Don't Just Hope- Ask, Get Excited, and Expect

When we are expecting something, it can be an exciting time.  It could be a promotion at work, a big birthday celebration or anniversary.  Maybe you’re expecting your tax refund in the mail and making big plans for it.  You might even be in the midst of expecting a baby to come into your life.  No matter what you are expecting, you know that something is coming, and you are looking for it.

When I invite people over to my home, I am prepared and expectant.  I am looking for them, and eagerly wait.  Sometimes, those folks are late, and then what happens?  My patience begins to wane, frustration and anxiety might begin to set in, and I might even begin to doubt if they’re coming at all.

Don’t we do that when we come to God with our requests?  When the answer isn't coming when we expected, we become anxious and impatient and begin to say, “Well, I guess He didn’t hear me or want to answer me.”.  Sometimes, His answers take months and even years, and sometimes the answers aren’t always what we asked for.

• ·         When taking your requests before the Lord in prayer, do you expect Him to answer?
• ·         Are you willing to wait and eagerly watch for His answer?
• ·         Do you believe that He knows all things and that His timing is best?

Take heart.  God does hear us.  He loves us and the ones we are praying for even more than we do.  We have to yield to God’s will for our lives and those for whom we pray.

• The waiting?  It’s HARD! 
• The watching?  It can be frustrating!
• The answer?  It will be perfect.

Waiting on God’s answer is best because He sees the whole picture.  You can compare it to a Monet.  He sees the entire thing, even the water lilies and trees.  I see only a portion, close up, pretty much only random strokes that don’t make a lot of sense.

We encourage you to go before God, ask Him for what you want or need, and expect an answer.  Keep your eyes open looking around for any sign of progress that is being made, but still keeping in mind that His answer might not look like what you’re expecting.

Hope.  Ask. Get Excited. Expect.

Passages to Ponder:

Psalm 5:3- Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.  Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

Galatians 6:9- So let’s not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Micah 7:7- As for me, I look to the Lord for help.  I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.

Contributors:  Karen Bromby, Maria Kucharczuk and Kim McClure

A Confident Hope Illuminates A Dark Heart

Isn’t it nice when you know you can trust something to work? For instance, when you go to sit down at the table for dinner, you pull out the chair and you sit in it because you’re confident that it’s going to do its job and support you.  You don’t pull out the chair, examine the structure and then sit in it carefully, not sure if it will work or not, do you?  You’re confident that it will do its job.  Let’s have the same confidence that God will do His job.

We wrote last week that hope will get you to the light at the end of the tunnel you’re in.  Feeling hopeless can be crushing emotionally and physically.  If you have ever dealt with depression, you know the feelings of hopelessness and the darkness that it brings.  Some have even craved the darkness over the light, because darkness covers the things we want to hide, while the light exposes them, but the light is where you will find hope to begin anew.

How do you get out of the darkness and into the light?

• ·         Read Scripture
• ·         Pray
• ·         Worship
• ·         Serve

Notice that none of those four items are self-serving.  It takes discipline to take time out of your day to read scripture and pray.  You might even have to set your alarm clock 30 minutes earlier to find the time, but it will guide you to the light.  These two activities will develop your relationship with God, because this is how you get to know Him.  Listening to a pastor every week is wonderful and beneficial, but that pastor cannot develop YOUR personal relationship with Christ. 

Worship can be done through song, it can be done through speech, or in a myriad of ways, but the common denominator with worship is that you are putting yourself lower than God and acknowledging His mighty presence and power, and praising Him for it!  By getting to know God and understanding that He took our sins and washed them away is powerful.  Worship Him because He loves you! Know that He isn’t mad at you, but instead wants to bless us as joint heirs in His kingdom.  This realization can change your world.

How did that ever happen?  How did we become so fortunate?  At some time, you were drawn to the light.  The initial light might have come from a sermon, a song on the radio, or in an example set by someone.  The light of God wants to draw you in out of the darkness, and He will use whatever He has to in order to get our attention.

We definitely get closer to God through the previous items mentioned, but serving is the fourth leg of the chair.  When you serve other people, God shows you about your own selfishness, materialism and comfort seeking, exposing some of the things that we should work on to become more Christ-like.  A correlation could be made that similar to the eye being the lamp of the body, so is the heart, and serving certainly illuminates the heart.

Michele shares this thought, “Who have I been a light for lately?  I feel I have planted seeds in people, but am I continually shining the light of Jesus so that others may see and want that love relationship with Him?”…

Let’s all strive to shine a confident light that draws others in out of the darkness, and spread some hope around.

Passages to Ponder:

Ephesians 1:18- I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called- His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance.

Philippians 1:9- I pray that your love with overflow more and more, ad that yu will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

Luke 11:36- 

If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.

