A Series of Unfortunate Events

Have you ever had a a day you'd rather have just slept away? Or a few days, maybe even a week or a month?

I have.

For me, last week was one of those weeks. By the time Saturday came around I was hesitant about getting out of bed. Wednesday I was in a minor car accident, Thursday I got sun-poisoning and Friday my 9-month old nephew got bit in the face by a dog while in my care. In those same 3 days 2 other more personal events occurred that sent my insides into backflips and spun my mind into such a whirlwind I thought surly this all must be a dream.

It wasn't.

As I lay in bed Friday night my mind was replaying the events that had happened. What could I have done differently to avoid the accident or why didn't I put sunblock on more often, why did I leave the baby for those 2 seconds? Why this, why that. I should have...

My mind tried to make sense of the craziness that had occurred and falling asleep was near impossible.

Lord, help me. I prayed. Help me.

The only one awake in the house I began to shift my thoughts to the Lord. See, when we seek Him, He'll be found (Jeremiah 29:13). When we ask Him for help, He gives it. As my mindset changed I began to thank Him for the last few days. I thanked Him for keeping us safe in the accident, for my nephew not needing stitches, for opening my eyes to Jesus in each and every situation.

On the wall directly across from my bed is a plaque that reads Be Still and Know That I AM God. Over and over in my mind I said this until I eventually slipped off into lala land.

Saturday greeted me with thoughts of not wanting to go out of the house, fear crept in and doing anything seemed impossible for me. Has this happened to you? You give something to the Lord, set it at His throne and no more than a night's sleep goes by and you awake with it right back in your own hand.

Ugh! It happens to me.
By the time Saturday lunch came I had turned to crying. Everything I saw, did or heard brought me to tears. I sat down with my Bible again and began to read Psalm 139. A familiar passage of comfort, reminding me that nowhere we go, no situation we're in can remove us from God's presence. That each situation we're in has a plan and a purpose much greater than we know.

Verses 7,8 say "Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there."

Verse 16b "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Over and over I read these words, at first they were just words, not making much sense even though they had many times before, but slowly I began to get it. The words sunk into my heart flooding my mind and insides with peace, with understanding, with the comfort of God's love.

Dear one, if life has thrown you a series of unfortunate events lately cling to these verses, cling to God and His Word.

There is no where you can go that God is not with you and on those days where it seems everything has gone wrong, remember that He, the Creator of the universe journaled about that day long before it came to be. It may not make sense, it may even be crazy to think God could allow it to happen, He uses all things for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). Take comfort.

Thank Him for that. Meditate on His words, even if at first they are just words. Seek and you will find. God's Word brings peace in the midst of a series of unfortunate events.

Be blessed.

~Michelle

Works for Me Wednesday

Today's edition is a Doesn't Work for Me Wednesday. Since I was at a training all day Wednesday my mind is fried and I just don't have anything. So actually I guess sitting in a conference all day and then having to share something on a blog, doesn't work for me!

Check out this link to see what doesn't work for others- it may save you some time and money; and please if you read this, e-mail us what works for you and what doesn't and we'll post it to share with others. It doesn't have to be elaborate just tips you find help you out!

Abundant Life

I have heard it once said that living in complete dependence on the Lord is the way to enjoy abundant life. Looking and living life with a whole new perspective is key. For example: learning to appreciate tough times, because they amplify our awareness of His presence; doing the tasks that we used to dread because we realize they are rich opportunities to enjoy His closeness; when we are tired, we remember that He is our strength; when we are alone, we turn to Him. You get the idea!

This past week in my private devotions, I found it very interesting that I would need this particular reminder for an event that would occur two days after reading this:

Quote from Sarah Young's book Jesus Calling: "When you are with other people, you often lose sight of My Presence. Your fear of displeasing people puts you into bondage in them, and they become your primary focus. When you realize this has happened, whisper My Name; this tiny act of trust brings Me to the forefront of your consciousness, where I belong. As you bask in the blessing of My nearness, My life can flow through you to others. This is abundant life."

Proverbs 29:25 says "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe."

I walked right into that snare this week, but Praise God I sought His counsel, trusted and obeyed Him, and He saw us through to victory! It is true. I totally derived my own plan, but as I worshiped the Lord and asked for His wisdom, it was clearly different than my own. I chose to obey and the Lord did not remove His hand. I was basking in the blessing of His nearness and His life did indeed flow to others! Thank you Lord for being our ever present help in time of need!

A Word on Prayer

For our end of the week devotional I'd like to share this from author Elisabeth Elliot.

Title: Why Bother to Pray?
Author: Elisabeth Elliot
If God is sovereign, and things will be as they are going to be anyway, why bother to pray? There are several reasons. The first is really all we need to know: God has told us to pray. It is a commandment, and if we love Him we obey his commands.

Second, Jesus prayed. People sometimes say that the only reason for prayer is that we need to be changed. Certainly we do, but that is not the only reason to pray. Jesus was not being made more holy by prayer. He was communing with his Father. He was asking for things. He thanked God. In his Gethsemane prayer He was beseeching the Father to prevent what was about to take place. He was also laying down his own will.

Third, prayer is a law of the universe. As God ordained that certain physical laws should govern the operation of this universe, so He has ordained the spiritual law. Books simply will not stay put on the table without the operation of gravity-- although God could cause them, by divine fiat, to stay. Certain things simply will not happen without the operation of prayer, although God could cause them, by divine fiat, to happen.

