Pray for Elisabeth Elliot’s Husband

Fri, 18 May 2012 10:29:03 -0400

I was so excited that Elisabeth Elliot, her husband, and her caregiver were coming for a visit this week, but it was not to be. I had everything ready—rooms cleaned, sheets changed, fresh towels out, and food in the refrigerator. I thought of Elisabeth as I changed the linens—for no one could make a bed like her. She used to emphasize making “hospital corners” for a clean tuck of the sheets (something I have never learned how to do!)

I had spoken with them twice by phone that morning, and the last time I heard from them, they were a little over three hours away. Just after the last time we spoke, they were involved in a bad car accident. The car spun around before rolling over into a field. Elisabeth and her young caregiver, thankfully sustained no physical injuries, but Lars, Elisabeth’s husband, was on the side of the car that received the impact.

He had to be air-lifted to the nearest large city where he was hospitalized. Yesterday he underwent neck surgery, and he also has some cracked ribs. The main prayer for Lars is that he will not develop pneumonia.

Many of you that listened to Elisabeth’s radio program for years, may remember her speaking of her dear mother, Katherine Howard. As you may recall, her mother’s mind slipped away in her latter years. Sadly, Elisabeth struggles in the same way, and I am saddened that the Elisabeth that I remember is no longer here. Getting her words out is a struggle.

Oh, but what a Godly legacy she has given us! There was a time to minister, and now a time to be ministered to. And how devoted her husband is to her! So please pray for him, as the accident has changed his ability to help. Elisabeth’s daughter Val is with them now.

I treasure all that I learned from Elisabeth, as she was a spiritual mother to me and countless others. I keep all her letters to me (35 in all I think) in a pretty box wrapped in a ribbon. What a Godly example she has been to so many, and I want to take the baton up from her and be the older woman in other younger women’s lives.

Lord, we lift up Lars and Elisabeth up to you now—in your safekeeping. I wrote Lars and tucked in Isaiah 10:31:

The above scripture hangs on the wall in the guest room that I had ready for them. I close today with the prayer Elisabeth wrote that I begin my day with:

“I offer up today all that I am, all that I have, all that I do, and all that I suffer, to be Yours today and Yours forever.”

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Russ Andrews on Holy Calling of Motherhood

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:32:39 -0400

I love my church. Our Associate Pastor, Russ Andrews, spoke yesterday on the holy calling of motherhood. We stood (a habit we have when the Word of God is read) as he read 1 Samuel 1:1-28—the story of Hannah and her long-desired firstborn son, Samuel. Here are some of my notes from Russ’s sermon, along with a couple points that I added in:

No one is “just a stay-at-home mother,” for the mother is raising children in a mini-embassy for the Kingdom of God.

Hannah “is a reminder that mothers are makers of men and the architects of the next generation“ ~John MacArthur

Motherhood is a high calling.

A godly mother prays for her children.

Hannah prayed self-sacrificially and gave her son back to the Lord for His purposed in his life.

“The great tragedy of life if not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer. “ ~ F.B. Meyer

He challenged mothers to do the greatest thing they could do for their children in addition to loving God and praying for them: love their husbands.

Show open love and affection for your husband in front of your children—it’s okay and good to snuggle, hold hands and give a kiss to your spouse in front of them.

Children feel secure knowing their parents love one another and are fully committed to one another.

“All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother.” ~Abraham Lincoln

“I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” 1 Samuel 1:28

We are so blessed in a church where the Word of God is boldly proclaimed. Being part of a local church where the Word of God is preach and Christ is lifted up topped my Mother’s Day! (As did my husband and son making my mom and me hamburgers on the grill! I always put their homemade notes and cards up in our home. They are priceless treasures to me.)

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For the Mothers

Sun, 13 May 2012 07:56:24 -0400

For all the mothers today, and to my children and mother:

”Children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!“
~Psalm 127:3-5

I love you, Blair, John, Alex, and Mary! You have made me a very rich woman! I love you, Mama!

Letters from my spiritual mother... Elisabeth Elliot

My husband took three of our four kids and our dog out in the country yesterday (our oldest lives away). I had a whole afternoon at home.

I played music, cleaned, watered flowers, changed sheets, and did laundry.