Contributors:  Karen Bromby, Kathy Derda, Michele Killion and Kim McClure

Hope is the Peanut Butter, Pray is the Jelly

Hope and Pray go together like peanut butter and jelly.  Both are good on their own, but together they make a killer combination.  I have heard those two words used together for as long as I can remember, “Well, I hope and pray that it happens…”.  Combining these two actions might just be the key to opening any locks in our mindsets.

This morning, I (Kim), sent my youngest child to her last day of her senior year in high school.  I have already sent one child off to college, and now it’s almost time to do it again.  It was a teary morning after she left.  There is a lot of transition coming up in the next few months for us, and while I trust God and know that He has all of us under His wing, I am only human, and even Jesus wept.

There are lots of things I hope for in the lives of my children as they begin their adult lives.   A walk with the Lord, success, confidence, happiness, love, strength to overcome adversity, endurance, and strong will are just a few that I think of immediately.  I also ask God to deliver these things into their lives.  I wish he would deliver all of them NOW, but He doesn’t work like that.  Even though, my requests aren’t answered on demand, I know with confidence that God hears them.

Being confident that God hears you is important.  We aren’t supposed to be wishy washy in our faith, but straight up sure that our Father knows what is best for us.  When we approach him with confidence it pleases Him, yet we still must be humble and ready to yield to God’s will.  Our hope comes from knowing that God wants the absolute best for us.  He’s seen the whole movie of our lives.  He knows how it ends.  He knows all of the plot twists and characters intimately.  It gives me hope that God has that knowledge about my two precious kids (young adults), and even though I might fail, He is the ultimate parent knowing what is best for them. 

So, I will continue to P.R.A.Y.

Praise- Thank you, Father God, for the blessing of being a mother to these kids.  Thank you that they are healthy, and have good hearts, and that they know You.

Repent- Forgive me when I fail to reflect your love and light to other people, especially to my family.

Ask- Please don’t let go of them, but pull them close to you filling their lives with success, confidence, happiness, love, and strength keeping them healthy and making wise decisions.

Yield- I ask these things for them if it is Your will, and if it isn’t, give me the strength to parent them with grace and forgiveness.

Amen.

Passages to Ponder:

I John 5:14- And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him.

Ephesians 3:12- Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.

Hebrews 10:23- Let us hold tightly without wavering o the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.

Contributors:  Karen Bromby and Kim McClure

Holding On To Hope

Hope.

It’s one of those words that we say a lot. “ I hope so..”, “ I hope that…” But, what is hope?

Hope is a strong, confident expectation

Hope is often intertwined with change.  Aren’t most of our hopes tied to some sort of change in ourselves, others, or a circumstance?  When we are waiting on a report from a doctor or watching our children stumble over obstacles in their paths, hope is what keeps us going.

Kristy’s mother recently passed away unexpectedly.  In her words, “ I can’t imagine wading through this grief without being able to “expect with confidence” that I will see her on the other side.  A friend of mine told me when her mother died, someone told her,  ‘Don’t ever forget that your mom is still in your future’.  If we weren’t Christians, I wouldn’t have that hope of a future with her.  It brings me so much comfort to know my hope is a reality of things to come.”

Hope is a guarantee

Hope brings great comfort through trials.  As believers in Christ, hope doesn’t merely mean, “I hope we can go to the lake next week.”.  In God’s word, hope is a promise of what will happen.  Feeling a glimpse of hope gives us courage, and in those small moments, we feel protected and can rest.  Be reminded that whatever you are experiencing is only temporary.  The truth of what lies ahead for God’s children is eternal. 

Hope is a gift

Hope pulls people through their darkest places and loneliest moments.  It’s a way God summons us to keep trudging through the mud and the muck.    Every time you read God’s promises in the Bible, be comforted and strengthened to press on.  When we are in the midst of pain, hope is all we have, yet it’s hard to have it.  Don’t refuse the gift of hope.

Hope is a promise

Hope is that glimmer in the distance for safety, success, blessings, healing, adventure and the next step.  When people around us are losing hope, it’s important that we keep ours turned up loud and bright, to help them find a way out of the darkness.

The world is becoming more and more wicked, which can easily cause us to become more hopeless, but we serve a faithful God who always keeps his promises.  This life is full of many battles. It isn’t easy, but don’t give up because with God there is always hope for something better. 

In Psalm 10, David calls out to God asking how long He is going to allow wickedness and why He doesn’t intervene.  At the end of the chapter, David leans into God, acknowledges that God knows what He is doing, and decides to trust Him.  In order to have hope, we have to do these things:  lean into God, not turn away, trust, and believe without a doubt that all things work together for good for those who love God.  Focus on the belief that God would not place challenges on any of us if He thought we could not overcome them.  Hold onto hope and watch yourself become stronger for it.

Will it be easy? Probably not. 

Will it hurt?  Probably. 

Will it be worth it? Definitely.

Passages to Ponder:

Job 11:18- Having hope will give you courage.  You will be protected and rest in safety.

Psalm 10:17-18- Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless.  Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.  You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.

