It Opens Today...

Woo Hoo!!! TODAY is the day registration opens for our {Re}Committed Lives incourager group through the amazingly fantastic super-powers over at (in)courage!


In case you didn’t know, (in)courage is a captivating online community for women, full of daily encouragement and inspiration. And TODAY we are partnering with them as we kick off this fall session of (in)couragers community groups…

Groups made to connect women beyond just a blog post.

Groups built around common interests or themes,

Made for women just like you, by women just like you!

And we are honored to be serving alongside them this fall! 

They have Bible Study groups, Women in Ministry Groups, Motherhood Groups, Marriage groups, Empty Nester groups, Adoption groups, Professional groups, Student groups, Writing groups, and other Special Interest groups–including abuse survivors, chronic illness, depression, infertility, and hope for hurting families. Over 70 groups waiting for you … to walk alongside you in community!

S-E-V-E-N-T-Y!!!

What could be better than that?

Yet I know, many of us have been hurt or wounded in community, and we are hesitant to take a risk again–too guarded to open our hearts to this scary vulnerable thing called community.

But as Mary DeMuth says, sometimes the thing that has wounded us most, is the very thing God uses to heal us. 

And I promise you there is no safer, more loving place, than (in)courage for  you to begin!

(in)couragers are community and community is connection … and God meets us as we care for one another there. [Tweet that]

We have been planning and preparing and praying for you, that you’d come and connect, and be changed in community!

Each group is limited to 30 members, in order to facilitate interaction in the building of meaningful relationships, and we can’t wait for you to see what is waiting for you there.

Won’t you join us?

Join us and be changed by the power of community!

And don’t forget … tell a friend! There are chocolate and cupcakes waiting for you there!

May your fall be blessed beyond measure as you are touched by connection with others who understand!

With so much love and thanks for you…

Patty Mills and Arlethea Pressley
Group Leaders for {Re}Committed Lives

The Lion and Lamb

 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  Isaiah 53:6 (ESV)

“Mommy, is it sick?” my youngest asked.  “Maybe not," I said in a hopeful tone.  

A sound not quite a cough but not quite a roar echoed from the big cat enclosure.  He was huge and beautiful and seemed healthy enough to me but there was a distinct weakness in that labored sound.  “Poor lion,” I thought.  “I don’t think he could hurt a lamb in the state he’s in.”




They say March comes in like a lion but leaves like a lamb.  But it’s my absolute most favorite month.  One filled with celebrations.

On March 17, 1972, St. Patrick’s Day, I was born.  

The youngest of five children, I’m sure my parents were grateful about not having to think too hard about coming up with another name.  Patricia worked out just fine.  Patty is the name I’ve gone by, well, forever but recently I’ve noticed my parents have started to call me Pat. I don’t particularly like being called Pat but since they are my parents I guess they can call me what they darn well please. 

In March of 1978, at the age of six years old, I was reborn.

I wish I could tell you all about that experience but, honestly, the only reason I know the date is because of church records uncovered recently.  As a matter of fact, I’ve been telling people for years that I got saved at the age of thirteen because I couldn’t remember and it sounded reasonable.  Was I really saved at six years old, you might ask.  Yes, I believe so and with all my heart. Because all salvation needs is a child-like faith the size of a mustard seed.  Tweet this!

On March 31, 2013, Easter Sunday night, I was rebaptized as an outward expression of my recommittment to Christ.

Not long after graduating high school, I washed my hands of stifling church sermons and narrow minded, hypocritical church people and set off to do my own thing.  Free at last! 

Twenty years later, worn and torn from being chained to addictions and paying the consequences for what I thought was freedom, God welcomed me back into the fold.  His little lost sheep had come back home.

“Where’s the lion, mommy?” my youngest asked on our next trip to the zoo. 

Hyenas were now lounging about in the enclosure where the big cat used to be.  “I don’t know, honey.  Maybe they’ve moved him somewhere else.”  And my heart hoped that was the truth.  I envisioned him in a bigger place than this one, surrounded by his pride, as his deafening roar echoed across the beautiful savannah.

And I am reminded of how Jesus came to earth, still fully God but in the form of man.  Tweet this!  Like the Lion and the Lamb, all rolled into one perfect, unblemished sacrifice offered up on a cross to give us freedom from our sins.  To provide a way for us to be reunited, once again, with a holy God for all eternity. 

And I envision us in a better place than this one, surrounded by His glory, as the music of angels echo across the unfathomable heavens.

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’”  John 1:29 (ESV)

“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’”  Revelation 5:5 (ESV)

“Know that the Lord, he is God!  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”  Psalm 100:3 (ESV)

Free Pass and Chaos

 

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.“ James 1:2-3 (NIV)

“If you need a minute to yourself, feel free to take it,” said my husband cautiously from across our living room. 