Guest room is totally ready for Elisabeth Elliot who comes with her husband and their helper for a couple days this week. You can barely see the pretty white box on the chest of drawers, where I store all her letters—which I treasure. Now, I want to be a spiritual mother to younger women as she was for me.

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Offer Up Prayer by Elisabeth Elliot

Sat, 12 May 2012 09:05:25 -0400

For those who want the complete prayer, here’s the prayer from Elisabeth Elliot that I told you about last time:

Loving Lord and Heavenly Father I offer up today all that I am, all that I have, all that I do, and all that I suffer, to be Yours today and Yours forever. Give me grace, Lord, to do all that I know of Your holy will. Purify my heart, sanctify my thinking, correct my desires. Teach me, in all of today’s work and trouble and joy, to respond with honest praise, simple trust, and instant obedience, that my life may be in truth a living sacrifice, by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, my Master and my all. Amen

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers!

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DUE TO A WEB HOST CHANGE WHICH TOOK PLACE ON MAY 11, 2012, I AM TEMPORARILY UNABLE TO RECEIVE BLOG COMMENTS BELOW, & SAD TO SAY, ALL COMMENTS TO THIS POINT WERE LOST. I AM WORKING TO GET THIS FEATURE BACK, BUT IT WILL TAKE TIME & A MAJOR SOFTWARE CHANGE. IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS ON MY ABOVE FACEBOOK OR TWITTER ACCOUNT

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Elisabeth Elliot!

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:58:58 -0400

Anyone who has read my writings for long at all, knows that I have been greatly influenced by one of the wonderful spiritual women of our day—Elisabeth Elliot. She has endured so much in her life and has walked faithfully with God all these years—taking seriously the mandate from Titus 2:4 “to teach the younger women to love their husbands and children.” I got a call from her husband earlier this week, and they are coming next week to visit with us for a night or two!

I couldn’t be anymore excited! Elisabeth Elliot is the person who told me to write out the whole story of how I came to Christ when I was twenty-six, and the difference He made in saving my marriage. She even came up with the title of “Don’t Dump Him.” (We still have that title— the manuscript is complete but not published yet; my agent is currently about to review our contract with Oak Tara Publishers).

I love this woman! My husband had been asking me nicely to get my hair (dark hair on a white tile floor) off the bathroom floor for years and I conveniently always had something else more important to do. (this is after we reconciled and I had become a Christian! I had prayed I would be a good wife this second time around and had become a Christian and still wouldn’t get the hair up regularly)

Elisabeth was teaching on the fruits of the spirit. As she was speaking on the fruit of self-control, I was deeply convicted that I had no self-control in this area of getting the hair up. I began the habit of getting it up right then and there; that was over 15 years ago! I don’t get it up everyday, but I am at least of aware of it now and how it pleases my husband when I do get it up. (I like it, too.)

She taught me so so much more—like the prayer she wrote to “offer up all that I am, all that I have, all that I do, and all that I suffer” to belong to Christ. (I’ll give you the whole prayer tomorrow or next blog)

I’ll try to send you a couple pictures next week after their visit because I won’t be blogging while they are here. She is eighty-five now, and it is such an honor to be able to visit with them! I would love your prayers as I get to reverse the roles and minister to them!

I believe this visit from them is like God saying to me, “Juana, it is now officially time for you to take the Titus-baton from Elisabeth Elliot. Go and be that voice to younger women that she was for you. It’s your turn to take it up and run with it. Run with the message that I have given you for this generation.”

My answer? “Yes, Lord! I’m your servant and I’m ready for whatever You want me to do. I’m listening. May Your Will be done in my life.”

“That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children” ~Titus 2:4

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Prayer to Receive Everything in Your Life as From God’s Hand

Thu, 10 May 2012 08:35:35 -0400

When I spoke last week to the people at the Christian Community Fellowship of New Bern, I had urged them to receive everything in their life as if it was coming from God’s hand, and I told them the following relinquishment prayer. Several of the women asked me to post this anonymous prayer which I had given them quickly that day as they did not have time to write it down.

It is a wonderful prayer to put on a 3 x 5 card, and as you learn it and genuinely mean it, it can create an attitude in your heart of receiving whatever God brings or doesn’t bring into your life. So here it is:

I am willing to receive what You send,
to lack what You withhold,
to relinquish what You take,
to suffer what You inflict,
to do what You command,
to be what You require.

