GROWING SEEDS: "Walter"

 

"I am the resurrection and the life. 
Those who believe in Me, even though they die like everyone else,
WILL LIVE AGAIN." 
John 11:25 NLT

I called him Walter.  He called me Veronica.

Neither of us could ever remember why.......such random pet names we gave each other so many years before.  To everyone else, he was Troy Arterbury.....but he was always Walter to me.

We first met 17 years ago......neighbors living three doors down from each other.  He had this infectious laugh that made everyone around him laugh.....and when this Arkansas Razorback cupped his hands to his mouth and did his "hog-call"......Goodness, I'd get the hiccups laughing so hard. 

I find myself waffling between extreme sadness for me and extreme happiness for my friend Walter who passed away a week ago.  The tears flow easily and the memories flood back quicker than I can process them.  And I remember reading about a time when Jesus felt these same emotions.  It was for His friend Lazarus....and the Bible shows Jesus' heart spilling out His eyes. 

 "Jesus wept". 

"His tears give you permission to shed your own.  Grief does not mean you don't trust; it simply means you can't stand the thought of another day without the Jacob or Lazarus or Walter of your life.  If Jesus gave the love, He understands the tears.  So grieve, but don't grieve like those who don't know the rest of the story." (Max Lucado)

My friend Walter kissed his sweet wife good-night last week, closed his eyes, drifted off to sleep, and awoke in heaven.  What a glorious beginning to the rest of his journey.....

Goodbye my friend......I know I'll see you again.  

"He will wipe away every tears from their eyes, and death shall be no more,
neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away."
Revelation 21:4

Let's Get Acquainted: "Stan and Peggy Silva"

 

What does German square dancing, Parents Without Partners, a girl named Josie and the title "Ditty Bopper" all have in common?

The Silva's.

Stan and Peg Silva moved to Mt. Vernon about two years ago after a life in the army and a long stay in Albuquerque.  They met while in a group called Parents Without Partners.  Stan was dating Peg's best friend, Josie at the time, but it was Peg that Stan instantly had eyes for.  She refused his repeated requests for a date while he was dating Josie, so Stan did what any man would do: he asked Josie would she mind if he asked her best friend out.  Without even a slap on the face, she agreed and the rest is history.  They were soon married, moved every 18-24 months all around the world while in the Army, raised their three kids and finally found themselves "in the friendliest" community they've ever lived in....Mt. Vernon.

After getting settled into their beautiful Mt. Vernon home just down the road from the square, they decided to check out First United Methodist Church.  Like many of us, they immediately felt that ever-present "Spirit" the minute they walked through the double doors.  It felt like home.....and between new friends Harry & Joanna Earl as well as Pastor Jack Wallace, they knew FUMC was where God was wanting them to call home.

Their love for square dancing was put on hold these past two years while Stan had double hernia surgery and Peg healed from a stroke and broken shoulder.  Each time, their church family rallied around them bringing food and making sure they had a way to their doctor appointments.

Oh.....and what does Ditty Bopper have to do with the Silvas?  That was Stan's occupation in the Army.  Google it.....I think you'll find it quite interesting!

GROWING SEEDS: The One Thing You Can't Win Without

 

 

 As I sat in the high school auditorium last weekend, next to three newby Pageant attendees I coaxed there with the promise of pure entertainment, my face couldn't help but have a Julia-Roberts-coat-hanger-type-smile plastered all over it.  If I elbowed them once I elbowed them fifty times, "Isn't this just the greatest??" I said repeatedly.  They hesitantly agreed.

"When you seek My face in response to My love, both of us are blessed. 
This is a deep mystery, designed more for your enjoyment than for your understanding."*

Its no secret I love the Ms. Mt. Vernon Pageant......because, crazy as it may sound, God is sitting smack-dab in every row, every clap, every click of every camera snapping memories.  It's a Polaroid of this blessed little town we have been chosen to live in, friends.

