The Voiceless Intro

This year has been so hectic and crazy; I cannot believe it is already May. It seems just a week ago we were celebrating New Year's. But here we are and God has certainly been teaching me new things and working new things in my life. One of those being opening my heart more and more to those who have no voice. The ones who cannot speak up for themselves, cannot protect themselves. They are many and as God has been revealing more nad more my heart breaks that much more. What can I do? I must do something I cannot sit silently and just watch these things happen. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said it this way, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

I do not consider myself a vocal, activist type person, but the time has come to wake from my slumber, to shout from the rooftops what is spoken in secret. I want to be able to say as Job:

I delivered the poor who cried out,
The fatherless and the one who had no helper. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban.
I was eyes to the blind,
And I was feet to the lame.
I was a father to the poor,
And I searched out the case that I did not know.
I broke the fangs of the wicked,
And plucked the victim from his teeth.
Job 29:12, 14-17

And follow the command:

Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.
Pslam 82:3-4

Who are these voiceless that God has placed so heavily on my heart? That is a question I hope to answer in the posts to come but the short answer is slaves, orphans and the unborn. These people are not able to speak up or defend themselves. I pray God would give me the voice to speak for them in whatever capasity He chooses. Today it will be here...

Through Christ
Lady B

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.Edmund Burke

Waiting- A Verb

Waiting, it seems to be my lot in life or so it feels.  I have often struggled and at times still do with waiting, but I have learned something recently and straight from God too (those are the best lessons)- waiting is a verb!  Before I could learn this lesson, though, I had to be broken; more broken than I have been in a long time.  See I was complaining to God about having to wait, “I’m tired of waiting, God.  I want to do something.”  And many such pleadings, but then in that moment when I ran out of things to say God whispered to me, “Are you willing to do nothing for my sake?”  That stopped me; was I?  I pleaded, I thought, I cried and then, oh so sweet, I surrendered.  Was it hard? Yes.  Do I struggle?  More than you can imagine, but I know where my peace is and it is to Him I turn.

As I said I have learned waiting is a verb. It is not just about sitting around twiddling thumbs.  The years of waiting are a time to do.  These are the years we have to learn and serve freely.  Here are a few things that God has provided for me in this waiting period.

Recently my church has started an emergency response team.  We are in the training stage right now, and so far I have been able to get my First Aid/CPR, chainsaw safety, and power line safety certifications.  I am also working on the FEMA IS classes (well, I’m supposed to be).   Who knows how this will be used in the future, but it is definitely good to know!

God has also given me the opportunity to volunteer once a week at our local crisis pregnancy center.  I absolutely love it!  Being a part of saving the lives of many innocent children and helping many women/families that have no where else to go is a blessing.  To see the faces of the girls and women that come in, some are heartbreaking and some are so full of joy.  Also in my free time I have been able to read some of the curriculum for the parenting classes we offer. 

Of course I have been working also.  As of right now I am working at Allstate and cleaning.  I rather enjoy both and I most definitely am learning from both jobs.

Another opportunity God has presented to me is being a part of coordinating our local father/daughter dance.  My dear friend asked me at the beginning of this year to come alongside her and another lovely friend as the third person on the “team”.  It has been so exciting so far and a little daunting, but this is God’s dance and He has everything perfectly planned.

Of course what better to spend my time of waiting than with my family.  I have had the delight to visit with several family members just in the past weeks.  And there is the perk of being a homemaker in training (if that is the path God takes me down). Being able to hone my gardening skills will be fun this year (some day I will be like my Nana)! And as always there are the kids at church I can pour more into. 

As you can see waiting has not caused me to become lax or lazy, but just the opposite.  By surrendering all my time to God (moment by moment preferably), He has opened up many opportunities to serve Him, serve others, and even learn new skills. 

With all of this going on it is sometimes hard to stop, but the sweetest part of this period is by far my time with God.  Spending time with my Beloved Bridegroom could never be matched.  Though I am often distracted, using this time to know Him more will carry me so much farther than any other skill I pick up through life.

In what ways is God asking you to wait? How have you been using the time?

Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
Psalm 27:14

One year ago today I left for an adventure to a land that would steal my heart. Today Ukraine has a big place in my heart mostly because of her people but her landscape is beautiful too!
Who knows if God will take me back there one day but the people and the land will forever be a part of me!