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The Story of Ian & Larissa

Wed, 9 May 2012 11:19:00 -0400

I thought this story from desiringGod was beautiful and wanted you to see it, especially on the first morning after the State of North Carolina became the 31st state to define marriage as the Biblical definition defines it: between one man and one woman.

I pray for all the future spouses of my children; I pray they will love Christ with all their heart. I pray they will wait for God’s choice for their spouses. I also pray for courage for the young man who will one day choose my blind daughter, Mary. May he be willing to give up his wife being able to see him with her physical eyes and have the love of Christ for his wife as you will see in this clip that Larissa has for her Ian.

Oh Lord, teach me to love my husband with the sacrificial love of Christ that seeks the good of the other. May I be obedient to You. Help me to be faithful to pray for my children’s future spouses; you already know who they are. May they be obedient to You. May they be kept from the wrong mate and saved for the right one. May they marry a believer! May my children, as well as those they marry, be kept pure until marriage.

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? ...Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ...’Come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord.”
~2 Corinthians-17 6:14

“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
~1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Click here to see video on Ian & Larissa: http://vimeo.com/38033654

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A Letter to My Homosexual Friend(s)

Mon, 7 May 2012 11:11:23 -0400

To my dear homosexual friend, David, (name changed)

I have thought of you a thousand times since I last saw you. I miss you, and your warm smile. I still think of the wonderful Italian meal you made Anne (name changed) and me. I love how surprised you were when I found your favorite European cookies and mailed them to you. Every time I make the Mediterranean salad with feta cheese and walnuts, I think of the time I made it for you, and you loved it so much.

David, the time we had lunch when your mom came, I sensed that when you wanted me to tell your mom how my dad struggled with alcoholism, that you had deep hurts over experiences with your own dad. I was very fortunate that my dad was not a mean or vicious man when he had been drinking. He only retreated and was alone so much. It makes me sad that I did not have the maturity to know him better, and as you know, he died when I was twenty-one.

I know that many people have been abused by their fathers and step-fathers or other people that were supposed to love and protect them. I’m not a psychologist, but when we talked, I sensed that perhaps someone in your young life—in your formative years when you should have been naturally growing in your sexuality—did wrong, perverted things to you. David, you were just a child, and it is not your fault. It was so terribly wrong.

The Bible says it is better that a person have a millstone thrown around their neck and thrown into the bottom of the ocean than to do wrong to an innocent child. A child is supposed to get to just be a child! We know from the Bible that Jesus LOVES the children. Like the children’s song says:

Jesus loves me, this I know!
For the Bible tells me so!
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in His sight!

David, you were PRECIOUS in His sight as a child! Jesus adored you then, and He adores you now! I think you are very neat, too! But the truest thing about you is what God says about you! He loves you with an everlasting love that cannot be broken!

He loves you so much he would have died for you David, if you had been the only person in the world! He died for the sin that was done against you as a child. He died for my sin. He died for the sin of my leaving my husband after I promised to love and cherish him until death separated us.

David, this next part is hard for me to write. But I am going to write it because I think there is so much confusion on it. God is not the author of confusion.

The Bible tells us that the first institution God created was marriage. We read in Genesis that God made male and female. Please forgive my simplicity, but if there is any confusion in your sexual identity, I can say with certainty, that in God’s order of creation—if you have XX sex chromosomes, you are a woman, and if you have XY sex chromosomes— you are a man. Yes, people can change or alter the outside appearance— but your blood tells you the truth.

Because of so much confusion, sin and perhaps because of some very difficult experiences perpetrated against you, (and so many others) have reached a crisis in their sexual identity. Many have exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones, because sin screws up everything.

But Christ came and conquered sin! Just like in my life, when I left my husband and became a Christian a year later, I received Christ and He forgave me for leaving my husband, and took away the guilt of my sin. That is what He accomplished as my dying Savior.

In the years since then, I have to trust Him daily as my Living Savior. By doing that— He saves me daily from the power of sin in my current life. (...when I obey Him, and continue to choose His way over my own. When I go my own way, I suffer the consequences. Either way there will be suffering, but Bible says it is better to suffer for doing what is right). I’ll update this blog later and post the references if anyone wants me to.