I had come in late from work, full of stress, and with expectations that no one had met. Not a thought about dinner, school stuff and empty chip bags littered the house, the T.V. was too loud, husband in a comfy chair and children glued to their electronics. 

“Chaos!,” I thought (and might have actually said). Why am I the only one here who sees the need here for dinner...structure...order...routine!!?

My girls, my husband and myself are Christians. We’ve even been baptized (and myself - rebaptized) as public professions of our faith and loyalty to Christ as our Lord and Savior. Why is it, then, that we all still encounter what seems to be endless problems? Tweet this! Isn’t our salvation supposed to be our free pass to a less troublesome, more joyful life? Why are we still constantly faced with communication problems, selfishness, anger, depression, anxiety attacks, physical ailments, addictions, financial problems, marital strife, friendship heartaches, family issues, fear, and worry?

God gave Adam and Eve a perfect environment. A place that contained everything they would ever need where they walked and talked with God each day. But was their perfect environment a free pass to a trouble free life? Nope. 

What about Jesus? He was the Son of God, fully God and fully man at the same time, perfect and sinless. But did that guarantee him a free pass to a problem free life? Nope. 

So does that mean we are doomed to joyless life here on earth? Nope.

Listen close...we DO have a free pass – good for one entry into a sinless, pain free dwelling place with Him for eternity. Too often we focus on the problems and not the hope Tweet this! – the hope that there is more to come than this temporary world and its problems and brokenness – the hope that even though we will have to endure problems in this world, that we have a God who is with us through all of them – the hope that every one of those problems had to pass through His hands to get to us and that He allows them because He intends for it to refine us, strengthen our faith, draw us closer to Him. Tweet this!

My oldest tentatively came back in the room – after having promptly exited at the first opportunity after our makeshift dinner - and said, “Mom, I wanted to apologize for whatever I did to upset you.” My heart broke a little. “It's okay, baby. You didn't do anything that I can think of. I apologize for being so fussy. Do you forgive me?” 

My next apology went to my youngest, who was peeking from around the corner, wondering if she was still in time out for having twice interrupted my “talk” with my husband earlier. “I'm sorry for being so fussy earlier, honey. Do you forgive me?” 

And I will say, in the midst of our talk, I apologized to my husband for hurting his feelings but the real apology came after a good night's sleep, prayers and the realization of how hurtful my behavior and words really were to him - I hadn't even noticed he'd cut the grass in the back yard. 

I asked him to pray for me, told him how much I needed him and loved him. And we “hugged it out,” as he called it. And I thanked God for His free pass of salvation to me and the free pass of forgiveness that my family gives me on a daily basis.

“Many adversities come to the one who is righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.“ Psalm 34:19

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.“ Romans 12:12 (ESV)

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.“ 1 Peter 4:12 (ESV)

St. John and Smiles

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

I once lived on St. John, a US Virgin Island. 

Worked at the Mongoose Restaurant in Cruz Bay and lived with friends on the other side of the island, near Saltpond Bay. Work days started and ended as hikes across a beautiful mountain top (when my efforts at hitchhiking weren’t productive). My off days were spent exploring luscious trails, gorgeous beaches and meeting new friends – one time even a famous one (Peter Gabriel – though youngsters may need to google him). It was a place where old, weathered island men still played dominos in the town square and the faint sound of calypso music mixed with the warm Caribbean breeze. A place where no one ever seemed to worry or be in a hurry.

I once lived on St. John, a US Virgin Island. 

Worked at the Mongoose Restaurant in Cruz Bay as a mathematically challenged waitress and bartender and lived with my always drunk ex boyfriend and some people he’d happened to make friends with a couple of months before my arrival – with $50, a back pack and return ticket my only possessions. Sharing a cramped space with strangers and their one jeep, I made long treks across a dangerous mountain back and forth to work…often walking at night and alone. Riotous living got me messed up with some native islanders, pretty nasty drug dealers that put very little value on human life, and it’s only by God’s grace that I got off that island relatively unharmed.

“My smile hides a dark story,” said my cashier with joy in her eyes. 

Checking out at Big Lots the other day, my cashier had told me she liked my Jesus pin. I happily told her my story of redemption and she - just as happily back - told me about her and her husband’s recent redemption, about a month earlier. How their lives had gotten way off track and how people often smile to cover up deep pain, a story that others would never know if they didn’t take the time to stop and find it out. Covering up the deeper story that God wants to use to help others see hope…the hope that only He can provide in this broken, sinful world where pain, death, and fear reside, behind half-truths in “I’m fine” replies, FB pictures of you at the beach, and those deceptive smiles... 

But (now GET this folks!) God gives you the power over your past story or your present story because He specializes in renewed beginnings, clean slates, and happy endings. Tweet this! Praise be to Him.

“Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.” Psalm 107:2 (NIV)

“I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.” Psalm 119:67 (NIV)

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38 (NIV)

“You are my refuge and my shield; your word in my source of hope.” Psalm 119:114 (NIV)