Psalm 94:19- When doubts filled my mind, Your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

Contributors:

Karen Bromby, Monica Brown, Jodi Dunbar, Michele Killion, Maria Kucharczuk, Kim McClure, Shawna Nelson and Kristy Tolley

February Love Letters- Love Is A Wonderful Thing by Julie Meikle

The saying by Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get,” resonates with so many in our society.  For the most part, I would agree with this statement. So many times our circumstance take us on paths we never expected and/or imagined. Yet, through each walk, each moment, we are defined and refined and hopefully, it is for the better of others, and ourselves, but mostly for the glory of God.

Our lives and our paths are most often determined by our choices, we actually can choose the type of chocolate, the type of mate, the type of marriage we want…..we don’t need to aimlessly and carelessly hope for the best piece…..then hope we are satisfied.

Today, we are bombarded with the idea that “anything goes,” do what makes us happy, and if things get too hard, then quit and move on to something else….to greener pastures…something that fulfills our immediate needs and desires.” 

Thus, words such as marriage and love become words of convenience and compromise, lacking in faith and commitment.

I must confess, when asked to share my experience and thoughts regarding my marriage, I humbly laughed because I will be the first to tell you that I for sure do not have nor do I claim to have the perfect marriage or life. I also will tell anyone and everyone that marriages should be based on I Corinthians 13, that marriage is hard and requires work and commitment, and that your mate and others will always fail you, but it is our wonderful Father who will never fail us, leave us, or stop loving us.  It is in Him we need to put our trust.

My “love story” may seem odd and unlikely, especially in today’s norm. You, see I fell in love when I was in high school and married my husband shortly after graduation. Everyone (teachers, mentors, close friends and even family) discouraged me from getting married so young.  I was told to live it up and experience life and settle down when I got older.  

Yet, for me I never desired to go out and “live it up” for I believed “living it up” was sharing life with the man I loved.   I had been raised in the church my entire life and was blessed to have a heritage of long marriages in my family from my great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents. 

I knew that my husband, Mark, had all the traits I desired: Christian, country boy, good Christian family, funny, smart, ambitious, and he loved kids. I was just blessed to have found him so early. 

Thus, we vowed on June 20, 1987 before God and our family and friends to love and cherish each other till death do we part. We were going to live happily ever after.

Then life truly began.  

Two bachelor degrees, two master’s degrees and other certifications between the two of us (which equated to almost 10 years of school), two kids, six job changes and nine moves has equated to quite a roller coaster ride. 

People may look at us now and think, “Their lives are so easy…they have all these things.” Yet, they have not seen the sacrifices and/or traveled the long road with us. 

There were many days I didn’t like my husband very much and I know he felt the same towards me. There were days when the kids were sick and we were physically exhausted and wanted to just “get away,” days when he was stressed from work and came home in a mood, days when we were just selfish and ugly, and days when we had to once again tell our children that we were moving because of dad’s work, but one thing was for certain, we had each other and God would take care of us.

We knew our marriage was an investment and that love was not built on “raw physical” (though that is how most of our relationships begin) or just a moment of elation, but rather it’s a commitment, a choice we make to love this person (flaws and all) and grow old with them. Mark and I made time for each other and always tried to share many of the same interests and activities. My needs were different than his needs and we each needed to be in tune to each other’s feelings and desires. It’s a choice we make every day, just as we choose to serve God. It’s a mindset that “I love you just as you are and I’m not going to keep trying to change you, but love you unconditionally like Christ loves his church.”

This past year has been one like no other.  My daughter became engaged in June and married in November. The wedding ring she selected was one with three bands based on the scripture from Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” My daughter and son-in-law know that a strong and happy marriage has God as the center, holding it all together.  My husband and I have prayed for her and the man she would someday marry since she the day she was born and I love that God is faithful and that we are witnessing His goodness.

Today, we are empty-nesters and I am struggling like never before. Twenty years of having a houseful of kids with laughter, noise, fights, and tears…..just seems like it went away……in the blink of an eye. Now, my husband and I are alone again and trying to work through this next chapter in our lives.

While having the “woe is me” attitude last week, my dear friend who just lost her husband of 27 years to cancer called.  She was sad and lonely and needed a shoulder.  The one thing she said has helped me reevaluate and appreciate all those “little things” we all so take for granted: “you know, I have no one to come home and vent to, I have no one to sit with me in church, I have no one to help resolve issues with my kids, I have no one to call to say I made it or I am on my way home.  I have no one to hold me.”

Love is a wonderful thing. 

Marriage is a gift….an opportunity to “do life” with the one we love. Now through much prayer and gratitude, I am focusing my attention back to my husband and to our marriage (though I am still in transition…not going to lie). God has richly blessed me with health, a loving family, wonderful friends, and most importantly a spouse who loves me and shares this life on earth with me. “For every good and perfect gift comes from the Father.” James 1:17 

February Love Letters- Love Transcends All Boundaries by Brittany Ketter

I thought and I prayed long and hard about these words that I write to you.  After a few weeks the question that I felt God was prompting my heart with was this, "What is the greatest outpouring of love you have ever received?" And, "What is the greatest outpouring of love that you have given?"

