Single Moms Spa Day

Last Sunday, we had our annual spa day for single moms, with free hair cuts,

    facials,

 

manicures  

and pedicures,  

plus activities for the children,

and refreshments.

We served 43 precious women who needed some love and pampering. We did serve them, visited with them, and prayed with some. We were blessed.

What amazes me is the volunteers that give their Sunday afternoon to do this. They serve with smiles, and are eager to do the same thing next year.

What a WEEK!

I realize that I have not posted this week. It has been quite a week.
We now have two sisters living with us. Natie is 17, moved in 2 weeks ago tonight. Last Saturday, Les and Natie drove to west Texas to pick up her 15 year old sister, Jolee.I am so glad that they are with us. We have had a lot of people stay with us through the years, Les says it has been over 100 people. Some for a week while waiting on a house to be ready, several college students who lived with us for a year, a few single mothers with their children, three foreign exchange students... We have just always felt that our house is God's house, and He has brought a lot of people to share it.
We have been blessed by all those that God has brought to our home. We have relationships with people that are eternal. When you have people living in your home, you become close, you make special memories and share special moments. Also, when you have people living in your home, you can't become angry and just decide not to be friends anymore. You are exposed. You see your selfishness, pride, pettiness, bad temper, moodiness, everything that you want to hide. So, here we are, becoming temporary parents to two precious teenage girls...a new adventure.

Safe in His Arms

Right now, we have a 17 year old girl living with us, a very sweet girl who needed a place to live. She moved in on Friday and we enjoying getting to know her. Last night, she told us about a 15 year old girl who is in a worse situation than she was in, and needs a home.

A 15 year old is not the same as a 17 year old High School senior. A 15 year old is a long term commitment. A 15 year old will need parenting. She may need rules, discipline, training, a lot of love and encouragement, a lot of time. We did say that we would be open to having her come and live with us.

This morning I was up early. As I prayed for the 15 year old, I felt that we could not turn away from her. I know there are thousands of young teenage girls around who are in difficult or dangerous situations. When I hear about one, I usually feel helpless because there is nothing I can do. This time, I can do something. When my husband got up, I asked him if he had thought about the girl. He said no, but that a new song that he is working on for Celebrate Recovery kept playing in his mind, and he felt that it was because of her. The song speaks of being safe in the arms of Jesus.

In the Bible, James says that if someone is in need of food or clothing we cannot just tell them to “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,"
(James 2:16). We have to actually do something to help.

How can we tell someone that they will be safe in the arms of Jesus and not reach out. We are the arms of Jesus. So, we have made the offer to provide a home and a family for the 15 year old girl. It has not worked out yet, we are waiting to find out if she will be allowed to come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWJrV6dN7zA&feature=related

Safe

To the one who's dreams are falling all apart
And all you're left with is a tired and broken heart
I can tell by your eyes you think you're on your own
But you're not all alone
Have you heard of the One
Who can calm the raging sea
Give sight to the blind
Pull the lame up to their feet
With a love so strong He'll never let You go
Oh you are not alone

You will be safe in His arms
You will be safe in His arms
The hands that hold the world
Are holding Your heart
This is the promise He made
He will be with You always
When everything is falling apart
You will be safe in His arms

Did you know
That the voice that brings the dead to life
Is the very same voice that calls you now to rise
Hear Him now He's calling you home
You will never be alone
These are the hands that built the mountains
The hands that calm the sea
These are the arms that hold the heavens
They are holding you and me
These are hands that heal the leper
Pull the lame up to their feet
These are the arms that were nailed to a cross
To break our chains and set us free

CCLI Song No. 5653241

Murder and Mayhem

I finished reading the Bible book of Judges yesterday. It is a HARD book to read, with murder, rape, torture, war, rebellion, and treachery.  In the book of Judges, even the heroes are bad. Remember Samson? He was a judge, which would be a ruler of Israel, but he was immoral, had no respect for God, for God’s law, even no respect for his own gift of miraculous strength.  Gideon lived out a great story of God’s deliverance, but then made an idol which the people worshipped. These seem to be pretty big “character flaws”. The last story of the book is the one that I hate the most. A man is travelling with his concubine and spends the night in someone’s home. The men of the city come to the home and demand that the guest be handed over so that they can rape him. This is exactly what happened in Sodom and God destroyed it. Anyway, the man pushes his concubine out and the men rape her all night, and she dies. I don’t know what disturbs me more about this, the horrible inhuman treatment of the woman, or the total lack of care by the man. It is really disturbing. The whole book is so full of bad things, I don’t even know what I have to say about it all. I don’t watch movies about this kind of stuff!

