That’s the question today.
Is the church poised for revival or being refined?
Category Archives: Writing Projects
Iron Sharpens Iron
As Iron Sharpens Iron
So
Writers Sharpen Writers
Most writers I’ve met are solitary creatures. We do our work alone.
Yet it is in coming together, baring our souls and sharing our work we are honed to be better at our craft.
I’ve found writers either instantly bond, or take some time to develop a relationship. Once that relationship is developed, they tend to hold others gently, recognizing we are each a work in progress – both in our lives and in our work.
It is in those relationships other can speak into both your life and your work. In the differences of opinions, the suggestions or the encouragement we learn. I learn. From these people, I hone my skills. I change and my writing changes. I hope I do these things for other writers as well.
My goal is to become a better writer this year. That means I have to commit to more time writing. We’ll see how that works for me.
Reflections
It’s that time, when I reflect on the past year. I began 2015 with no particular expectations for the year. It became the year to conquer fear. Or should I say, turn my fears over to God.
By March, I found myself on a new trajectory. I would be going to Haiti in June. This newfound knowledge was surrounded by much fear and trepidation on my part, yet I knew it was a trip I was supposed to make. I had fears about my personal health; my ability to withstand the heat and humidity; letting go of pride to ask others to partner with me and greatest of all were the words a wise elderly woman spoke to me when she said, “These trips change people. You will never be the same again.”
Those words were frightening to me. It had taken many years for me to learn to accept and appreciate myself, and my life. Now I was hearing, I would never be the same. What would that mean, and would I like the person I would become?
As I prepared for the trip, I watched God graciously erase each fear before I arrived at the action part. The departure date arrived and I was ready to go. The trip itself was amazing. All I’ll say, is if God is asking you to step out and do something like this – then GO.
I was changed! Changed in the best possible way. At the end of the year, my husband received some medical news that created some uncertainties in our life. Fear was not part of this time. When I stopped and reflected on this, I was surprised! The old me would have been fearful and anxious. The new me was able to go about the required actions, procedures, tests and waiting, resting in peace.
Though I’ve been a child of God for years, I’m ending 2015 with the following refrain from “No Longer Slaves” having new meaning for me:
I’m no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God.
A Nurse, I’m NOT!
As a young child, I idolized my second cousin Joan. She was a nurse. I was sure I wanted to be a nurse, like her. I stuck by that dream until I was 16. Something happened during the year to make me realize I had no tolerance for seeing others in pain, or even seeing things I perceived as being painful.
Over time my sensitivity to issues requiring medical attention increased. As I had children, I could attend to their cuts and bruises as needed, if no one else was around. If some other able body were in the vicinity, I would get hot, and then dizzy, rendering me worthless in dealing with the problem. The other adult would dress the injury. With things bandaged up, I could attend to their other needs.
Fast forward, now I’m home with a husband requiring attention to a surgical wound. YIKES! I’m able to get the initial bandage off. But the gauze around the drain tube is stuck. I feel myself getting hot, and my head getting lighter. I back off and sit down.
The good news is, my being a wuss about medical things is no surprise and we both laugh about it. He references how funny he thought it was listening to the doc telling me the things I would have to do at home.
After taking a break, I get the old bandage removed. Photo the site and the pictures off to the doc. Hubby is enjoying the break from having is neck all bandaged. I’m not enjoying his freedom. The sight is unsettling for me. We work together and get the bandage back around the drainage tube.
The phone rings. Doctor’s office calling. He has to take this call. Then he asks me to make some calendar adjustments. When I’m done, he’s completed his taping up of the new bandage.
Why this happens I don’t understand! Intellectually I understand what needs to be done and why. Yet when it’s time to take action, my mind doesn’t respond the way I need it to.
In God’s economy, nothing is ever wasted.
I’ve been helping one of my dear friends pack up her house to prepare for a move to another community. It has been my pleasure to watch she and her husband embark on this adventure. They’ve lived in this valley for so many years. They raised their children here, owned businesses, know many people and have more memories of this place than I can imagine. Yet, they heard God say it was time to move.
I heard she told her son how thrilled she is to have someone help with the packing, one that had moved many times with the military. Wow! I think so seldom of those years and when I do, my thoughts are of places I traveled to or people I met who impacted my life. The rigors of packing, moving and unpacking are not high on those memories. Yet God in His infinite grace makes something out of what we may perceive as nothing. I’m honored that a friend can use something past, which seems like part of another life, today.
Behind the scenes, Writing…
I’ve had a blast the last couple of years working on my current writing project. My story ended up taking me to Paris, a city I knew little about before this project.
When I travel, I enjoy getting off the tourist tracks and exploring a place to understand the culture and how the people live.
I wanted my readers to experience that same experience through my story.
To make that happen, I’ve used the Internet to explore neighborhoods, parks and businesses. The 12the arrondissement (or 12th district) has become a special place to me.
I did so much research and checking out places I started receiving emails about travel deals to Paris.
