Birthday Weekend

Well, I ended up working about 5 hours on Friday, which I am very grateful for. I went home and crawled in bed beside my sweet husband and it took me a long time to go to sleep; I think I managed to get a 2 hour nap. We then woke up and traveled to downtown Fayetteville for the Fourth Friday event. There were lots of people there all bundled up. [I tried to sleep on the way there, but couldn't. Tony asked me "are you thinking about tomorrow?" Yes, I was. He explained that's why I couldn't go to sleep, I wouldn't let my mind rest. I was thinking about all kinds of stuff... waking up and cleaning the house, doing laundry, running errands, what I needed to get at the grocery store, decorating the house, Christmas gifts, my birthday meal at my parents house, etc. I was too anxious about tomorrow.] Paul Bridgeman had the prayer station set up and I wore one of the smocks. There was one lady who walked up to the booth with her son. He asked for some money - so I gave him a million dollar bill. :) I asked Theresa if she had any prayer requests. "Too many to name". She has a husband and 2 sons. They just watched the "Passion of Christ" this past week and she said her boys were really interested in it. She's trying to find a good church to attend because she wants to raise her children up in church. She said she has lots of questions about the faith, but her husband was in a hurry, so we didn't have time to talk. I pointed her to our website and she said she would e-mail us with her questions. Lord, I ask that you will give Theresa guidance. Surround her with Godly men & women that will help answer her questions and give her encouragment. I pray that if she is not born again, that you will open her eyes to the truth. May she realize how glorious the gospel truly is. Grant her repentance and may she trust in Jesus.

A younger man walked up to the booth and I gave him a gospel tract and asked if he had any prayer requests. "I have an unknown prayer request". "Okay, what's your name?" "It's an unknown prayer request by an unknown person ... that's the best kind". "Okay, I will keep you in my prayers. Do you have a Christian background?" He said that he was raised in church but has "slid back". He was a very quiet guy, and I could tell he had a lot of stuff on his mind. He explained how much he hates NC. He is in the military and got stationed here a month ago. He's originally from Nebraska. So he has no family or friends here and is just really lonely. As the conversation progressed he explained how he holds lots of unforgivness and bitterness toward people. He has a good relationship with his immediate family. As I presented the gospel to him, he professed many times to being a hypocrite. We talked for a long time about all kinds of things. He was so humbled. I was so humbled; just to see him slowly opening up to me and being so honest. We talked about the gospel, the false Christianity, and God's sovereign plan. "God is in control of all things and he has you here in NC for a reason. We may not know what that reason is... but we can rest in knowing that he is sovereign. One reason is so that you could be walking down the street tonight and stop by this table and have this conversation." We discussed God's plan for marriage as he expressed his concerns in finding a Godly wife. I explained that he must go to sleep in that area of his life and first make sure his life is right with God. He is commanded to be the spiritual leader in his home and during his time of singleness he needs to focus on gaining godly character, getting involved with Christian ministry, and sharing the gospel with others. He was called many times to examine himself in light of God's Law (Exodus 20) and then look at what God did for sinners on the cross (Last few chapters of Matthew). Toward the end I asked "So are you still an unknown person?" "My name is Ken". I introduced him to Tony who talked to him some more, and then we huddled together and prayed. It was absolutely amazing! Lord, please continue to soften Ken's heart. Transform him into a new creation!!

We ended the night with some good fellowship at Applebee's and on the way home Tony & I stopped at the Wal-Mart in Mt. Olive to look at the GPS'.

Saturday
I straightened the house a little bit and caught up on laundry. It was nice to get some things done around the house. Tony went to get his truck inspected; we praise God for his 1995 pickup truck, as it still only costs $10 to get inspected. :) I went shopping in Goldsboro - ran into Brittany at Goody's. So we tried on some clothes just for fun. We met at my parents house at 6:30pm for my birthday dinner. By my request we had breaded steak, sweet potatoe casserole, and a nice salad. It was all so yummy. Then for my cake, mom made a very tasty "Ho Ho Cake". It was so good! Mom and Dad gave me the rest of my birthday gift: a digital photo frame! Yay!!! It will definately get lots of use. My dad even thought to scan some old family pictures into the computer and put them on a memory stick. It was so cool. I thank God for my parents!! :) I also rec'd a $25 giftcard to PacSun from Matthew and a really sweet card from Chrissie.

