Weakness

I have a bad ankle. I have lost count of the number of times I have twisted or turned it. I think I've sprained it a grand total of four times. I know, I know. I need to strengthen it. I was told that when I sprained it the second time. You would think I would have learned by now!!! Anyway, last night, after an incredible harvest celebration at my church, I twisted it again. But this time I couldn't shake it off, as I do when it gets turned. It continued to hurt in a way that it never has with the sprains. AND, it still hurt this morning when the sheet touched it.

Worried, yet? Yep, it's broken. I just had it X-rayed & there is a small chip fracture. Okay, am I the only one who thinks that the words small or chip don't match the word 'fracture'? I have an appointment with an ortho this afternoon. But all this got me to thinking. How many twists and turns did it take to force me to find out how to strengthen this weak ankle? How many sprains? And just how much longer would I have ignored them? Can't you tell yet? I'm getting a 'God thing' out of this!

How many times does He gently warn us of trouble or sin in our lives? You know, those weak ankles that keep causing problems? How many of those slightly stern warnings? Did you know that when a sheep continues to wander off and disobey the shepard, that he will break the sheep's legs and carry this sheep in his shoulders while the legs mend? Needless to say, the sheep no longer wanders off once its legs mend. The sheep has become used to the shepard and doesn't want to lose that intimacy. No, God did not break my ankle! My disregard for the signs of weakness did. But what is He trying to warn me about my spiritual walk that I am disregarding? What is He trying to tell you? Let's learn it before He has to break us and remake us.

Lara

Listen

In trying to control my eating and lose weight, I am trying to hear the voice of God. Before you write me off as a nut, hold on a moment. If His eye is on the sparrow and He has numbered the hairs on my head, surly He is concerned with the things I eat and put in my body. Julie Morris is teaching a class on Wednesday nights on being 'guided by His steps' in our lives. You can check it out on her website guidedbyhim.com. Our substitute teacher, Leona Crabtree shared the other night, that in blessing her food before she eats, she asks the Lord to speak to her and let her know when she has eaten enough. And she acutally listens to Him.

How often to I truly listen? I find it ironic that I'm beginning this with food. I have always lived as if I deserve that cookie or brownie. Going back for seconds won't make that much of a difference. I am, after forty years of eating and living my way, realizing that I'm not supposed to be doing that. Do you ever wonder if God bangs His head against the wall? If He does, He does it over me. So, even though I ate that peanut butter cookie this morning, I'm trying. That still small voice of my Saviour and my Lord can be hard to hear over my own.

What's He trying to say to you? Can we get quiet enough to hear Him? Like I said, I'm trying.

Lara

It's all in your perspective...

I can lose perspective so easily, can you? A couple of weeks ago, an acquaintance of mine was sharing her heart with me. A heart that had been broken for several months. She told me that she wasn't still in love with the fellow, but that she missed who she thought he was. She thought, after waiting for so long, that she had found her soul-mate. Turns out she had found a "good-un", in the words of Rick and Bubba. As she was crying , my heart was whispering, "He's not worth one of your tears!" A few years ago, I would have wished her the man of her dreams. Today, I wish her good friends, close family, and a strong, Bible-believing church. Would she cry every day for three months, if she had friends like I do? Would she even miss him, if she had a strong church family? I don't know her well enough to answer those questions, but I do know her well enough to pray them for her .

A few years ago, I had this change of heart. I realized that I have friends, family and church. A husband or boyfriend would not make my life complete. My life is already complete. Through the healthy and unhealthy marriages of my friends, I came to an earth shaking realization: THERE ARE WORSE THINGS THAN BEING A BALDWIN SISTER! If it is God's will that I stay single, so be it. If He brings a husband for me, so be it.

For those of you that are too young to know who the Baldwin Sisters are, here's an explanation. These women were in the TV show, The Waltons. They were elderly women who had never married. And I used to fear being like them. Not any more! If you have good friends, a strong church, and close family, who needs more? So, if you want to call me 'Mamie Baldwin', you just go right ahead!

Lara

Fall Fever

I LOVE the season of Fall! All my life I've heard of people having 'spring fever'. Well, I have to be different and get 'fall fever'. Summer in the Deep South is brutal! So, I am vitalized when the haze of summer breaks. Birmingham had a nasty drought this summer, so those brilliant colors may not show up. I will miss them, but am determined to store every moment of this short season in my heart. I read in a magazine that, if you blink you could miss Fall. Down here, you may not be able to wear a sweatshirt until January or February. Needless to say, my sweatshirt collection lasts years. So, I better catch Fall when I can.

