The Light in My Window

The Light in My Window

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Something Old, Something New

A few years ago when we came to our present ministry, a dear lady gave me this verse she had written out on a card for me: "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." Isaiah 43:19

I still have that piece of paper, and God brought it to my mind as I was contemplating the events of the past week and what I should write about today. I was absent from the blog last week because we were away at our former church in Illinois. In celebration of their 20th anniversary, they held a homecoming mini-Bible conference and invited us, as the first and only former pastor, to come and participate. We were fresh out of Bible college where my husband was a much older than average student, when we moved to this town where he was called as the first pastor of that church. Little did we know at the time that we would stay there for 17 years. And this visit was our first time returning since we left 3 1/2 years ago.
Our visit was wonderful. We had precious times of fellowship with friends there, and God blessed the services. Our hearts were filled with joy at seeing first-hand how God is continuing to bless and lead that church in that small midwestern community. There is nothing like leaving your first church which was (and continues to be) so precious to us, and seeing it grow with new families and have a joyful, Christlike spirit and standing strong. 2 John 1:4 "I rejoiced greatly that I found my children walking in truth, as we have received commandment of the Father" and 3 John 4, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" are both so true! I have always applied that to our children and the joy we have as parents that they they are all living for and serving the Lord, but now that verse has even more meaning to me.

At the same time, during our five days there we could not help but do a lot of reminiscing. Everywhere we went the memories were present. We remembered the early days of renting a senior citizens community facility and having to set up and tear down before and after every service for five years. We remembered buying our new building and how excited we were to have a place to call our own; building an addition, putting on a new roof, renovating a small missions house. There were memories of Vacation Bible Schools, evangelistic services, church picnics, Christmas Cantatas and plays, youth rallies and activities, fellowships and dinners and trips to camp. Things only people such as ourselves who had been there at the beginning and throughout the entire life of the church could know and experience. And we missed seeing many people who had been very dear to us who have been promoted to heaven since we moved away. Our three children grew up there. We drove by our old houses and remembered playing basketball in the back, kids learning to drive, the blocks where they used to deliver newspapers and walk our dog, the library where all three of them worked in high school. The memories were overwhelming, and if I may be honest, really sad. Because they were memories of a season of life that is now in the past and can never be recovered.

I experience the same feelings when I work on or look at the photo books I have made. I have mentioned in previous posts that I enjoy scrapbooking. I have made special photo books of each of our kids and our grandchildren, of family vacations and trips, of special family occasions. They are filled with pictures of children who were once adorable babies and children and now are grown and have children of their own, of grandparents and great grandparents who are in heaven. They capture happy times in the past. And sometimes they are hard to look at.

All of these things together, if I dwell on them, can make me feel sad and even filled with regrets and longing for the "old days." But God doesn't want us to live in the past! That's why the verse I started today's post with is so special to me. God is wanting to do something new! If we are living in and longing for our past life, then we miss what He wants to do for us now. In addition to promising us that He will do something new, the end of that verse contains a promise that He will even do the unexpected and the seemingly impossible - making a road in the wilderness and a river in the desert certainly falls into that category.

When we get thinking about days and special times gone by, instead of being sad, we need to

  • thank Him for each person and each special time
  • praise Him for the gift of memories
  • trust Him for the future
As one of my favorite quotes says, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened!" (Dr. Seuss) God blessed us in the past - God wants to do something new!

Till next time,
Kathi

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Learning to Pray

It's been a busy time, both in our house and at church. At church, last night we concluded several days of Revival Services with Evangelist Ben Farrell and family. It was a blessed time, made even sweeter by an added bonus of having Tara Hamilton Farrell's family with us for 2 services.  Ron "Patch the Pirate" Hamilton, along with Shelly, their daughter Megan, Megan's fiance Adam, and Tara & Ben ministered in music each night, and it was exciting that they graciously held a Patch the Pirate concert on Tuesday evening. The children (and adults, too!) were so excited to meet Patch and be able to help him sing the songs that they know and love!

On the home front, my husband and I are leaving tomorrow morning for Illinois, where my husband will be preaching at a Homecoming conference that our former church is having to celebrate their 20th anniversary. This will be our first visit back in the 3 1/2 years since we left, and I can't tell you how excited I am. We dearly love the people here that God has given us to minister to and are grateful for Him bringing us here, but when you minister in the same church for 18 years, the church family becomes part of you. They are very near and dear to our hearts. In addition, that is where our children grew up. Our youngest son was only 6 when we moved to Illinois, and lived there until he graduated from college and got married in 2011. There are many, many memories of raising our children and serving the Lord there, and I confess that I have been praying that we would fully be able to enjoy our time of reunion and ministry there, without being sad about that season of our life being over.

What a privilege it is to be able to pray about things like that and to know that God cares about every concern of our life! When I was with my dear friend in South Carolina at the end of February, she gave me a special wall plaque to hang in the area where I have my time with the Lord. She got one for herself just like it. When I look at it, it never fails to speak to my heart. Here is what it says:

Lord, teach me how to pray!
In everything, let me give thanks.
That I would be anxious for nothing,
That Your desires would become my own.
May forgiveness flow willingly from my heart.
Show me your plan for me for today,
and may I pray always.

There are so many thoughts in those few lines that I hardly know where to begin. The first thought that has been going through my mind is that I need to not only ask the Lord to teach me how to pray, but to teach me to pray. Period. So often when a situation comes up, I think of a hundred other things and ways to "fix" and resolve the situation rather than just praying first.

The next two lines remind me of Phil. 4:6 - "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." We are also told in 1 Thess. 5:18 to "in everything give thanks". That can be so hard to do, but the rest of the verse gives us some helpful insight - "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Trusting God is such a huge and a hard thing for us to do. Why is it we can trust Him for our eternity, but not for our daily life? When we understand who God is - that He is wise, loving, and good - and because of that we can trust Him, then we truly can give Him thanks in everything.

"That Your desires would be my own." What an awesome thing to pray for and to realize that true joy comes when God's desires become our desires.  This is something we can pray not only for ourselves, but for our spouses, children, and grandchildren.

"May forgiveness flow willingly from my heart." I think the key word is "willingly." God wants us to forgive willingly, not grudgingly, and to forgive as He forgives us. If we understand how much we have been forgiven of, how can we withhold forgiveness?

"Show me your plan for today and may I pray always." If we could only get in the habit of beginning our day with this simple prayer, what a difference it would make. God does have a plan for our days, and His plan is always best, so on the days when it seems like nothing is going according to our plan, we need to remember that God might have a different plan. His plan is much better than any of ours. Psalm 18:30,"As for God, His way is perfect..."

I know that none of these thoughts are anything earth-shattering or new, but hopefully they will give you some things to think about over the next few days. May we all have a desire to go to the Lord and ask Him to "teach us to pray."

Thoughtfully,
Kathi