One a weekend I was scheduled to speak, Tom and I had the three youngest grandkids staying with us. While I would be speaking, Tom would be watching the kids– without me.
The moring of the event, chaos and busyness of trying to do all that I could before leaving the house, I had all of twenty minutes to get myself ready. My morning was rushed and void of quiet time with the Lord, and I was running on four hours of sleep. Weary and worn, I felt inadequately equipped to go and serve the Lord. Saying a quick prayer, I asked the Lord to carry me through.
Five-year-old Grayson asked where I was going. Telling him that I was going to a church to tell women about Jesus, I asked what he thought I should tell the ladies. He said, “Tell them Jesus loves them. That He loves them so much that He died on a cross for their sins. But that He is not dead now. He lives in heaven with His Father and, someday He is going to come back for them to take them there to live with Him and His Father.”
Though I had no quiet time to spend with the Lord, through the lips of my grandson, God spoke.
I gave the message Grayson told me to give, and taking his advice to have a puppet sing, Grandma Puppet sang, This Little Light of Mine.
A high school sophomore told me she loved the story that I shared.
The trend continues of God showing His hand at work in the youth.
Later thanking God for carrying me through, I heard him whisper, “I always do.”
We had a fun, full, and fatiguing week watching the three youngest grandchildren for three days and nights and having all six grandchildren the final night for one big sleep-over party. We watched the kids swing, play ball, zip-line, ride a dinosaur, do flips, and try to solve what they called, the Mystery at Grandpa’s Barn.
Certain I had heard a critter inside our mini-barn I went running out screaming, with arms flailing. After my husband made a thorough inspection, he found the noise was only a tree limb brushing across the roof. Our grandsons could not be convinced of this truth. The boys spent HOURS searching for clues of a critter that did not exist.
While the boys were busy writing down the noises they were hearing in their detective notebooks, our granddaughter was secretly planting irrelevant evidence. They recorded hearing hissing, humming, hopping, and buzzing noises. They even recorded evidence of bugs being found and boxes moving. A list of suspects was compiled. Could our culprit be a raccoon, mouse, rat, snake, squirrel, opossum, fox, chipmunk, gerbil, woodpecker, or a big army of ants?
Grayson, (5), went in the house and grabbed the two wooden crosses I keep on our coffee table. He calls them blasters. He tucks them inside the waistband of his pants and uses as super-hero weapons to blast away bad guys. Though the boys were not brave enough to enter the barn alone, together, armed with blasters, they had the courage to forge into the unknown.
From early in the afternoon into sundown they continued searching for clues to solve the Mystery at Grandpa’s Barn.
Early the next morning, still in pajamas, the boys were back in the barn searching for new clues. Of course, the boys didn’t find any critter culprit but, they had hours of fun searching!
I suggest we follow their plan to seek the Mysteries of God.
Armor up, grab your blasters and be battle-ready. (Ephesians 6:10-17)Seek truth. (Psalm 119:130, John 8:32)Take note of what is going on. (Deuteronomy 6:6-8)Be strong and courageous. (Joshua 1:9)Buddy up. Forge ahead with a friend. (Isaiah 41:10)Persevere. (2 Chronicles 15:7)
What special memories do you have playing at your grandparents house?
Last week my sisters, Mom, and I went to the Carpenter’s Cabin in Hocking Hills to stay a few days. The vacation cabin rental belongs to my sister Jami—she designed it. She took us to the nearby glass-blowing shop, and this pink glass-blown heart caught my attention. The Immanuel Quilt also has a pink heart.
As the storyteller of the Immanuel Quilt, I have explained many times how the heart blocks represents three Names of Jesus; Dwelling Place, Healer, and Love. Pink represents the human heart. Red represents Christ. By design, the cut-out in the pink fabric with the red fabric behind, the blocks portrays this truth: Christ dwells in the heart of believers. (Romans 10:9, 1 Corinthians 3:16)Though my glass heart souvenir is beautiful, it is void of red. Void of Christ.
What about your heart? Is it void of Christ? Has it been hardened to the degree of my glass-blown find?
According to Proverbs 28:13-14; when we conceal our sins, we fall into trouble.
The Bible tells us that in the last days people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (2 Timothy 3:1-4) Based on this list, who can say they haven’t fallen into trouble?