I LOVE YOU, and I have a genuine love for people living a homosexual lifestyle. When I see a person that I think is living a homosexual lifestyle in the grocery store, or just recently in a department store, my heart melts with compassion. I feel like I want to hug this perfect stranger... to have coffee together... and that has happened to me a thousand times. I want to love that individual with the perfect love of Jesus and with my imperfect love, too.

I cannot stand jokes about homosexuals, because they are family to me. We are part of the human race together. We are both people that Christ died for.

The Marriage Amendment. There is so much confusion. It is not a human rights issue. It is not about a homosexual not getting to use the same water fountain, or having to go to the back of the bus. God forbid that ever happen again to any race in the USA. If it were to, I pray I will lead the effort against it, and that God would give me courage to do so, if a person were denied natural rights based on the color of their skin. For Jesus loves the children— red and yellow, black and white!

But homosexuality is a choice. A lifestyle. We just talked about why some have become totally confused on their gender. The answer is not to change the definition of marriage and become a genderless society. Marriage is the foundation of society! I did not write the definition of marriage anymore than I created the first man and woman. God did. We read in Genesis the complete account. Marriage is one man and one woman. God said it was very good.

That’s how we all got here! Children need a mother and a father!

Some say, “well, that definition is discriminatory.”

It sure is! Marriage by definition is discriminatory. It is not for children. It’s not even for two heterosexual people who want to “pretend” they are married—as I used to explain out of wedlock pregnancies to my small children. It is not for one man and three women. It is not for two of the same sex.

It is a special, sacred, discriminatory relationship which pro-creates the human race. That is the way God made it. To be bold—the equipment fits and makes a brand, new life. Sacred. Amazing. Beautiful. Beyond comprehension. Hollywood did not create sex—it’s so much much older than California. God created male and female when he created man.

Sadly, we also read in Romans 1, that many will swap in, trade, pretend, exchange... use whatever word you want—substitute... and “exchange natural relations for unnatural ones...” Women will desire women sexually, and men will desire men sexually. That is not good. See for yourself what it says in Romans Chapter one. It is right there in scripture.

I miss you. I love you. I don’t have all the answers in this fallen world, but I know the One who does. God gave us the manual to guide us on how to live, for those who want to follow Him. We have His love letter—the Bible. His will is always different from what we think it will be, but it is always more glorious.

If you want to be His disciple, if you want to follow Him—the Bible says you (we) need “to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.”

For me that meant I had to to a complete U-turn and instead of leaving my husband, I needed to return to him. Like the prodigal son returning home. The Bible was very clear that if my husband was willing to live with me, I needed to be willing to turn from my way and go back home. I was wrong to leave, and I trusted Christ knew best.

It is not always easy and a bed of roses, but even on difficult days, I KNOW that I have followed Christ, and not gone my own way in this matter of wanting to find love and acceptance. I believe Him when He tells me in His word that I am a new creation in Christ.

I can trust Christ to change me into the wife that He wants me—as I look to Him for my identity. I can speak on marriage as I just did last week with a clear conscience. The greatest thing I can do for the body of Christ is live with a clear conscience.

But first, we must be willing to be made willing to do His will. That is my prayer for you. I want you to be able to live life with no regrets, but more importantly, I want you to KNOW CHRIST and of His deep love for you.

He will never fail you or forsake you. His will is ALWAYS the will of love. His will at times seems like a bad tasting medicine. But drink it. Accept everything in your life from His hand. His will is ALWAYS best. And His will is to conform us to the image of Christ who gave Himself up for us, and made Himself nothing for our sake. His ways are not our ways.

He is the most trustworthy Person in the universe. Trust Him to make you into who He designed you to be.

All His grace, You are loved with an everlasting love, Juana

David, you don’t even know I wrote this and dedicated it to you today. For other readers, if you struggle with your sexual identity, I’m sending you a huge huge hug over cyberspace this very minute. I love you!

“The eternal God is your refuge,   and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27

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Dare to Pray Radically “Help Me Make My Husband’s Life Easy & Pleasant”

Thu, 3 May 2012 20:07:13 -0400

Last Tuesday, I had an absolute ball with the women (and a few men!) in New Bern, North Carolina with the Christian Community Fellowship. They invited me to speak for their spring luncheon. The time flew by, and I told them that in the next couple blogs, I would post the prayers and some scriptures that were part of my talk. For today, I’d like to give a couple of the prayers for marriage that I learned from Elisabeth Elliot.