March 2012

O

October 2012

Normal? Radical?

Wow, my Beloved and I just had an amazing conversation and I would like to give you just a peek into something we discussed!

What is radical?  When comes to being a Christian what is radical?  I think today’s Christians and God have a very different meaning to radical.  What God calls normal we tend to call radical.  Think about it…  Is it radical to die for one’s faith? Is it radical to live completely for Jesus knowing you will be scorned?

“If one were living the normal Christian life is it possible to go beyond the realm of normal to radical?  What would it look like? Dying for You? Living for You?  How could that be?  That’s what the world says, but You died for me and You gave me life.  Would it not be a normal thing to want to die for someone who died for me? Would it not be normal to live the life that was given me?

You died for me; should I not be willing to die also!

You gave me life; should I not live it! 

The only radical, beyond that I can think of, in my finite, earthly mind, is heaven.  That is the only next step I can see.  To step from normal Christian life to radical heavenly life; oh what joy!!

I know that I am by no means close to being normal. I can desire the time to be radical!! Lead me on Jesus!!”

I’m pretty sure this does not quite grasp any of what we talked about but knowing that my King is willing to bring me into His throne room and come down from is throne to speak about such lofty matters…there are no words…

 For the Lord Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth.
Psalm 47:2

St. Patrick’s Day

It is my favourite holiday.  Why?  Well that is a good question. For a while it was just because I like all things Irish and such and March is my favourite month.  Now, though, I have learned much more about the man for whom this day is named.  The man who gave his life to a whole nation that they might know Christ. 

(Disclaimer: this is my own short, quick version of St. Patrick’s story.  You should definitely look it up for yourself or check the resources at the bottom of this post)

St. Patrick was not actually Irish.  He was born in what is now Scotland, the grandson of a priest.  Growing up he ignored the faith of his family until an event that would change his life.
At sixteen his village was raided and he, along with others. was kidnapped and taken to Ireland.  For six years he was a shepherd, a slave, for one of the Irish chieftains.  During those years he spent many, many hours in prayer coming to know Jesus Christ personally.  He had his own encounter with God on those lonely Irish moors.  It was God that directed Patrick’s escape to a ship that would take him back to England, and later it was God that called this man into ministry.
Once more God called to Patrick in a dream asking him to return to Ireland, to the very people that had enslaved him and preach God’s salvation and freedom from their own enslavement to the devil.   Many Irishmen and even kings gave their lives to Christ through his teaching.
Through Patrick’s bravery, courage and compassion the course of a whole nation was change.  That nation’s change would go on to affect the course of not only Christian history, but also the history of our very nation. 

One man. Faith in God. Obedience. Courage. 

“Little is much when God is in it.” ~Bro. Steve Harney

Through Christ,
Lady B

PostScript-  Bro. Don Pinson of Heritage Ministries of Kentucky has two great radio programs about St. Patrick here,  and if you are an Adventures in Odyssey fan (or if not) they have done a great job of telling his story in Saint Patrick: A Heart Afire, Parts 1 of 2.

Be Thou My Vision

an old Irish hymn

Labels

Tonight at our HeartsAlive meeting the lesson was about labels.  In counsel group we answered some questions about our own personal labels.  It was so good to, as James tells us to, confess our sins one to another. It was there I made a discovery.  I have had two main labels in my life (and probably several minor ones).

The first label, the one I struggled with for many years, was  the“good, little Christian girl” label.  For a long time I was very proud of that label but then I hated it because I knew I was not a “good, little Christian girl”.  I had sin, some secret and some not.  For me it felt as thought I had been put on a pedestal and I didn’t know how to get down. 

The second label, the one that I found freedom in, was “Adulteress”.  If you have read my recent post of my testimony you will see that this is actually one I gave myself.  When I had my encounter with Jesus this is what I realized I was.  It was in that encounter and realization that Jesus was able to change me and make me free!

My labels are a bit odd in that I struggled with the former and was freed in the latter.  Now, though, I am no longer an Adulteress nor do I ever want to be that good little Christian girl. 

Now I am a child of the One, True King., beloved of Jesus Christ!