Thursday Thankfulness ~ "The King is Coming!"

 
Hello Friends...It's Thursday, and today I'd like to share some things I am thankful for with you.  So come on in to my "Home Sweet Home" and "Stay Awhile" and we can visit and talk about some special things and memories...

Today I went to the eye doctor for my annual check up, and I am so thankful that my eyes really haven't changed much since last year, and the doctor said he really didn't think I needed to change my glasses yet. But  he did say that probably next year I will have to have cataract surgery.  He thinks I'll be okay to wait until then. So I am very thankful for that good report!

Isn't this Coral Vine beautiful?  This is on an old dead palm tree where we go walking...

Everytime we walk past this big old palm tree there is something new blooming on it!  (Not to mention now there is a CROSS on it, made from some of the palm branches that fell down from the top and landed like that!)

Not long ago the purple wisteria was blooming:

And shortly after that it was this Cat's Claw Creeper vine mixed with some Trailing Lantana

It's really amazing how so many beautiful different flowers can climb up and grow and bloom on that old dead tree!

Looking at it here you'd never imagine that it could hold such beauty!

Maybe there's a story there for us!  Something like "don't judge a book by its cover!" There may be more to this "person" than meets the eyes. And the when the time is right, your true beauty will shine from within.

Here's some "food" for thought about this from the Bible...

1 Peter 3:3-4 NKJV

3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold,

 or putting on fine apparel— 

4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

Proverbs 31:30-31

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,

And let her own works praise her in the gates.

John 15:5-7

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Maybe you can think of some other verses that would be appropriate there.  How about this one:

John 11:25-26

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Remember this?

Yes, that's the empty tomb and cross that our son Benton created for Easter.  Well, I was so surprised when a special person we haven't seen in probably 46 years contacted me and said that she wanted one of these to put in their church for Easter next year.  What was significant about this is this woman is from the very first church that my husband pastored, way back in the late 1970's.  We have recently reconnected via Facebook, and it has been really special to us to hear from this person and her husband, because they are the first couple that my hubby ever "married" as a Pastor.  Here he is on the left, and I'm not sure who the man is in the middle, but the man on the far right was the retired pastor from that church who had been there probably for all of this young couple's early lives.   

Now this couple has been married for about 47 years! That in itself is a blessing!

I've already shared a little about this church before HERE, which is where my hubby was ordained as a minister.  It was really exciting to us that she wanted to have our son's special Easter Empty Tomb decoration to put in this church.  When we were there so many years ago, Benton was in 2nd grade, Matthew was in kindergarten, and Scott was just a baby!   However, I think this couple is probably the only people left in that church who would still remember us. Most everyone else who was there when we were there has either already died or moved away.  Most everyone was retired, and I remember that we were the youngest couple and had the youngest children when we first went there. 

Our friend also sent this picture to us...yes, that's me, and I don't remember the fellow playing the guitar, but I was the soloist for the wedding.  I had to ask her what I sang, because I didn't remember! (It's been a LONG time, people!!)   Anyway, she said I sang "The Wedding Song", hence that is why it was best accompanied with a guitar.    

I bet many of you remember this song by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary:

The Wedding Song

Sung here by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary

"He is now to be among you

at the calling of your hearts.

Rest assured this troubadour is acting on His part.

The union of your spirits here has caused Him to remain

for whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name

There is love

There is love

Well a man shall leave his mother

and a woman leave her home

They shall travel on to where the two shall be as one.

As it was in the beginning, is now until the end.

Woman draws her life from man and gives it back again.

(And) There is love

There is love

Well then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife

Is it love that brings you here, or love that brings you life.

For if loving is the answer then who's the giving for.

Do you believe in something that you've never seen before

There is love

(Oh) There's love

(Hum)

(Oh) The marriage of your spirits here has caused him to remain

For whenever two or more of you are gathered in his name

There is love

(Ah) There's love

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Paul Stookey

Wedding Song (There Is Love) lyrics © Music & Media Magic, Inc.

I wonder how many of you had that song sung at your wedding?  Did that bring back memories?  