 The gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is the greatest outpouring of love I have ever received. I am not meaning to sound cliche here - He really is. Aside from Jesus, memories of the people I was so privileged to minister to in El Salvador, Phoenix, and New York City flood my mind. 3 mission trips, 3 different years, each one life-changing in a unique way. New York City was my first trip. I thought I was going to bless some people and witness on the streets. I was not prepared for the tsunami that swept over my heart when I met these kids at a day camp that my group and I put on a Vacation Bible School for. There was one girl in particular who really captured my heart, Brianna. To this day I'm not sure how she captured me so, but even after 4 years, she still remains in my prayers.

In El Salvador I learned that love transcends all boundaries. It is a language all on its own. If you are fluent in love, you can reach anyone.

Phoenix was a whole new group of people - and a lot of young kids in far less than wholesome situations. One of the neighborhoods that our team worked during the trip was the location of an axe murder that took place the day before we got there. To think that these children live surrounded by that kind of violence - it is heart breaking. Those children touched my life in a deep way through their hunger for love. Everyone needs it. 

During these trips my love for people has deepened, and through these experiences, God has re-shaped my view. Growing up, I had the mindset that life really begins when I get married and begin a family. I couldn't have been more wrong. That is just a part of life - just like singleness is a part of my life right now. What I've found through these mission trips is that a life truly lived is one that is lived in love.

It is not always easy being a single Christian woman. At times I find myself in a state of longing - I do so desire to marry and have a family one day. Beyond that, I long to see the glory of God made manifest in my life and in the lives of those who I come into contact with.

Love is not just for couples. I want to encourage you if you are a single Christian woman - embrace this season of singleness and press into the heart of God. These are the days that He is shaping you for what is to come.  If you want to truly live and experience life, you need to love radically. How better can you love radically than to know Love Himself?

The greatest outpouring of love that you can give is the knowledge of salvation to a lost soul who needs Jesus. Is there really a higher privilege than being able to introduce someone to Jesus Christ and eternal life? I'm not so sure there is.

I want to challenge you - think about the greatest outpouring of love you have ever received and then give out that same kind of love. You will never be the same.

 Brittany Lee Ketter

www.gracedwithglory.org

www.facebook.com/BrittanyLeeKetter

Twitter: @Brittany_Lee22

February Love Letters- Love is Relentless by Michelle Warner

One particular time, four years ago, stands out to me when I internalized the truth of God’s relentless love for me. After being married for little over a year, I found out I had to have surgery to remove a large ovarian cyst. The doctor did not seem to be overly concerned about it since I was young and healthy but she said since it wasn’t shrinking, I should just get it removed. After the surgery, I had a long recovery due to some complications but the good news was that they sent the cyst to pathology, and the initial report was that everything looked fine.

After that long week of waiting and recovering, I drove downtown to meet my husband for the follow-up appointment. I was praying as I drove, asking God to prepare us for the appointment and calm my heart. I can vividly remember driving down the highway with the Chicago skyline in my view and listening to the radio. At that moment, the song “How He Loves Us” by David Crowder came on the radio.  

“How He loves us, oh how He loves us, How he loves us, how He loves us,” over and over.

 How powerful to hear those words repeatedly!

 I obviously had a lot on my mind and as I was singing along, I got really choked up.

If I was honest, I was scared about going to my appointment and what I would hear. But God met me in a very tangible way through giving me that song and comforted me by reminding me that He loved me so intimately, He was walking every step of this journey with me, and He knew exactly what I needed. I was beginning to trust that whatever I found out, God loved me deeply, and that would be enough. Although I knew that truth in my head, this time it was making its way to my heart.

Unfortunately, I found out that the cyst was actually a rare, cancerous tumor.

 I can’t tell you how many times I have thought back to that drive down to the doctor’s office belting out “oh how He loves us” over and over. It was absolutely God’s way of preparing my heart as well as bringing me on a journey with Him to know His love in a much deeper way.

I will never forget realizing in my heart of hearts—maybe for the first time—that God deeply loved me even when my life was falling apart.

It can seem easier to sense God’s love when life is going just like I envision, but I learned that even though it wasn’t, it didn’t mean He didn’t love me or He was withholding His love from me. His expression of love wasn’t just when all was right with the world, but He loved me just as much even when my circumstances felt like He didn’t.

Soon after, we found out the tumor was cancerous.  I had another surgery to remove my ovary and then I had to begin chemo.

You can imagine I was scared. I was fearful of the unknown, fearful of the future, fearful I wouldn’t be attractive without hair, fearful I wouldn’t be able to have a baby after all this, and on and on.