Our girl’s trip didn’t go as hoped. Mom took a fall that put a gash on her head and left her laying in a pool of blood until paramedics arrived. Amazingly, she never lost consciousness, she broke no bones, and did not get a concussion. A trip to the ER and a few stitches was all she needed to fix her up.
My memento keepsake will forever be a reminder of the insights I received on our trip.
We each are birthed into this world with a heart void of red; void of Christ. Yet, Christ took the fall for our sin, thinking of us above all, His Love poured red.
My friend, tomorrow is not promised, unless you have confessed, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.
God stitches up broken sin-natured hearts with the life-giving flow of His Spirit.
“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” –Hebrews 3:12
Last January I had a dream that I was at a Monster Jam Rally. In the dream a miniature monster truck came out and started doing what the big boys do—flips and tricks for a cheering audience. The driver was my four-year-old grandson and sitting next to him, was his younger one-year-old brother! This dream came the night after the house my son and his wife had recently purchased–caught fire and destroyed. Firefighters arrived on the scene to flames shooting twenty feet high. I woke from my dream with this story forming, first in my thoughts, and then on paper.
The Story
Momma, why are you crying?” asked the woman’s four-year-old son, the younger brother oblivious to the tears flowing down his mother’s cheeks.
Daddy responds, “Momma is sad. Let’s ask Jesus to help Momma find her happy again.”
Together, father and son–they prayed.
“Dear Jesus, help Momma find her happy again.”
Momma heard her son’s prayer. She blotted her tears. A smile began to form at the loving, thoughtful, and sincere words of her boy.
Momma, watching her boys, could see they were playing with their Superheroes; Batman, Spider-Man, Ironman, Captain America, and the Hulk. The Superheroes were actively busy taking down bad guys. Once the bad guys had been brought down, the boys moved on to something else. They got out their Monster Trucks and began playing with them. The eldest thrust a truck forward, it flipped, and landed upright on all four wheels. With a shout of glee, her son shouted, “Momma, did you see that?!”
Yes. Momma saw. With clear eyes, and a happy heart, Momma was seeing this truth: Whatever flips, turns, or trials, might come her way, she will land upright. She has a Superhero, Immanuel, God with her, fighting the bad guy.
By faith, she will persevere.
In the fifteen months leading up to the fire, my son and his wife had endured many trials and had endured each with great faith.
By faith, they had heeded God’s call and moved to Chicago, away from extended family, with a newborn and three-year-old.
By faith, they had successfully handled the Pandemic ensued challenges of working from home with two littles.
By faith they had calmly dealt with a flood damages brought to their home of five months.
And it was by faith they bought a farm and moved back home to Indiana.
Delighted in how they handled each trial, I will admit, I was deeply concerned for my daughter-in-law after the fire. She was seven months pregnant with Baby three.
My daughter-in-law—she did cry. She shed tears of frustration. But, by faith, she and my son persevered, and they came out stronger.
On this day, one year after the fire, reflecting on my dream in which I was a Monster Jam Rally, I looked up the meaning of rally. It means: to rouse from depression and summon up strength. Interestingly, rally can also mean to call-in extra forces to help fight a battle. In the story that developed after the dream, Superheroes were fighting the bad guy. My dream, and the writing, portrayed what I deemed my daughter-in-law’s needed.
In Isaiah 11:1, 10 the prophet tells us, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit…In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.”
A stump is all that is left of a tree after it has been cut down. Likewise, ashes are all that is left when things burn down.
Isaiah 61:3 says, “The Lord will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
Had Jesus remained in the tomb, and not raised from the dead, we would all be doomed to an eternity of despair. But praise be to God, the Root of Jesse, Jesus Christ—He arose!
We all face fiery trials in one form or another, but, my friend, please get this, as we fix our eyes on Jesus, we can arise from ashes of despair. We can see HIS crown of beauty all around us, and for that, by faith we can persevere.
God allows certain situations in our lives to mold us. The Bible tells us to…
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” –James 1:2-4
It’s time to Rally to Jesus, and in Him, find the faith to survive the fires.
The house was vacant at the time of the fire, the kids weren’t yet living there because the house was under a major renovation. The fire caused many setbacks and delays, but through each one came a blessing. Beauty rises from the ashes. Maybe someday they will write a book, sharing the full story. Their story is a true testament of the goodness of God.
Ty, Tina, Grayson, Jude, and Ruth. They were in their new home before Christmas.
From East to West, the Glory of the Lord is displayed.
