by Sharon O | Aug 30, 2010 | Uncategorized
Yesterday in church our music pastor moved from behind his guitar to a teaching position.
He did an awesome job.
I am always excited when God’s gifts are used in different ways.
Our church is not locked into a box of ‘this is your job and this is mine’.
Gifts are used in many ways and this guy behind a guitar became an awesome pastor teacher on Sunday morning.
He began by telling us how Jesus wants to be with us in the seasons of life when we feel overwhelmed and fearful while facing the storms ahead.
We all have them.
Financial storms, health storms, marriage storms, teenage storms, lost jobs or lost homes.
The list goes on and on and in the midst of these life changing storms Jesus wants to walk alongside us and hold us up through the process.
He began to read Mark 4:35-39
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples,”Why are you so afraid? Do you have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Then the music pastor teacher began to break it down verse by verse.
First of all don’t miss the fact that Jesus said,
“LET US GO over to the other side.”
He meant let us go together~you are not alone.
Second point a squall is no small wave… it is large~ it is scary~
it is overwhelming~ it is has the power to knock us over.
Third point swamped is really washing the entire boat full of water
leaving the men holding on tightly for their safety.
Fourth point they became irritated that Jesus was sleeping
while they were potentially going to loose their lives.
When they woke him I wonder if they said to each other,
“who is going to wake him up?”~ did they draw straws? did they choose by number guess ~ how did they decide or did they all run to him and tell him to wake up in the midst of their panic?
The music pastor teacher said, “They woke him up with the question we all ask…throughout different times of our lives. Do you care? Do you care Jesus that we could die? Do you care Jesus that our life is at risk? Do you care Jesus that I lost my job or my marriage or my friendship? Do you care…..???
They didn’t ask him if he could stop the raging winds and water…
they asked him if he cared.
They didn’t ask him to help them.
They asked him if he cared~it’s a very important question to sit with.
Then the music pastor teacher continued and said, “Jesus didn’t answer their question.”
He just stood up and rebuked the wind and water and told them to stop.
Rebuke means: to express sharp stern disapproval of; reprimand. admonish.
Jesus with a sharp stern reprimanding voice said ‘Quiet’ and the winds and the waves obeyed him.
No wonder the disciples were terrified.
Would you feel totally calm if someone you were with was able to speak a word and the wind and the rains obeyed them? Wouldn’t you feel like you didn’t really know the person? would you question who they are to have so much power? Would you still ask them if they cared?
The music pastor teacher continued to say, “when you face the storms of your life you have to remember he won’t let you drown. Remember he said let us go to the other side.” That means he never had any intention of leaving you alone. The journey is yours and his together.
Our AWE should be in the power and glory and beauty of a Holy God who chooses to walk alongside unholy broken people.
Then the music pastor teacher said, “Who ever holds your AWE holds your faith.”
So can I ask you who holds your faith today? do you run to Jesus and ask him if he cares?
I pray your awe will be found in the knowing that your storm is not faced alone.
That you have a savior who has the power to walk with you through it till you get to the other side.
May we face our storms hand in hand with the Lord who heals us through the process.
We must remember ‘we are not alone.’
by Sharon O | Aug 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
We went to the beach yesterday and we were immediately thrilled to notice a gaggle of geese there. We have
never seen Canadian geese at the beach… there had to have been close to 40 or more…it was
such a treat.
I often stop and listen to them as they fly across the sky.
It is so amazing to me that they can fly and honk and stay on course following one leader who occasionally will honk an encouragement sound to the ones following behind. Soon several will be lifting their sky sounds as if they are saying to one another ‘come on you can make it’.
I think we are not that different.
We head into new directions for ourselves and we encourage others to do the same. We cheer each other on as we say:
Be faithful. Be encouraged. Stay strong. Hang in there.
These are all words of encouragement to keep pressing forward in the right direction~ towards the goal~the right final ending place.
Whether that be a new job, a new hobby, a new weight loss, a new look or new attitude.
We encourage each other in the process when we say to one another…
‘I believe in you~you can do it~others have done it and you can too.’
Yesterday as we watched these geese on the beach
I was feeling both thankful and blessed that they found a resting place where we could enjoy them. Some were sleeping and some were walking around flapping their wings and stretching them out. I was just as excited to watch them as I was in watching our grand children playing. The geese were resting in the sun and surf and just hanging out as if they knew once back into flight they must focus and not become weary in the process.
May we do the same as we journey into the directions of our lives.
Each of us have a task, a focus and a destination that we are heading towards.
Help us to not grow weary in the process and realize a new day is coming as we encourage each other to press forward and not give up.
by Sharon O | Aug 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
Our pastor has been teaching a series called soul sessions.
It has been challenging.
He was sharing the other morning how subtle things can be for us
and how we can have our souls affected by something in a way we don’t fully recognize.
It is sneaky. It is disguised as something perhaps good… yet very bad for us.
