"Rabbits and Widows and Satan, Oh My! "

 

"Rabbits and Widows and Satan, Oh My! "

liz etheridge

Molly and I are ending Week 4 in our new home. 

 

TRUE CONFESSIONS: At times, it has felt like YEAR 4.

I'm not going to lie; this has been a hard move. Sometimes, painfully hard. My bank account would also concur this has been a throbbing four weeks, with unexpected roots in the plumbing....sprinkler valves going rogue...landlords being a major thorn-in-my-side...and missing my friends who had always been right down the East Texas country road to cry a few tears and share a coffee with. And yes...I've even questioned whether I heard God correctly to move here. In my heart there's no doubt....oh, but how Satan loves to mess with my mind!

My sister, Debbie, passed on some wise words to me as these things threatened to disarm me:

"If Satan can't make you sin, Liz, he can certainly make you suffer."

Ahhhh....the always wise words of my sister. She's right, you know. Satan knows he can't have us if we belong to God...but a quick read in the Book of Job will show us convincingly that he certainly can try to make our lives miserable. And sometimes...he succeeds.

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome,

because the One who is IN you (God) is GREATER than the one who is in the world (Satan) ." 

1 John 4:4

 

And the best way to combat the one who would seek to discourage and disarm us is to get that dusty and trusty old journal out and start numbering......documenting and making that list of all the things you're Thankful for. This simple practice is the secret to overcoming discouragement! My brother-in-law Doug reminded me of that one particularly difficult day shortly after Chuck passed away. And my son Troy handed me a book* a few weeks ago that gave me more tools which included repeating ten times a day, "If God be for you, Liz, who can be against you? (Romans 8:31). 

 

 But I am right where I'm suppose to be. Widow #13 on the block. I have been blessed to find a beautiful home, great neighbors, one Gladys Kravitz and thousands of rabbits. And those friends from East Texas and family members? Well, they've been showing up on my doorstep handing me doses of encouragement, reminders they still remember who I am and love me. They have helped me pack and unpack...given me a much needed massage when my muscles had tightened up and flown 3,000 miles to climb ladders in 100 degree heat to change out motion sensors to keep me safe. I am a blessed woman to have them walking next to me on this journey.

 

 

And you can bet....each of them are listed by name daily on my Thankful List to God. And I can see Him smile as He drops a blessing or two down on each of them for being the blessing in my life......

.... “Count your blessings and discover Who can be counted on.”

*The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

 

 

PEACE

 

Peace

liz etheridge

 

(Originally written on ......)

"Promise you'll come and sit with me one afternoon---"

I received those words from my friend a few years ago.....a new widow. While I was battling fires in my own household, she was saying goodbye to her husband of many years and feeling anything but peaceful.....

"He was in ICU that week right after Christmas--with me praying for pneumonia! Have you ever heard of such a weird prayer?" she wrote.

"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

 (Romans 5:1).

I've never understood why every time I hear the word "Peace", I think of death. I long for that day when God and I are walking along that River of Life.....chatting like the old friends we are....and I can actually feel His skin on my hand....I can touch the scars. I always cry when I close my eyes and think of that picture in my head...it's the picture of Peace.

"Please Lord, don't let it be small-cell." I stopped and thought--whoever in this world prays for cancer of any kind -- and then my next prayer was, "Please Lord, just let this be over!" My final prayer was for the funeral, "Let me make it through this day."

I could actually hear these words coming from her mouth as I read them...I could feel the pain deep in her soul....and my heart felt her distress. Peace and Hope were waffling at her door and threatening to leave the room....."We rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us..." (Romans 5:3-5).

"I'm flunking widowhood, Liz" she said.

And we know that Hope is the highway that gets our faith from point A to point B. It's what keeps us moving through whatever circumstances life throws at us. It's the secret sauce in our soul. He just wants us to wrap ourselves around Him, be silent and still, and go where He takes us.

No Jesus.....No Peace

Know Jesus......Know Peace

Peace Out

"The Enemy Intended to Harm Me, But God Intended It All For Good"

A few years ago, a good friend showed up at my door with tears in her eyes and these words on her lips, "Liz, I am SO discouraged. Why is God allowing me to be persecuted this way?"

