Patiently Praying

Matthew 7:7-8 and Luke 11:9 instruct us,

¶ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek,

and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be

opened unto you:

For every one that asketh receiveth; and

he that seeketh findeth; and to him that

knocketh it shall be opened.

In Aug. 2007, I had a heatstroke at work, this caused me to have continuing headaches and my left side was weak to where I had to use a cane to stabilize myself. My mind filled with worry and questions like, "What if they can't repair the problems, will I regain the full use of my arm and leg? What if I lose my job because of being off so long?" After months past and the doctor still didn’t clear me to go back to work the fear and doubt started crowding my heart and mind, it left little room for God and His promises. I finally realized that it was the devil trying to take away my peace, because worry is not from God. I always tell my husband “I’m not worrying, I’m just highly concerned.” I prayed, asking the Lord to take away every fear, every hindrance to my fellowship with Him. He granted me peace and assurance that He would be with me, no matter what the outcome.
I have regained my left side use and the headaches are minimal, I did lose my job due to a weight lifting limit, but the Lord has used my accident to "answer a prayer, I prayed earlier when I was working and missing church services and my desire was to get back into full time service for Him." When I prayed this prayer I didn't see how my family could survive without my job, but God saw that we could, we only had to put our faith and trust in Him, and He in His loving way proved this to me.
We need to witness and encouraging others to pray, "asking, seeking, knocking" looking for an answer.
Matthew and Luke both tell us that if we ask, we will receive, if we seek, we will find, and if we knock, the door will be opened. The key is being attuned to God, knowing in our heart that He loves us and choosing to take Him at His word. We can ask, seek, knock, and He will respond.
Matthew 21:21-22 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Don’t forget to remember our prayers will be answered "in God's time." Remember Peter:

Acts 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

The church was praying for his release but couldn't believe it when he was...
Acts 12:12-16 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.

Are we praying believing? Are we shocked when he does answer? A friend of ours, Etula, prayed for her brother to get saved. One Sunday He came to church and responded to God's call and got saved. When Etula heard about her brothers salvation, her comment was “NO he didn’t, really, my brother?”
Don’t be alarmed when God answers, just pray believing, but remember sometimes the answer may be NO. Our Heavenly Father sees the whole puzzle of our lives and he knows what is best for us.
What is troubling you right now?
Have you taken it to the Father?
If not, consider doing it right now. He is waiting to hear your voice.

Craft:
"Picture Prayer". If you are not artistic stick figures/drawings/photographs combined with words works just fine. Draw a picture of your problem and determine how you visualize it resolving. As you look at your picture, and talk to the Father, this becomes your prayer. Make a scrap album of your prayers and answers to remind you of His blessings. Give it a try!

God's Mirror’s

1 Corinthians 13:11-13
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
God loves us the way a good mother loves, totally, unconditionally: with a nurturing and ever present care. In fact, as mothers, our love for our children is only a dim reflection of the love God has for us.
Isaiah 66:13
Alone whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.Our desires, as Christian Mothers, for our children, should be, that they will come to know the Lord as their personal Saviour. Our children as they grow, come to us for comfort, to kiss all the boo boo’s, to love them and forgive them, no matter what they did, and they rely on us to care for their every need. As they grow they will look toward God as they did toward us for these things, We as Mothers want to show Christ in all we do, so that our love will be mirroring God‘s love. We can do this by doing all we do as we would to the Lord.

Colossians 3:17-24
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.Remember, “The Mirror”. As we look toward Christ for our comfort, so will our children, where do you think they will learn how this feels? By remembering how we loved and protected them. Then they will look toward God for protection.