Many of us come from a large city....a place where the cost of your dress, the maker of your shoes, the size of your waist....matters.  But not here in Mt. Vernon.  We live in a place where it is not just okay, but necessary to begin the pageant with heartfelt prayer and our hands over our hearts as we sing along to God Bless America. A place where most every girl thanked God FIRST and the local Dodge dealership SECOND that provided her a truck to ride in the Christmas Parade because her PaPa's truck broke down.  A place where it didn't matter whether your dress cost $200 or $20....it was the confidence and the joy that radiated out of that dress that mattered.  A place where the color of your skin, the style of your hair or the size of your waist had no bearing on the outcome at all.....and you were most grateful for Dairy Queen and Blizzards.....but always God first.

"I am not a grim God who discourages pleasure,
I delight in your enjoyment of everything that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable. 
Think on these things and My Light in you will shine brighter day by day."*

And I pray each contestant, each parent, each audience member like me, never forgets the one thing we can't win without.......God.  He's the real reason we were placed in this precious town.....whether sitting next to one another at the Ms. Mt. Vernon Pageant or in the pews of this beautiful church...a place where, if we open our eyes wide, we can see Him in everything we do and everyone we meet.

"I have awakened in your heart a strong desire to know Me."

*Sarah Young

GROWING SEEDS: "COME....Let Me Walk Through Life With You"

 

"The biggest thing God is doing in your life is teaching you to trust Him.
And faith in Him usually leads you through difficulty, not around it."

Many years ago, I found myself in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico on a small fishing boat for an 8-hour deep sea fishing excursion.  A storm was brewing ahead of us and about 45 minutes into the eight hour day, most everyone was hanging off the side of the railing giving up their breakfast.  Somewhere between throwing up the eggs and the toast, I remember thinking, "I'd give everything I own for a helicopter rescue right now."  I was desperate...I was scared....and I wanted off that boat!

It's interesting that most times God doesn't detour us around life's difficulties.  He leads us right through the big fat middle of the storm....where we get hit in the face with the blinding rain, the hurricane-force winds and we become intimate friends with the railing on the boat.  Where this life's journeys take us through cancer, through train wrecks, through miscarriages, through heart attacks and yes, even through death. 

We tend to say, "Father, show me how to go AROUND the storm....how to pass OVER the fire.....how to AVOID the waves altogether."  But He smiles that loving smile of His, looks us straight in the eye and says, "No, I want you to understand I'm deeper than the water, My presence is more mighty than the wind.  And I want you to be able to trust Me in any situation, and the only way you're going to learn that is by going through the storm, not around it."

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, Liz." 
Isaiah 43:2

And then He holds out His strong and scarred hand to us and says, "COME....let Me walk through it with you."  

"LET'S GET ACQUAINTED".....Robert & Christy Jones

 

"LET'S GET ACQUAINTED....."      Robert and Christy Jones

MT. VERNON OPTIC HERALD:  "A train collided with a Pilgrim’s Feed truck at a RR crossing in Franklin County on Tuesday, October 28, 2014.  The impact separated the trailer’s cab from the frame......The cab came to rest against a tree and fence row....The driver was Robert Jones.....his condition is unknown at this time."

It was a Fall Tuesday afternoon when Robert Jones was busy at work making deliveries in his 18-wheeler.  The last thing he remembers is his front wheels being on the train tracks.  The next thing he remembers is its Winter....February to be exact....and he is broken and in pain at the hospital.  He has a massive head injury, broken back, broken tailbone and the bone in his knee straight down to his foot has been replaced with metal. 

He is told by a co-worker that there were 11 semi-truck accidents that year with trains....

10 didn't make it.  

Robert was the 11th.

He and his wife Christy have found themselves these past three years painfully walking a path that has taken them over boulders and mountains to climb, yet...they keep walking.  They don't give up and they keep believing God is in charge and leading them down this road for a reason.  They wish they knew what that reason was......so they patiently wait to see what God has planned for them.

Christy, already suffering from seizures and now Robert, learning to walk again with the assistance of his homemade cane, started attending the First United Methodist Church in Mt. Vernon a few months ago.  Their friend and neighbor, Joy Stone, kept inviting them until one day, they walked through our double doors for the first time. 

"I walked into this church and I immediately felt His Spirit", Robert said.  "These are the nicest people here at First United Methodist in Mt. Vernon", Christy added. 

