An Investment in Myself

One of the ways I started this new year off was with buying myself a gift!!!

Boldly listed at the top of my 2014 to-do list was to read and write more.  On a trip yesterday to Michael's for some yarn and a new journal, I received one of those "nudges" and just a few moments later I found myself meandering the religious section of Books-a-Million.

What I wanted was a Bible.  I admit; I didn't have one.  My husband has a pocket version that he was given in boot camp.  I knew we had one buried somewhere in a pile of books in my oldest son's room, but I wasn't sure I could even find it.  What I really wanted was a Bible of my very own.  One with meaning.  One that someday has my very own story inside its thin pages.  A tangible version that I could hold, smell, highlight, write in, earmark, whatever my heart desired.  I selfishly wanted it to be ALL MINE.  No sharing!  So, with a house full of boys, I knew it also had to be PINK!!! The options were plenty, but WOW some Bibles sure are expensive!!!  I originally wanted one of the Read the Bible in 365 Day versions, but on my way to the store I heard on Joy FM that they had a checklist available online.  I'm also a realist and didn't want to set myself up for feeling like a failure if I was reading the date of May 2nd on July 16th.  So, I eventually chose the less expensive, just as beautiful, pink and brown leather-like NLT version.  It is now all mine!  

Inside the front cover I filled in the blanks: 

There are so many reasons that I wanted this Bible, but the one reason that sticks out beyond all the others is THE INVESTMENT IN MYSELF.  I'm worth it.  I deserve it.  ❤️
 

Jessica Dudley

The Waiting Game

Last Sunday in church I was introduced to the story of Elkanah, his barren wife Hannah, and the taunting that she had endured from Elkanah’s second wife, Peninnah. 

This story personally struck me in many ways. I have two children so it was not in a childbearing way, but in the fact that Hannah waited out her storm. My personal storms of weight loss struggles, relationship issues, and harboring ill feelings towards those who do “wrong” have really taken a toll on me in recent years. Often at times one storm rolls right smack dab into another storm, snowballing, and creating even further havoc.

It is daunting. I often feel alone. I feel defeated and that is why Hannah’s story is so comforting. She waited out her storm. She was perseverant. She never gave up on God, and in the end He blessed her with Samuel. She was NEVER alone even when her husband was away with his other wife and children, because she had God. She never lost faith.

We all want something. Sometimes we want many things, but far too often we become impatient while we wait. We lose faith.

So today, I am stepping back from the worries and into my own personal waiting zone. I am stepping back from the bitterness towards those who find comfort in taunting others, and I will even say a prayer for them. I am taking comfort in the many positive relationships I have established and not focusing on the negative ones. I am going to obediently wait for God to select the proper time to reap my harvest. Until then…. 

PS. I suppose I will have to continue reading, but I wonder? Did Hannah say “Neener, neener, neener” to Peninnah when Samuel ended up being the only child of Elkanah’s whose name appears in The Bible?? I am going to guess not, and I will chalk that up to another life lesson learned from The Bible.

by Jessica Dudley

Prayer of Listening

Lord, sometimes You really want to tell me something don’t You? You gave me the same message loud and clear in two distinct places this week.

And what was that message? It was about being worried, hurried, maxed out, spread too thin, driven -- busy, busy, busy.

As I read the parable of the sower, I saw myself amid the thorns. I have heard Your message, and I have studied Your word. But, despite my good intentions, sometimes everything gets choked out by the cares and worries of my world. I run around town, racing from place to place, and crossing things off of my endless list. I stop only long enough to swallow a couple Motrin and a few Tums, and then jump back on the hamster wheel. The phone rings off the hook, I pencil in a handful of new commitments on an already saturated calendar, and then one of the kids calls to say he just threw up at school. Bruce is out of town. Before I know it, it’s way past my bedtime and I haven’t read my Bible or spent more than two minutes praying -- and that was at a red light. Where would I be if I wasn’t teaching Bible Study and didn’t feel like I had to do my reading, had to pray for my friends and their concerns? How many days would go by before I penciled You in on my calendar? What is wrong with my priorities, Lord?

And then I read the story of Mary and Martha. You might as well have been talking to me when you said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.” That’s me all right. Worried and distracted by everything from cobwebs and cellulite to colleges and cancer. In that story, Mary chose the right thing, the only thing. She simplified her life that night by making a basic meal, and then she sat at Your feet and listened. She spent time with You.

Lord, help me to put my roots down in the rich soil of Your Word and Your grace, away from the thorns of my humanness. Help me to cast aside petty worries and worldly distractions. Instill in me a longing to sit at Your feet and listen.

In Your Name, I Pray, Amen 

by Sue Busler

Don't Forget Your Memory Card

I decided on Sunday to take pictures at our 8 am service, since the Bell Choir was performing.  A lot of times, the 8 am service doesn’t get the big music that 9 am and 10:30 enjoy, so it was a real treat. 