Psalms 17:8-9
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.We want God’s love to reflect in our love for our children (young or grown) We need to live in such a way they see what it means to be a Christian. In this reflection, they will understand about a God who always hears, because we reflected this in how we responded to their cries, and to a God who will meet their needs, because we saw that they were not hungry. God’s strength and tenderness will be real to them, because they caught a glimpse of it in our love from the time they were born. A child that knows love will find it easier to come to know a loving God, and they will not seem it strange when they do wrong and God chastises them, because we loved them unconditionally, from colic all the way through adolescent rebellion, when they tried to use their wings, before they were ready to fly.
When our children do wrong we in love have to correct them, this is not always pleasant and sometimes it may drive them away until they search their heart and see that they were wrong. Our daughter Nicole did this one thing, even though we tried to treat each of our children the same and tried to be consistent in their correction, it was a little more difficult with Nicole. She had numerous medical problems, dwarfism, compressed spine, breathing problems, partial deafness to name a few and we had found ourselves being more lenient on her than we were the other two children. When she became a teenager, she tried to spread her wings to fly and flew into the wrong crowd. She moved out of our home knowing we would not allow her to live the way she was heading and found herself in the middle of drugs and alcohol. She became a DJ for a local bar and thought she was living the life. She didn’t come around much or even call us, for fear that we would not condone her lifestyle. I worked in the same plaza that she worked in as DJ, and this made it really hard to witness to my co-workers who saw and knew Nicole. And it really made it hard for me knowing she was two doors down and I hadn’t seen her in weeks. But I just continued praying for her and prayed that God would work in her life and bring her back to Him. God did and it was an eye opener for Nicole. One evening, after Nicole moved back home, Her and one of her friends Whitney was at our home, in the middle of the night they snuck out without Preacher and I knowing it. In the middle of the night around 2 am I got a knock on my bedroom door. It was Whitney, she ask if she could talk to me for a minute. When I went out into the living room, trying not to wake Preacher. She informed me that she could not wake Nicole. I went into the bedroom, finding her laying on the bed and she was blue. I tried to wake her with no success, while calling to Preacher and waking the rest of the house hold. Preacher came in and told me to push her up, Nicole had a severe case of obstructive sleep apnea and she was cutting off her own air. I pushed her up and fell in behind her and finally heard a gasp of air. I started questioning the children to find out what brought her to this state. I smelt alcohol on Nicole and questioned this, Whitney finally told me that she talked Nicole into going to the dance hall, they drank until she noticed Nicole was having a hard time staying awake, she carried her out to her car and drove home where our son Codey was awakened to carry Nicole into the house. When they got her into the room, they tried to make Nicole drink some water, where she through up and fell off the bed. After they placed her back on the bed and she stopped breathing Whitney felt it was time to come clean and save her life. When the ambulance arrived Nicole only had a heart rate of 8 times per minute and they could not get a blood pressure and her pupils were dilated. We had a house full of paramedics police and others I did not know, they all had a look on their faces that this call was not going to turn out good. When we all got into our vehicles to go to the hospital, I knew in my heart we were going to have to start planning a funeral this morning. The ambulance was in no hurry, they didn’t even run the lights and stopped at the red lights, I was very scared and could only pray for God’s strength and grace. When we arrived at the hospital, they would not let us back into the room with Nicole and would not give us any information on her because they were classifying this as a overdose. After 3 hours of not knowing if she was dead or alive, they finally allowed Preacher and I to go into the room. We found Nicole in Coma and found out her blood alcohol level was over 300. The doctors started informing us that if she did live, which they still was not certain, that she would be a vegetable and we needed to prepare for this fact. Needless to say we had a