Happy
New
Year!
New Chapter!
New Page!
And His mercies are new every morning!
Lamentations 3:23
Have a Blessed New Year!
New Year – New Chapter – New Page!
Hope and a future! 2013 – I will bring you back!
It’s mine.
It’s yours.
Hope and a future in 2013.
God says He will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5b)
2012 was the most difficult year of my life. But He never left me through it all nor did He ever forsake me. The pain was nearly unbearable at times, but His grace was even greater.
In February, our youngest daughter and her husband were arrested. The four days that followed were a blur. So devastating that I don’t remember all the details. Ron and I held each other and dropped to our knees, crying out to God for help. He helped us. I learned to pray unlike I had ever known before. The pleas and praises came from a depth within me that I hadn’t known existed. I prayed without ceasing – quietly, silently, or aloud while walking through the grocery store! Communion with my Lord unintentionally encompassed my every moment during those days. Later, communion with my Lord became intentional.
In March, my daddy died. Yes, he was old. Yes, he had dementia. Yes, it was a blessing. But he was my daddy, and the pain was real and continues to rouse from time to time. I miss snuggling his neck and face. I miss hearing him say, “I love you. Be careful now, honey.”
In April, my mama died. If you’ve lost both parents, you realize how final the passing of the last one is. I’m 10 years old again, and I’m an orphan. The last months, weeks, and days were terrible – she suffered so. Through it all, God was faithful. His grace was so real. But the night after her funeral, after all the family was gone, including the grandchildren who had been my comfort — after the beautiful words were spoken and the songs were sung, I suddenly couldn’t find that grace. I honestly thought I couldn’t go on. I’ve never felt so empty in my entire life. I had no peace. I had no joy. But I remembered that there was a love there that I could feel, if I could just reach it – if I could just find it. So I spoke the only words I could: “I love you, Lord. I love you, Lord.” Over and over I said those words. The peace came. It filled me. The grief remained, but His peace surpassed the grief. I found Him to be faithful in the midst of my greatest grief.
Court dates, pleas, recovery programs, caregiving, taking classes, teaching courses, 50-mile round trips to and from school, doctor and dental appointments, baths and bedtimes, overseeing homework, laundry, cooking, and finally, the sentencing, filled my 2012 days and drained my natural energy, but the Lord was my strength. When I felt I couldn’t go on, I remembered those dear people who were praying for me – I remembered them by name and thanked God for them and prayed for them, in return. I trusted that God would give me the strength He promised, and I told myself that if I did not believe it, it would be an insult to Him, so I believed in that strength.
“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” (Psalm 94:19)
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
Because of the Lord’s work, my prayers have been answered. My daughter and her husband embraced the Savior. Their lives are totally transformed. They now walk with and honor the Lord with their lives. I thank God for answered prayer.
I also thank God for the heritage left me by my daddy and mama. I cherish every memory and envision them together in their “big yellow house” in heaven.
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
As the year 2012 came to an end, our tenth grandchild was born – Luke Ryan Greene, our Bringer of Light. God blessed us with him. He was born with heart defects. We trust God for his complete healing. We began to see miracles. His platelets had lowered to 60,000 – then to 54,000. The levels were becoming dangerous. The next day, his platelets were over 100,000! He required oxygen for days. Then suddenly, his oxygen levels became normal, and the oxygen was removed. He went home! He relishes in the environment of his home, with the commotion of his active brother and sisters. He flourishes in the nourishment of his mother’s milk. He gains weight! 1 lb. 3 oz within 2 1/2 weeks! The next cardiologist visit and tests revealed that two defects were healed! We trust and await the continued healing of his heart, for we know that he is fearfully and wonderfully made and God loves little Luke.
This is the first of the miracles I am looking for in 2013 – the complete healing of our precious little Luke!
“Nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37
Next, I am looking for the miracle of the birth of our eleventh grandchild – healthy little baby boy Waligora, to be born in March!
“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you . . .” Jeremiah 1:5
And, in 2013, we will rejoice when our dear three grandchildren who now live with us are reunited with their parents!
“All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children’s peace.” Isaiah 54:13
What does the Lord have planned in 2013?
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. . . I will be found by you . . . I will bring you back . . ” (Jeremiah 29:11-14a)
The Lord said “Call to me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)
We have called!
He will show us!
He will bring us back in 2013!
If you have not yet called on the Lord Jesus Christ, accept Him as your Savior! “Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Read about it in the Word. See Romans 10:8-13. the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth (speak it) that Jesus is the Lord and you believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Call, email, or message me. I’d love to hear from you. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life! Plans for hope and a future! A bright future!