I guess the final verse of the book sums it all up.                                            Judges 21:25  In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Where there is no king, and every one does what he thinks is right, the end result is bad, sometimes really bad. 

BUT, there is something good about this book. God never turns his back on his people, a people that can be rebellious, proud, arrogant, immoral, ugly, mean, uncaring…wow, God is really kind and loving and really merciful.

A lesson on peace

Today’s sermon touched on the story of Peter in prison, in Acts 12. Herod began to persecute the Christians, and had the apostle James killed. Since that made the Jews happy, he arrested Peter during the Feast of unleavened bread and put him in prison, under the guard of 4 squads of soldiers, planning to kill him after Passover.

Acts 12:6-10  The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. 7 Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, "Quick! Get up!" And the chains fell off his wrists. 8 Then the angel told him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." And he did. "Now put on your coat and follow me," the angel ordered.  9 So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn't realize it was actually happening. 10 They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.

Peter was about to go on trial. This would not be a long trial. He would stand before Herod who would find him guilty and sentence him to death, with the sentence being carried out immediately. Peter has no reason to believe that the outcome would be anything else. Herod had killed James already. Peter would be the next martyr.  So, the last night that Peter would live, while he is chained between two soldiers, he lays down and goes to sleep. This is pretty remarkable. How does someone lay down and go to sleep the night before he is going to be killed? Maybe he had the same attitude that Paul had.

Phil 1:21-23  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22  But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean  fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

Maybe Peter laid down, thinking, “Tomorrow may be the day that I get to be face to face with Jesus”, and he just fell asleep. That’s peace.

When there is no answer

Yesterday was a sad day. My daughter found out the baby she was carrying was not going to ever be born, that there was no heartbeat. This baby was a surprise. They have one biological son and three children who are adopted. At this point in life, they did not think they would or could have another biological child. Libby had plans; plans for mission trips and ministry; plans for family trips; not plans for another baby. There were a lot of reasons that a baby at this time in life was not a good idea. But, way above all those things was the overwhelming joy and excitement that God had seen fit to perform a miracle.

As a grandmother, I was not at all concerned about any of the hard things, I was just excited and happy about a new grandchild, and thrilled that God was working in this way.

Right now, I am a little sad, but not very much. My emotions are usually delayed.  I don’t have an emotional reaction right away. At this point, my head knows that this is sad news, but the news has not reached my heart yet.

Mostly, I am confused. God came in and did something wonderful. He created a life in a miraculous way. We rejoiced and praised Him. Now, that life is gone. The baby is in heaven with Jesus, without ever living here with us.  Why did God do that? I have no answer to that question. I am even hesitant to write what is in my heart right now, because it might sound trite. “The Lord  gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."  Job 1:21

I have no answers to the big WHY, but, I know that God is good, and,  for now, that is enough.

Single Mom’s Spa Day

On Sunday, August 29, Cottonwood Women’s Ministry will host our 5th annual Spa Day for single mothers. This is one of our favorite events every year.

 

We provide a free hair cut and style,

  manicure,  pedicure,

massage, and facial for every single mom who signs up. We serve wonderful refreshments beautifully arranged.

While the single mom’s are treated like princesses, volunteers take care of their children.

  I love this time. I am not good at doing many of the services, so I usually “float”… help wash hair, do a couple of pedicures, but mostly just help the women get from place to place, help serve refreshments, and visit. While I do those things, I hear conversations. A volunteer will be sitting on the floor rubbing lotion on a mom’s feet and just visiting with her, asking questions, showing concern. Another volunteer will be cutting a mom’s hair, working very hard to make it just like she wants it. Another volunteer is going around taking punch to women who are having pedicures, visiting with each one as she does.  We usually have about 15 volunteers, just pouring out love on some weary women. We have had up to 40 single mom’s , some of them lonely and feeling rejected. Many hurting and struggling. None of them would have spent the money to have a special “spa day”.  Every one of them are thrilled and moved by what we are doing. Every one of them feel special and loved, and that is what the day is for.