I pray these prayers for myself, to help me be the wife I need to be to Terry. I need God’s supernatural help, for what I pray below does not come naturally to me. We need God’s grace to be unselfish in a world that screams that we should put ourselves first. Scripture tells us to consider one another’s needs ahead of our own! What a radical thought in today’s world! May God bless your marriage as you earnestly pray to our living Lord!

I’ll Keep Him Prayer “Lord, he’s your man. He’s the one you’ve given to me—his peculiarities and his personality, you gave me. I’ll take it. Help me Lord; show me ways, Lord, to make his life as pleasant and as easy as I can. Now Lord, you work in him the changes You think need to be done. Fulfill your purposes. Help me to remember ‘in acceptance lieth peace.’” (Amy Carmichael)
His Good & Unity Prayer “God help me and forgive me for being much more interested in my own good rather than my husband’s good, and failing to contribute to his blessing. Lord, how can I respond in such a way as to bind us together in deeper harmony and deeper unity in Jesus Christ? Lord, show me what I can do to make my husband’s life as easy and as pleasant as I can.”
“Do not merely look out for your own personal interests,
but also for the interests of others.”
~Philippians 2:4

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10 Quick Tips to Refresh Your Marriage

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:21:22 -0400

I’ll be speaking to a group tomorrow on how I came to Christ, how my marriage was saved from near divorce many years ago before children, and how you can learn a few simple ways to refresh your marriage.

I’d like to list the checkpoints below, so that the attendees can later print them off from here (since we will not get to all of them, and I thought some others might like to have them). I originally learned these tips from Anne Ortlund, who is the Godly wife of Ray Ortlund. Ray Ortlund was a former pastor and radio host.

Checkpoints for Refreshing your Marriage:

1. I will say I love you to my husband everyday.
2. I will not bring up my husband’s past failures today.
3. I will put from my mind the weak points of my husband which I cannot change.
4. I will concentrate on my husband’s good points.
5. I will seek to do some active kindness today will please my husband.
6. I will make some comment today which points to God’s wonderful tomorrow.
7. I will seek to bring laughter into my husband’s life today.
8. I will give my husband some little gift today, whether a tangible one or just a word or deed.
1. I will not end this day angry with my husband.
2. I will pray for my husband before the day ends.

I don’t by any means do all these things everyday, but I frequently read and pray through the list to keep me focused in the right direction.

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Perseverance ~ Part 4 & Prayer of Betty Scott Stam

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:34:14 -0400

I can blog now with a clear conscience since I cleaned up all the dishes that had accumulated after a very busy few days in a row. One twitter friend asked me, “But don’t we live in our homes?” I think she meant, shouldn’t we expect some messes since we live there? I was so glad she wrote me and said that.

Your comments to me help bring so much balance. Yes, we do live in our homes, and I don’t want my home to look like a museum! I love children’s artwork and creations all around the house, and I put their notes that they have written up too, because they mean so much to me. My point in showing you yesterday’s picture of my kitchen counter was for you to see that no one can do it all.

Every choice to do one thing is a choice not to do a thousand other things. In the last few days, I was with my husband at a funeral, with him on a date, making breakfasts, making lunches, making dinner, with one of my children doing homework, with another child at a doctor’s visit, at a school meeting, at the store—which made for a very busy couple of days. I’m happy to tell you that today’s picture shows how clean the counter was yesterday, but at this minute it needs attention again. So it goes, we make a mess—we clean it up.

My son has his senior prom tomorrow, and he suddenly called today to tell me he forgot his money to buy his tickets for prom. (and I have had fun today getting things decorated with some cut flowers and greenery from our yard for dinner for ten students here tomorrow before prom, and I want it to look special for them. (we also invited the parents over for pictures and snacks before the students have their dinner) It’s my mother-in-law’s birthday on Sunday, so I stopped by my husband’s office so we could write on her birthday card and mail it for her to get it tomorrow. Whew! I know you are busy, too. Moms are just plain busy!

Look what I read this morning from Oswald Chambers in Daily Thoughts For Disciples as he spoke of Jesus: “...every minute of His life He realized that He was fulfilling the purpose of His Father.”

Can we say that? Can I say with assurance that everything I have done, just even today, fulfilled the purpose in my life of my Father? I think that is a question I need to ponder on, and think deeply about. Perhaps in the quiet of the day, in the morning as I try to get alone with God, I need to ask God to help me fulfill His purposes in my life.

