before your eyes,
my only Redeemer, my Protector-God.” Psalms 19:14 TPT

Days can be crazy at my house! I don’t know about you, but I tell the  kids all day what time we have to leave. It never fails - we are running around at the last minute and I am giving orders, “get your shoes on, comb your hair, get your coat, brush your teeth, get in the van!”

It never fails that one of those items does not get done and more often than not, it is “brush your teeth” that gets neglected. I don't realize it until it’s too late and they are sitting by me in the van. The kids start talking to me and all of a sudden the odor travels over and I get a whiff of their breath. It about knocks me over. Immediately I'm asking if anyone has any gum!

Ladies, we don't want the words of our mouth to knock others over. Let God freshen up our breath.We want our words to be pleasing to God and to others.

We want to be able to reach out to other ladies with God’s refreshing words.We don't want to be knocking ladies over with distasteful words. Let God speak to us, so that in turn we can speak to others.

Wipe the Tears

“Wipe the Tears”

“Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down.”
Romans 12:15 MSG

“All who are oppressed may come to you as shelter in the time of trouble, a perfect hiding place.”
Psalms 9:9 TPT

What would we do without Kleenex? Many times I have been in prayer groups, bible studies, worship services, or a much needed heart to heart conversation with a friend that ends with us crying!

And you know what happens when we cry, the inevitable...our faces are covered in tears and our noses run. We need kleenex, sometimes a whole box to come in and clean us up! How uncomfortable it is to need a kleenex and not have anything around that you can use. I have been there and done that!

Without the Kleenex to come in and clean up, our face would be a mess and if we are honest, it leaves us feeling uncomfortable. We look like little children with
boogers all over our faces instead of grown women.

Ladies, let us be the kleenex. So many ladies - teens too, just need a friend, a mentor to come along beside them. Let us be women who come along side these ladies to pray with them, to have a heart to heart conversation with them, or to invite them to a bible study. Let God use us to go in and wipe the tears of other women.

Shut It Out!

“Shut It Out”

“My own sheep will hear my voice and I know each one, and they will follow me.”
John 10:27 TPT

There is a lot of noise in this world! Lets admit right now that sometimes, there is no escape from all of the noise!  Concerts, workplaces, stores, restaurants, even our homes have a lot of noise!  Even doing different jobs around the house can be loud and require ear plugs. Sometimes we probably wish we had ear plugs when we overhear other peoples conversations!

When there is a lot of noise, we need to shut it out so we can hear God whisper. If we don't protect our ears, we will begin to lose our hearing.  Sounds that were once easily heard can grow faint in the background.

If we aren't careful, we will even lose our ability to hear what God has to say. Let us be ladies that protect our hearing. We want to be able to hear God speaking to us, and we want God to know we are listening! We want to be able to hear Him drawing and calling us closer to Him!

Music For You:
* Speak to Me by Kari Jobe

Continue Looking to God

“Continue Looking to God”

“I look up to the mountains and hills, longing for God’s help.  But then I realize that our true help and protection come only from the Lord, our Creator who made the heavens and the earth.” Psalms 121:1-2 TPT

How many of you have left the house in a hurry, driving down the road and all of the sudden the sun is glaring in your eyes?  You can’t see a thing and you left your sunglasses behind!  We tend to panic when that happens and begin to pray that nothing is ahead that we will run into or that can hurt us or someone else!

That is exactly what happened to me one morning.  Bryce was just a baby, he had been up all night sick.  I got up the next morning to go to the store to buy some Pedialyte.  All of a sudden the glare from the sun was so intense and when I turned a corner I ended up hitting a parked car! How horrifying and embarrassing!

The glare of the sun had completely blocked my vision of that vehicle. I had made that turn many times, but that morning the sun had totally messed with my bearings and my vision.  I learned the hard way that sunglasses are a necessity!  They not only protect our eyes from the sun, but they also protect our entire being.

When it is sunny out and we are without sunglasses, we are forced to squint our eyes so that we can adjust them to see in that condition.  Our eyes are not open wide anymore and we aren't seeing everything that we are intended to see.  When the sun is out in full force, we need sun glasses so we can continue to see what is ahead of us.  If we don't protect our eyes when we are out in the sun, then we are compromising our vision.

Lets not reduce or compromise our vision.  We want to be able to continue looking to God regardless of what might be hindering or reducing our vision.  We need to be able to see what God is doing each and every day.  We need to be looking to him for help and for protection!