The call to fight

I finished reading the book of Joshua last week, and one thing I noticed was that the people did a lot of fighting.  God immediately told Joshua that He would give the Israelites the land He had promised, and that Joshua would lead them.

Josh 1:1-4 , 9  After the death of Moses the Lord's servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant. He said, 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3 I promise you what I promised Moses: 'Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you—9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

But God did not say it would be easy.

Remember Jericho? When we think about the battle of Jericho, we usually remember that the Israelite army marched around the city every day for 7 days, then blew their horns and shouted and the walls came down. That is right, but, that just gave the warriors the opportunity to fight.

Chapter 8 tells the story of the defeat of Ai. According to God’s plan, Joshua sent a portion of the army to sneak around behind the city. Joshua led an attack on the city, then pulled away in retreat and drew the army to follow them. The Israelite army in hiding went into the city and set it on fie, then all the army joined in defeating Ai. That battle was won by military strategy.

In chapter 10, the Israelites fought against an alliance of several kings in the south. The battle was going so well that Joshua prayed that the sun would stand still so that they could complete the victory.  As the enemy ran away, God sent hail that killed more than the fighting did. The story continues as Joshua leads his army to defeat the enemy in the North, the East, and the West.  Even after Joshua died, the fighting continued. God promised the land to the Israelites. He promised them victory over all of their enemies, and He helped them with strategy, with strength, even with miracles, but the army still had to fight.

I was impressed by this because I realize that I have a battle to fight. God has promised me victory.

Rom 8:37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
1 Cor 15:57  But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:4-5  For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Like Joshua, I have that promise of victory, but God says that I still have to fight. I cannot sit back and wait for God to do it all. God is SO faithful to do what He promised, but He tells me to do my part.

1 Tim 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith;
2 Tim 2:3-5 Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 Soldiers don't get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.
1 Peter 5:8-9  Be of sober spirit,  be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9  But resist him, firm in your faith,

One person's impact

As I read in Joshua this morning, I was so impressed with the sad story of Achan.
Joshua chapter 6 recounts the wonderful story of the Israelites miraculous defeat of the city of Jericho. The people were instructed to utterly destroy everything in the city; every person, every animal, every item. Only silver, gold, and bronze would be saved, and those things would all be given to the Lord's treasury.
When the wall of Jericho tumbled, the warriors went in and destroyed the city, killing everyone but Rahab's family. But Achan saw some things that he wanted. He took them and hid them in his tent.
The next town the Israelites were to attack was Ai, a tiny village that would be easy to defeat.
Joshua 7:4 "So approximately 3,000 warriors were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai 5 chased the Israelites from the town gate as far as the quarries, and they killed about thirty-six who were retreating down the slope. The Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn of events, and their courage melted away."
Joshua went before God in desperation, and eventually, God led him to Achan, who admitted that while fighting in Jericho, he saw a beautiful robe imported from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. "I wanted them so much that I took them" was his explanation. After finding the stolen items hidden in his tent, the leaders took them, along with Achan, his sons, his daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, tent, and everything he had. All of the Israelites stoned Achan and his family, then burned their bodies and all of his belongings.
This story really sobers me, as I begin to consider how much my actions may have on my family, and on God's people. Look at all the negative impact Achan's action had.
1. His sin brought defeat to the Israelites.
2. His sin caused the death of 36 innocent warriors.
3. His sin caused the people to be afraid, to lose faith in God.
4. His sin brought shame to the Lord. After He had done so many great things for the Israelites, brought them so far, given them a great victory over Jericho, now He deserted them. Because of Achan, God looked either weak or unfaithful to the nations.
5. His sin brought death to his sons and daughters.

When I see something that I want, and I am tempted, I want to remember that my sin will have serious consequences, not only for me, but for the people that I love.