Many of you have the prayer from missionary Betty Scott Stam that I have given you in the past that says exactly that prayer. I will reprint it in this blog today at the end for you, as we were talking last time on perseverance to think on the saints that have gone on before us, who in effect, are “cheering us on” in our faith. But first, listen to what Chambers said next on how Christ fulfilled the purposes of God in His life every minute:

“By maintaining the one relationship, and it is that one relationship He insists on in His disciples...Jesus knew He was here for His Father’s purpose and He never allowed the cares of civilization to bother Him.”

Betty Scott Stam was martyred for her faith in 1934, as she along with her husband, John Stam, were beheaded by Chinese communists. They had bundled a note up in with their little three-month-old baby, Helen, who was not harmed. In the hidden note, John had quoted Philippians 1:20: “May Christ be glorified whether by life or death.”

I got to meet, Paul Stam, John’s grand nephew just two weeks ago. I never knew what happened to the baby, and Paul told me she was now nearly eighty years old. She was raised in the United States by her Aunt and Uncle and has maintained a very private life with relatives.

Here is the prayer of Betty Scott Stam that reflects our need to ask God to fulfill His purposes in our lives:

"Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes
All my own desires and hopes and accept Thy will for my life.
I give myself, my life, my all
Utterly to Thee to be Thine forever.
Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit
Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt
And work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost now
and forever."

~Betty Scott Stam

I’ll be traveling next week; I have a speaking engagement on Tuesday, and would love your prayers for the Holy Spirit to speak to the listener’s hearts, and for the audio visual equipment to work for a five minute clip at the end. May you have a Christ-filled weekend. See you back here next week, Lord willing!

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It’s Either the Dishes or Blog—

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:19:43 -0400

One look at today’s picture, and you’ll know why I can’t blog right now. Yep, that’s how my kitchen counter looks right now, and I promise you—this is NOT a staged crime scene (In fact, it actually looks worse than this. Right after I took this picture, I gathered a few straggler dishes that had not made it to the counter yet!

Now I didn’t say it wasn’t a crime scene! It’s pretty bad especially considering I teach classes to women on time and home management. I think I’ll keep this picture for my next class with the caption: “What you DON’T want your kitchen to look like.” The only ones in my house that feel good about this mess are the roaches that are probably enjoying yesterday’s breakfast remains on the bottom of the sink pile.

Don’t think I let the dishes go for two days because I was catching up on laundry. I never see the bottom of the laundry basket! I’m afraid my tombstone may read: “Here lies the body of Juana Mikels, she never saw the bottom of her laundry basket.” I do finally manage to get a bunch of clothes washed, but I throw them all on my daughter’s bed and then we just go fish for what we want! (Somehow I want to pin this on her for graduating from college and moving, and leaving me with her bed to throw the clothes on!)

I’m sorry this is not the ideal role model behavior you might have expected from a blogger who has spoken and written on order. I hope you don’t fire me! I really wanted to write on perseverance today, but it will have to wait—I’m determined to tackle the kitchen before any other living thing—human being that is, walks into my kitchen.

I’ll be back as soon as I can to write about perseverance, but I need to be doing it instead of writing since people I love live in this home!

You are reading Juana Mikels’ blog, to follow on Facebook, go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Juana-Mikels-Ministries/244919194494 or on Twitter, @JuanaMikels

Remembering Chuck Colson

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 10:25:33 -0400

My thoughts today are with Chuck Colson as he remains gravely ill from a brain hemorrhage. I want to be counted among the Christians who all over the world are praying for him and his family, who have been touched by his life and ministry. I woke up this morning remembering how I read two of his books shortly after becoming a Christian when I was twenty-six. (and he has authored many many more since then.)

I read the story of his conversion in his first book, Born Again. That same year I read Loving God, and was so touched to find out that Chuck had had a similar story to mine on one point. At a point in his life, he turned to God and committed his life to him, not knowing who Jesus was. On a later date he was confronted with the Gospel, and he accepted Christ.

I had committed my life to God in May 1985, and on July 4, 1985, I found out that Jesus had died for me personally and received Him as my Savior. Billy Graham commented that Loving God was one of the most spiritually satisfying books he had ever read. Thinking about it makes me want to read it again after all these years.