Just for laughs, she also sent me this picture...LOL. Yes, that's hubby and yours truly...we were having a "Hobo Party" (instead of Halloween)  and here we either had just bobbed for this apple,  or it was on that string and we were supposed to do some game with it...either way, you can see we were having fun! Yes, Pastors and wives can have fun too.  LOL. And no, I wasn't pregnant...my shirt was stuffed with a pillow as I had been dressed up like an old hobo before dunking my head in a bucket of water to bob for that apple.

HERE's a link to a previous old post written about this time in our lives.

It was wonderful to walk down memory lane for a few minutes there. Such special memories.  When I was looking through some of my own pictures for back in the day, I came across this one, which really doesn't have anything to do with that church, but it was probably about the same time, and this picture was taken at my parents' home. That is my Dad, me, my sister Doris, and my hubby, and we were practicing to sing at my Mom and Dad's church on Sunday.  We used to do that every so often when we could all be together at the same time.  It was so wonderful.  My mother didn't sing with us, but she was always a good alto and she could have if she'd wanted to. But I think she was actually the choir director for their church at this time, so she had plenty to do.  

We were known as "The Mursch Family Singers" singing

Victory in Jesus!  Wish we had recorded it!

  

But in case you don't know the song, here's the Gaither Homecoming Family singing it:

Victory in Jesus

Verse 1

I heard an old, old story how a Savior came from glory,

How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me;

I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood’s atoning,

Then I repented of my sins and won the victory

Chorus

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

Verse 2

I heard about His healing, of His cleansing pow’r revealing

How He made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see;

And then I cried, “Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit,”

And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.

Chorus

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

Verse 3

I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory,

And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea;

About the angels singing and the old redemption story,

And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.

Chorus

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

So keeping in "tune" with this muscial theme...Here's a song that I'm sure most of you will remember, also from the Gaithers.  You may want to listen to it first and then I will tell you why this is "ringing a bell" with me today as I think about the music we've done in the past.

The King is Coming, with the Gaither Homecoming Family:

Fast forward quite a few years from those early ministry days, and many years later in actually the very last place where we served in the ministry, our church was blessed to host the Gaither's pianist, Anthony Burger, in a special concert.  Our church was a small country church, and I'm really not sure how we managed to have him come and do this concert, but I know we had to rent a Grand Piano and build a special platform to hold it so that he could play.  The concert was free, so many people came from miles around and filled our little church to overflowing.  Well, at that time I was actually the choir director for our church. (that was actually my first and last experience of being the choir director! LOL, but I enjoyed every minute and song!)  Anyway,  Anthony Burger was an extremely accomplished pianist, as you can imagine, since he played for the Gaithers. (And yes, that is him playing in the video of them singing above).   Anyway, his grand finale song was "The King is Coming".  He was to play through the song without anyone singing until the very end, where the choir was to stand up and sing the final chorus.  My job was to cue them in and direct them to sing it with him as he played.  Well, I was sitting on the front row watching him play, and I was so enthralled by watching him play this song that I nearly forgot about directing the choir to sing.  All of a sudden I realized Anthony Burger was looking at me as he was playing and nodding his head to remind me it was time to have the choir join in!  I literally had to JUMP up from my seat and direct the choir to stand and start singing "The King is Coming, the King is coming, I just heard the trumpet sounding, and now His face I see!  Oh, the King is coming, the King is coming, Praise God! Praise God! He's Coming for Me!!!"   

Wow! I know my face was a bit red that I'd almost missed this great ending! If I had've missed it, I would've pretty much said "Jesus, just come on and take me now!"  LOL. But Praise God! We made it, and it was truly a wonderful ending to an amazing experience!

The King is Coming piano solo by Anthony Burger:

If you don't know the story of Anthony Burger, you might appreciate hearing his testimony. This is also what he shared with us that night at the concert.  It's an amazing story, well worth listening to:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBhY1k_DWU4  You may have to click on that link because the video may not show up here.