No excuses!
I redeemed you . . . I sent Moses to lead you . . . And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:4, 8)
He doesn’t require a Master’s degree or a Ph.D.; He doesn’t even require a Bachelor’s degree!
Your résumé doesn’t impress Him.
He doesn’t care about beauty or physique, ability or talent.
He doesn’t care if you are disabled.
He doesn’t want or require perfection.
Paul had imperfections — imperfections he didn’t want. (2 Corinthians 12:-8) In fact, he begged the Lord to take those weaknesses from him, but the Lord didn’t. Paul didn’t use the imperfections as an excuse. He diligently persevered, running the race, serving the Lord, preaching the gospel, in spite of persecution and imprisonment. He wrote letters to the churches — epistles that teach us, guide us, direct us — all inspired by God. Paul kept the faith. James D. Smith III writes,
“To keep the faith is to put it mildly. Paul had done so in the face of jailings, floggings, death threats, murder attempts, and the constant anxiety for the churches he founded—not to mention what Paul called his ‘thorn in the flesh’—a chronic and debilitating weakness.”
And I complain about not having enough time to serve the Lord – about not feeling well. I want to let the younger women serve in capacities I once did. I’m tired. I have too much to do. My family needs all of my time.
Are you talented? Gifted? Confident? Beautiful? Perfect?
Or do you often feel insecure? Unable? Depressed? Too busy? Disabled?
Moses was disabled.
And he used it as an excuse not to obey God. God spoke to Him directly! Through the burning bush. God called him by name!
“Moses! Moses!” God said.
(We read about this in Exodus, Chapter 4.)
We might think, If God spoke to me directly, I would serve Him. I would do exactly as He asked.
Really? What has He said directly through His Word? (your burning bush)
“So now, go. I am sending you . . .”
God said.
Moses began his excuses: “Who am I that I should go? . . .Suppose I go . . . and they say, ‘Who sent you? What is his name?’ What if they do not believe me?”
God answered every question. And God gave Moses a staff and showed Moses the miraculous acts he could perform with the staff! But Moses still was not convinced, nor was he obedient!
So Moses used his trump: his disability. “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to me. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
Oh, really? (As if God didn’t already know!)
The Lord God said, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will be your mouth and will teach you what to say.”
“Please Lord, send someone else to do it!” (Evidently Moses was thinking about his brother, Aaron.)
Moses’s brother Aaron was a gifted speaker – intelligent, refined.
But God used Moses.
God said He would help both Moses and Aaron speak and He would teach them what to do! God told Moses that he (Moses) would speak to Aaron and put the words in Aaron’s mouth! Then Aaron “will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth, and as if you were God to him!”
Imagine! Moses, the disabled one, is going to be God to Aaron!
Finally, Moses obeyed God and went to do what the Lord sent him to do – to rescue his own people.
I want the power of the Almighty God to be evident in my life! I want people to see God in me! I want God to teach me and let Him be my mouth!
And what does the LORD require of me? Does He require intelligence or degrees? Experience or an impressive résumé? Beauty or physique? Ability or talent? Perfection?
No, He requires me To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him.
If God speaks to you directly, will you obey Him? Will you do exactly as He asks?
Then listen to your burning bush – His Word!
“So now, go. I am sending you . . .”
God says.
And make no excuses! Because your disabilities don’t matter to God.
References:
Exodus 4:1-17
James D. Smith III, pastor of Clairemont Emmanuel Baptist Church and adjunct professor of church history at Bethel Seminary—West, both in San Diego, California, is an adviser for Christian History. Copyright © 1995 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian History magazine.
This Christmas Eve . . .
This Christmas Eve, I am thinking of Mary, mother of the Lord Jesus. She listens to the angel Gabriel who says: “You have found favor with God. You will . . . give birth to a son . . . He will be great . . . the Son of the Most High . . . his kingdom will never end.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” she answers.
She visits her cousin Elizabeth; she goes with Joseph to Bethlehem; she births the Son of God; she observes the shepherds’ amazing faith; and she treasures all these things and ponders them in her heart.
And this Christmas Eve, I am pondering my love for my precious little Luke, the bringer of light.
And as I do, I am thinking of my Kristen, mother of my precious little Luke, the bringer of light. She reads God’s Word and listens to His Holy Spirit, and as she meditates upon it, He speaks to her, and He says: “I send forth my word and heal little Luke; I rescue Him.” (Psalm 107:20) He also says, “Before Luke was born, I called him; from his birth I made mention of his name . . . in the shadow of my hands I hid Luke; And now I say, I who formed Luke in the womb to be my servant; I will also make Luke a light for the Gentiles.” (Isaiah 49)
“I am the Lord’s servant,” she answers. She treasures all these things and ponders them in her heart — little Luke, and all God has done, all God is doing, and all God is going to do.