The Christian community has been given such a gift in the life and ministry of Chuck Colson.

Thank you Lord, for this wonderful Christian leader whose life after receiving your Son was transformed and used for your glory. May I be more committed to follow you as I think on his example as yet another witness “in that great cloud of witnesses” to your faithfulness. May I too, run with perseverance in the life of faith as Chuck Colson did and will do until his last breath which appears to be soon. One day, I want to live now with the words in my mind, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” as I believe in my heart, Chuck will soon soon hear. Amen.

Chuck, I want to live for the Gospel as you did, living out a practical faith, while honoring and preserving the foundation of society—the family (beginning with the family the Lord has given me!). We share the same anniversary, Chuck! I wish I could have met you, but I will do what I can to make my marriage strong and to help others others in their lives honor the sacred institution of marriage by God’s grace.

My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to his wife Patty, and the Colson family.

“His Lord said unto him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant:
thou hast been faithful... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.’”
~Matthew 25:23

“Loving God, really loving Him means living out His commands no matter what the cost.” -Chuck Colson

“I had lost everything_ power, presteige, freedom, even my identity... But in another sense I had found everything, all that really matters.” -Chuck Colson

“Out of suffering and defeat often comes victory.” -Chuck Colson

You are reading Juana Mikels’ blog, to follow on Facebook, go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Juana-Mikels-Ministries/244919194494 or on Twitter, @JuanaMikels

Speaking At Christian Community Fellowship May 1

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:41:16 -0400

I'll be traveling to New Bern, North Carolina on May 1 to speak for the Christian Community Fellowship's Spring Luncheon. Anyone may come who will be in the area by contacting them at http://ccfnewbern.com

You are reading Juana Mikels’ blog, to follow on Facebook, go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Juana-Mikels-Ministries/244919194494 or on Twitter, @JuanaMikels

Perseverance ~ Part 3

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:26:46 -0400

After helping with homework, planning graduation activities, having friends over, going out with my husband, going to doctor’s appointments, watching my husband plant the flowers I bought (so I can feel like I sorta helped! I did water them!) coming up with an idea for supper, riding bikes with my husband (and walking my bike up the hill panting as he soared over it on his bike and waited for me at the top), catching up on blog correspondence and notes (including thanking people who helped us with my daughter’s recent dental surgery including our darling dentist who demonstrated the love in the body of Christ and hand-delivered Mary a smoothie, thinking about how I should attack the pile of clean clothing that in another lifetime I used to fold............it’s time to persevere and write the next section on..... perseverance!

If you just joined us, you might want to read Part 1 and Part 2. Ok, let’s unpack Hebrews 12:1-2:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

This wonderful scripture tells us that others that have gone on before us, are like role models in our faith to us, cheering us on so-to-speak. It does not mean that they literally are watching us, but that they spur us on in the life of faith to trust God in whatever we are going through. We are encouraged in this text to run the race, the race of faith, with perseverance.

The commentary I read suggested that this “great cloud of witnesses” was comprised of Old Testament figures that we can look to as we run with perseverance. I’m not a Bible scholar ~I’m just an ordinary pilgrim struggling along and trusting in the perfect Savior, but I’d like to suggest that anyone who spurs you on to trust God more deeply and to seek Him may be considered in your cloud of witnesses!

She may be a Sunday School teacher you had as a child, he may be a mentor in your life, it may be a Christian who suffered deeply and persevered in Christ unto death. I have several I can’t wait to tell you about in another blog while we are on this perseverance series.

However admirable another Christian may be to us, we must remember that our ultimate example is Jesus Christ Himself! He is, as it says above, both Author and Perfecter of our faith. He is our supreme model! He kept focused on what God called Him to do and reached the end with complete success.

Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him, and triumphed and sat down at the right hand of God. What a picture of the final victory in store for Christians, no matter what we have to endure in this life. Oh, that we could keep the joy before us right in the middle of our circumstances as our Lord Christ did!

Are you facing something that is painful?

Can you think of the joy that will come afterwards while you are in your present pain?

Can you practice this habit of looking for the joy right in the middle of your present circumstances that you never would have asked for? (see definition of suffering in Part 2 ~ having what we don’t want, or wanting what we don’t have.)