This video is so magnificent: "The Best Compilation of Anthony Burger"

I think you will really enjoy this one. I'm still listening to it while I write. Amazing gift from God. 

Here's a link to his whole life story on Wikipedia.  This is the sad part:  

"On February 22, 2006, at the age of 44, Burger died of a massive heart attack after performing aboard the MS Zuiderdam, a cruise ship chartered for a Gaither Gospel Cruise. According to eyewitnesses, Burger was accompanying Bill and Gloria Gaither and Guy Penrod when fans in the audience noticed Burger had ceased moving, his hands clenched into fists over the keyboard. Several fellow artists carried him backstage, where the cruise ship's emergency response team performed CPR for about 45 minutes, to no avail."

Yes, he passed away all too soon, and actually he died just 2 or 3 years after we had met him.  We were greatly saddened that the world lost such an amazingly gifted man, but God had a need for him to join heaven's concert hall.  I expect he's playing some truly heavenly music today.  Maybe when I get to heaven someday I'll have another chance to direct the heavenly choir singing "The King is Coming" while Anthony Burger plays on the Grand Piano of Heaven.  Wouldn't that be something?  Well, I can dream. LOL.  

I am so thankful to God for these life experiences. And most of all I am thankful that we have that hope..."The KING IS COMING!"  Are you ready?   I know I am, and I can hardly wait, but I guess we will all have to wait until everything is ready in the halls of heaven for us to enter.  Until that day, let's keep singing and praising God for His goodness to us. Amen?  Amen. 

 

Good Night my friends. I hope you enjoyed this little different  post.  You never know where we will end up when you come visiting here in my "Home Sweet Home".   Thank you for "staying awhile!".

Catching Up

Hello Friends!

It's November already! Wow! October sure flew right by us like a rocket ship out of control.

Even Halloween kind of caught us off guard, because our town told the kids to go trick or treating on Saturday night, Oct. 30th, instead of Sunday. Unfortunately, no one told me!

However, with "Lily Grace's" help, we got the little packages of candy ready to pass out as quickly as we could and had a great time watching the children parade up and down in front of our house...

Yes, Lily was a great helper. She wore her Brownie Scout uniform for her costume, mainly because Mommie never got around to making anything else for her, but it served the purpose and she was quite happy all the same...

She had some assistance from Mr. Jack O'Lantern:

I wish I had thought to take more pictures of the cute little trick or treaters who came to our door, but I was so busy passing out candy I forgot, except for this one interesting dune buggy thing that kept changing light colors...

I thought that was pretty cool, but prayed the kids on the back of it didn't fall off...

Some of you may have already seen this great discovery on my Facebook page.  From a distance I thought it was some kind of Halloween decoration beside the road, but as we got closer to it I realized it was only the "Ghost of Christmas Past."  

Yes, I passed up on this great "bargain", which was left there for the garbage collectors.

Ha Ha Ha.

So, I wanted to thank you all for your kind words and prayers for me on my last post.  Praise God I am feeling so much better, and was even able to go to church on Sunday. I especially wanted to go because it was Pastor Appreciation Sunday and we had a pot luck dinner after church.  

Here is our wonderful pastor and his wife. Very special people that we love dearly.  His wife Carol is also our worship leader/choir director...a very busy and talented lady, and a good friend.

I love this plaque that our UMW ladies gave to the Pastor:

I was so happy to be able to attend the dinner, although I am still having some difficulty with swallowing and it was a bit frustrating to see so much wonderful food and not be able to fully enjoy it, but I needed the fellowship more than the food.

Here I am on the right, and my good friend, the "other Pamela" is in the middle, and another dear friend, Lisa, on the left.

My kids Benton and Rose were also at our table, as was my hubby, but he was busy being the photographer in place of me, so he didn't make it into any of the pictures!

Here are just a random sampling of some of the pictures of our dear church family, enjoying this special time of fellowship and TOO MUCH food together!

As is the case in any church across America, we all have great cooks and we sure love to eat!

Always a joy and blessing to spend this time of fellowship together

We are blessed with some of the sweetest and best...

And the most fun too...

