Today as I was sitting out on our deck, I began to think about what all has happened in the last 8 months in our family. In January Fred and I had plans to go to South Africa to visit Melissa and Kevin, Aundrea and Cassie for 4 weeks, and we were looking forward to the trip to be with family and to see another country that God had made. What a great new experience for all of them to live there. We were excited to go.
I had been care giver for my Mother, Betty Lemley, for the past year. Mike, my brother, was coming to be with Mom while we were gone. Michelle, our daughter, would be there to help, too. Mom was continuing to hurt with pain and was admitted to the hospital to get help for the arthritis, or so we thought.
We left on Sunday........... Mom was in good hands.............Mike and Michelle were there ............. She would be given relief for her pain............and would be rehabbed and be home and recovering when we returned in a month. Well, God had other plans for all of us. In the week that followed, she was found to have bone cancer!!!!!! I was in denial. "There is no cancer in our family!" How could it be?" We were all praying for God to help her through the ordeal. Well, He did, but the answer was not what we all wanted. We returned home in the next week on Wednesday, and she died on Thursday, 24 hours after we all came home.
Since she died, I had just been going through the motion, doing what I had to do with her personal items and the estate. I was questioning, “Why?” What did we miss that could have done to help her? I was not mad at God; I was just putting my feelings and trust on hold for a while. Wondering what was to come, if I were doing what I should be doing, asking myself what could I have done if we would have stayed home and not gone on our trip. I had doubty and didn't do my devotions and bible reading as faithfully as I should, and not going to God for help, really praying to Him for comfort and guidance.
I miss her every day and find myself wanting to talk to her as we did every day. Now there is a void in my life.
I read Psalm 81:1 and 10-16.
In verse 11 &12: God will let us go on blindly, stubbornly, selfishly, when we should have been obeying and pursuing God’s desires. God sometimes lets us continue in our stubbornness to bring us to our senses. He does not keep us from rebelling, because he wants us to learn the consequences of sin. He uses the experiences to turn people away from greater sin to faith in Him.
God had provided in his covenant that he would restore his people if they would listen and return to him. I finally realized that I had to give it to Him and ask for his help for me to renew my faith and to go to him for guidance and remember Hebrews 13:5: Keep your lives free from the love of money or other things away from God and be content with what you have been given because God has said, "Never will I leave you: Never will I forsake you." And 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hosea 14:2: Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously that we may offer the fruits of our lips. A "sacrifice of praise" today would include thanking Christ for his sacrifice on the cross and telling others about it. Acts of kindness and sharing are particularly pleasing to God, even when they go unnoticed by others.
In the past months, God has given our family a joy from him: the joy of the birth of our third Granddaughter, MaKenna Brook Herr, daughter of Anthony and Kelli Herr, born March 14th. Kelli was blessed to get a new opportunity for work, and we are blessed with the task of caring for MaKenna while Mom and Dad work. What a great experience to be able to see her every week for 2 days and to watch her grow and to experience her as she grows. It is a blessing to be involved in her care along with her parents and other family members, and to see all the changes happening to her day by day as she grows.
We miss our other 2 granddaughters, Aundrea, and Cassie and enjoy seeing them develop into beautiful young ladies through face time.
Let us pray: I just have to thank you God for all the experiences of sadness and joy, doubt and faith, and feeling of hurt and feeling the love of Jesus that He has sent our way. Thank you for being there through it all and thank you for reveling to me on this beautiful day that you are the truth and light and the one to lean on in our life's trials. Bless everyone as they go through what you have in store for them.
In His Name,
Amen
Melanie Herr
Friday, August 30, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
Devotional 8-23-13
I was amazed by the
number of our members that came to the church picnic. In faith they came
despite the rain. I bought bubble bottles thinking it would be fun for the
kids. Well, Cordie Jo loved them. She danced in the rain and showed us what
being young is all about. Pastor Joe
talked to me about the good fish that fisherman catch and the bad fish that are
put back in the water. Is it better to
be a good fish or a bad fish that is set free? Awe. Think about the good fish
will be kept for us to eat and the bad fish will be put back in the water. We
will not know what happens to those fish as we know that they were not good
enough for us to keep.
How do we judge a good
fish from a bad fish? We look at people
for what they do or maybe how they are dressed, or how much money they have. Is it better to be a good fish or a bad fish?
I also have to share a
story about the fly that landed in my bottled water. As I do not drink soda if they are not sugar
free and decaffeinated, I had a bottle of water at the picnic. Safe, right?
Well, as I was taking a sip I noticed a fly had made its way into my bottled
water just as I drank from it. I could not shoo it away, and being the person
that I am I decided to drown it in that bottle. Jennifer Hill and Stephanie
Malcom were sitting with me. I did
everything I could to kill that fly in my bottle, and no matter what I did that
fly came up swimming the back stroke. After
several tries and even pouring some Diet Pepsi on it still survived. I finally poured it out in a bowl and helped
it out of the liquids it had been entrapped in. We watched as the fly patiently
dried its wings and slowly overcame the situation it had gotten itself into. We
watched as it eventually flew away despite the troubles it had gotten into.
Moral: Even though you
think you are a good fish you are no better than a bad fish. Most of us are like the fly in my water
bottle, and we struggle, and then if we are lucky we are set free by our faith
of someone who cares for us either earthly or by our faith in our religious
beliefs.
A lesson I learned
today.
Jean Ramsey
Friday, August 16, 2013
Devotional 8-16-13
Give Me Faith
- Give me faith that I can know,
Truth revealed so long ago.