Perhaps if your child is struggling through braces, you can help them focus on the straight teeth that will result.

Perhaps if your child lost a pet, you can focus on the wonderful memories you have with that little creature.

Perhaps if you yourself have gone through a difficult disappointment from a friend, you can learn how to be a better friend to someone.

Scripture says God “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Cor 1:4) So you see, God does not waste anything in our lives ~ He can use it all, heartaches or even mistakes can be used for His glory as we keep our eyes on the joy set before us.

More next time on perseverance. I love you in Christ, dear friend and reader!

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Don't Do What I Did: Selfishness is Not a Virtue

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:53:46 -0400

Thank you to so many of you who were so kind and prayed for my daughter’s minor surgery yesterday. She is doing fine today. More on that in a moment. Today I want to tell wives what NOT to do. I blew it last night.

We had had a long day, but finally last night, my husband and I had a chance to relax together after a wonderful homemade meal (including homemade bread that was more like dessert for me!) that some friends insisted on providing our family last night. We had wakened at 4:30 a.m. since my daughter was the first case, and we had to be at the out-of-town university hospital by 6:00 am. So you get the picture~ long and tiring day and glad it was behind us and that my daughter was resting for the night and feeling back to normal.

My husband and I like to watch documentaries together and we had taped one and were ready to relax together and watch it. It was the perfect storm for us, for after it was over we basically got into an argument over the case. We were tired, it was late, and Terry was tired of talking about it.

I was just getting started! I had so many more thoughts on the subject and wanted to unload every one of them on my husband. I had even saved my “biggest thought” for last, when he told me it was late and he had to get up early and he was done talking about it. I was annoyed beyond words and said so. Terry had the nerve to just go to bed!

So what’s the lesson here?

I got up and had my quiet time with the Lord this morning, when two seconds had not elapsed that I realized I was wrong. I was wanting Terry to meet every need I had. Only the Lord can do that! Who ever said that a spouse could meet every need? Why did I expect perfection from Terry? Humans get tired and worn out and annoyed, but God never gets tired! He never gets annoyed! He is patient with us always. He loves us no matter what, and He keeps on loving us and is perfect.

I am not saying that I don’t love my husband and that he doesn’t love me. I’m saying that when I behave annoyed and impatient with him, I am not acting like I love him or acting the way a Christian wife should act. Put another way, I am living totally independent of Christ which is a very dangerous place to be.

Many of you know I have given you in past writings the very prayers that I pray for myself~ that I would be a wife that is pleasant and easy to live with. OUCH! Easy to live with! How could I pray that so regularly and then not do it?

Because I crawl off the altar and “walk away” from the path God has for me when I am not abiding in Christ. In a word, because I am selfish. The good news is that in Christ, we can ask forgiveness, and He instantaneously forgives us and washes us, and we can start anew! We don’t have to wallow in self-pity (which is also satanic) saying, “poor pitiful me, I just don’t have what it takes to be a Christian.”

None of us have what it takes to be a Christian. The Christian life is not hard, it is impossible! It is only Christ in us, that is our hope of glory! (Colossians 1:27)

Terry is at a father-son golf tournament today, but I texted him when I realized I was wrong this morning because I also do not want anything between my relationship with Christ and me, and I could not have peace until I cleared the air with Terry. There’s no point in praising Jesus while we are sinning against our spouse (or anyone). Scripture tells us, “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18)

The truth is none of us is a prize package. We are all sinners. There is nothing else to marry! We look for the essentials in a mate, and skip all the rest! My husband is a good husband and a good father, and I need to remember that! Yesterday my daughter was out of sorts due to the effects of the anesthesia, and my husband wisely had two talks with her yesterday. I won’t go into detail, but I can see how God so wisely brought us together. Both of us are needed in entirely different ways!

Give your spouse a hug today, and appreciate the good that they do for your family. Concentrate on his good points, remembering that scripture says, “Consider one another’s interest ahead of your own.” If I had of done that last night, I would not have been selfishly annoyed and frustrated just because my husband was tired and wanted to go to bed!

How about you? Is there something blocking your fellowship with the Lord that you need to make right?

Remember that God wants to meet us right in the middle of our everyday circumstances. May you abide in Christ today, dear friend!

“Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.” ~Psalm 105:4 NIV

“...for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” ~James 1:20 NIV

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” ~John 15:5 NAS

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