It was a great way to honor our pastor

As an added blessing, the church presented my hubby with this very nice card, as a way of honoring him for his many years of service in the pastoral ministry. He was truly surprised and blessed, as was I.  We were not expecting this, and it was very humbling and so nice to be thought of in this way.

Wow! That truly brought some tears to my eyes. So glad I persevered and made it to church!!

Also, in case you are interested and want to follow along with Sunday's message from Colossians 4, here is the video:

Back to the present:

This morning I had a follow up visit with my Primary Care physician, and everything was declared to be looking good.  I am feeling a bit better every day, and my appetite is getting better too as my throat heals and I am able to swallow better.  I was shocked, however, that the scales did not show that I had lost any weight over the last week...I wonder what they put in that Titanium brace installed in my neck? Maybe it was really made of lead...oh, I hope not...that would not be good. LOL.

I think this picture from my November  "Country Seasons" calendar (by John Sloane), is a fitting way to close out today's post...

Psalm 42:1

 "As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God."

I am very very thankful for how far the Lord has brought me in this healing process, and I just want to give Him praise!  And thank you all again for your kind words and prayers.

I am still trying to stay caught up with you all, but as soon as I think I've read them all, there's another whole bunch of new posts to read! You are a wonderful, but prolific group of writers! LOL.

Love you all!!

Happy November!!

 

Tuesday 4 - "Let's Talk About You"

 Tuesday 4

So Tell Me....

This week's questions come from Sparky at "My Thoughts Exactly" I hope you enjoy doing them.

Let's talk about you...

(This was taken last year... I haven't been out in the kayak yet this year...but this is a pretty good picture of the "real me!")

1. Music. What kind of music do you enjoy? Are you musical?

I mostly enjoy gospel music, sacred music, hymns, contemporary Christian music (to a degree).  When I was younger I also enjoyed popular music of the 50's and 60's, but once I got married and started having babies I was more into singing lullabies and nursery rhymes. LOL.  Yes, I do enjoy singing and have done a LOT of singing throughout my life. Started out in Junior Choir as a child in church, and then graduated to the High School Chorus and then the adult choir at church.

I used to sing a lot of solos in church, but now my voice is better singing harmony (alto) in either duets, quartets, or choir. I never learned to play any instrument, but wish now that I had at least tried to learn the piano. I was too busy playing outside as a child and couldn't be bothered with piano lessons. No one told me that one day I would be a Pastor's Wife, and the first question that would be asked of me when my husband was being interviewed for his first pastoral position was, "Do you play the piano?".  And when I said no, I was told that "Our Pastors' wives have always played the piano."  I replied, "Well, unless you want to sing Mary Had a Little Lamb or Chopsticks, you don't want me to play the piano!"  My husband still got the job. LOL.


2. Travel. Where have you been? What's your favorite destination(s)?
Good question. We really haven't done a LOT of traveling in the vacation sense of the word. But throughout our years in the ministry we did a lot of traveling to our new destinations.  We started out in Florida, our home state, and from there went to Georgia (Toccoa Falls), back to Florida, then to South Carolina to Columbia Graduate School of Bible and Missions, (hubby) then to North Carolina to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary for a summer grad course, back to Florida, then to Ashland, Ohio to finish (hubby's) Master of Divinity degree and served in a couple of churches in Ohio before moving back to Florida and then back to Georgia, Ohio (to finish his doctorate), Michigan, New Hampshire, Kansas, Maine, and finally back to Florida for good (I think!) (I hope!)  We served in many different churches and places throughout our almost 52 years of marriage.   (This map was a part of our 50th wedding anniversary party)

 My favorite destination now?  Well, we still love New England, and since our grandson lives in Maine, we look forward to visiting there again whenever we can. I would also love to take a road trip someday up to Ohio and who knows where beyond. Hubby would like to see where Custer's last stand took place, Little Big Horn, so maybe we will take that trip someday.  

3. Occupations. Did you end up working at what you wanted to be? Do you wish you'd done something else, if so, what? etc.