But everywhere I turned, the theme of God’s love kept coming up—whether it be through Scripture, songs, or a friend’s timely word. His love sustained me.

As I closed the chapter of enduring chemo and opened a new chapter where my hair started growing back, my life began to normalize and I could tell God had much more to teach me about experiencing and trusting His love.  Actually, I think it was more that He wanted to help me live out the lessons He had taught me about His love.

A few months after I finished chemo, I visited the doctor for a routine check-up. Later that day, I received a call that one of my blood count numbers was very high. I tried not to panic because the number was known to fluctuate but there was still that nagging feeling of what if? What if the cancer’s back? What if I have to lose my hair again? What if I’ll never have kids?

Although I knew intellectually that God was fully in control, internally I was freaking out—which showed me that at the core, I didn’t trust Him or His love for me to give me what I needed.  Again, God brought another song into my life, this one again about God’s love to reinforce what He had been teaching me.

This song was called “Your Love Never Fails” by Jesus Culture. The chorus says, “You make all things work together for my good…Your love never fails, there may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning.” I played that song over and over and over until the lyrics were ingrained in my head and I could say back to God, “You makes all things work together for my good and so I will trust You love me and will give me the courage I need to get through this” even if it meant the worst case scenario.

Thankfully it was just a scare, but I will never forget that time because it added another chapter of experiencing and trusting God’s love to my story and deepened my confidence that no matter what, I could trust Him.

I took those lessons about God’s love to heart and they bolstered me as I trusted God with the desires of my heart, specifically to start a family. My oncologist told us we had to wait a year after the chemo before beginning a family, and that wait was excruciatingly difficult.

It felt like everywhere I turned a friend was pregnant or a stranger was holding a baby in my view. But then as long as the wait felt, when the time was right, we quickly got pregnant. I was so overwhelmed with God’s tender love for me and providing in such a meaningful way.

As my 20-week ultrasound approached, all those feelings and fears of my cancer check-ups came flooding back, and fear about the health of our baby almost overtook me.

As I struggled through my fear, so many times I would think to myself, “I thought I already learned this lesson! And yet I am back here again!” But God helped me see that I had learned some lessons about His love but He wanted to take me to a deeper place with them. In those moments, I had to rehearse all of the things that God had taught me in the past several years about His love and His good character all over again. As I prepared for the appointment, I knew I wasn’t guaranteed a healthy baby, but I knew I could trust God to give us what we needed. And so I poured out my heart to Him about all of my concerns and fears and hopes.

Let me also confess that as much as I was praying for a healthy baby, I was asking God for a little girl. I was so thrilled to be pregnant that I really was perfectly happy with a girl or a boy but if I could be honest, my deepest desire was to have a girl first.

To my delight, the doctor told us our baby was not only perfectly healthy but a girl! On the way home, I was driving by myself, thanking God for His wonderful gift and you’ll never believe what song came on the radio: “How He Loves Us.” 

I burst into tears and felt God say to my heart very clearly,

 “I love you on your worst days (when I found out about the cancer) and I love you on your best days (when I found out I was having a girl, the desire of my heart).” I will never forget that moment when the lesson about God’s love came full circle.

Whether you are in a season of waiting, trial, or routine, God has an intimate love that is personal just for you that He wants you to experience. I encourage you to ask God, will you show me how much You love me? And then open your ears and eyes to hear and see the answer. I can attest to several times where I have asked God to give me tangible evidence of His love and have been blown away by how personal He has answered me. He longs to show you His love for you personally.

 “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are.” (1 John 3:1)

You can connect with Michelle at her blog www.insightforgirls.com

February Love Letters- Love Doesn't Settle by Kim McClure

I always wanted to get married and have a family. However, when I was young, I never really could see it happening for me. There were times when I thought maybe it would, but I’m not sure I would have put the word ‘happily’ in front of the word ‘married.’ The only way I pictured it was settling for someone and  leading a quiet, normal life.

When I told my grandmother that, she told me to pray that God would send the man that I would want to marry and that I would be happy with..not settling. She told me to pray with specificity about the kind of man I wanted God to send. I did. It’s funny when I think back to what the characteristics were that I prayed for, but I remember: liked to play baseball, wore a baseball hat, loved God, loved me, was a good provider and a good father to the two kids we would have, preferably a boy and a girl 2 years apart.

Sound familiar? If you know me, you know that I married a man who played baseball in high school, occasionally wears baseball hats, loves God, loves me, is a great provider and a fabulous father to our two kids who just happen to be a boy and a girl born two years and 4 months apart.

I never had a serious relationship until I met my husband, Jason. I went out with guys and “dated” a few, but each time I thought about marrying that person, I knew I would have been settling. I was one of those people who always considered if the person I was dating was marriage-material or not. I had a lot of friends who told me that was crazy, and just to have fun, but I always thought the purpose of dating was to find a husband, and if that person wasn’t it, why are we wasting time?