Here's how I recognize it:

• Even in the early afternoon, the air has a tint of gold that's only found in sunsets.


• I no longer have to turn my car's a/c to it's highest setting and turn all vents toward me.


• The sky becomes a color of blue that my mother refers to as 'October Blue', or if you're from NC 'Tarheel Blue'.


• Smiles come easier, as weather is harder to complain about.


• The air even seems easier to breathe.


• I begin to LONG for the mountains, a cabin next to a stream and a crackling fire.


• Walking outside is something I want to do.


• Burning leaves.


• High School and College football games--Go MSU Bulldogs!!!!

Watch for the signs. Take a moment. Try to enjoy. And if all you can do is dread the long winter ahead, read this and look forward to your own 'Spring Fever'.

Lara

Testaments

The Old Testament recorded that the Israelites built small stacks of stones on the road to the Promised Land. These stacks were a testament of something that God had taught them or a difficulty that He had seen them through. A few years ago, Jim Darnell (one of the greatest preachers I have ever heard) took us through the testaments of his life. His salvation, his encounters with the Holy Spirit, etc. He felt that we are too quick to forget these moments that can change the courses of our lives.

This picture is one of my own testaments. My parents brought me to this church when I was a baby. My father had received a calling to First Baptist Church of Aberdeen, MS. We left when I was five years old, only to return as he began an evangelical ministry. We were there for four & a half years. Needless to say, I knew every corner and alcove of that church. It is the church of my childhood. People are still there who knew me as a baby. For someone who has moved every four years, it is rare for anyone other than family to have known me that long.

It was in those classrooms that I first heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was introduced to mighty men like David, Joseph, Noah and Moses. Ruth and Esther became real women to me. I sometimes forget the legacy that I was given in that blonde brick church.

It isn't perfect, but God is there. I guess you could say the same about myself. I'm not perfect, but God is with me.

Lara

Unexpected Sources

I'm sure that Balaam was not expecting anything from that donkey! Have you ever had the Lord speak to you in an unexpected way? I remember when He was leading me through a very painful time and I had a question. I wish that I could tell you that I asked this question in a humble and contrite manner. I didn't. I couldn't understand why I was on that path. It was NOT one I had chosen. And I had a legitimate question. It came from the depth of my heart and I cried it out to Him. And I mean that I cried out literally, with anguish and pain. How gracious is the God we serve! He answered my cry. Have you ever read those words in the Old Testament and truly thought them through? HE ANSWERS YOUR CRIES!

He answered mine in an unexpected way. I worked with a woman who took His name in vain just about every day. I wasn't sure she was a Christian. But I loved, and still do, her. She has a beautiful sense of humor. You guessed it... She spoke the word of the Lord to me. She shared out of her heart and relieved my fear and pain. Did she know that she was sharing Him with me? Probably not. Does it even matter? She spoke out of her own experience and through that my question was answered and stilled.

Don't miss those unexpected moments. Don't forget His voice is still and small. He speaks through many vessels. He is unexpected.

Lara

Mary Tyler Moore

There is a movie that my sister & I love. I know, I know, you're shocked! Anyway, the female lead is very funny and very normal looking. She's not stick thin, not too tall, just normal. The male lead, in a romantic moment, mentions that she reminds him of Mary Tyler Moore. Giggling, she says, "Oh, I am SO not Mary Tyler Moore!" I love that line.

How many of us just long to be Mary, when in actuality we are Rhoda? For those of you who are too young to know who I am writing about & have never watched the reruns on Nic-at-Nite or TVLand, here is a description. Mary is tall and thin. Rhoda struggles with pesky pounds. Men frequently fall in love with Mary while Rhoda continually looks for (& never finds) Mr. Right. Mary catches her cap every time she throws it in the air. Poor Rhoda has to pick hers up off the sidewalk. Getting the picture, yet? Mary had her hard times, but life always seemed to work out right--not so for Rhoda. She was the comic relief.

Sometimes I want to be the lead, not the relief! In a class I began last night, the teacher said this, "God can and does use every pound (& self imagined fault)!" What a relief! He doesn't want a bunch of Mary's! He wants all the Rhoda's, Phyllis', Mr. Grant's & Ted's! (The show had a lot of comic relief!) So, pick your cap up off the sidewalk and have a good day!

Lara