lot of people going to the throne of grace on Nicole’s behalf. After 6 hours, I was left in the room and Preacher had taken everyone back to our house, we had 2 children spending the night with us. Nicole finally opened her eyes and asked where she was. I started crying and informed her that she was in coma and we didn’t even think she was going to live, WOW how God answers prayers, even when we don’t deserve it!!!!! She didn’t believe me until I showed her pictures of herself before she woke up and the nurse came in and confirmed what I had told her was true. This was a real eye opener for Nicole. After this she started getting her life back on track, she got saved, she had made a profession when she was younger, but she said she just went through the motions. This really pushed me to Thank the Lord even more for waking her up and giving her another chance, if she would have died she would have woke up in Hell!!!
After she got saved she came to Preacher and I and thanked us for not giving up on her, for praying for her and living a life that showed Christ. She commented that she was sorry for what she put us through and that she knew she could come home, because through it all we still showed her forgiveness and love.
Don’t ever think that your living your life in vain and it’s not being seen, Believe me our children watch and learn!!!
A letter from Nicole
Dear Momma,
I just wanted to tell you some things that I couldn't put into words on the spot without crying.
I just wanted to thank you so much for caring for me like you do.
I always took it for granite your time you spent taking me to doctors, & therapy, & surgeries & so much more. But I now know that you didn't have to do that!
Alot of children now these days are so mistreated & not taught correctly. I thank God everyday for letting me have Christian parents who don't stray from the truth. You've always pushed me to strive better & helped me in bad times & taught me the ways God would have a Christian lady should act. You're my role model. I hope one day that I'll have a good Godly husband & family & be able to be like you, a Virtuous Women!
I've also realized I was so nieve to think you didn't know what I went through! Now I realize you know & have went through more than I with al of my trials. You see, I couldn't watch my girl go through 2 codes & not ask why. I would have freaked out & you, well, the Lord worked through you to be there for me when I coded. Dr. Lewis is not my hero, you are! I just want to tell you I love you so much & I thank you for all the efforts in raising me. You see if I were to stray or not live as God would have me, you wouldn't have to say I wish we would have taught her, because you have! You've taught me everything I know about life & taught me how to act, talk & how to be a good Godly lady. Even though I don't do as I should all the time, you taught me well! Thank you for 17 1/2 years of trials & putting up with me, not giving up. I Love you more than you know.
Love Always,
Nicole xoxoxoxoA letter from Nishoni
Daddy,
I praise God for a Father so loving & understanding. I thank Him continually for a father who loves me enough to beat the "living daylights" out of me & allow me to live to tell about it. I guess, I just thank God for you, & everything you are.
It's your courage that brings us through rough circumstances, & your strength that brings us through trials & tribulations. It's your love that showed me the way to Jesus Christ. You're the reason for my existence, my well-being, my proud heritage, & what I turned out to be upon this day. Well, Mommy had alot to do with it to, but still, it was you! I love you more than your'll ever know, & I am only, to proud, to be part of you, to be your daughter.
Thank you for loving me when I am unlovable, unbearable. I'll love you forever.
Proud to be the offspring
of someone so wonderful
& caring,
Nishoni Lynn Burkhart  As mothers, we can be comforted that not only does God love our children far more than we will ever be able, but He loves us in the same way. We should also be challenged to commit our love for our children to God, to be used by Him to be a reflection that will touch our child’s lives. This sort of committed love is like a mirror that will catch God’s light and magnify it into our children’s lives. One lady said this sort of holy love can “split the sky in two” allowing our children to catch a glimpse of God’s shining face.
There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candles or the mirror that reflects it.
Are we shining for God as we should toward our children? Are we a clean mirror that is sending out His light to reflect Him or are we smudged with the fingerprints of this world. Let’s clean our mirror daily to reveal Him clearly in our lives, showing forth godly women.