I had just ended a rather unhealthy “relationship” (that might be stretching it) in college, when I felt God tugging on me and reminding me to look to Him for guidance, so I did. I made some promises to Him about changing some things in my life, which I still keep 24 years later, and very soon, things started to come into motion.

I was sitting in my room of the Alpha Chi house with several girls discussing guys and how there weren’t any good ones in the world, when my friend Shawna said, “We just need to fix you up with someone nice. Hmmm.” Then she, Jodi, and Tammy all said “Jason McClure” at the same time. I had heard his name before. He was friends with all three of them. I had driven Jodi to his apartment for tutoring in Accounting 215, he had called our room before to talk to Shawna, and Tammy had lived in his dorm freshman year. Shawna set it up, and on January 20, 1990, I went on a blind date that went very right.

We got married in 1992 after graduating from college, and he wanted to move to Cincinnati. I refused to move. We had our first child in 1994, and then our daughter in 1996. 

In 2001, the company he worked for was sold. We were told we could move to New Jersey with the parent company, or he could take a severance package. I refused to move to New Jersey!

The job market in WV wasn’t great, so he found an opening for Controller at Carowinds in Charlotte, NC. He applied and got the job. The VP Finance who was looking at hundreds of resumes said that his stuck out because he went to Marshall University. She was engaged to a man was from the town where we went to college. That’s the reason his got pulled from the huge stack she’d received.

So, we took a leap of faith and moved to Charlotte, and had an awesome 3 ½ years there, and then we moved to Cincinnati. 

Yep, the same place I refused to go to at the beginning of our marriage. Jason was then working at Kings Island. We had a great 3 ½ years there, when he was offered the position of General Manager of Dorney Park in Allentown, PA.

 It was a great opportunity for his career, and the advantages it would provide financially for our kids’  education and future couldn’t be denied. We didn’t even know where Allentown was. The Billy Joel song  as all we knew (and it really isn’t even about Allentown, it’s about Bethlehem, but Allentown sounded better in  he song), but we again took a leap of faith.

 He got into the truck headed to Allentown with a map. We’d never been there. I know it sounds crazy, but we’ve had a great 6 years here. The craziest part? I live 30 minutes from New Jersey.

Yup again, the second place I refused to move to earlier in our marriage. The truth is, no matter where we live, love anchors us and holds us steady.

When I have chosen to trust God, He has always provided.

· My husband is the love of my life. I did not settle, and I can easily put the word ‘happily’ in front   of the word ‘married.’

· I still hold those three girls, Shawna, Jodi, and Tammy, as three of my dearest friends.

· It was God that made Jason’s resume stand out in that stack that started our moving journey.

· I’ve met amazing people through our various locations and jobs, with each bringing growth and

  blessings.

I’m thankful that God has a plan for me and that He waited patiently until I was ready to let Him work in my life. 

My daily prayer is that my children find the spouse that God has chosen for them, and that they will allow God to work in their lives too. My youngest is graduating from high school in June, and my empty nest awaits. It makes me cry occasionally (okay, maybe a lot), but I’m also excited for some one on one time with my hubby in yet another new location. It’s not the quiet, normal life that I was afraid I would have to settle for; it’s so much more.

February Love Letters- Love Can Be Trusted by Kristy Tolley

It’s way past their bedtime on a school night, yet giggles seep through the wall to my bedroom. They have separate bedrooms, but sometimes waking hours aren’t enough for these two. I ponder whether I should scold them and remind them of the late hour. I pause, as I’m reminded of other late hours more than 13 years ago. Hours filled with the belief that the laughter of children would never fill the space of my home.

Blood tests, fertility drugs, and endless frustration – that’s what seemed to consume us for a good bit of 1999. Joe and I were married seven years before. We already had three years under our belt of trying “the natural way” to conceive. A visit to a fertility clinic was the logical next step. As if the struggle of infertility itself wasn’t difficult enough, the added appointments, tests and ultimate disappointments were almost more than I could bear.

Within those four years, tears flowed freely – and often. Little things most people wouldn’t even notice stabbed my heart almost daily – a friend who complained incessantly about her children; stories of unwanted teen pregnancies; and endless invitations to friends’ baby showers.

Though I questioned God a lot, I never questioned His love for me. He placed people in our lives who had walked through exactly what we were struggling with. Whether it was a shoulder to cry on, or a quick call to say they were praying for my next doctor’s appointment, our friends and family encouraged us in ways I can never thank them enough for.

After a year of failed fertility treatments, we decided to let go. God had been faithful throughout the past four difficult years, and we knew we could trust Him no matter what. We decided whatever God had planned for us – be it with children or without – we would be ready. That was November of 1999.

On January 2, 2000 a little ‘ol pregnancy test came back positive. Some people say it was because we weren’t so stressed out that we were finally able to get pregnant – that we stopped worrying about it. I believe God’s timing is perfect. When we were truly in a place of surrender to His will for our lives, God gave us our miracle. Our daughter, Peyton, was born in September of 2000. Three years later, we got another sweet girl – Madden.

