Category Archives: Friends

Saying, “Goodbye” to our Small Town

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How lucky I am to have something that makes saying, “Goodbye” so hard.    ~ Winnie the Pooh

Saying, “Goodbye” to our Small Town…

Life has a funny way of taking you down twists and turns, stopping, staying a while and then starting all over again.

I was born in a small town. (Hey, we Hoosiers can say that all we want since Mellencamp lives in our small town!) I love this college town even when the traffic is insane and the lines at Target are long; it’s my hometown. I’ve been a Skibo, a Bulldog, a Panther and a Hoosier, proud of each one even when I have to explain the first and last to others who weren’t born here.

A Hoosier bleeds red and white and eats, sleeps and breathes basketball; the loyalty never leaves them even if they locate elsewhere. (Claim to fame: Have I mentioned that I was an extra in the Gene Hackman movie, Hoosiers? If you look real close in the final basketball game you probably won’t see me but I was there screaming just as loud as anyone for Hickory High.)

Memories are down every road, past every landmark and in every face. I grew up here, fell in love here, had two of My Three Sons here and met Jesus here in this Small Town. In 1985, we moved away the first time to Indianapolis where The Sweetheart began his career as an air traffic controller with the FAA. In 1995 we moved back to Bloomington and to the farm where The Sweetheart grew up. It was a great place to raise boys and we loved it. But then in 2001, the Lord called us into full time ministry and we moved again to Ohio and then to Missouri to pastor. In 2010 our lives took another twist and turn as we left everything we had ever known, sold almost everything we had and flew to lands unknown on our first missionary journey.

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We assumed we would be overseas a long, long time but only God knows what is behind every open door and He decides when it is time to close one and open another. So in 2012 we came back to this Small Town to continue our ministry with Revival By Design, traveling around the country on the weekends. We have been living in the mother-in-law suite of my mother-in-law’s home for the last four years, (how is that for a twist!) and caring for her physically as she deals with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

It has not been an easy decision to come to this point and say that we are pulling up stakes and moving again. Anyone who knows me is aware that I have ALWAYS wanted to live in the eastern mountains of Tennessee. Ever since I was a little girl I have dreamed of actually calling the Smokies home. Then little things happen.

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Yeah, this little thing lives on the other side of the Volunteer State and we want to be a part of her life. As a family, we have waited a long, long time for this blessing that has turned all of our lives upside down and we couldn’t be any happier. Norah will have her Nana and Poppy right down the road and her Nanny, Rachel’s mother, Tonya, moved just around the corner a year ago. We want Norah to be spoiled by her grandparents and I am thrilled to get to babysit a couple days a week as well. Who wouldn’t want to snuggle that little bundle all day?! Tonya calls it living in Norah-Norah-Land!

With Goodbye’s come thank-you’s. I want to thank The Sweetheart’s family for stepping up to take over the care of my MIL. It is no easy task to care for an aging parent, especially when their mind is struggling to keep up. Thank you in advance to my sisters-in-law for all the responsibility you will be taking upon your shoulders.

Our church family at Turning Point has been amazing. We will miss you more than you know! Pastors Ron and Cindy Hawkins are simply first class and we will forever be indebted to them for giving us a place to land and feel at home for the last few years.

To Kristopher and Korey: thank you so much for allowing us to leave again and not making us feel guilty. And thank you a thousand times for helping us last night with The Move. Your patience with the two of us was inspiring. Remember, Eisley has a place to stay at our house!

I don’t see my parents or siblings as often as I would like to but appreciate knowing they are close by. Thank you all for being there for us these last few years.

No I cannot forget where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me
Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town
And people let me be just what I want to be

That’s the great thing about small towns, you take a part of it with you no matter where you go. I love all of my friends here and the good thing is that nothing else changes, we will still meet here on the blog, still follow one another on social media and still encourage each other in the hard times and rejoice with each other in the good.

Pray for us today as we travel and get settled. Look out Norah, here we come!

nana

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What will you give me?

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“For you will certainly carry out God’s purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Some scholars speculate that Jesus and the disciples rested on the Wednesday before the Passover. Maybe they stayed with Lazarus, Mary and Martha in Bethany, which was about two miles east of Jerusalem. It is just speculation but it had only been a short time since He had raised Lazarus back to life. And also, just a few nights earlier in Bethany, Mary had anointed His feet with expensive perfume.

Let’s look a little closer at Judas… It wasn’t just his betrayal, there were also the betrayals yet to come: Yours and mine. His blood covered them all. We have all been betrayed at one time or another and because of sin and iniquity, we have all betrayed Jesus. But the Good News is that His blood still covers!

“Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, ‘How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?’ And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.” Matthew 26:14-16 NLT. 

From this scripture text, and the account in Mark and Luke, it is apparent that Judas went to them. It doesn’t mention them coming to Judas and asking him to betray the Lord. He went on his own! Perhaps it would have never entered the minds of those in the Sanhedrin that one of Christ’s very own would turn on Him.

But he did. “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” Was Judas so desperate that He would sell out the Lord of glory for money? To give away the Everlasting for something that would not last, that would pass away? 

Did you know that Judas was the treasurer for the followers of Christ? He wasn’t voted on or suggested by the others, he was chosen by Jesus! According to Augustine, tradition says, “Jesus had delivered Judas often from death, and for his sake healed his father of palsy and cured his mother of leprosy, and next to Peter he honored him above all the other apostles.”

Judas became a traitor. A traitor is someone that is WITHIN the camp, so to speak. You can’t be a traitor if you are not in the inner circle! The enemy was in the camp, right with the disciples, one of the chosen, one of those closest to the Master. As many times as I have heard this story and read it over and over again I have never thought about what made him do it. What happened to him over time that caused him to fall away?

