GROWING SEEDS: "Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain"

Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain.

I saw this quote above painted on a small piece of wood at a qaint little store last year.  The Coffee Chicks (we've recently changed our name to Girl Gang, btw) had invaded Branson, MO for a few days and were out shopping when I turned a corner in the store and there was this quote staring at me:

"Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain"

I remember standing there staring at it thinking, "Those are the words I've been waiting five years to see".  I'm not going to lie, friends; it's been a tough five years for this girl named Liz.  I have felt the over-spray from each wave that has attempted to drown me.  A literal flood....cancer.... death....anxiety....house sell....and now?

Today....I feel like Job Chapter 43.

Spoiler Alert:  There is no Chapter 43 in the Old Testament book of Job.  After 41 chapters of watching Satan test this man Job to his max.....taking his children, his wealth, his health....everything he ever loved (well, except that cranky wife of his), we find him happy and thankful as we turn the page to Chapter 42.  He is blessed because he endured the storm of Satan and now finds his life has been restored with double what he had before....because he never gave up on God.

So what does this have to do with Liz?  I'm certainly no Job, although I have referred to myself on occasion as "Job-ette" during my toughest storms these past five years, I feel like God has brought me to a place of peace.  A place of exhale.  Chapter 43.

And like Job, God has restored everything He allowed to be taken during my time of testing.  My toes are no longer dangling off the edge of a cliff as they once were.  I'm no longer begging Him for rescue from the storms in the corner of a closet and I'm now standing at the start of a new chapter.  God has been leading and preparing me to return home near family to the Dallas area after almost 20 years in Mt. Vernon.  I'm as shocked as you probably are.

But one never starts a new chapter without taking part of the old chapter with them....and I'll be taking what I learned, what I discovered and what I loved about Mt. Vernon with me into my next chapter.  I feel the urge to build an alter here, much like the Children of Israel did so many years ago to mark a place of remembrance and difference in their lives.  Mt. Vernon has been that place of great remembrance and difference to me. I found many of you here...and even more importantly, i found God here.

And I am living proof that every storm does indeed run out of rain.

GROWING SEEDS: "Choose Hope"

This week marks the beginning of Chapter 60 in the Life of Liz.

And there's just something about being another year older that causes you to reflect back on Chapters 59 or 44 or 27 in your life.  Don't get me wrong....I'm looking forward as much as I'm reflecting backwards, but when you look back on spent chapters in your life, you are able to see with clarity....20-20 vision in the Year 2020....the pouring out of Grace into your very soul.  You remember the sufferings.....but you also see the ripples from your endurance muscles increasing because of those Chapters of Suffering.

"Suffering Produces Endurance....."

Romans 5:3

And because your endurance muscles are more toned and strong now, your character starts changing.  You start caring more for others than you do for yourself.  Your heart starts breaking for the things that breaks God's heart.  Those fancy clothes or expensive vacations you once treated yourself to for years, well.....they become less important as your character changes.  Your focus changes to those who are suffering around you; suffering just as you once did, and you long to help them....instead of yourself.   You start to take on the character of God.....

"Endurance produces Character....."

Romans 5:4

And suddenly before you know it, you're already at Chapter 60 or 75 or 90, and you find this chapter is full of Hope.  Hope....because God's love has poured continuously into your heart through the Suffering....through the Endurance....and now through the gift of Hope of the Holy Spirit.  You see the common thread of God's finger in your life that has gotten you to this moment in your life.

"Character produces Hope....."

Romans 5:4

And this crazy wonderful wild Hope......well, it's the very Heart of Jesus.

"What Consumes My Mind Controls My Life.”

“I very much recognize I will steer where I stare.  So I must watch what I fixate on. 

I know that what consumes my mind controls my life.”

Lysa Terkeurst

This past week I was crazy blessed to have an overnight visit by my oldest granddaughter Bella and her best friend, Jayden.  Bella is a tall 17 year old who has a magic eye for photography.  She sees things in nature and in people through the lens of her camera that most would overlook.  .