Over the years, I’ve encountered many women who’ve faced the pain of infertility. My constant prayer is that I can be of some comfort and encouragement to them. I don’t know why difficult times happen, but I believe God’s word tells us we can use those hardships to help others and glorify Him in the process.

Kristy Tolley is a freelance copywriter and editor from Tega Cay, SC with a soft spot for travel and tourism. Her blog reflects her love of travel - and other passions. Connect with her on Twitter at @KristyTolley

February Love Letters- Love Is Patient by Kim LaFave

"Happy New Year and Happy 4th Anniversary!"...these were the words that my husband and I said to each other at midnight on January 1, 2014.  It is hard for both of us to believe that it has already been 4 years since we said "I do".  But, while we celebrate these 4 years, it is also important to know that we are both 42 now...meaning we were 38 when we got married.  This is a first marriage for both of us and I can honestly say that God answered my prayers by bringing my "soul mate" into my life. 
   
1 Corinthians 13..."Love is patient, love is kind" has always been a verse that ran through my mind.  It is funny how we know that God's timing is not our timing, but as humans, our timing is always NOW!  However, "now" is not very patient and probably not going to be kind.  I knew what I was looking for in a husband, I knew the kind of love I wanted us to have, I just needed God to send me the right person. 

 I, myself, knew that I would be married in my 20s...but as my 20s faded away and I turned 30, 31, 32 (you get the idea) I truly began to understand that God's timing is not my timing... it is not NOW. 

 I had been on several blind dates thanks to my friends...but I started to wonder if my friends really knew who I was.  Based on the people they set me up with....they didn't know me.  I had even had a few long term relationships, but they never ended well either.  However, I kept hearing the verse "Love is patient, love is kind" and God kept reminding me that He knew me and that I needed to be patient (not the greatest of my abilities). 

 As I celebrated my 35th birthday, there was this small voice inside of me that introduced the idea of online dating.  I pushed it off for awhile, then it kept coming back and now I even had my closest friends talking to me about signing up for eHarmony.  After a few months and this nagging feeling inside, I sat down in front of the computer on a rainy day and signed up for eHarmony...the whole time praying that God send the right man my way. 

 Let's face it, I knew I wasn't going to go out with anyone...the whole online thing scared me to death.  I had talked online to several people, but no one that I was willing to give my number to or even meet somewhere... I am not that brave.  I kept hearing the words "love is patient, love is kind" and I kept having the feeling that I was going to meet the right one online.  Then, one day, I started talking to this guy who lived only 20 minutes from me and we made plans to go out.  

God truly brought us together...he is my soul mate.  We dated for about two and a half years and then married on January 1, 2010.

 Our love is patient and it is kind and is God centered.  

This isn't an advertisement for eHarmony and I'm not saying that if you or your friends sign-up you will find the "right one".  You have to remember that love is patient and kind and that God's love for us is something that we will truly never comprehend.  We have to be patient and we have listen to that small voice inside of us that God uses to speak to our hearts.  We have to understand that NOW is not when things happen in our lives, things happen in our lives in God's timing and you have to be ready for His NOW.  

Yielding to Yes

Ecclesiastes 11:4

Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.  If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

Sometimes, it’s just as important for a Christ follower to say ‘Yes, as it is to say ‘No’.  God gave Solomon great wisdom and understanding, as well as knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore.    I Kings 3:12 says that God told him that He would give him a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have.  So, when the person with those traits speaks advice, we should listen. 

Here, Solomon is telling us that waiting for things to be perfect will result in you doing nothing, because things will never be perfect.  Some folks have a tendency to “watch every cloud” when making a decision, therefore ending up missing the opportunity that presented itself.  Others may make a quick analysis and decision.  Which end of the spectrum are you on, or are you wisely planted in the middle?  I find it interesting that when speaking with married couples, it almost always seems that one of them is a cloud watcher, and the other is one to make quick analyses and decisions, which tends to strike a good balance in their relationship.

My family is currently in a transitional period.  I have a son who is away at college, and I have a daughter who is a senior in high school.  My husband recently accepted a job 7 hours away from our home.  We have moved several times.  In fact, my friend, Shawna tells me that I owe her another “M” page in her address book because she filled hers up changing my address so many times.  When my husband and I made the decision to accept his job here 5 years ago, we determined that we would not move our kids again until they finished high school.  So, over a year ago when murmurings started happening about this new position opening up, we stayed firm in that decision.

I prayed and thanked God for the opportunity that was being presented to my husband, but I also asked Him to delay the start date until my daughter graduated from high school.  Running down a list of why the date should be postponed, and reasoning out the logical thinking that I had going on in my head.  Wow! That’s bold, huh?  Telling God WHY He should do something.  Well, guess what?  He didn’t listen to me.

