Be a Stranger?

Remember how, when we were kids, our parents told us not to talk to strangers?

Then, when we got older and spent time with friends, we might be heard to say, "Don't be a stranger, now."

Lots of talk about strangers. Well, my dear daughter-in-law found an awesome video that illustrates the impact that a total stranger can have on our life, or the impact we can have on a total stranger's life. It is very encouraging.

Watch and enjoy by clicking HERE.

God bless you,
Cheri and Wayne

Meet our Newest Family Member!

Introducing our wonderful new grandson, Elias James Miller. He was born January 31, 2012, weighing in at 7 pounds and 12.5 ounces, 20 inches long. What a precious blessing from our Lord! Praise His holy name!

No White Flag Here!

I've been reading a historical Christian romance series set in the era of the Civil War. One thing that strikes me about that war was the "integrity" of its rules. Both sides faced off, fought valiantly during the daylight hours, stopped to sleep at night, and resumed the fight at daybreak. This may or may not be how it really was, but it is, nonetheless, how it is depicted in these books. Another thing that strikes me as I read is the surrender process. Not until an army retreats or declares its surrender does the other army claim victory and lay hold of the spoils. Again, whether or not this is how it truly happened, far be it from me to say.

I began to think of these rules of engagement in terms of the spiritual war in which every Christian is embroiled, whether or not he or she believes it. As children of God, we are conscripted into His army and fight as the church against the powers of darkness. Satan, our enemy, can only lay hold of the spoils of a victory if we surrender them to him. If we naively refuse to believe in the reality of the battle, we have already surrendered, giving him full reign and rule over our lives. However, if we fight this war to which we are called, he cannot claim from us our God-given heritage ... unless we surrender it.

Then I began to think of the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These qualities are a heritage we have from God, qualities developed within the hearts, minds, and lives of every Christian who submits to the ministrations of the Holy Spirit within us. How awesome was it to think that the enemy cannot have my love, my joy, my peace, my faith ... UNLESS I SURRENDER it to him.

How sobering it was to remember the many times I've just rolled over and surrendered all of it to him, while I nurtured fear, worry, frustration, anger, jealousy, bitterness, unforgiveness, depression ... and that was just yesterday!

The war we face begins in our minds. And we wage this battle every minute of every day. It's our choice, ours alone, how we will wage that war. We can choose to be a victim ... or we can choose to be victorious. And the choice begins with the very thoughts we think; those thoughts will dictate our attitudes and our actions.

If you're reading this and feeling convicted, feeling like you'd like to do better ... first, join the club! ... and second, remember that the battle is not yours, but the Lord's. This is not a battle we can fight in our own strength. It will be a battle fought and won in our thought lives, BUT only time in God's presence and in His Word will renew our minds and our thought lives. Turn to Him and let Him have His way in you, and get ready to be amazed!

God bless,
Cheri

Expectations

As I sit staring at the blinking cursor on my computer screen, I have expectations of this blog post, hopes that it might minister to those who read it. When I dated "that guy" for so many years, I had expectations that he would one day be my husband ... expectations that led me to make stupid choices as a teen who thought she knew it all. When I finally gave my heart to the Lord in my mid-twenties, I expected that life would be a fairy tale from that point forward, perfect and without blemish. When hubby and I raised our children in the love and admonition of the Lord, we couldn't imagine them ever making choices contrary to His path. And the list could go on and on ... and on. I suspect each of you readers has your own list, as well.

Expectations. They can be the backbone of pride that comes before the fall. They can be the source of heart-rending pain when things don't go as we think they should. They can take us far from God when we imagine that He has failed to live up to His end of the bargain as we saw it. And they can keep us far from God when we assume He is sick and tired of the messes we make of our lives with all our expectations and assumptions.

Expectations. They can be a lot of things. Most of all, it seems that they can be unmet ... and therein is the danger. What will I do when my expectations are disappointed? How will I respond to the person or the circumstance that challenges my expectations? Will I grow angry and pout? Will I demand my way in a fit of temper? Will I fume and sputter and grow bitter at a world that doesn't see fit to treat me as if I am "all that"? Will I blame God and make myself a victim? Or will I turn to God and ask Him to help me understand?

Dealing with expectations has been a constant source of trial throughout my 50+ years. And I have tried all the responses I suggested in the paragraph above. There is only one that worked, and that was the last one, of course (turning to God to find understanding); the one that demanded I humble myself and consider the possibility that I don't know everything. Maybe there is more than one way to get a thing done, and maybe mine isn't necessarily the best or the only way. Maybe God is using the circumstance to teach me, or them, or both of us, a thing or two. Or just maybe someone else's way works better than my own! Humbling thought.

And that's exactly where God needs me to be: humbled. It is only when I get out of the way that He can move in my life and bring harmony where there is discord, bring understanding where there is confusion, bring peace where there is chaos.

Expectations in and of themselves are not bad. They can keep me motivated and working towards God's call in my life. It's when those expectations climb up on the throne of my life and do not leave room for God to sit there. When fulfillment of my expectations becomes the source of my comfort, peace, and joy ... when seeing them go unmet means I cannot live in peace or enjoy my life ... that's when expectations have become a bad thing. That's when I have to surrender them, letting God once again have His way in my heart and in my life, for it's only when He is on the throne of my life that I can find true peace and happiness; only then that I can love others as He loves me.