When I go to Paris, I already have places I want to check out which might not be in the tour book.
Brown Sauce with Chicken
This will become a new favorite at our house!
We enjoyed a new great new sauce last night and a new way to fix chicken. (no photos – I had no idea how great it would be.) The chicken was a golden brown, and the sauce was flavorful with a touch of freshness.
Here’s the how to instructions. Please note, when cooking meat, I rarely measure ingredients, so feel free to play with the quantities.
Wash chicken cavity and sprinkle with salt and Herbes de Provence. Then stuff the bird to capacity with fresh rosemary and parsley.
Place the chicken in a roaster pan. (I use one of those old blue-flecked ones.)
Dot the chicken with a small amount of butter.
Mix together:
- 1 Cup of brown stock
- about 2 teaspoons butter
- about ¼ Cup red wine
Spoon a small amount over the chicken now and again every 30 – 45 minutes until chicken is done..
Cover the roaster pan and bake in a 350° oven.
When the chicken is cooked to your satisfaction, remove from the pan and let sit for at least 10 minutes before carving.
Mix any left over liquid with the drippings in the pan along with the juice from 1 lemon. (You could thicken this for a more traditional style gravy.) We just heated it and served it over potatoes and the meat.
What yummy flavors!
Haiti – Lesson 1: Perfect Love Casts Out All Fear!
The Sunday I felt God calling me to go on this Haiti trip with Poured-Out left me filled with many fears. Previously, I would have used all those ‘fears’ as the reason to just stuff the thoughts and go on with life. I was just finishing up a Bible study with an amazing group of women on discerning the voice of God. We were on the lesson about God’s expectations when you hear from Him. Simply OBEY. Yikes! Knowing the truth and not complying is sin.
I asked a friend if she would go with me. She said yes. So with much fear, I signed up for the trip and started praying about the adventure and what God would have.
Without going into tons of details, it is safe to say my list of fears was long. Some of the issues were:
- all the necessary shots and drugs I would need to take for this trip
- having to ask people to partner with me on this adventure, both financially and in prayer
- how my personal health would fare in this hot humid environment
- the bugs in Haiti
- and the list goes on
What I found was one at a time, as I turned to God in prayer I was able to see my fears listed on a sheet of paper and each one was slowly being erased from the list.
In Haiti, I realized as I had turned my thoughts to Jesus and what He was asking me to prepare for and focusing on those aspects of the upcoming trip – He was working to take care of each of those issues.
- Before I had even started my partnering letter, a friend ask me to make sure she got a copy because she wanted to help support me on the trip. Her gesture was huge in giving me the confidence to write my letter and contact others. The generosity of those partnering with me was also huge and I’m grateful and have been greatly blessed.
- The shots and drugs were taken with no adverse affects.
- Though I was in an extremely hot, humid environment – and I know there was mold present as I could see it even on some of the plants at the compound where we stayed, I experienced no impact to my respiratory system.
- Yes, I used insect repellent and sunscreen and was only mildly bitten by the bugs there.
When Jesus is the focus and you are worshipping Him and focusing on what He wants you to do, there is no room for fear.
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
It is my prayer, that God our Father will continue to work His love in my life. May He do so for you also!
Go. Learn. Love. HAITI — The Short Story
I arrived home about 4 am today.
It was an amazing week! I’m still sorting through all the different thoughts and emotions involved in experiencing something so totally different from my life routines.
There were 14 team members, 3 team leaders, and 3 translators working together in the Torbeck area, Okay Region of Haiti.
We installed 50 filters.
Yes! 50 filters.
What does that mean?
Each filter can process approximately 20 gallons of water a day.
That creates a potential of 1,000 additional gallons of safe drinking water available each day to improve the quality of life for the people of this area.
More info and photos to follow…
GO! LEARN! LOVE! — Haiti is the place.
Go Learn Love is the motto our church uses for our missions programs. Haiti is the place in June. This week I completed the last of the immunizations I need before leaving on this exciting trip.
Thank you! Those of you who have been praying for me, and the team – God has been answering your prayers. He has been erasing my fears one at a time and building my confidence about this trip. He has also been building relationships between team members. This last Sunday as a group, we did a fundraiser. We fixed the after church brunch, provided music during lunch and had a great time working together. Lunch was a success! The money earned from this effort will be distributed between the team members. Then we had a Skype session with one of the folks from Poured-Out giving us more detailed information about our trip. June will be here before we know it!
I’d like to thank those of you who have graciously contributed to my expenses for the trip. I have about a month left and a small amount to raise to cover my trip expenses, and am confidant God has this under control. If after praying about this, you feel God is asking you to contribute to this great effort, please private message me so I can provide you the necessary information.
It will be my pleasure to share the adventures of this trip with you.
Stay tuned…
I pray blessings to each of you, who have been supporting this trip through your prayers. I believe God will use your prayers and financial support in a mighty way.
Journey to the Heights 