To be honest, I didn't really know what I wanted to be.  When I graduated high school, I had plans to go to an airline stewardess school, but changed my mind and went to a community college instead, and there I met my hubby and the rest is history. My career became PHT (putting hubby through) and Mommy to three wonderful sons, and then on to become a Pastor's wife. I never dreamed that was what God had in mind for me when I started out in life, but He prepared me each step of the way and I was very blessed to serve in that way. I also did other jobs along the way, mostly in schools so I could have the same schedule as our children once they were all in school.  I took several courses in college throughout the years, but not enough for a degree. I ended up being a school bookkeeper and my final job before retiring was as a Church Administrator for a large church.  That seemed to use all of the years of training and experience that God had provided for me.

Our family around 1981

Our family 2014

Hubby being ordained to ministry

4. How do you keep from being bored?

Well, anyone who knows me knows that I love to take pictures of just about anything, anywhere. Nature, family, friends, just whatever happens to be happening at that moment. I also enjoy writing, reading, and taking walks with my hubby, spending time with family and friends, and going to church.  When we open our eyes to the beautiful world around us, we can never be bored.

And with that, I will say "Good Night!"

  

 Thank you for joining in each week. You have made this such a wonderful experience and I know Toni, in whose memory we continue, would be pleased as punch.

Sermon Notes: A Season of Change

This past Sunday was our Pastor's final day of preaching at our little church. He will begin his actual retirement in a couple of weeks, but yesterday was his last opportunity to preach the gospel to our congregation...and he gave us a powerful, challenging message from Jeremiah 29:11-23

The key verses are the most familiar to us:

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV)

11.  "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12.  Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 

13. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. 

14.  I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

We are in a season of change in our church, and here, above, God is giving a word of hope to the children of Israel, much like what He is giving to us today:

"Build, plant, pray..."  even though they were in captivity...

"You are here for a reason...God has called you here...to bloom where you are planted."

This community needs us to thrive despite transition and changes

We need to stand behind the new pastor...show God's love at work in this church...and remember the people outside.

God has great plans for us...

Have you ever felt hopeless and in despair?

God is with us always and forever...

Jesus told His disciples before He went away:

John 16:33  (NIV)

33 “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

There is NO equal to GOD. Jesus is stronger than any of our fears. God is here...God is stronger than the gates of hell-stronger than death. 

We can have hope in the midst of troubles

Hebrews 13:5

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; 

be content with such things as you have,

For He Himself has said, 

"I will never leave you nor forsake you."

God is pursuing us.  

We've been given great privilege and responsibilities.

Ephesians 2:8-9

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

The key to a great life is the decision to live for God. 

It was said that recently many, many people waited ten hours in line to ride the new "Harry Potter " ride at Disney.   Ten hours standing in a long line to ride a new ride...can you imagine?

As believers, we are living an adventure in our relationship with Jesus Christ...the adventure of a lifetime! Far greater than any ride Disney or any other theme park could imagine.

We need to humble ourselves and get pride out of the way...

"Seek Me and find Me...I will be found by you when you seek Me with your whole heart..."

God has plans to prosper you and not to harm you.

Accept and believe that God has plans for you...and it will be good because God will not do anything to harm His church...

Embrace the new pastor...It is God's will that he is coming here.

Have an open mind and an open spirit.  

Choose to look at the bright side of life

Choose to step into the unknown that brings in the future...

Share your unique gifts and graces with others...

Choose to have faith that God is in control...

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,

thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Pastor A.C. Myers, 6/16/2019

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given. I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously. Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said. Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear... That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts. So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.

Random Journal Day: A Letter to a New Pastor's Wife

Here it is again...Random Journal Day...the day when the bravest among us open our old journals and share things that we wrote in the past...hopefully for your edification in some form or another...