Creator of the wind and sea,
Breath of Life, awaken me.
. - Give me faith that I believe,
Pardoned sin, your grace receive.
God of mercy, loving Lord,
I was dead, now life’s restored!
. - Give me faith that I can trust,
Self, denied, now right and just.
Holy Spirit, move in me,
Your disciple let me be.
. - Give your church the faith to be,
Joined in love and charity.
Free us to unite as one,
That we may see Your will be done.
© 2013 Jeffrey A. Taylor. All rights reserved.
Jeff Taylor
Friday, August 9, 2013
Devotional 8-9-13
I don't believe everything happens for a reason, but somehow God always seems to give me what I need at the right moment.
My oldest son and daughter-in-law recently moved from Huntington to the Philadelphia area. Unfortunately, they took my precious grandchildren with them! I accompanied them on the move. Instead of returning home, I took the train to Boston to visit my youngest son. The Philadelphia train station is a magnificent, grand old structure with wooden pews for waiting travelers.
It was time to say good-bye. I hugged each grandchild, my daughter-in-law and finally my son. Needless to say, it was an emotional moment. As they walked away, a lady sitting on the pew next to me smiled and said, "Your family?" I gave her the short version of the story. She said, "I have a son who lives in Brazil." Brazil? How could I complain that my son was moving to Pennsylvania when her's was in South America? We talked like old friends. She also has a son in New York City, where two of my sons went to college. We laughed as we wondered why these kids want to live in concrete jungles. When my train was called, I gathered my things and we wished each other well and safe travels. I told her, "You are my angel today; thank you." I think she liked the designation of angel.
Did God make sure that lady was there to comfort me when I needed it? I don't know. All I know is that she was there when I needed her.
You never know when you might be someone's angel. Don't miss the opportunity.
Look what someone posted as I was thinking about this devotion:
Friday, August 2, 2013
Devotional 8-2-13
The Bishop's sermon at Annual Conference this past June was centered around the parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9). There were many "ah ha" moments for me in the sermon, and when I returned home, I wrote this poem -- my image of the sower. Remember as you read this, that the sower is God, and that we are called to act in God's image.
The sower,
hands callused from work,
ageless in appearance,
reached into the bag of seed
with determination.
His hands had large palms
and long, artistic fingers.
He filled them with seed.
He lifted his hand,
heedless of the seed that spilled between his fingers,
that slid out of his palm,
that piled on the ground at his feet.
The sower slung seed across the ground.
With prodigal abandon.
With radical generosity.
His eyes were not on the dirt at his feet,
but instead were focused on some distant future.
It was as if he could see the plants that would spring forth
From the seed scattered.
He sowed the seed on dry ground.
Fertile ground.
Rocky ground.
Land choked with weeds and thistle.
He sowed recklessly.
He kept reaching into the bag at his side
Filling his hands with seed,
Unworried that his supply would dwindle,
for, indeed, it did not.
Seed was not scarce;
It was abundant.
A child walked along side the sower,
trying to learn how to follow in his footsteps
but perplexed by his actions.
"You are doing it wrong!
You must choose the ground wisely,
not wasting seed.
If I plant as you plant,
most of the seed
will not grow.
Surely you do not want me to do this?"
The sower answered,
"To be a sower,
all you must do is sow.
I do not hold you accountable for how much seed you plant,
only for the seeds you do not plant.
I do not expect you to make the seed grow,
only to plant it.
I will not judge your failures,
for if you sow, you have not failed."
"Hold out your hands," the sower told the child.
Seed poured forth from the hands of the sower
into the cupped hands of the child.
Overflowing.
Piling up at their feet.
The two looked at each other and grinned.
The child gathered his courage,
turned,
and tossed seed into the air.
As they watched it cascade to the ground,
they both laughed with the joy of it.
Kim Matthews
The sower,
hands callused from work,
ageless in appearance,
reached into the bag of seed
with determination.
His hands had large palms
and long, artistic fingers.
He filled them with seed.
He lifted his hand,
heedless of the seed that spilled between his fingers,
that slid out of his palm,
that piled on the ground at his feet.
The sower slung seed across the ground.
With prodigal abandon.
With radical generosity.
His eyes were not on the dirt at his feet,
but instead were focused on some distant future.
It was as if he could see the plants that would spring forth
From the seed scattered.
He sowed the seed on dry ground.
Fertile ground.
Rocky ground.
Land choked with weeds and thistle.
He sowed recklessly.
He kept reaching into the bag at his side
Filling his hands with seed,
Unworried that his supply would dwindle,
for, indeed, it did not.
Seed was not scarce;
It was abundant.
A child walked along side the sower,
trying to learn how to follow in his footsteps
but perplexed by his actions.
"You are doing it wrong!
You must choose the ground wisely,
not wasting seed.
If I plant as you plant,
most of the seed
will not grow.
Surely you do not want me to do this?"
The sower answered,
"To be a sower,
all you must do is sow.
I do not hold you accountable for how much seed you plant,
only for the seeds you do not plant.
I do not expect you to make the seed grow,
only to plant it.
I will not judge your failures,
for if you sow, you have not failed."
"Hold out your hands," the sower told the child.
Seed poured forth from the hands of the sower
into the cupped hands of the child.
Overflowing.
Piling up at their feet.
The two looked at each other and grinned.
The child gathered his courage,
turned,
and tossed seed into the air.
As they watched it cascade to the ground,
they both laughed with the joy of it.
Kim Matthews
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