And we praise Him together, my Kristen and I, for our precious little Luke, the bringer of light.
Through the child, the angels are made known
I don’t begin to know how or why, but I do know that my little granddaughter, Kaylee (the one who lives with us now) sees angels!
The first time I realized that she saw angels was one night – the middle of the night! – when she climbed into bed with her Papa and me.
See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:10)
As she lay between us, squirming like crazy (while we tried to get back to sleep), she talked as though it were the middle of the day instead of the night! Then she began describing the angels she saw flying around her. I thought she might be frightened, so I said, “It’s probably your special guardian angel, Kaylee. Everyone has a guardian angel!” She wasn’t frightened.
“There are lots of angels, Nana. See?”
I didn’t see them. I just kept encouraging her to go to sleep!
“Close your eyes, Kaylee. And go to sleep, honey.”
She did close her eyes. “I can still see them, Nana.”
I turned toward her. She opened her eyes and said, “There’s one on your nose, Nana.”
At breakfast, I encouraged her to “rethink” the events.
“Your were dreaming about angels last night, weren’t you Kaylee?”
“No, Nana, I didn’t dream about angels. I saw angels!”
I tilted my face, smiling, “You were just kidding about the angels, weren’t you, Kaylee?”
“No, Nana. I really did see angels!”
Similar episodes have since occured, both in her own bedroom, as well as ours. But the episode that amazes me the most occured one night when many angels flew around the room. By this time, I had learned to pretend I was sleeping while quietly, I enjoyed her descriptions. She described the many as perhaps forty, which was more than the few at a time she had previously recounted. Suddenly, these forty angels stood perfectly still, forming a wall.
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve us? (Hebrews 1:14)
I waited. Finally I asked, “Are they flying around again?”
“They’re still not moving, Nana. They’re holding still on the wall they’ve made.”
A few minutes passed.
“They’re flying around again, Nana.”
Have you not put a hedge around [her] and [her]household and everything [she] has? Job 1:10
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. (Psalm 34:7)
I don’t know the danger that was coming our way at 1 am that morning, or why those angels formed a wall of protection around us, but I prayed, “Thank you, God, for showing me, through the innocent eyes of my child, your awesome protection upon our family.”
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. (Psalm 8:2)
Really, Christmas is . . .
Christmas is for kids –
innocently believing in a Santa Claus. Believing that someone cares SO much that he wants to bring you a gift.
Things I’ve learned in the last week . . .
Things I’ve learned in the last week or so.
~~ ~~ ~~
1) Perils arise, but God is still God.
He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
He loves,
He cares,
He comforts,
and He heals.
~~ ~~ ~~
2) People care.
They pray;
they bring food;
they write notes;
they send gifts;
they call;
they send money;
they give hugs.
Sometimes I’m surprised to experience this care.
Then I realize again that I don’t know it all.
~~ ~~ ~~
3) Pain is real, no matter what.
Someone may think your problem is not that big, but it’s big to you!
So it’s big to God.
I’ve learned to recognize the intensity of other’s problems.
~~ ~~ ~~
4) Many people have much greater burdens than I do.
Some have the Lord to help them through;
some don’t.
I want to be the hands and feet of Christ to both–my hands extended in love and in prayer and praise, my feet running to meet their needs.
~~ ~~ ~~
5) Being a mother is joyful.
It is also painful.
It involves entrusting your child (and grandchild) to the Lord God. At Christmas, I am reminded how a young, innocent, virgin mother began learning to do just that.
This Christmas, I am observing my beautiful daughter entrusting – day by day – moment by moment.
I am thankful for motherhood and nanahood and a God in whom I trust.
~~ ~~ ~~
6) Christmas is one of the saddest times to suffer and endure.
~~ ~~ ~~
7) Christmas is one of the greatest times to remember why I suffer and endure. And to remember who suffered and endured for me, in my place.
(Look for my upcoming posting: Things I’ve learned about Christmas . . .)
Christmas is joy!
Joy to the world! The Lord has come!