As we sat down, I listened to the struggles she had been experiencing.....very public struggles....and I couldn't help but smile when she finished. Yes.....her struggles were BIG. They were EXPOSED. She was being lied about.....persecuted really....and she struggled to understand why the God she loved so much would allow this to happen. I smiled because it meant she was doing something RIGHT. She was a threat to Satan. Her very public LOVE for God was getting on the evil one's last nerve. He was ticked off cause he was losing people because of this girl's strong and very evident devotion to her Father.

I reminded her of Genesis 50:20: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for GOOD to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

See, I've clung to this scripture since December 27, 2015. It's been my "Go-To" scripture after God repeated it to me over and over and over that dark night in the rain. It was the only scripture I heard.....and I couldn't have told you where to find it or even the story behind it. But I can now. The story is about Joseph....a man loved dearly by his father...despised by his brothers....and sold by those very ones who hated him so. Fast forward 22 years.....Joseph is now running the country....he's in charge. And Joseph says this to the brothers who tried to kill him, "God sent me here. God did this. God is protecting you. (through me)". In other words,

"There's more to our story than we can see."

We know the feel of a famine, don't we? Like the brothers of Joseph, we've found ourselves in dry seasons. Max Lucado once said, "To the degree that we BELIEVE and ACCEPT God's vision for our lives, we WILL get through life. When people chunk us into the pit, we WILL stand up. God can use this for good. When people sell us out, we WILL climb to our feet.

GOD WILL RECYCLE THIS PAIN."

(Originally from April 27, 2016 Growing Seeds)

GROWING SEEDS: "Life Is Lived Forwards, But Understood Backwards"

Have you ever felt completely and totally alone? You could be standing in a roomful of people, yet you didn't exist....no one saw you...you felt invisible. This was a description of me in the 6th grade. I was awkward, shy and felt the sting of being an outsider.

And I couldn't see past 6th grade.

I've found in the many years since 6th grade that it's not until we've traveled down the road a bit and stood on that tall mountain we just painfully climbed, that we can look back over the valley and appreciate the reason for the rugged terrain we just walked. These roller coaster, yellow-brick-road life experiences we survive are all part of God's plan.

"In those days you were living apart from Christ.

You were EXCLUDED from citizenship.....

you lived in this world without God and without hope.

But God, Himself has brought PEACE to us."

Ephesians 2:12-14

He saw our loneliness...our exclusion...our need for a Savior...and what did He do? He adopted us as His own. He rescued us from 6th grade. He stared into your lonely eyes and said, "You are now part of my family, sweet child of Mine. You no longer are alone."

I look back on that horrible year....and I recall the emptiness, the rejection I felt. Little did I know that a year later, having survived the rough terrain of 6th grade, I would accept Jesus as my Father, be baptized in front of those who ridiculed me, and have a part of God gently placed inside me. He placed His Holy Spirit as a permanent stamp of ownership, a promise really, into my soul that day a year after 6th grade.

I was rescued.....and handed the adoption gift of Peace.

So friend, whenever you feel unloved, unimportant, or unnoticed, remember to whom you belong to. And remember that life is lived forwards, but understood backwards.

(Original Post from July 2018)

GROWING SEEDS: "Nudges and Whispers"

It's not lost on me that at the very moment you are reading these words, I will be placing my earthly belongings into a moving truck and leaving this place I've grown to love so much. Mt. Vernon, Texas. And here's the clincher: I don't know why I’m moving away.....but I know it’s right.

There have been so many times in my life when I felt that “nudging” to do something I knew wasn’t from me. There was the time I felt the constant “nudging” to cancel the Dallas Morning News...to turn the TV off and replace that time chatting with God instead. It wasn’t what I wanted to do, but He pursued me till I said, “uncle”. The time I felt the strong nudge to turn around and pick up that homeless man walking on the side of the road. I argued with God all the way back to him. I grudgingly picked him up only to have him ask if he could have all the money in my cupholder. I said, “Sure”....forgetting my diamond wedding ring was also in that cupholder. It was hours before I remembered the ring....and after running to the Jeep to check, saw he had taken everything....except the ring.

I could give you a page full of “nudges and whispers”....and me arguing and complaining with God all the way.

But I’ve learned through each of these whispers in my ear by God, that He knew things I didn’t. He saw that by me spending time each morning getting to know Him instead of reading the paper or watching Good Morning America, it would change my life forever. He knew that the homeless man would leave my forgotten wedding ring...as he almost certainly must have picked it up out of my cupholder and put it back....a clever reminder to me that it was indeed Him that whispered in my ear that morning. Can you see Him smiling? I sure can.