We may never know the reason this happened to Robert and Christy.  But maybe God needed them sitting in the late service, middle section pews of this blessed church of ours.  And maybe God is working mighty miracles with, and through, this couple who are growing stronger with each new day. 

So, go...shake their hands..give them a gentle hug...and welcome them into our family.  It's what we do when the love of Jesus runs rampant through the aisles of this church.

GROWING SEEDS: The Parable of.....THINGS

 

The Parable Of........THINGS

The Parable of....the mustard seed.

The Parable of....the yeast.

The Parable of....the wheat and weeds.

The Parable of....the hidden treasure and the pearl.

The Parable of....the fishing net.

Same story......different examples.....all within 20 simple verses.  I find the critical thing in each of these parables is not what the man gives up, but his reason for doing so.  His REASON for doing so. 

Jesus wanted you to know that when you find Him, all else seems valueless. 

I love my things, which is quite evident when you shop in my attic.  A girl of "Things".  But something interesting has been happening over the past few years.  These beloved things I used to cherish, have become less and less beloved...less cherished.  That's why they seem to be finding their way into our attic and not into my living room anymore.  In reality, they should be finding their way onto the Mt. Vernon Online Garage Sale site or the Tabor trash can out front.  I have discovered that as I let go of my vice-grip on these beloved "things" of this world, my grip on God seems tighter...stronger for some reason. 

See, it's not the removal of these "things" that has brought me closer to God.....it's the reason for doing so.

Oh, I still love a beautiful necklace and a nice dining table.  Yes.  Oh yes.  But now, I'm not invested in those things.  If the house burned down tomorrow....or flooded....I wouldn't cry over them.  I probably wouldn't even miss them.  But if I lost God....if I didn't have this Man who loves me more than all the stars in the sky and asks only that I allow Him to become more important in my life than these "things"....these things that weigh us down and block our view of Him.....well, if I lost Him, I would have no reason to enjoy that beautiful necklace or sit at the dining table.

He IS my beloved.....He IS my hidden treasure.

Pinch Me, Ant Ellie.....Pinch Me

My sweet Ant Ellie died in her sleep a week ago.  She hadn't been sick a day in her life, had just moved from Florida to the one place on this earth she loved and always longed to return to; the piney woods and red-clay of Alabama.  She loved this place with every inch of her robust body.   

And this was the place she wanted to die....someday......but not last Friday.

Ellie never had children of her own, so she borrowed her siblings' kids.  She was the kind of aunt every niece dreams of...the FUN aunt....the one that will squeeze-her-3x-sized-rear-into-the-roller-coaster-seat-next-to-you kind of aunt.  Who at 79 was about to purchase her first 4-wheeler to cruise around her 60 acres of land she lived on...alone.  

And she and God met up in these Alabama woods.  As she sat drinking coffee on her front porch last year in this place she loved so, God sat with her.  Quietly and expectantly.....He waited.  He would soon be calling her Home, but she didn't know that.

And then she heard Him.  Like a wind whispering to her, she heard His Spirit speaking to her heart. And she picked up that old dusty Bible sitting in her bookshelf and opened it for the first time in years.  His love leaped off the pages and straight into her heart.  And she made the decision to be baptized this year at the mighty-but-not-too-late age of 79.

"And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! 

We go through exactly what Christ goes through. 

If we go through the hard times with Him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with Him!" Romans 8:25 (MSG)

And so we blow her a kiss and say "Goodbye for now, sweet Ant Ellie.  And warm up the 4-wheeler....we expect a tour of Heaven soon." 
 

https://youtu.be/mmG9lftvHOg

(click on link above)

GROWING SEEDS: Our New Life

 

My sweet Ant Ellie died in her sleep a week ago.  She hadn't been sick a day in her life, had just moved from Florida to the one place on this earth she loved and always longed to return to; the piney woods and red-clay of Alabama.  She loved this place with every inch of her robust body.   

And this was the place she wanted to die....someday......but not last Friday.

"The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. 