In my perusal of old notebooks and journals, I came across a copy of a letter that I wrote to a young woman who was about to become a pastor's wife.  She was already married to her husband...and he was about to become a pastor for the first time.  They were members of the church in which my husband was the pastor, and thus I was "the pastor's wife".  So I felt somewhat qualified to share these thoughts with her as they prepared to begin this new adventure.  Look over my shoulder and read what I wrote way back in March of 1990:

Dear Julie,

This is just a personal note from me to you as you prepare to begin this exciting journey into "ministry".  It appears inevitable that you will someday soon join the ranks of those privileged women known as "Pastor's Wives".  It is truly a privilege and a high calling to be the wife of a man called of God into full time Christian service.  However, there are several things you should try to remember:

• First, you are the PASTOR'S wife, not the CHURCH'S wife...your first ministry should be in the home, as a wife, mother, counselor, helpmeet, lover, encourager, and perhaps even exhorter.  You will find this aspect of your "calling" to be the most challenging, most rewarding, most exciting, and most fulfilling.  If you neglect it for any other "ministry", no matter how important it may seem, not only will you suffer, but your husband and family will suffer also.  Always remember you are to be the "helpmeet" for your husband, the Pastor, and not the "helpmeet" for the church.  All other areas of ministry must come second to that of being the wife of the Pastor.

• Second, don't let the demands and needs of the ministry rob you of your joy in serving Christ.  There will be times when you will feel a real need to get away from the "maddening crowd", and find a place of refuge and retreat.  Don't wait too long to set aside that time.  Not just for yourself, but for your husband also.  Keep your relationship with Christ alive and exciting by spending time alone with Him daily, and then special times set apart for retreat and recuperation.

• Keep your relationship with your husband alive and exciting by spending time alone with him daily, and then special times set apart for retreat and recuperation.  Both relationships are equally important, and both relationships need equal time and care.  But I warn you, you will have to remind yourself from time to time that this is most important.  Your schedules will get so hectic and wild that you will feel like a stranger to Christ...and you will feel like a stranger to your husband. Guard against this, Julie, with all your heart, and plan ahead.  Try to always build into your schedules time for rest, recuperation, and recreation.  Don't allow the pressures of the masses close in on you.  God is able to take care of their needs with or without your help...and He can use your talents and gifts best when you are rested and happy.

Your life in serving Christ will be an adventure everyday.  He has wonderful plans for you. (Jeremiah 29:11).  Just keep your eyes on Jesus.  He will never let you down.  (Hebrews 12;1-3).

"Now to Him Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..." (Ephesians 3:20-21)...

Julie, I commit you into His loving, powerful, capable hands.  Please keep in touch with us, and know that we are praying for you both daily.


As I re-read this letter written so many years ago...now from the perspective of a "old pastor's wife"whose husband has since retired from active ministry, I find myself saying "Amen" to all that was written.  I wish that I had remembered to heed my own words throughout all of our years of service in the church...there were too many times that I let the needs of the church dictate my time and rob me of my energy and strength so that I was not able to be the "helpmeet" that my husband needed most.  Looking back, I know that we truly needed to take that time out as a couple to rest, recuperate and "recreate", and we didn't do it.  We allowed ourselves to burn out and thus became weary, sad and miserable in our calling.  We listened to the wrong voices and did not heed the VOICE of our Lord whispering to our hearts to come apart for awhile and be blessed in His presence.  If I had it to do over again, I know I would try harder to listen to what God was telling me to write to "Julie" almost 25 years ago. Things might have turned out differently.  Hindsight is always 20-20. Today I am just thankful that we survived and that we still have each other to enjoy...and we still have our love for the Lord.  We are just expressing it differently these days.  And that's okay too. God understands.

Now, go check out this link and see what others are writing.

Random Journal Day ~ "Today Was A Good Day"

Today is the first Friday of the month, and therefore, to those of us out here in "blogland", it is also known as "Random Journal Day"...the day where we are supposed to randomly select an old journal entry and share it here with the whole world.  My journal entry selections are somewhat "random", but I do read through it first to be sure it is suitable for the whole world to see.  Wouldn't want to embarrass anyone, especially myself!