God bless,
Cheri

Always Last to be Chosen?

Do you remember back in school ... P.E. class? Teams for the day's game were selected by team captains? For those who were good at sports, the team captains fought over them, wanting them on their team. For the rest of us, we stood around miserably, waiting to be chosen. I was one of the have-not's when it came to sports; I had not one ounce of athletic ability. For today's post, I even had to look up how to spell the word ~ athletic! And for that very reason, I hated gym class. I was always last to be chosen for the team on game days.

If it isn't athletics, most of us can identify with the feeling of being "not-good-enough" at something, that feeling of being under-qualified, unable, less-than ... somehow deficient.

I have good news! You may never have been chosen by anyone else, but if you are part of God's kingdom, He picked you specifically; He has called and commissioned you for a purpose uniquely designed for you and you alone. No one else can fulfill the purpose for which you were created.

I can already hear you thinking: She said, "If you are a part of God's kingdom...." Make no mistake. It's not just select individuals who have been chosen and selected by God. He sent His Son to die for all of mankind. John 3:16 tells us that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." Whoever. That means that any person who accepts God's provision (Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection on the third day) for their sin, has been chosen by God.

How do I know you have been chosen? God's word says so:

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you  may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."  1 Peter 2:9

He calls us a royal priesthood. In that day, the royal priests were chosen by kings. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords has chosen you to be a member of His royal priesthood. That's pretty heady stuff. What does a priest do? A priest mediates between God and man. We are called to mediate between God and man; we "go between" the two. We represent God to man by sharing the good news of the gospel. And we represent man to God by being an intercessor on man's behalf; we stand in the gap prayerfully for those we love and care about, those who need prayer ... both those who know Him and those who still need to meet Him.

We are chosen and commissioned to share God with man, and we are each uniquely equipped to reach a certain group in a certain way; that's how profound the love of God is for each man or woman. He knows exactly what we each need to be able to "see" Him, and He chooses to reveal Himself to others through us, His ambassadors.

Meditate on that truth, and you can't help but feel special.

God bless,
Cheri and Wayne

Reflections ~ A New Year's Prayer

As one year draws to a close and another looms on the horizon, I am drawn to reflect on all that 2011 has held for our family. There have been blessings beyond measure and trials that have caused us to cling to our Savior. Our family has enjoyed health, employment, and comfortable living conditions. Our three grandchildren are blossoming into wonderful youngsters. Our children, all young adults now, are living good lives, seeking the Lord's will for their futures. Springtime brought a scare with Dad Hardaway's stroke, which turned out to be mild and left us with much to be thankful for; we also experienced sorrow when my cousin lost her son to an early death and another cousin had to move her dad, my uncle, to an assisted-living facility. We also experienced the aggravation of natural "aging" in our 15-year-old home, evidenced by the end of life for several household appliances, one of which was the pressure tank on our water system; when it "gave up," it left us with a small flood in the kitchen. There were also specific milestones that we saw this year: In June, we celebrated the fifth year of sobriety of our second son, who went through the Teen Challenge program. In September, we witnessed his marriage to a wonderful young woman. In early October, we rejoiced with our oldest daughter, at a baby shower to welcome Elias, who will be our fourth grandbaby, in January 2012. Later in that same month, we said an unexpected good-bye to my dad, who went on to enjoy the rewards of Heaven. In November, we gave thanks for the graduation of our son from college, with a Bachelor's degree in business marketing. In December, we saw this same son start into graduate school. We also watched our daughter graduate from nursing school, the salutatorian of her class. Along the way, we grew in love and relationship with friends, family, and our God. What blessings He has poured out upon us. What a full year it has been.

This year marked the end of an era for my sister and me, as we lost our last living parent. In the midst of all the goodness that God gave, there was also the intense sorrow of that event. A time of loss. A sadness that we are without the two people who nurtured us into the people we have become. This event brought the truth of Ecclesiastes 3 home to our hearts in a very poignant way. "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under Heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die..."

I am not one to set New Year's resolutions, for I find that they are always broken anyhow. But as I reflect on the year I've lived and the one that lies ahead, I know that I am here on this earth for but a moment, and it is my prayer that I will live my life in a way that lives on beyond my physical presence. I want to leave a legacy of faith and love. When my children and family remembers me, I want them to think of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then I will have lived a life worth living, loved in a way that brings life. That is my heart's desire with this blog ... for the Glass House prayer ministry ... for our book Worth Every Tear ~ that they be a vehicle of God's love, grace, and mercy; that they point the way to hope, to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I don't know what lies in store for the year 2012, but I know I will meet the challenges and celebrate the blessings the same way I did in 2011, with my hand in His. There is no hope, no peace, no joy apart from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 26:3 - "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."

Praying that you each have a peaceful, blessed, and prosperous 2012, and that the lessons of 2011 will bear God's fruit in your lives and in the lives of all who God might bring across your paths.