The Bible is full of examples of people doing what they could do and asking God to do what they couldn't do. In other words, the pattern given to us is both to work and pray. Nehemiah and the people of Israel worked hard to build the wall of Jerusalem but were strenuously opposed by Sanballat and Tobiah, who banded together with Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites to attack.

"So we prayed to our God," wrote Nehemiah, "and posted a guard day and night against them" (Neh 4:9 NEB).

Works for Me Wednesday

When the boys were little we traveled a lot and for long distances! This was the time before flatscreens in cars so we resorted to audio media to keep us entertained.

It was during a trip to Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs in 1998 when we discovered Adventures in Odessy. The boys, with a little help from us, participated in a scavenger hunt at the Focus Welcome Center and for completing it their prize was an Adventures in Odessy audio tape. It consisted on 2 stories and for our 8-hour trip home, it's all we listened to. I'll never forget those stories, the boys were 2 and 4 at the time.

These tapes/CD's slowly inched their way into our everyday lives. At night before bed the boys pick out an adventure to listen to. They range from Bible adventures to character building adventures, history of holidays to adventures in relationships. We've learned a bunch over the years through Adventures in Odessy and we've gotten attached to the characters as if they were our friends.

You can purchase them online here, or at your local Christian book store. I think the recommended age is age 8 and up but my boys were interested well before age 8. Audio tapes help build imagination and engage the mind, Adventures in Odessy do this and encourage children to seek God, act on their faith and serve others. I even counted them as part of their homeschool- character building. Check some out!

~It works for me!

Head over to the main Works for Me Wednesday site for more ideas.

True or False

I know I'm supposed to do this on Mondays, but I'm a few days off. Sorry! :)

"Self-sufficiency is a myth perpetuated by pride and temporary success." True or False? I'll leave the answer up to the reader. I can tell you this: Our very lack is an opportunity to latch onto the Lord in unashamed dependence. Think about it, when we start our day with inadequate resources, (time, energy, money...) it forces us to live in the present moment. This is where we were meant to live! Awareness of our inadequacy is a rich blessing, training us to rely wholeheartedly on the Lord. Again, we know that health and wealth can disappear instantly, as can life itself. I'll leave you with two verses to ponder before you answer my true or false quiz:

Cor 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

A Lesson from Lydia

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home.

"If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us. Acts 16:13-15 (TNIV)

In my Bible study this week we looked at the conversion of Lydia by Paul in the city of Philipi. First of all I really like to read about Paul, he was one of the first missionaries, if not the first, and has such cool stories. In this section of scripture I found a few things interesting; the first couple deal with Paul, the next few with Lydia.

With Paul:
Place of prayer.
I saw that when Paul arrived in Philipi he woke up and headed out to find a "place of prayer." Jesus said in Matthew 21:13 that His house would be a "house of prayer." Seems to me like Paul woke up on Sunday morning, stretched, looked around and headed out for a prayer service. I wonder what it is we wake up on Sunday mornings looking for.

Paul was a missionary
Some of us have been sent to share the gospel in our workplace, some in our own town, but others, like Paul, have been sent to places across the waters. My mind immediately goes to the missionaries our church is partnered with in the country of Senegal. They, just like Paul, rely on other believers to pray for them, to support them and to give to them a place to lay their head and a platform to share the good news while in the area. I wonder how often we as Americans think beyond our borders, how often we lift up those sent "to the ends of the earth" in prayer. Prayer works, read about a cool missionary prayer story here.

With Lydia:
Lydia was a seeker.
Did you catch it? Lydia and her girlfriends were hanging out looking for a place of prayer as well; or perhaps they knew where to go in this town to hear the Good News. Either way they were seeking it out. God's Word says "I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me." (emphasis mine) Proverbs 8:17

Lydia was a women of action.
The Lord opened her heart to respond to the message of Jesus. She immediately shared with her family who responded and then they were all baptised. Next Lydia, this beautiful servant of our Lord, went right on ahead and invited everyone over for dinner and a sleepover. She wasted no time, she was a women of action.

Lydia was in a small group.
I also found it interesting that she said "if you [Paul] consider me a believer in the Lord come and stay at my house." As if to say "I'm a believer, your a believer we are to fellowship together. It's what we do." I bet Lydia hosted small groups wherever she was. She understood the importance of community.

Lydia was a servant.
She also understood the responsibility to serve others. In one of my favorite Bible stories Paul and Silas were let out of jail after a crazy earthquake freed them from their chains, only actually they stayed in jail and shared the Good News to everyone there. (read about it here it's worth it) When they were freed from jail, legally, they went to Lydia's house where believers were gathered. She served others by opening her home.
What a wonder example of a women after God's own heart.



Questions to ask yourself?


think back about Paul:
What do you look forward to each Sunday morning?
Pray and ask God to help you develop a desire for prayer time with Him.
How often do you think of and prayer for our missionaries? Is there anything else you can do to support them in their service to the Lord?
Pray and ask God what you could do an ocean away to bless those sent to Senegal.



think about Lydia:
Are you a seeker? How are you actively seeking God?
Are you a women of action? What Biblical action are you putting into practice today?
Are you in a small group?
How are you serving Christ?
How are you serving others in Christ's name?

I hope you have enjoyed this little glimpse into the life of Paul and Lydia, a women who truly "got it". My prayer for each of you is that you would "get it", that you would be that light of the world, sitting on a stand for all to see (Matt 5:13-15)
~Michelle