Tony & I then went to Goldsboro to search for a GPS - didn't find one. We joined Joey & Chrissie at Starbuck's and I had much fun conversing with the both of them. ;) That evening, Tony & I discussed how we want our family to be closer knit and have more meaningful conversation. We are both going to be praying about this.

Sunday
Church service ended with a big bang; right as pastor Gene was getting ready to do the closing prayer, an older man walked out into the foyer and when he shut the door the clock came crashing to the ground - into many pieces. Haha. It was really funny. We ran a couple errands in town and then had my parents over for lunch. We had sandwiches with tomatoe soup and good fellowship (which is the most important). :)

Black Friday

This morning we woke up at 2:50am, got dressed, and drove to the JcPenny parking lot. On this wonderful day following Thanksgiving, God provides lines of people waiting to get into the stores (and just standing there waiting to recieve gospel tracts and be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas). All glory to God. We went to JcPenny, Belk, Sears, Staples, and KMart. We saw a few familiar faces, some more than once: Kelly Mason and her parents, Timothy Gorman, Brooke Patton, Debra from First Assembly, and Brittany Correll. Most everyone was attentive to the message and many clapped or said amen. A few hundred people heard the gospel this morning and I praise God for that! Kelly's grandma asked for some more tracts to share with her church family, so I gave her a stack. Also, I met an older gentleman with a cane named Bill. As I was going down the line passing out the tracts, he said "that's Way of the Master, isn't it?" "Yes sir". He is familiar with the teaching and sees the great need to preach the whole gospel. He gratefully accepted a pile of gospel tracts and I pointed him to our website if he wanted to get up with us sometime. God is so good!! :) He gave us much favor with the cops that drove by and the sales associates and managers that walked out. Nobody said a word against what we were doing. That is an answered prayer for sure! The weather was also not too bad. It was chilly, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't overwhelming.

I then enjoyed eating breakfast with my prince charming at the Huddle House. It is so awesome to be able to share a meal with my dear husband. We were interested in the $99 Navigon GPS that they were offering at Staples ... so we went over there to check it out and do you know there was a long line just waiting for that GPS, and one of the associates was kind enough to tell us that there was only 30 left in stock and it would be a slim chance of getting it. So we didn't wait in that line. But I did find out that you can get the same special online, so we may purchase from there. We also went to Target and Tony bought me a red sweater as part of my birthday gift. He also gave me the gifts that had been hiding in the car for two weeks. Sneaky. Haha. I told him it was a good thing I didn't get the urge to clean the car out. :) He got me the white "eskimo" hat that I wanted and a towel bar that hangs over the kitchen cabinet. I was very much excited and shocked that he was able to keep it a secret for so long. He is so sweet to me!! We made a couple more stops to compare GPS' and then we went our seperate ways. He is at home asleep, and I am at work. Today is month-end so I have to make sure all my paperwork is entered into the system. It is more or less a long waiting game. But God has granted me a cheerful spirit and patience! He is in control!! :)

When Sinners Say "I Do"

Yesterday evening we began reading "When Sinners Say 'I Do'" by Dave Harvey. In the preface he makes the following statement:

"We must not ignore our sin, because it is the very context where the gospel shines brightest".