So, today I was looking through my favorite old journal,

really the first one that I ever attempted to write on a regular basis.  The whole book is 210 pages long, and it spans almost five years of my life! These years were during our early years of serving in the ministry, and I found this a good way to work through some of the frustrations and blessings of being the wife of a minister and the mother of three "preacher's kids".  Obviously, I can't just share everything...I try to protect the innocent and the not so innocent.

Today's choice is not too "revealing", but it is a time of praise and thankfulness out of the abundance of my overflowing heart.  So here goes:

Saturday, November 2, 1985

"Today was a good day.  Our church has been growing so wonderfully~God has really blessed.  A member of our church wanted to do something to help, so he donated new pews to the church.  Today was "moving the pews" day, so a good number of people were there for a work day~not only moving pews, but raking leaves and cleaning around the church.  There was such a good spirit there~it was a real blessing.  I can't wait to see everyone there tomorrow "packing the pews."

"We praise Thee oh, God, for the Son of Thy love...

For Jesus who died and is now gone above.

Hallelujah! Thine the glory, Hallelujah, Amen.

Hallelujah! Thine the glory, Revive us again!"

(Hymn: "Revive Us Again", written by William P. Mackay, 1839-1885)

Tomorrow is also Communion Sunday, a time of uniting our hearts in remembrance of what Christ did for us on Calvary~it should really be a great day in the house of the Lord.

"God is so good, God is so good,

God is so good, He's so good to me."

(chorus, unknown origin)

Thank you, Lord, for Your answers to prayer. We know that You are on the throne, and that nothing is impossible with Thee.  We are anxiously looking forward to what You are going to do next!

Thank you, Jesus.  Amen."

Here it is 29 years later...(can it really be that long, Lord?), and I can honestly say that I am still praising our heavenly Father for His infinite goodness to us.  I am happy that I stumbled across this "random" journal entry today. It reminded me of the ways that God has never forsaken or forgotten us throughout these many years since. He continues to answer prayers and blesses us above and beyond all we could ever ask or think. If He did that for us in the past, I know He will continue to do so in the future. No matter what this old world may throw at us.  God is still so good...He's so good to me! 

Now, go here  to see what other fellow bloggers are writing about this time!

The Waiting Is Finally Over -Random Journal Day

Dear Friends, Today is the first Friday of the month, and for a group of fellow bloggers and myself, it is also known as "Random Journal Day". The idea is to grab an old journal off the shelf and randomly choose a journal entry to share with the world...if you dare! (Click here to see what others are sharing) Well, I seem to have run out of appropriate journal entries to share, but I have started writing the story of our life in the ministry from beginning to end...and it is a kind of journal of the early years of our call to the ministry and some of the more interesting moments that I "dare" to share with the world. So, grab a cup of coffee or tea, sit back, and take a journey back in the time machine with me to the year 1977, when my husband was called to his very first church as a pastor...and I was called to become that curious person known as "The Pastor's Wife". I hope you'll enjoy this little excursion into the past with me...

The Waiting is Finally Over   (August, 1977)

Isaiah 30:18   “Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.  For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.”

Finally the day came when the District Superintendent called John on the phone and told him that he had a small church that wanted to hear him speak.  However, it was several hours south of us, in a very retired community.  Of course we leaped at the opportunity! This was what we had been waiting for!  So we went down for a weekend to meet the people and “candidate” for the position of pastor.  Did I mention that it was August…and very hot and humid?  Well, it was…and the people with whom we were to spend the night did not have on their air conditioning.  They had an air-conditioner; they just didn’t have it turned on!  Our baby Scott was just about six months old, and we took along a plastic-sided port-a-crib for him to sleep in.  That poor baby was just ringing wet with perspiration all night long in that hot little bed in that very hot little room. We had the windows open, but unfortunately with the humidity it didn’t help at all.  Not to mention the fact that the house sat right next door to a bowling alley, which was also not far from the railroad tracks!  So you can just imagine what kind of night we spent! Every few minutes we could hear the loud crashing of the pins in the bowling alley, only to be followed by the whistle of the train as it roared by, and then the poor hot baby crying in his bed and us trying to sleep so John could preach a powerful sermon the next day!  Talk about testing!   I don’t think this test came from God…I’m quite sure it was Satan himself trying to keep us from succeeding in this idea of preaching the Gospel! 

