Valley of Shadow of Death or Road to Life

 Valley of Shadow of Death or Road to Life

 

Today......marks 10 years since Mom died. Just hours before she left this earth for good in a quaint simple home in Garland, my entire family held hands while gathered around her bed and prayed the Lords Prayer over this shell-of-a-woman who had shaped and glued her family together while on this earth. 

 

When people simply let their scars meet - Healing Truth can meet their scars.

 

We knew our time with her was short....and we knew she was walking at that very moment through the Shadow of Death. 

 

We walked this death trail with her until we came to the split in the road. 

 

We kissed her good-bye, told her we would see her soon and sent her down the path to the Road to Life....all the while blowing her kisses as she never looked back.

 

Our hearts were broke, cracked, bleeding and scarred.....much like Christ's body.....yet strangely peaceful.

 

And this day of remembering a Mom so deeply loved, who walked a hilly and dusty path with each of her kids and grand kids, teaching us all what the love of Christ looked like, is the same path Christ walked with His two followers that important day He walked to Ammeus. A road between the Shadow of Death and the Road to Life.

 

"...and their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him..."

 

~ Luke 24:31

Wrestle Well Between The Two Gardens......

 

"Disappointment isn't proof that God is withholding good things from us. Sometimes it's His way of leading us Home.

Wrestle well between the two gardens...Eden at the beginning and Heaven at the end. We are in between gardens at the moment. "

 

Lysa Terkeurst

Adventure Couples Challenge #1

 

ADVENTURE COUPLES CHALLENGE #1

 

 

You'll be EXCITED (or not) to know that Wayne and I completed our FIRST EVER Adventure Couples Challenge yesterday! 

 

 

A scratch-off adventure for every week (or month or whenever you get to it) that you MUST complete. As we excitedly scratched off the first one in our kitchen, I notice the title is "The Helpless Baker". I ain't gonna lie...not at the top of Liz's Fun Adventures list.

 

 

But as you can see, we were required to bake a pie together....one giving instructions....while the other put the ingredients together....BLINDFOLDED.

 

 

 

 

Couple things we learned from this Adventure:

1) I suck at giving instructions....

2) He sucks at obeying instructions....

3) I'm impatient...

4) He's slow....

5) How do you describe "crimping-a-pie-crust" to a blind person?

6) How does a blind person understand poor instructions on how to crimp?

But there were positive things to this Challenge too. Wayne got to wear an apron (thanks Michelle & Beau for the personalized aprons!). He even wore it to walk Molly afterwards....and the pie tastes the same whether the crust was crimped right or not.

 

 

BECKY's FAMOUS BUTTERMILK PIE was a huge success by the blind man and his impatient wife.....well, except for that egg shell I ate.

 

#theadventurechallenge

 

 

Home

 

Today we are headed home. 

 

 

We found ourselves choosing to “get off the highway” & enjoying the back roads of East Texas. The wildflowers were in FULL bloom…and their carpet of yellow was almost like the yellow-brick road home. 

 

 

We found ourselves where Arkansas, Louisiana & Texas all meet in the stinkin middle of nowhere (remember Bella Etheridge??) & decided to make a quick trip to my prior home town of Mt. Vernon for a few hours. Met up with two of my greatest friends, Ridley Briggs & Jim Welch. Ohhh how I love these men who have been such great mentors to me over the years!! Bonus seeing my friend Pam as well!! 

 

 

 

My heart is FULL….my soul is REFRESHED….& if it’s even possible, I love this man Wayne even more!!

 

 

Vicksburg

 

I can’t count how many times my family has driven over the old Mississippi River bridge in Vicksburg, MS on our way to visit our Grandma-In-The-Woods in Alabama. Dad would always laugh as he “hugged” the guardrail scaring everyone & making Mom mad. 

 

 

 

But yesterday, as we started our journey back home, we found ourselves back at that old Mississippi River bridge….still standing after all 60+ of my years….but replaced by a brighter, shinier, newer bridge right next to it. The only thing the old bridge is used for these days is a train trestle & a whole bunch of memories. 

 

 

 

 

And how many times did our little Calloway family pass the Vicksburg Civil War Battleground & never stop? Now I’m not much of a war history lover, but this place impressed me….and even Molly! It truly is hallowed ground. 

 

 

Love travelin’ with my military man & my Starbucks-Pup-Cup-Lovin’ Dog.

 

 

 Nothing like having front row tickets to “For King & Country”….

 

 We were so close that if they had spit while singing, it’s possible it would have hit us.…just sayin’….HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAST MONTH WAYNE!!! Loved scoring tickets to your favorite group!

 

 

YOU ARE A TARGET...AND YOU JUST MAY BE A HERO

 

As I opened my journal this morning, these words below greeted my eyes from my journal entry in 2019. It was written by Lisa Bevere to all women (and men!) who were facing their own individual wars..their own personal Goliaths.