That is so very true. The closer I grow to God, the more I realize how sinful I truly am. I am a wretched sinner that deserves only hell for all of eternity. There are times that I express impatience; irritableness; anxiousness; fear; and selfishness (among other things). These things may sound pretty trivial, but they are not just simple mistakes ... they are flat out SIN. God utterly despises it! Why? Why would God hate my impatience? Why does God hate it when I'm antsy? At those times it is showing my lack of trust in God, my unbelief, and my discontentment. At those times I am not keeping God first, nor am I glorifying Him. At those times I am calling God a liar because I am doubting His promises. Those are some serious offences against the Almighty Creator. And yet, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23). The closer I grow to God, the more I realize how sinful I truly am. The more I realize how sinful I truly am, the more amazing God's grace is to me. God has granted me salvation. He has opened my eyes to the Truth. He has put in me a new heart. He has promised me that He will never leave me, nor forsake me. God is sovereign; God is in complete control of all things; He knows the perfect time for everything. He has ordained everything that I am to go through in this life. He has designed each circumstance exactly for me. And He promised to give me enough mercy and grace to make it through. We must not ignore our sin or treat it as something trivial, because it is the very context where the gospel shines brightest!!

A Woman's Beauty Regimen

Displaying a Gentle & Quiet Spirit
This message was given by Carolyn Mahaney and these are my notes...

Every woman has a daily beauty regimen that they follow. Holy Scripture prescribes a beauty regimen that we as women are to follow. It is guaranteed to make us beautiful. 1 Peter 3:3-4 God is not opposed to women making their selves beautiful. This is detailed instructions of how to make ourselves beautiful. God is not opposed to beauty; He delights in beauty. Look at the beauty He created all around us. 1. We see what God condemns 2. What God commands 3. And what God commends.

1. What God Condemns: God informs us what we shouldn’t do. Do not let your adorning be external. It is a straight forward command. What is God forbidding? Braiding of the hair, gold jewelry, and clothing. They’re not forbidden, but they should not be used in abuse. They shouldn’t be the main focus, dependency, etc. These things don’t make us truly beautiful. They’re not the source of genuine beauty. We need to be reminded of this often. It’s not sinful to wear stylish clothing, makeup and jewelry. It is wrong to place too much value on them.

2. What God Commands: We are to adorn the hidden person of the heart—habitually. This is where the main focus should be; on our regenerated heart. We must priority attention to what is on the inside. What is a gentle and quiet spirit? Notice how it is described: it’s an imperishable beauty. Webster’s describes imperishable as “not subject to decay, indestructible, enduring permanently”. A gentle & quiet spirit is not referring to a woman with a quiet personality. A gentle & quiet spirit is a inner disposition of humble contentment and quiet tranquility, rooted in an unwavering trust in God and His purpose. Gentle carries the idea of humility (not thinking of oneself as too important) and contentment. Quiet is the idea of calmly trusting in God and patiently accepting wrong from persecutors and unbelieving husbands. How are we to apply this when someone wrongly mistreats us and sins against us? A gentle & quiet spirit is a steadfast peace because of a steadfast trust in God. How do we react in these situations? Usually we respond with a complaining crusade, anger, pity party, a sinful funk, evil thoughts, lashing out on the person, bitterness, selfishness, etc. That is not the description of a gentle and quiet spirit. We should display a peace that cannot be shaken. How is that possible when we are being wrongly treated? 1 Peter 2:21-23 … Christ also suffered for you… He committed no sin… He continued entrusting himself to him you judges justly. That is how it’s possible; we must continue to entrust ourselves to God who judges justly! This is what drives a gentle and quiet spirit - a steadfast peace from a steadfast trust in God. There is no wrong committed against us where God is not sovereignly involved. God ordains these things to happen specifically to us for our good!! We need to repent and look to God. And when you do, God will restore peace to your soul. Isaiah 26:3 (use as my banner verse for my quest for a gentle and quiet spirit) you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. This is not a physical beauty, but a beauty that is outwardly evident. These women actually grow more attractive as the years go by.

3. What God Commends: A gentle and quiet spirit is very precious to God. No doubt it’s because God delights in being trusted. Hebrews 11:6 says when we trust God, we please Him. Trust calls attention to the One being trusted. We can acquire a steadfast trust, because we have a steadfast God; a God who is completely trustworthy. Our sins against a holy God (which is the most serious offense that has ever occurred) have been forgiven through the death of Jesus Christ. Now, if God is trustworthy to provide forgiveness for the most serious offences (our sins against Him), then surely He is trustworthy to provide all we need for any lesser offences against us. And He does provide. He directs any sin against us for our good and for His glory! He imparts His power and grace to us so that we do not have to sin in return. 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. This enables to adorn our hearts with a gentle and quiet spirit which is very precious in His sight. 1 Samuel 16:7 …the Lord looks at the heart.