Luke 22:3 “Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot…” 

Maybe he began to doubt, perhaps he was listening to outside voices that were constantly berating that Jesus wasn’t who He said He was. We aren’t given all of that information but we are told that he was listening to one distinct voice and that was the voice of the enemy of our souls.  

It really wasn’t about the money because thirty pieces of silver, research reveals, likely would not set you up for the rest of your days. Whatever caused Judas to first become frustrated, aggravated or disillusioned with Jesus became an open door for Satan to come in and begin his whispering.

It doesn’t take long, when you entertain lies from the betrayer, you  eventually become one yourself.

And if it can happen to Judas, who walked with Jesus, shared supper with Jesus, heard Him speak, watched Him work and even saw Him pray, what will keep us from doing the same? What must we do to keep ourselves from straying from this Truth, from losing our way like a lost sheep or worse yet, turning on the very One who would give His life for us?

We look at the story and think we would never do such a thing as walk away from the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. Maybe not but are we replacing Him with other things in our life? Are we busying ourselves so much that we don’t have time for a talk with the King of Kings? Is our relationship faltering or failing because we no longer put Him first?

This Holy Week is a good time to reassess our walk with the Lord. He is either Lord of everything or He isn’t Lord at all. Let’s see what we might be allowing to get in our way. It may be the love of money or the accumulation of stuff.  Perhaps it is things that cause us to habitually waste time. Or it could be friends or co-workers, maybe family members that we know bring us down. We should take inventory every now and then and ask God to show us those things that may trip us up!

We must make sure that He is first in all things and our relationship with Him is the most important thing in our lives.

“What will you give me?” Judas asked this question of the Sanhedrin with the worst in mind; he was no longer a servant of Christ. Let us ask THIS question of our Lord, “What can I give YOU?” And then be prepared to offer ourselves as a LIVING sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is our reasonable service.

 

For the kingdom

What I’ve learned from Henry in Haiti

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“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusement, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our giving does not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say it is too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our commitment to giving excludes them.” ~ C.S. Lewis

What I’ve learned from Henry  in Haiti

My heart has been turned every which way but loose these last few days since we landed in Port au Prince, Haiti.

Just a couple of hours after we touched the ground we were visiting our first orphanage. You can read about that here!

We have hosted 135+ children at the missionary compound, what a day that was. So much fun and such a blessing to see them enjoy the day and get some much needed nourishment.

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Then, we went back to one of the group homes again last night right before dark. They have no electricity and it is so difficult to see where you are walking or which one you are hugging.

So, for the third time, Henry met me at the car, threw his arms around me and followed me like a puppy. Henry is 14. Henry wants me to take him out of the orphanage and, ultimately, out of Haiti.

Henry wants to go home with me.

what I've learned from Henry

(Henry is the one at the very bottom with the yellow t-shirt on. They were surrounding my son, Korey.)

Before I could get a big head about being chosen, those that know Henry said he has worked his magic on every Mom that comes to visit. And every Mom leaves here brokenhearted, knowing she cannot really take Henry home with her.

But yet, it tugs at your heart when, in his broken English, he says, “Nan-nette, I pray for you every day, so when you leave I can go with you, oui?”

To understand how we are all born with a different lot in life is impossible, at least to me. Why am I living in a free country, with a nice home, more food than I need, cars to drive and nice clothes to wear when someone such as Henry lives in complete poverty and despair?

Adoption isn’t easy in this country, or any other. Most of them only let those with physical disabilities and special needs be adopted out of the country, which is good and also not so good. Henry is neither one of those. So what is his lot in life? What is his hope?

I cannot explain it to me or to Henry. The only thing I can tell him is that he is loved by a Savior that knew his name before he was born. That His love is unconditional, never fails and never runs out.

Missionaries from around the world live here on this beautiful, yet impoverished, island and call it their home. They are here to make a difference as much as is possible. I have watched the missionaries we are staying with, Ronald and Terry Brian, LOVE BIG. That seems to be the answer to me. Yes, they give financially, very big. They give food, supplies and as much physical help as is possible. They are superintendents over a work of 600+ congregations, all over the island; it seems overwhelming to me that you cannot necessarily change the future of so many people, most who will always live this way.

BUT, if you take it one day at a time, if every day you get up, such as the Brian’s do, and make a little change for someone THAT DAY, hand out some extra rice and beans, grill some hot dogs for 135 kids, pass around extra water that they normally wouldn’t get, and most of all? Generously hug and love on adults and kids alike; they are starving for that affection at times even more than their natural food.

So, there is hope for Henry. Hope that if he stays connected to the Church here, the Body of Christ, that even though he may never leave his homeland for bright lights and big cities, God’s plan for him can still be huge. Henry can change lives too one day by sharing Christ with his friends, relatives and those even more less fortunate than himself.

I love you, Henry, and I pray for you every day that God will fill you with His spirit, full and overflowing with His love for others. That, as the Brian’s have loved you, and hundreds just like you, that you will now continue on and grow the Kingdom of God. Go, make a difference, Henry, for someone just like you.

May we not be so consumed with what we do not have that we cannot see the needs of others around us. But may we be so filled with the love of God that we will use what He has given us, whether it is natural things or spiritual things, and GO, DO, LOVE BIG.Kingdom2

 

DF cover side viewChurches and individuals all around the world will be coming together to fast the month of January. Have you got your copy of The Daniel Fast Devotional? This 21 day easy-to-read book is great for ANY FAST! It does have Daniel Fast recipes at the end of each chapter. Every day is a short example from the Bible of someone who fasted and how it relates to us today. There are also THREE DAYS of PREPARATION chapters to help you decide what type of fast is best for you, why we fast and the benefits from participating. Get your paperback or Kindle copy today on Amazon!

 

 

 

 

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