Just as I got a picture of the newest huge bells, up flashed a notice on my camera.  “Memory gone.”  Memory gone?  I’ve never used up an entire flash card of memory.  I tried to erase older pictures, but this didn't work.

So, I came home to download them.  To my surprise, there was no memory because there was no flash card in my camera.  While heartbroken that I missed those pictures, it was not a disaster since no one was counting on them.

As I thought a little longer, it made me think how often we let our memory card run out or forgot to use it.  Yet, God never forgets us.  He continues to bring us grace, hope and love, even when we do not read our Bible study for a day (that could be our memory card missing) or if we forget to Bless Him for all He has given us.  He continues to load our flash card with pictures of hope, pictures of memories, pictures of what the future will bring us. 

God is good.  Let us constantly read His messages to us and take them to heart.  Let us remember to insert our learnings and “post” them in our everyday language, behavior and attitude.

Carol Pigg

Liz Curtis Higgs' The Girl's Still Got It Book Club

Never in a million years would I have thought an in-depth line by line study of a book of the Bible would be so intriguing, suspenseful, romantic, and inspiring.  Yet, Liz Curtis Higgs' manages this feat and then some in her work of nonfiction, The Girl's Still Got It.  I looked forward to dental appointments with glee, dance classes with anticipation, and children's bedtimes with relief so that I could steal some time alone with this work of writing.  Having read the book of Ruth before, this time I was awakened to the richness of the language, precise word choices, and the eloquence of simple storytelling.  Calling the hub at work, I recited Biblical verses with endearing emphasis, "I will do for you all you ask,"  (Ruth 3:11), and "Spread the corner of your garment over me . . ."  (Ruth 3:9).  Writing a sweet nothing in his valentine this year is going to be, figuratively speaking, a piece of cake due to Higgs' influence.  In addition to making Ruth's story relevant in the 21st century through down-to-earth explanation, Higgs' also concludes each chapter with a blurb from a present-day woman who relates her own story to that of Ruth. 
For the purposes of book club, one may take a cue from Ruth 1:6, "When she had heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them . . ."  In Higgs' explication, the reader learns ". . .  the people of Judah are discovering plump grapes on the vines, clusters of olives nestled in the trees . . ." (29).  Thus, it makes sense to offer both red and green grapes during discussion as well as a variety of olives- pitted, stuffed, marinated, etc.- in order to reenact the bounty the people of Judah were discovering at the time.  While munching, discussion may be facilitated by Higgs generous offering of discussion questions for the purposes of book club as well as more detailed questions for a more frequent atmosphere of book study.  In addition, in lieu of a verbal lashing of the male protagonist, embrace your inner Cupids and share your own personal Boaz stories with one another as a finale to discussion.

Join Eat, Read, Pray 2/6 at 7:30 p.m. in The Oak Room at Troy UMC for discussion.  Questions?  EatReadPrayTroyUMC@gmail.com

Courtney Winkler

Let the SON Shine In

I love my house. I love keeping it clean. It is such a gift from God. We live in a 100 year old farm house that my great great grandfather built. I never could have imagined living here, and now that we do, I can't imagine living anywhere else. It's just perfect for us.
A few months ago I was cleaning in the kitchen. I had done all of the dishes. I had scrubbed all of the counter tops. I had vacuumed and washed the hardwood floor. It looked IMMACULATELY clean. I  stepped back to admire my hard work. It looked pretty good to me. That was until...I OPENED THE CURTAINS! It was an unusually nice day out, and I decided to open the curtains and let some sunshine in.  In that instant, my kitchen which looked so perfectly clean before, now looked....well, not so clean. As I opened the curtains to let the sunshine in, it revealed streaks on the floor, crumbs under the cabinets that I missed, and spots on the counter top that weren't quite cleaned off all the way. My first instinct was just to close the curtains and say "It looked good before." But, I didn't. I got back out my cleaning supplies and took care of the areas that the sunshine had revealed.
As I was cleaning, I was thinking. This is how my life becomes when the SON shines on it. I may think that I've got everything all under control. I'm reading my bible....almost every day. I'm going to church every Sunday. I'm teaching my kids about God. I'm sponsoring needy children in other countries. I'm giving money to the church. My life, to most people, probably looks like I'm a "good person." However, when the SON shines on my life, I realize the areas that I need to work on. I lose my temper too quickly with my kids and my husband. I am too quick to judge others. The list can go on and on some days.

But just as my kitchen needed that sunshine to reveal to me the spots that needed deeper cleaning, so do I need the SON to shine on my life and show me where I need to make changes to walk more closely with him. I want to be the kind of mother, wife, friend, sister, daughter and Christ follower that He wants me to be. And I can't do that if I'm not letting the SON shine into my life to show me the way.

Lisa Powell

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 43:19

Behold, I will do a new thing;  now it shall spring forth;  shall ye not know it?  I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.