We decided to go Photo-hopping on Monday afternoon after delivering Meals on Wheel in Winnsboro.  We had taken countless pictures of cows and deer and ducks, when I remembered a really cool dirt road that ended at an old cemetery.  It is one of my favorite places to go watch a winter sunset, as it sits high up on a hill.  The girls jumped out of the Jeep as soon as we arrived and started taking pictures of barbed wire, daisies growing wild and then each other.  Eventually, we all got back in and headed back down the dirt road the way we came.....

It wasn't long before I heard, "Oh NOOO" coming from Bella.  She said she couldn't find her cell phone....a cell phone she had paid for with her own money.  We made our way back to the last place we had seen it....on the fender of the Jeep at the top of the hill by the cemetery.  We drove real slow....looking on the road, in the ditch....praying we would find it unscathed.  

At this point in the story, it's important you know something about Bella.  She is incredibly smart and talented, doesn't like swimming in water that has fish, is almost 6' tall, sleeps with one eye open, and loves God more than ANYTHING in the world.  She and God...well, they're more than Father and daughter...they are BFF's. 

After driving the road twice, she finally said, "It's ok Lele, I think God needed me to see how much I was making my phone a god."

Ohhh.  Is there a more meaningful word than "Proud"?  If there is, I'd like to place it here.  As this cool daughter of God prayed asking Him to help her find her phone, He helped her find something even better; a truth within herself....a truth within ALL of ourselves.

We never found her phone.  We were never meant to.

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

Colossians 3:2

P.S.  As I sent this article to Bella for permission, here was her response: "Thank you, Lele, for writing this and spending so much time searching for my phone.  But as for now, I am so grateful and content with Dad's old iPhone 4, and I've already noticed a shift in my prayer life and how often I look to God throughout my day.  As sad as I am to lose some of my photos, this is EXACTLY what needed to happen to set my mind on "things above".  

What Is Your Purpose In Life?

 

What is your purpose in life?  Is it to just live happily until you die?  Maybe its to have a family, grandkids and be successful in business?  The older I get, the more I realize my purpose in life....isn't all about me.

I read a story many years ago about an executive recruiter (head hunter) who liked to "disarm" his prospective hires that found their way into his office.  He would offer them a drink, take off his coat, undo his tie, pop up his feet on the desk and talk baseball, family, etc. until he had them good and relaxed.  Just when he got them loosened up, he would lean over his desk, look them straight in the eye and say, "What's your purpose in life?'  He said it was amazing how they would fall apart at that one question.

He went on to tell about one prospect he was interviewing.  He had him all disarmed and right where he wanted him.  He leaned over his desk and asked, "What's your purpose in life, Bob?"  Without blinking an eye, Bob said, "To go to Heaven and take as many people with me as I can."  The recruiter was speechless.

So again I ask; What is YOUR purpose in life?

Is it to make as much money as you can?  Or maybe to get through life making as few mistakes as possible?  Or...is it to get to Heaven and take as many people with you as you can?  If its the latter, we have to ask what are you, and I, doing to make that happen?

It seems to me the very best way we could do that is to live a life filled with love for our neighbor; i.e., Everyone.  And yes, that includes loving those people carrying big screen TV sets they just stole as they ran out of Target this past week or beating a helpless woman in a wheelchair because she tried to block the door and keep them from stealing it.

It's been a tough week for our country.  And I have found myself so angry at these people as I watched them move through life with no moral compass....no conscience....no concern for their neighbor.  I want to be the opposite of them.  I want to hate their action...but love the person...even if they never love me back.  After all, isn't that what Jesus did for you and me? 

"A new command I give you, Liz;

Love one another (even the people with no conscience)

As I have loved YOU (yep, you...a sinner), so you MUST love one another.

By this, everyone (yes sir-ee, that would be Mr. & Mrs. No-Conscience-with-the-stolen-flat-screen-TV)

will know that YOU (insert your name here) are My disciples,

IF you love one another."

John 13:34-35  NIV