2019. I faced Goliath. Straight-up Face to Face.

I wanted to share this with those of you facing your Goliaths....in hopes you will see yourself as the Warrior God always intended for you to be. To remind you that you are stronger than you think you are....and that if you are feeling as though you are a Target....

.....you just may be a Hero instead.

YOU ARE A TARGET...AND YOU JUST MAY BE A HERO

"If you haven’t seen The Terminator, I bet you’ve at least heard about the age-old movie. It focuses on a girl who finds herself pretty confused when an assassin travels back in time to end her life. She’s an ordinary single waitress named Sarah. She hesitantly discovers from a guide, who has also come from the future on a mission to protect her, that she is a hero. When she tells the guide she hasn’t done anything, he assures her, “No....but you will!”

This line from decades past crashes into my present with the realization that our enemy often knows who we are before we discover who we are. It is time we each realize the two things Sarah learned:

1. You are a target.

2. You might be a hero.

I say "might be" because the choice is ultimately yours.

The role you choose to play in this altercation is up to you. On one side a relentlessly cruel enemy is perpetually bent on your destruction. On the other side a magnificent Prince of unfailing love is equally determined that you realize all He created you to be. Will you be an unarmed civilian, victim, prisoner of war....or hero?

I believe you long to be an extraordinary, heroic daughter of the eternal Most High God—one who behaves virtuously, matures brilliantly, and lives with the intent of enhancing the lives of others.

Knowing who God created us to be paves the way to become that heroic daughter. Our God given identity is our best offense and defense against all the enemy’s strategy. When we arm ourselves with who God says we are, we can boldly fight against the enemy’s attacks.

I encourage you to step back from the busyness of today and listen for His voice to reveal who you were created to be. You might be surprised by what you hear. Where you see yourself as timid, He calls you “Mighty Warrior and Fierce Dreamer”. I bet you’ll hear Him say things like “Unconditional Lover, Generous Giver, Bold Visionary.” The list goes on!

Like Sarah, we can wonder why our world has come crashing down, confused by who we really are. Or we can be prepared for the fight, confident in our identity. It’s time to choose our position.

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.  1 John 4:4 NIV

Let’s embrace and embody who He says we are—only then will we become armed and empowered. As we identify more and more with what God says about us, we become stronger in the battle. Let’s pick up our swords and become the hero God created us to be.

by Lisa Bevere

Oh God, Please - Make - It - Stop!!

 God.....Oh God......

 

 

Make it stop. Please make it stop. 

 They were innocent.....they were just living their lives.....trying to flee to safety. These 52 look like us.....they live like us.....they were busy working, marrying, having children. They could have been us. It’s impossible to not look at their faces and not see my own. But I hope and pray many, if not all, of them are with You now. This nightmare they have been living since the end of February is finally over for them. Their fears are gone.....their tears have stopped.....and their smiles have returned to their faces.... they have finally arrived at safety. It just wasn’t by the train they had hoped it would be. They are now Home. With You. You rescued them from the nightmare they were living. Oh Father, my hope and prayer is that the 52 that were snatched yesterday all believed in You.....and the ones left behind will discover You through this nightmare.

That is my prayer this morning......

I trust Your Will, Father......even when it looks like You weren’t at the train station yesterday.....I personally know You were. And I pray for the person You are weeping over who pulled the trigger of that bomb.....who personally sent it...killing so many. How do they feel this morning? Is there a smidgen of remorse? What about the person who painted the words “For The Children” on the side of that bomb? Did they wake up proud of themselves this morning? Were they being patted on their backs for their achievement? Did they think of their own small children and wife and how they would feel if someone did that to them? Did they think about their Mom and what she would think of what her son did? If its impossible for me to not see my face on the Ukrainian people’s faces, how did the trigger puller not see his own family’s face on those at the train station?

I don’t understand.

And although the 52 no longer feel fear, I feel it. I cry tears they no longer cry....its impossible not to in the face of a humanity gone mad.

Father, yesterday one of the things I told You I was thankful for was that I didn’t live in Ukraine.....or Russia. That You allowed me to live safely in the US. That I don’t know what the sound of a bomb dropping in my city sounds like, or what having a gun in my face feels like or the hands of a madman placed on me.

“He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds. For the righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see His face.” Psalm 11:6-7

So we trust You, God. We trust that You know best...that You will handle their destinies appropriately. Be with the families of those cut short yesterday.....be with the families of those Russian soldiers who sent the bomb “to the children” as we all try to make sense of an impossible act.

And God, one last request; may the souls of those under the control of evil be changed.....be snatched by You from its hands.

God, please make it stop.

Amen.

Happy 4-Month Anniversary