I Didn't Mean to do That!

(08/13/11)

Several weeks ago I was with my daughter in Wal-mart; and while I was looking at flags to put out for the fourth of July, she was looking at balloons.  Ok, let me rephrase that… she was playing with balloons.  No, I need to take that a step further… she had opened a pack of balloons and was blowing them up.  Now, should I have paid a little more attention?  Maybe… then I wouldn’t have had to buy the whole pack.  Needless to say, I walked out of the store very frustrated.  Later that afternoon, as we were running more errands, my daughter apologized to me saying, “I’m sorry, Mommy.  I didn’t mean to do that.”  Before I had a chance to think, I answered with, “Yes you did.  Otherwise, you wouldn’t have done it.”  Now, my daughter knows better than to pick up things that don’t belong to her; but being only seven years old, she is still learning to control her impulses.  As I tried to explain to her the difference between ‘meaning it’ and ‘not meaning it’, I began thinking about my own prayer life.  How often do I ask God’s forgiveness in the same way?  “God, I’m sorry for what I did… I didn’t mean to do it.”  I probably pray that prayer more than I should.  So here’s my lesson… as I sit down to pray for forgiveness, I need to examine my own heart and ask myself the question, “Did I mean to do that?”  And if I did ‘mean it’, take full responsibility and ask God to change my heart so that hopefully, I won’t do that again.

Psalm 26:2-3

Psalm 139:23-24

Prayer Requests

"Every tomorrow has two handles.  We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith." (Author Unknown)

Please pray for Mary.  She was recently diagnosed with cancer

Please pray for Laurel.  She has had cancer in the past and is going soon for testing.

Please pray for Kelly's cousin.  She was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Please pray for Ginger.  She has been battling breast cancer.

Please pray for Sheila.  She has been battling cancer.

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24, NIV, emphasis mine)

Prayers and Praises

Praise God that He is always with us! 

Please pray for Blake and his family.  His uncle died in a house fire recently.  Pray for them for comfort and safety in travels.

Please continue to pray for all that are in the path of Hurricane Irene; and if it be God's will, for the storm to head back out to sea and dissipate before making landfall in the US.

Please pray for all those who suffered loss in the earthquake that hit Virginia a few days ago.

Please pray for the friends and family of Nick Ashford.  He died earlier this week.

Praise God for His many provisions.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalm 100:4-5, NIV)

Expectations/Acceptance

I am not a victim of others,
but rather of my own expectations, choices..

When I expect others to be
what I want them to be
and not who they are;

when they fail to meet my expectations,
I am hurt.
When choices are based on self-centeredness,
I find I am lonely and distrustful.
I gain confidence in myself,
however,
when I practice LOVE in all my affairs.
When I search my motives
and am honest and trusting,
I am aware of the capacity for harm in

situations and can avoid those that are harmful.
It is easy to love the loveable,

but loving the unlovable is real LOVE.

If we can not show Love 
then how can we teach others how to Love.

Acceptance is the answer to all my problems
today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some
person, place, thing, or situation... some fact of my life
unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until
I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being
exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world
by mistake.

Now that this truth has become a part of my life,
I am able to get up everyday and enjoy my day.
All the things which used to bother me don't anymore.

If GOD allows it to happen to me then it is for my good
even if I don't like it or if it hurts.
Getting mad or upset over things I can't change
only makes it worse.

May GOD's blessing be with you.

Anonymous

"Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God."

(Romans 15:7, NASB) 

Prayers and Praises

Please pray for the Bergmans'. They had a death in the family this week.

Please pray for the people in the path of Hurricane Irene.

Please pray for Zoe.  She is really missing her friends after a transition to a new school.

Today is the first day of classes for the fall semester at ASU.  Please pray for safety on campus.

Praise!  My daughter is getting better after having a lot of extra congestion over the weekend.

Please pray for my daughter as she starts her first dance class this week.

Thank you, God, for a wonderful support system!

Praise!  My mother is completely healed of her sinus infection.

Please pray for my ex to make wise choices concerning his children.

Please pray for blessings for Len and Maria.

"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done.  The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." 

(Psalm 40:5, NIV)

Lost and Found

by Tericia Eller

My family recently relocated out of state to a much larger city than we had lived in. I am not known for my superb navigational skills, so learning my way around a new town has been a challenge.  Just one of those challenges happened the other day on the way home from soccer camp with my girls (11 and 6).  I drove straight through a light where I was supposed to have turned left.  Rather than turn around immediately and get on the path I knew, I insisted on trying to figure out where I was going. Pride took over.  We did manage to get back to an intersection I recognized, but not until after a few more mistakes.  The next day, I took the new route to soccer camp I had accidently discovered (minus the wrong turns). When we reached the intersection where I had first messed up the day before, my 11-year-old daughter said, “Dang! It took us a lot longer to get lost than it did to find our way back!”  I laughed ALOUD at the innocent wisdom of her statement! It suddenly occurred to me that our walk with the Lord is the same way!