God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!" *

Ellie never had children of her own, so she borrowed her brothers' kids.  She was the kind of aunt every niece dreams of...the fun aunt....the one that will squeeze-her-3x-sized-rear-into-the-roller-coaster-seat-next-to-you kind of aunt.  Who at 79 was about to purchase her first 4-wheeler to cruise around her 60 acres of land she lived on...alone.  

"This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. 

It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” *

And she and God met up in these Alabama woods.  As she sat drinking coffee on her front porch last year in this place she loved so, God sat with her.  Quietly and expectantly.....He waited.  He would soon be calling her Home, but she didn't know that.

"God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. 

We know who He is, and we know who we are: Father and children."*

And then she heard Him.  Like a wind whispering to her, she heard His Spirit speaking to her heart.  And she picked up that old dusty Bible sitting in her bookshelf and opened it for the first time in years.  His love leaped off the pages and straight into her heart.  And she made the decision to be baptized last year at the age of 78.

"And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! 

We go through exactly what Christ goes through. 

If we go through the hard times with Him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with Him!"*

And so we blow her a kiss and say "Goodbye for now, sweet Ant Ellie.  And warm up the 4-wheeler....we expect a tour of Heaven soon."

Growing Seeds - "When Your Church....Changes"

  

When Your Church......Changes

When I was 10, the Nelsons, an African-American family of four, asked to join my hometown predominantly white church located a spit north of downtown Dallas.  You would have thought the Nelsons were green and from Mars by the way the congregation handled this request.  There were closed-door meetings about it.....committees formed.....talk around the dinner tables.....and many were mightily against allowing this first black family to move into this all-white church kinship. 

Turns out, this all-white church had no grounds to refuse the Nelsons' request....and accepted them between gritted teeth and shaking heads.  I remember several older, long-time members leaving because of it.

However, within a year, Mr. Nelson was leading a Sunday School class and was made an Elder in this all-white church.  He grew that church to a size never before seen single-handedly by his boldness and love for all human beings, regardless of race.  He was one of the kindest men I've ever met.  I've often wondered why Mr. Nelson would have wanted to join a church of people he knew didn't want him there....who didn't want to change a "tradition" they had grown accustomed to.

I tell you this story because I believe Mr. Nelson knew change can be a good thing.  A necessary thing.  Even for a church not wanting to change.  Especially for a church not wanting to change.  Whether it's the color of our skin, merging contemporary church music with traditional music, new pastor or new carpet, change can open minds that have been padlocked closed and lead to a deeper relationship with God.  Often times, churches are so used to the old ways and traditions of the past, that they almost would prefer to let the church die rather than change.  And what we forget is......these old ways were once new ways....and had someone not allowed change to occur, we might never have heard the words to Amazing Grace.

Friends, churches are always changing....if they are alive.  It's the dead ones that don't. 

GROWING SEEDS: Our Comforter

 

Growing up, my parents made sure our family of five kneeled at the edge of the plaid living room sofa in our tiny 850 square foot house each night before bedtime and prayed.  Dad, in a weary, tired voice, would pray a prayer thanking God for keeping us all safe and helping us kids from being expelled from school that day. When he was finished, he would always lead us in the Lord's Prayer.  His prayers always included thanking God for the Holy Ghost in our lives.....and I must admit....this ghost business really creeped me out. 

The Holy Ghost.....aka, Holy Spirit....well, it confused me.  If we had God the Father.....and Jesus the Son.....who was this Holy Ghost (Spirit) dude and why did we need Him?  What I've discovered....and this may seem extremely simplistic.....is after Jesus left this earth and went to be with His Father in Heaven, we confused-Christians here on this earth needed a Comforter....Someone to guide us through the right and wrongs of our days.

"But I will send you the Comforter - the Spirit of Truth. 
He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me."
John 15:26

My Mom was a great comforter during her time here on this earth.  It was her gift.....and her family still feels her comforting presence daily in our hearts.  It's much the same way with the Holy Spirit.  Although Jesus has gone to be with His Father in Heaven, He left His Spirit behind in us, so we can still feel His presence.....hear His voice.....see His existence in every part of our day.  It was His gift to us when we chose to believe in Him. 

I like to call it His "Inner-Mom-Voice"!

"The same power that raised Christ from the dead is living in YOU." 
Romans 8:11