Morning came all too early, and as we tried to put on our very hot suits, ties, and panty hose, dress, etc., the lady of the house came in and said, “Oh, you can turn on that air conditioner in your room if you want!”   Thank you very much…why couldn’t she have told us that last night?????

So you can imagine what frame of mind we were in when we headed over to the church that morning to meet and greet all the people and put our best foot forward so they would invite us to come back and be their new minister and family! There was a lot on the line for this very tired, hot, cranky family that day!  Our two older boys were all spiffed up in their little suits and ties, and the baby was cooled down with his bath and dressed up in the cutest outfit I could find for a bouncing baby boy of six months.  I was dressed just as perfectly as I could possibly muster after dressing and feeding the boys and making sure that John had his tie on straight and his shirt and suit coat not too wrinkled.  And since I was still nursing the baby, I had to make sure that he was well fed before we got to church so he wouldn’t start demanding more food in the middle of the service!  Yes, the pressure was definitely on!!  There was no time to pray!  I had to whisper a few hurried prayers to the Lord that morning like, “Help!” and, “Lord, please help the boys to behave and the baby not to cry and help John remember his sermon!” 

I wish I could remember what John preached that day…I haven’t got a clue…but whatever it was, they said they liked it as they filed past us, shaking our hands at the close of the service! But then came the real test! THE INTERVIEW!  After lunch the church governing board took John for an interview, and the “bored wives” decided to do a little interviewing of their own, of ME!  I hadn’t bargained for that!  I mean, after all, John is the one they are hiring! What could they possibly want to know about me? 

I was asked if I could play the piano.  I responded that I could not, having never taken lessons.  The woman asking the question was astounded and she replied, “Why! Our Pastor’s Wives have ALWAYS played the piano!”   I said I thought they would get a little tired of singing “Mary Had A Little Lamb” and “Chopsticks”, the only songs I could play! (I was thinking to myself “Can you imagine trying to sing “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” to the tune of ‘Chopsticks’? Now THAT would be funny!”) A little perturbed, she went on to her next question.  She said, “Well, of course you WILL be the President of our Women’s Missionary Prayer Fellowship!  Our Pastor’s Wives have ALWAYS been the President!”  Not wanting to be a total disappointment to these dear ladies,  (and not wanting to lose the job for my husband if I didn’t meet their approval) I told them I’d try...but it would be kind of hard to be the President of an organization that I had only visited once or twice!   After all, I had a new baby and two other active youngsters, and hadn’t had much time to attend meetings! 

Believe it or not, we still were called to serve that church, and during the installation service

Anointed for Service in the Kingdom, 1977

I found out what my REAL job was going to be as a pastor’s wife!  During the prayer of installation, the dear District Superintendent who was praying for us laid his hand on my shoulder and prayed, “and dear Lord, please help Pam to be a “real Mother” to these ladies of this congregation!”  I almost couldn’t control the giggles that were welling up inside of me at that point...you see, our congregation was made up of people who were, in the main, at least as old as my own grandparents!  Following the service, one of the sweet elderly ladies came up to shake my hand and lovingly looked into my eyes and said, “Hi, Mom!”  I knew then that I would love being “Mom” to these ladies, and many others afterwards in different places, and of all ages!

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”      (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Oh Lord, help me to be the woman of influence that you desire me to be.  Help my influence be one that leads others to You.  Help me to “keep on keeping on”, even when my feet are tired of running the race.   Give me the strength that only You can provide.  Give me the desire to be a “real Mother” to the women that you bring into my path each day.  They are YOUR children, and I am YOUR servant here to lead them to YOU.    I will consider You, “who endured such hostility from sinners against [Yourself], lest I become weary and discouraged in  [my] soul.”   (Hebrews 12:3)  Thank You Lord, for not giving up on me.  Amen.

Rev. and Mrs. John F. Steiner, Pastor and Wife, 1977
Gee, we sure were young. Sigh...where did all the years go?