 When we, as believers, get spiritually lost, it usually takes time.  It rarely happens over night.  We start by occasionally skipping devotional time with God; sleeping in on Sunday; putting off our prayers; not returning that phone call from a Godly friend.  Next thing you know, we are painfully lost.  Pride prevented us from getting back on track immediately. We knew what we were doing.  This way HAD to be right! But here’s the great thing about Grace.  When we realize, and ADMIT that we are lost on our own and need to get back on track with God, getting back takes only moments!  All we need to do is repent, turn AWAY from our sin and turn TOWARDS our God!  He NEVER leaves us, but we often leave Him.  When we turn our lost selves toward Him and say, “Daddy, I’m lost!  Help me find the way!”  He does just that. Our Heavenly Father lovingly guides us back to The One True Path.  And we realize that it takes a lot longer to get lost than it does to find our way back! 

 Let me ask you, friend, are your spiritual surroundings starting to look unfamiliar?  Has pride been a roadblock?  Are you beginning to feel lost?  God knows.  He’s waiting for you to ask. Cry out to Him.  Tell Him how lost you are and how badly you desire to get back on track.  Turn your whole self towards Him.  He will set you right again.

• Proverbs 14.12
• Galatians 5.25
• James 1.13-18
• James 5.19-20
• 2 Timothy 2.22-26
• Luke 15.10
• Luke 15.11-31
• Acts 3:19-20

Prayers and Praises

Praise!  Della is home and feeling better.  Please continue to pray for her for further healing of an infection and her ankle.

Please pray for Debbie and her daughter as they will be traveling soon.

Please pray for Herman and his family.

Please pray for all of the people (and their families) who are being laid off from Bank of America.

Praise! Rowen turned two this week, and his party was very successful and safe!

Please pray for a woman who was attacked in my neighborhood a couple of days ago.  The man who did it is in custody.  Please pray God's will be done.

Please pray for all the freshman who are moving in this weekend at ASU.  Pray for safety for all who will be on campus this weekend.

Please pray for Zoe.  She went to bed with a runny nose this evening and I am speaking against any sickness in this house.

Praise! A friend of mine was having a tough beginning to his week, but is now doing much better.

Praise!  My friend Kelly's grandfather turns 80 this weekend.  

School starts here at ASU next week.  Please pray for all the new and returning students.

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

(James 5:16, NIV) 

Prayers and Praises

Please pray for the Scroggs family.  Kristy Scroggs died last week from leukemia.

Please pray for a cure for cancer.

Praise!  Nora and her kids came home safely from their trip.  Please continue to pray for Nora as she was not feeling well today.

Please pray for unity in the church.

Please pray for Mandy and her family.

Please pray for Sabrina as she travels.

Please pray for the friends and families of those who were killed at the Indiana State Fair when a stage collapsed.

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."  (Jeremiah 29:12-13, NIV)

Remind Yourself...

 (08/10/11)

The first day of school… for parents it is a time of joy.  We are no longer spending our every waking moments trying to find something for our children to do.  Once again, we are back to our regularly scheduled programming of packing lunches, helping with homework, playing chauffeur, and making sure everyone gets fed and in bed on time.  For children, however, ‘back to school’ brings a myriad of different emotions: sadness (summer is over), excitement (I get to see my friends again), and for some, like my daughter, anxiety.  Today Zoe started 2^nd grade at a new school.  Not only is the school new to her, it has more than twice the population of her old school.  As we were getting ready this morning, I heard my daughter say, “I am brave.  I can do this.”  As we were walking into school, I heard her say, “I am excited about school, and I can do this.”  Wow!  Where did my seven year old daughter learn how to encourage herself?  And as I listened to her put these positive thoughts into her brain, I was reminded of King David.  He had the uncanny ability to encourage himself even in the darkest of times.  Let’s take Psalm 64 as an example.  David begins by complaining to God about his enemies; but by verse seven, he is encouraging himself in the Lord… reminding himself who God is, and that He will take care of him and his enemies. “But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be struck down.  He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.  All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done.  Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; let all the upright in heart praise him!” (Psalm 64:7-10, NIV)  David was most likely afraid and angry in the face of his enemies, yet he knew what to focus on in order to bring the peace of God back into his heart.  We can do the same.  We can take a lesson from David (and even my fair Zoe).  When life looks a little grim, let’s keep positive and remind ourselves of who God is and who we are in Christ.  Here are a few scriptures to help us along the way:

Philippians 4:13

Philippians 4:19 

Romans 8:37 

Psalm 118:6 

Psalm 62:1-2 

Psalm 57:3 

Psalm 46:1-7

Prayer Requests

Please pray for Della.  She fell yesterday and is in serious condition.

Please pray for Vicki and Dusty.  God knows their situations.

Please pray for all the children of divorce.

"...your father knows what you need before you ask him." 

(Matthew 6:8, NIV)

Prayers and Praises

Praise!  Susan has been released from her doctor.  She is cancer free!!

Praise!  I am feeling so much better.  I have more energy and the pain is gone.

Please pray a hedge of protection around Nora and her kids.  They are going on a long trip this weekend.

Praise!  God has blessed me with a new computer to use for school.

Please pray for my daughter and I as we travel to meet her dad tomorrow.