When I was a little girl,
Christmas was fun! Sleigh bells rang in the dark. Santa’s sleigh tracks were found in the middle of the yard. Early Christmas morning, we three kids woke early, wrapped ourselves in warm bathrobes, and quietly stepped down the big stairway to the living room where we were welcomed by the brightly lit tree enveloped with big, cone-shaped electric bulbs of red, blue, green, orange, and white. Sleepy Mommy and Daddy met us by the tree and then made our day so special! The true meaning of Christmas was imbedded in each fun tradition.
Christmas was fun! And Christmas was joy!
When I was the young mother of little children,
Christmas was fun! Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk the children had set out. On Christmas Eve, Daddy read the Christmas story from his Bible. Matt, Kristen, and Amber slept in their warm flannels and fleece, on the floor, their heads on pillows under the tree lights. They never heard Santa place the Detroit Lions football helmet, Cabbage Patch dolls, 4-wheeler Big Foot, or Care Bears under the tree, just inches from their sweet, sleeping bodies. One Christmas, when Daddy was out of work and the money was scarce, he made a 4-wheeler track for Matt and a horse stable for the girls.
Christmas was fun! And Christmas was joy!
After the children were grown,
Christmas was not as much fun any more. And Christmas was not filled with as much joy.
Family gatherings, once a vital part of the season, now had empty spots, once held by special grandpas, grandmas, aunts, or uncles.
Songs and carols, once heard on the old, blonde 78-rpm player or later on the cassette tape, now brought a lump to my throat and an emptiness to my heart.
Now Christmas was only as fun as I made it for the brief time the children came home. And Christmas was joy only when I forced myself to find joy during those times.
But today,nearing the end of the most difficult year of my life, I am reminded through my devotions that Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always!
(Philippians 4:4)
He prayed for the Colossians to be strengthened with all might, according to God’s glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness!
(Colossians 1:11)
Paul, a man who had suffered terribly, knew the link between joy and strength. We are strengthened with all might and joyfulness.
I need to be strengthened. And I want joy! The new covenant (testament) continues the same promise as the old covenant (testament) — the joy of the Lord is our strength!
(Nehemiah 8:10)
So this Christmas season, I will find the joy that the Lord promises,
and I will let it strengthen me!
I will find joy in remembering my Daddy and Mama and the legacy they left me.
I will find joy in the arms of my faithful husband.
I will find joy in my grown children who love and honor God.
I will find joy in eleven beautiful grandchildren–one wrapped in the healing hands of God and one still in his mama’s protective care, awaiting his March delivery.
And I will find joy in a God who loves me and has granted me unmerited grace, increasing faith, and abundant hope through this year.
I will sing, “Joy to the world!”
And I’ll find that joy when I remember that “The Lord is come!”
I will “receive” my “King!”
I will “prepare Him room” in my heart.
And I will fill that room with the joy He promises in His Word!
“Joy to the world! The Lord is come!
Let Earth receive her King!
Let every heart ~~ prepare Him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and hea~ven and hea~ven and nature sing!”
Sing with joy and be strengthened!
He will yet deliver Luke . . .
He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
2 Cor. 1:10-11
Indeed we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves,
but in God . . . 2 Cor. 1:9
And we do trust in God.
He’s got the whole world in His hands,
He’s got the whole wide world in His hands,
He’s got the whole world in His hands,
He’s got the whole world in His hands.
He’s got little tiny Luke in His hands,
He’s got the Mommy and the Daddy in His hands,
He’s got all the Greene children in His hands,
He’s got the whole world in His hands.
And how safe is that!! To be in the hands of God, the Father–to rest in the unmerited, undeserved favor of God! Kristen and Josh are resting in the unmerited, undeserved favor of God! Our entire family is resting in the unmerited, undeserved favor of God!
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
2 Cor. 1:20
Will you speak the “Amen” with us? Will you agree in Luke’s healing? To the glory of God. Then we will join to give thanks . . . for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
I take Luke to Jesus.
Then little children were brought to Jesus for Him to place his hands on them and pray for them . . . Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. Matthew 19:13,14
I want to take Luke to Jesus. For healing. I want the hands of Jesus on my Luke.
Oh, if I could just touch the hem of his garment~~
if I could only go to Him for healing~~
if I could simply say, “Just say the word, Lord, and my grandson will be healed”~~
But, you see, I can!
I have more power now than those followers had who walked with Jesus. Before He went to the Father, Jesus said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me . . . I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:11-14
Lord, Jesus, bring glory to the Father through the healing of our little Luke.
Our prayers are powerful! All-empowered with the Spirit of God. Taken to the Father by the very one who sits at the Father’s right hand – our Savior, the Lord Jesus.
I ask in your name.
And His name is powerful! It’s the name above all names! It’s the only name by which this healing comes!