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Time Don't Stand Still

Wedding day, wow, didn't think it would ever arrive. I am going to marry the man of my dreams....This was almost 30 years ago. Today it still seems as if it was last week, time does not stand still for anyone.

My life has had many cherrished moments, downfalls, hurtles and victories just as yours has. But as I look back in my minds eye, I can almost smell the cookies my babies and I cooked for christmas, almost see my husbands face as I walked down the isle for my wedding, almost see my babies face for the first time.... WOW, has time flown. Now my three babies are married and have families of thier own. Time does not stand still for anyone.

The bible say's "James 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." That is so true! This year I had turned 47 years old, wow! Where has the time gone? Time does not stand still for anyone.

As we live our lives we need to remember " 2 Corinthians 3:2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:" What memories are you leaving? "Romans 14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." Others are watching. Our babies, our friends, our neighbors.... how are we leading?

SAD FAREWELL

One of my most cherished time in my busy life is when I get to travel to visit my precious children and their families. Being in the ministry, you go where God places you, and my home is in the beautiful state of Tennessee. My three children all live in other states, Michigan, South Carolina & North Carolina. To visit our children it takes at least a couple days for travel, rest & visit. So in turn we don't get to visit them very often :( when my children were younger, I would dream of the time that my girls and I would have ladies nights out and my son and I would take lunches together, but praise God, all of our children are serving God where God has placed them. I wouldn't have it any other way, my desire is for my children to be in God's perfect will for their lives.

Pleasantly we just got to visit our daughter in Michigan, we had a great time getting to see the family :) we spent four days, playing, talking, picking on the instruments, singing & plain old visiting. But as all visits go....there is a time to say goodbye, for now. It is a sad farewell.

As we travel on life's journey, we also have sad farewells. These farewells I am speaking about now are parting in death. As all journey's start they must end. "Job 7:6 ... My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle... " time is short, just as it seems we just got to our daughters house for our visit and today 4 days later our visit is over. Life is the same "James 4:14 ... whereas ye know not what shall be on the marrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."  Life is short!

When it comes that time for your sad farewell will your parting be one of bittersweet sorrow, or one of relief. How do you live your life, is it lived fully for CHRIST or is it selfishly lived for SELF, no matter who it hairlips?

We need to remember this sad farewell is but for a moment in a christians life and we all will be judged for how we live it. "Romans 14:12 ... So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

And lastly, our sad farewell are for but a moment. "2 Corinthians 5:8 ... we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." We will see our loved ones again " 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ... shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

We will meet again :)

Shuffling life

Ever feel like your life is over full, like "if there were just one more minute in my frazzled day, I might accomplish my shuffled list"?  Some of my days are just like that with managing a store, conference calls, meals to plan, church secretarial tasks, budgeting payroll, and cleaning my house. These are just a few of the daily tasks in my life. 

Six days a week I go to my store and manage my associates, run my store, and train others to do the same. When my work hours are done for the day, I have to put on my wife hat and return home to get my daily chores accomplished for my home and husband.

As you see, shuffling life is a daily task for me.

Sometimes, I could feel so overwhelmed. Over the years, I have so gratefully learned that if I take each task one at a time,  I seem to accomplish more each day.

I am one of those ladies, that, if I am doing a task, I have to complete it to my specs before I finish. This has sometimes slowed me down, but, if it is done right, I won't have to return to that task... for that day anyways.

Shuffling my tasks to importance each day helps me feel more satisfied with my days. I may take the smallest tasks and complete those first, to get them marked off my list. Then focus on the larger tasks.

Each day, shuffle, organize, focus and accomplish. SOFA, has helped  me, I pray it helps you, too, in that busy, crazy life. 

my busy, blessed life

In my busy life of a retired retail managment, pastor's wife, music lover. I have found some truths along the way. In my blog, I hope to reveal my solutions to frustrations, joys, and just life's practical helps.
Through each day of my life, I try to please "My Lord Jesus Christ" in all that I do. I remember years ago, when the "What Would Jesus Do" came out, we would tell our children, which are all now grown with thier own families, and one is in Heaven waiting for us to come, to ask themselves, "What would Jesus do in that situation?", and now I try to ask myself that same question with each situation in my busy life.
Do you find yourself with challanging tasks with more than one solution and wondering which one to use? Always ask the question, "What would Jesus do?", and you will never go wrong.
God has blessed me so much in my life that I could never post all my blessings. To list a few, I have a fabulous, supportive husband, who is also my Pastor. I have a great church and church family that I love and the most wonderful God-serving children and grandchildren any mama could ask for. I am not saying they are always perfect, but they try to please God in all thier daily lives. Thank you, God, for your blessings on me! :)