Praise!  I am going with friends tomorrow to see a baseball game.  I am so looking forward to spending time with my church family.

"For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.  The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love."

(Psalm 33:4-5, NIV)

Prayers and Praises

Please pray for Cleve.  He is going for an important job interview tomorrow.

Please pray for me.  I have been fighting off sickness.  I have also had difficulty finding time for exercise to help in stress management.

Praise!  My daughter's first day at a new school was quite successful!  Her teachers are family friends and I am very excited for her to have a great 2nd grade year.

Please pray for Brian and his mother Nora.  It is Brian's first day of kindergarten tomorrow.

"Let me live that I may praise you..."

(Psalm 119:175, NIV)

Just Go

 (04/09/09)

My daughter has this great ’beginner’s bible’.  I love the stories in it because it makes things so easy to understand.  One day I was reading to her, I came across a story titled, “Helpers and Friends”.  It was the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and he was looking for men to help him.  “Jesus knew that he had much work to do.  He wanted to have some good friends who could help him.  One day Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee.  He saw two boats there.  Peter and Andrew were fishing from one boat.  James and John were mending a net in the other boat.  Jesus called to them, “Come and follow me.”  And they did.” (The Beginner’s Bible, Zonderkids, ref. Luke 5:1-11).  As I read that page, the following thought came to my mind: “That’ll preach!!!”  Think about it.  All Jesus had to say was “come with me”, and they did.  They didn’t ask where they were going, who they were going to see, or what they were going to do.  They didn’t stop to ask anyone’s permission,  they didn’t wait until they were done with that day’s work, and they didn’t stop to think, “Do I have what it takes to work with this man?”.  They didn’t try to figure it out.  They just went.  God tells us to “come and follow” Him everyday.  Sometimes what He has for us is simple, and other days it may seem impossible; but don’t try to figure it out.  Just go.      

Prayers and Praises

Please pray for my mother.  She has been dealing with a sinus infection for several days.

Please pray for my daughter.  She is starting at a new and bigger school this year, and she is a little nervous.

Please pray for Susan.  She is at Duke having some testing done.

Praise!  God continues to increase my Christian family!

Pray for blessings for Cleve, Danielle, and Laura.  Their birthdays were this past week.

Pray for Susan and Nora.  They are both starting back to college this month.

Please pray about a rash of car break-ins that have been happening in my area.  Pray for the men/women who perpetrated them, and pray for the police as they look for those responsible.

Praise!  Children are back to school soon, and regular schedules can resume!

Please pray for Betsy and her family.  Her baby is due at the end of this week.

Please pray for Herman in the work that God has set before him.

Please pray for Len and his family.  He has been traveling quite a bit for work.

"O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below - you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way." 

(1 Kings 8:23, NIV) 

Prayer Requests

Please pray for Nora and her family.  Her grandmother's funeral was yesterday.

Please pray for Sabrina.  She woke up this morning with a terrible toothache and is heading to the dentist.

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..."

(Isaiah 43:1-3, NIV)

Prayers and Praises

Praise!  My daughter is healthy and well.  Thanks for your prayers.

Praise!  My daughter and her dad's family all got home safely from the beach.

Praise!  Maria just had a grandson over the weekend.

Please pray for me as I have been battling some sickness over the last few days.

Please pray for all the kids who will be heading to school next week.

Please pray for my family who is traveling this week.

Please pray for Cleve.  He will be going skydiving for the first time next weekend.

Please pray for Wendy.  She has recently started a new business.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in 

Christ Jesus."

(1 Thessalonians 5:28, NIV)

Will You Be My Friend?

(07/31/11)

There are many things we do for our children to get them (and us) through the summer months, the most often used of which would be a trip to the park.  For a young child, nothing beats an afternoon of slides, swings, and monkey bars.  My daughter’s favorite, the swings, is where she always heads first, wanting mommy to either push her or swing next to her.  Quite often the park is full of other children running from one play area to the next with complete abandon while their parents try to keep up.  Occasionally children from different families will meet and begin to play together.  Sometimes they get along and sometimes not, but what I find awesome is that they are almost always willing to try.  And the first time I heard my daughter ask the question, “Will you be my friend?”, I was nearly overwhelmed.  Being that I am no longer a child, and have a much harder time opening myself up for rejection, I sat waiting with baited breath for the other child’s response.  She said yes!  Thank you, God, that my daughter’s feelings weren’t hurt!  Then, as usual, I realized what a lesson this was to me.  My fear of rejection is something that has kept me from picking up the phone and having someone to go to lunch with, go to the movies with, go for a walk with, ride my bike with… basically, it’s just left me alone.  No, not just alone, but lonely… a place that God never truly intended for me to be.  Being that I was raised to be very independent, I tend to forget that God’s plan is for us to be interdependent…always looking to God first, while still relying on each other, being there for each other, and depending on each other.  If I don’t make the effort, I won’t reap the reward… having more friends not only to rely on but to be there for… to spend time with, laugh with, cry with, and pray for.  So with God’s wisdom and a little faith, I take another lesson from Zoe and ask, “Will you be my friend?”

“A friend loves at all times…” (Proverbs 17:17, NIV)