And this move from a place I love so....Mt. Vernon....and the people that have embraced me...loved me....supported me....thrown me life preservers when I was drowning....well, it’s ripping this girls’ heart out of her chest to leave. But I know this decision is God’s choice for me....because it’s certainly not what I would have chosen.

But I trust His plan more than I trust my plan. And it's necessary I live out the life He’s chosen for me and discover the nuggets of gold in doing so. I may be moving away, but I'm leaving my heart right here.

"FAITH is to BELIEVE what we cannot see,

and the REWARD of this FAITH is to SEE what we believe."

Augustine

GROWING SEEDS: "Our Upside Down World"

I don't know about you, but a simple 15 minutes of news these days gives me anxiety....I feel that "dread", "fear" and "worry" creeping into my mind. The world has turned upside down seemingly overnight....."Bad" is now called "Good".....the "Enemy" is now called the "Hero"....and as Christians, we are feeling a bit out-numbered, right?

But we're not out-numbered.

A quick look at one of my absolute favorite stories in the Old Testament; the story of Elisha, reminds us we have more warriors on our side than the Enemy has on his. Check it out:

"When the servant of Elisha, a man of God, got up and went out early the next morning,

an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city.

“Oh no! What shall we do?” the servant asked Elisha."

Sound familiar? This is where we're currently at in our country's war. Feeling the fear of "What do we do?". How in the world are we going to win this war when the enemy of Hate, Sin, Anger, Violence, Racism (both black and white, FYI), appears to be growing by the second.

“Don’t be afraid,” Elisha answered.

“Those who are with us are MORE than those who are with them.”

Awww...there it is. Just as God promised Elisha and his servant that His Army was far stronger, far larger, far greater....than the one fighting against them, God tells you and I the same thing, friends.

"And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.”

Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes,

and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."

Can you imagine??? You step outside your front door with your morning coffee in hand, when you see an army of thousands coming to destroy you. Suddenly, you see a second army massively outnumbering your Enemy, but these have stronger fighting tools; chariots of fire, bigger swords and.......God. I think I actually see God's mischievous smile a bit as He opens the eyes of Elisha's servant. Just five seconds earlier, he choked on his coffee as he saw this angry mob headed his way. Now he saw Rescue.

"As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord,

“Strike this army with blindness.”

So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

2 Kings 6:15-20 (NIV)

Friends, we are living in that same war right now in our country. But we have nothing to fear, just like Elisha told his servant. We are in God's army...not the Enemy's.

So, don't let Fear attach itself to you...it's a strategic weapon of the Enemy. We will NOT be defeated because our eyes have been opened, and the Enemy's have been closed, to see how this story ends.

GROWING SEEDS: “I AM The Good Shepherd"

"I AM Your Good Shepherd....I AM Food For Your Soul"                                               

When I was a small child, I would find myself on my Dad's lap with my head on his chest halfway through the church sermon, as he stroked my hair and placed my hand in his suit blazer so I could feel his heart beating.  The steady beat of his heart in my hand always lulled me to sleep....EVERY time.  I was safe....I was loved....by my Dad.

I had forgotten about those times so many years ago until I read the book, "Abba's Child" by Brennan Manning a few years ago.  I was touched to tears by what I felt was Brennan's pleading for me to understand how much my Good Shepherd loves me.....how much He longs for me to place my head on His chest and feel His heart beating.  To feel safe....to feel loved....by my Abba.  My God.

Do you realize that many of the little "lambs" here in Mt. Vernon who will be anxiously waiting at their doors these next few weeks as we deliver Lunches of Love to them, have never experienced that feeling of being safe and feeling loved that we take for granted?  Many, at no fault of their own, live in a home where their Good Shepherd is never mentioned, where food is scarce and the word "safe" isn't a feeling they know anything about.

It's our responsibility, folks, to place that child's hand on the heart of their Savior....to gently teach them to rest their head on His chest so they can feel the steady heartbeat and know they are safe, loved and fed.....both physically and spiritually....by their Father.  Their God.

And in the words of Brennan Manning, "Perhaps when the final curtain falls, you will have told the story to only one person.  God promises that one cup of living water drawn from the Fountain and passed on to another will not go unrewarded."

And in the words of Jesus, 

"What I want is MERCY, not SACRIFICE." (Matthew 9:13)

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".