For example… the boss wants you to volunteer for over time. You say: I need the money so you compromise time from family and home for money that won’t be here for very long.
Pastor says something that is toxic to us is anything capable of causing sickness or death.
Using my example: working over time is not bad in itself but is it creating life in a relationship or building souls? He said toxic things can be consuming to us – consuming the life out of us.
I have seen people so involved in things that it removes the potential for relationship. In their process of doing they forget how to live which is where our focus really should be.
To be so consumed by what you might gain for the wrong reason is a sad situation.
The focus needs to be on relationships and asking questions of ourselves and others, “how is your day going and how is your soul feeling?”
When we demolish every thought that might be hurtful or unkind and not edifying to a relationship we take hold of the toxic potential and stop it before it even begins.
Have you ever seen something toxic?
Remember the oil spill pictures on TV and all the ‘death’ it brought to the ocean?
We can be that way too. We can bring death to relationships by allowing the thick gooey layer of toxic behavior take hold and wrap itself around something that was once a positive and beautiful thing.
Have you ever met someone who appeared to be ‘nice’ and then as you begin to talk to them out of their mouths comes words that are negative, offensive and critical. You walk away from them feeling ‘dumped on’ as the debris of their hearts sit near your soul. It is hurtful.
I pray that we learn to take every thought captive before we say anything.
Our Pastor says our souls are always eavesdropping in every conversation.
When our children were little every time the phone rang they would ‘eavesdrop’ on the conversation. They would drop everything they were doing so they could stop and listen. The picture in my mind of our souls leaning over and pressing in to hear every word is impressive to me. I remember saying to our children…”go find something to do”… they would reply …”but I want to listen.”
Our souls are doing the same.
May our challenge be to remember that we can give life or give death…
it is all a matter of choice.
by Sharon O | Aug 23, 2010 | Uncategorized
I often look up words…
and even subscribe to the word of the day on dictionary.com.
It has challenged me to think of what to say and how to say it so the words on this blog can bring life to the story that is trying to be written.
A new word I have discovered is frangible – it’s meaning:
Capable of being broken; brittle; fragile; easily broken or to break; frail; delicate; brittle; dainty; feeble; flimsy; weak.
I moved this meaning or definition into relationships.
How we treat each other should reflect how we see ‘the power of a word’ within our souls and our hearts and the hearts of others around us.
When I was growing up my maiden name was Nichols. I would often hear from someone…”you don’t have enough sense to be a nickel.” I don’t remember who that someone was or where they were in my story but that doesn’t matter. They said it to me and I didn’t understand it for a long time until one day it hit me….”That was not a nice thing to say to a child.’
Perhaps it is the reason why I question my ability to be smart or able or capable of doing something even now as an adult. It became a core issue that was buried deeply and placed on me by someone who carelessly threw out words not realizing the impact they would have on a childs sense of themselves.
God’s word tells us over and over….
be gentle with what you say –
be careful and wise –
for what you say goes into the spirit of another and it is not easy to retract it once it has been said.
I see relationships as frangible.
They are capable of being broken.
They are fragile and delicate.
They can be frail and flimsy.
The balance between caring for each other’s hearts and soul shows us how we are to love.
I don’t think we should be so ‘brittle’ that we shatter at any harsh word said to us…
if that was the case we would all be shattered and broken people.
We will receive criticism at times.
We will receive reviews at work or at home that are not what we want to hear.
We will receive a ticket if we are in violation of the law.
It is all about perspective in the way we see ourselves
and how we let the words affect us.
The truth is: the words we say to one another have the power
to build up or break down the confidence and belief in oneself.
How you see yourself now often is a direct shadow of how you were seen as a child.
My shadow was invisible. If I could be unseen the ‘pain’ level would be less.
My world would be safer and it was easier to cope within the ’empty’ void.
I don’t think it is a sign of weakness to be easily broken.
I think it is the way God created our heart.
If someone hurts us with words it is normal to create a distance
between that person and ourselves.
The saying ‘sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never harm me’ is completely untrue and it is false teaching.
It only takes a second to build up or break down.
Shall we purpose in our ‘hearts and minds’ to become people builders and realize the power of our words.
My challenge for us is to stop… pray… think and listen to what we are about to say.
Is it helpful or hurtful…
does it build or break… is it toxic or healing.
Let this be our prayer:
Psalm 19:14 {Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer}
by Sharon O | Aug 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
Our grand daughter Faith Elizabeth had her first showing at the county fair.
Her rabbit Max and her … you can see she is a bit nervous. He is doing ok he has been shown before.
She took best in show for her blue rabbit in the category of blue’s and she got three ribbons for Max.
Grandma just had to take a break from her normal blog and brag a bit.
It was fun and I loved seeing her do a good job after her rabbit presentation she did a presentation in front of about 15 people on the blue rabbit’s history. Talking and taking questions for about 15 minutes. Not bad for a first fair event. Next year she will be more sure of herself more able to handle the rabbit with a bit less fear and of course grandma will be there to be her cheer leader.