Being a Woman

Today I re-listened to Carolyn Mahaney's message on the topic of - What does it mean to be a woman? And these are my notes:

In the very first book of the Bible we discover the biblical definition of femininity. Here is woman at her best; before the fall, sinless and godly in every respect (Genesis 1:27, 2:21-22). Woman was God's idea; His creation. Woman was the finishing design of all that He created. God created woman, this requires us to look to Him to discover our identity and purpose in life. I must not accept the cultures view on womanhood. I am to look to God and everything I do must be rooted in Him. My gender is not accidental, I was intentionally born a woman by God's sovereignty, wisdom, and grace. My birth is an absolute miracle of God. :)

In Genesis 1:27 Woman was intentionally created by God as distinct from man, different from man, and complimentary to man. He created male and female. Men and women together are created in the image of God. We are fellow image bearers. Though we reflect his image differently, we must never forget that we share that status equally. Human beings are more like God than anything else in the universe - we must remember this when we are talking to and about other people.

How do we reflect the image of God as a woman? In Genesis 2 we learn that man was created first, signifying his role as leader, provider, and protector. In verse 18, God declared that something was not God is his creation; it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. We are designed to be man's helper. Each of us has been strategically designed to help those around us. The role of helper is not confined to marriage. We are all called to live out our helper design, during all seasons of our lives.

How can I help?

Application to the teenage girls: You were born feminine and expressly created to be a helper. You are in a season of growing into the roles and responsibility. You are a helper in training. Now is the time to prepare for future womanly excellence. Your parents are the primary individuals that God has appointed to train you in biblical womanhood. Be joyful! How can I help around the house? Around the church? At school? How can I help my friends? etc. Study God's Word and read sound books on the topic of womanhood. Study the example of your mom. View your mom as your personal femininity trainer. And where appropriate encourage and correct the guys in your circle.

Application to the single woman: Carolyn McCulley's book "Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye?" addresses this issue very well. Utilize the question - How can I help? Family, church, friends, school, work? Be careful with your conduct and interactions with men. Allow the guy to pursue and win your heart, and if he doesn't want to, then why would you want him too? Trust God! Encourage Godly men to lead. You will be cultivating the habit of making room for the leadership of men in your life. Refrain from men bashing with your girlfriends. The true helper doesn't criticize, but humbly and gently offer assistance.

Application to the married woman: We are our husbands helper! That is our primary duty. He is called to the task, and she called to help him. Every day of our lives is to be oriented to helping and assisting our husband. This is my delightful duty to our sovereign, wise, and gracious God. Elisa Pinkney (a founding mother of this country) said: "To make a good wife to my dear husband, I am resolved to make it my study to please him." We must study our husband and find out what most helps our own husband. Ask him often how can I help you today? What is one thing that I can be doing for you right now that will help you the most? Don't let your calendar fill up with things that do not help your husband. Joyfully assume the responsibility to manage our homes well.

We are uniquely designed to be man's helper. As we all know, Adam & Eve sinned. While our call to be helpers hasn't changed, because of sin we are incapable of fulfilling this call apart from our savior. Never lose sight of calvary. Because of calvary there is forgivness of sin; for every time we have been self-absorbed, self-centered, self-seeking, rather than seeking to help others. There is forgiveness for every time we have been a burden rather than a help to others. There is forgivness for the all the times we have grumbled, complained, and lazy. There is power to weaken sin. There is grace to fulfill our role as helpers.

I'm claiming the resolution. To make a good wife to my dear husband Tony, I am resolved to make it my study to please him. Lord, please help me and teach me to be a good helper to my beloved husband.