 He did, however, provide a peace in my heart and as the time approached and things became official, I actually had a sense of security about the whole thing.  After all, with every move we have made, I have met some amazing people that have blessed and enriched my life in immeasurable ways.  Why wouldn’t I trust Him to take care of this situation?  I had no reason except my prideful ways of thinking that I knew best.

To no surprise, I have already been proven wrong.  We, luckily, get to see my husband frequently as he is traveling back and forth a lot, but in the time that he has been away, about 50% of that time has been spent somewhere else: doing research, in meetings, etc. preparing for next year.  Let me sum up what that would have looked like if God had done this on my timeline.  45 year old woman whose youngest child just went away to college is in a new town, with no established relationships other than her husband who is out of town 50% of the time.  That, my friends, would have been a recipe for disaster.  Instead, while he is transitioning and prepping for next year, I get to be surrounded by familiarity and enjoy my daughter’s senior year with her.

He knows best!  If we truly believe that God has our backs, then we should have a spirit of adventure and a willingness to try things when we feel we are supposed to.  God doesn’t provide a spirit of fear.  He provides a spirit of power, and love.  If there is something you feel called to do, or if there is a major decision looming on your horizon, trust Him and if He is telling you to go for it. Then…GO FOR IT!!  Ask God for wisdom.  He loves a humble heart.

We might be at a place in life where we are in this position, and we might be at a place where we are watching our adult children find their “pace” in decision making.  Share your experiences with people and let them know how faithful God has been to you.  What are you waiting for?  Yield your pride to Him, let Him guide you and honor Him by saying “Yes”.

 

Passages to Ponder:

2 Timothy 1:7- For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

I Kings 3:10- The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom.

Job 12:13- But true wisdom and power are found in God;  counsel and understanding are His.

 

Contributors:  Karen Bromby and Kim McClure





Let Your Life Be A Light

Hebrews 10:24

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

 

 

Have you ever had one of those days when you feel sad or discouraged?  We all have.  Now, think about what made you come out of that feeling.  It's very likely that your mood was lightened because someone said a kind word to you, or took the time to see how they could help you and followed through with it.  We, as Christ followers, are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  We should be encouragers.  When we encourage others, we are speaking words of love.  We are allowing ourselves to be used by God for His purpose in the world.

The world needs to see and hear love through the actions and words of Christians.    Paul says in Hebrews that this is a way to grow in faith and live in obedience to God.  While doing good works is not required for salvation, helping others is a good witness.  When we motivate each other to do good things, not only are we encouraging the person to whom we are speaking, but we are also encouraging them to continue the good that they are doing.  We will never know how far doing something good for someone will affect other things in the world.    I’ve seen people post many times on Facebook about the person ahead of them in line paying for their coffee and that prompted them to do the same for the person behind them.  That is such a simple act that means a lot to someone, because it’s an unexpected kindness, a bright light in what might otherwise be a really dark day.  It’s like The Butterfly Effect, which is the idea that even the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can affect a series of actions that could have cosmic effects.

It’s important to build relationships with people.  Dr. Paul Brand points out that every cell in the body has a specific job, in interdependence with every other cell.  The only cells which insist on being independent and autonomous are cancer cells.   Look for opportunities to encourage others even with the smallest things.  Telling someone that they did a great job or asking how their day was might just totally turn around someone’s outlook on life. Small acts of kindness, like a word of encouragement can go a long way in the lives of others.  Most people just need to know that someone cares and is on their side.

You might be thinking “I can’t do that. I can’t put myself out there and show that I care.”  Well, just think of Moses and David and Paul in the Bible.  Many of the greatest things that occurred in the Bible were done by the most unlikely people, or people who didn’t think they were capable of fulfilling what they were asked to do.

 How do we know when we are being asked?  We don’t audibly hear the voice of God as they did in the Old Testament.  Have you ever seen a situation and a thought comes to your head to help in some way, and your heart starts to beat really fast?  That could be the Holy Spirit prompting you to act, to reach out and build a relationship by helping.  Our contributor Kristy shares that she tries to operate under the assumption that whatever kind word or deed she can give to someone might be the only bright spot in their day.  She has followed through with the Holy Spirit’s prompting to call someone to just say, “Hey!”, and to let them know she was thinking about them, and they have said that it made a difference.  That spurs her to keep her ears and eyes open for other opportunities.

So come on!  What do you have to lose?  Smile at someone, ask them how they are and listen to their response!  Decide to participate in an activity that will help others and invite people along to join you.  Choose to be positive and reflect the light of Christ through your words and actions.  You never know who will be impacted…but God does.  Allow Him to use you today!

Passages to Ponder:

Philippians 4:8- And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable,  and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Matthew 5:14-16 You are the light of the world- like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.  Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

I Thessalonians 5:11- So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

 

Contributors:  Karen Bromby, Tammy Holtzapfel, Jamie Leary, Kim McClure, Marla McDonald and Kristy Tolley

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