A Few Moments

Early yesterday morning I received a phone call which I would rather not have had on a Sunday morning. For the sake of the family’s privacy and to respect their grieving process, I will use anonymous names for now. My friend, Stella, called to tell me that she and her husband had to cut a business trip up north short, as her stepdaughter was in the hospital miscarrying.

Stella and her husband left at 2:30 am to make the 12 hour trip home as fast as possible to be with their daughter, April, as she endured labor to give birth to a stillborn baby. The baby girl, whom I will call Joy, had died the day before in her womb, and doctors had induced labor.

In the afternoon our oldest daughter Heather called to let me know that April had the baby and that the baby had not made it, despite our prayers for a miracle from God.  I couldn’t imagine the horror of having to go through the physical pain and emotional duress of labor, only to deliver a child that was dead.

April and her husband, my friend Stella and her husband, and many family members were allowed by the hospital staff to hold the perfect-in-shape, beautiful baby girl to help them in the grieving process.

Although the hospital staff said that the parents could keep baby Joy in the room as long as they wanted, they chose to say goodbye to her that night (with the rest of the family), and her precious little body was taken away.  Compared to all the years where they could have held Joy, played with her, talked to her, and heard her laugh and sing if she had lived, they were only able to hold her for a few, too short moments.

Life is sacred. Precious. Unpredictable. And most of all, very fleeting.

Don’t let it pass you by. Hold onto God, cherish your loved ones, savor each moment God gives you on this earth, and live to bring a smile to His face and glory to His name.

Isaiah 40: 7 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely [all] the people are like grass.”

Little Joy was like a beautiful little rose blooming in her mother’s womb, and then faded, no more. On  Facebook today, her mom so beautifully and courageously wrote:  “I am finding comfort in the fact that our beautiful daughter is dancing on streets of gold with our almighty Lord.”

Yes, dance, beautiful little baby girl, dance.

I am grieving so much with this family and praying for God to comfort them in this very hard time.

What will we do with the few moments we all have been given and have left? Will we dance here? Will we be dancing with our Lord later?  Or will we miss the sound of His glorious music?

National Procrastination Week: are you putting off your quiet time?

This week, March 1-7, is National Procrastination Week.  No, I did not procrastinate until almost the last day to post about it!  I just saw it today!   But it made me think about what I may be procrastinating on lately:

• Exercising to lose weight
• Decluttering my drawers and closets
• Throwing out the junk mail
• Writing that first chapter of my new ebook
• Calling that not-so-well-known acquaintance with great expertise that I lack, to ask a huge favor
• Organizing my pics on my laptop into folders
• Doing the laundry (again!).

What have you been putting off doing lately?  What priority project do you need to focus on this week?

One thing we don’t want to procrastinate on is our daily quiet time with God.  All of us live very busy, hectic lives, but it’s important that we take at least a few minutes each day to pull away and be with God. Spending time at Jesus’ feet like Mary of Bethany, hearing His word.

You don’t have to spend hours every day to develop a close relationship with God. Just take five minutes right now to be with Him. Let Him tell you how much He loves you. Treasure His word, the Bible.  Song of Solomon 2:10 (ESV) says, “My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.”

VIEW VIDEO TRAILER HERE.

Praying with your heart

This is the final (for now!) guest post on this series on prayer by my friend Susan Evans. Be sure to stop by Susan’s website Hands-On Learning at www.SusanEvans.org, where you will find creative ideas for teaching children using the unit study method and ideas which also incorporate Charlotte Mason’s excellent, hands-on methods. There you will also find articles on hands-on faith under the heading, Faith Made Real. 

Be sure to also check out Susan’s mystery class story for sale on Scholar Square at How to Write a Mystery Story. This class is designed for students ages 6-18 years old. Susan dresses up as Sherlock Holmes, and teaches students how to write a mystery story in easy sessions with hands-on learning. She says even children who hate writing love this class!

Have you enjoyed Susan’s posts on prayer?  I sure have!  Thank you, Susan, for blessing us with these great insights and encouraging words that God hears our prayers. 

Praying With Your Heart

by Susan Evans 

Prayer is not about mindlessly dictating a list of requests to God. Matthew 6:7 says that people who repeat meaningless words will not be heard by God. If your heart isn’t in it, it’s worthless! 

You don’t have to cry to pray with all your heart. I’m going to give you examples of when I’ve wept while praying for people, but I do not cry the majority of the time, and I’m still fervently praying with all my heart. I never cry on purpose (I prefer not to cry because it drains me, and God requires me to take care of my family), but only when I’m overwhelmed by the burden of what I’m praying.

Maybe it’s the Holy Spirit loving that person through me, or maybe I’m feeling the Holy Spirit’s emotion about that prayer request. (Jesus was also found weeping when He prayed, and He is our example.) God says that fervent prayers are heard (James 5:16), so if your prayers aren’t fervent, why would God listen to lukewarm prayers that you don’t even mean? 

Having said that you don’t have to cry, don’t be afraid to cry. People that are afraid to cry are afraid to love. Some people say that love is not a feeling, that it is commitment and a set of actions, and they use I Corinthians 13 to prove it. However, the Bible also says that love is compassion, and compassion is definitely a feeling. If someone is crying and I don’t care, I have no compassion for them. I just keep walking along like the guys who were not the good Samaritan. Our heart is supposed to be moved. It is a command from Scripture that most people disregard. 

For example, I have been praying for years for the salvation of the husband of a woman that I know. When she asked me to pray for him, I saw pain in her eyes. I knew there was more to the story that I didn’t know. As I was praying one day, the Holy Spirit put a heavy burden on my heart, and I wept before God for the salvation of his soul. I have prayed for this man hundreds of times, and I’ve wept maybe 4 or 5 times for him, only when God overwhelmed me with the burden. To this day, I still pray for him. Only God knows the day of his salvation. 

Another time God placed a woman on my heart that I was counseling. I felt a heavy burden to pray for her for a full hour one afternoon, and water kept coming out of my eyes that entire hour. To this day, I still don’t know what God was doing during that hour in her life. I just knew that I needed to pray for her, and I did. 

Another time I felt the need to pray for my sister, and I felt the Spirit striving in the background, praying through me during that hour. There were no tears that time, but my heart was strongly engaged. After an hour, I felt released, and the intensity went away. I didn’t decide to pray for an hour, by the way. Many times during that hour, I would want to get up and leave the room, but the Spirit wouldn’t let me. I must have asked at least 5 times, may I please go? God knows that I am willing to do whatever He asks. God’s compelling is a sweet compelling, and I just can’t let Him down, even if I’m worn out and tired. 

I pray for many pastors. I asked one pastor what he wanted me to pray for, and he said, “That God would make my heart bleed, that I might know Him better.”  The first few times I prayed this for him, I cried because I didn’t want God to hurt him. I stopped praying it because it was too hard for me to ask. But then I felt convicted because I told him I would pray, and I didn’t want to be a liar. Now I’ve prayed it so many times that I’m calloused about it. (Either that, or I’ve realized that the eternal treasure for him far outweighs the pain now, so I’m actually praying that God will reward him by making his heart bleed.) 

Sometimes I don’t see answers to prayer right away, and other times God answers miraculously in a short amount of time. When you pray for so many people, you see a lot happen. Even on sanctification issues, I see growth in people in areas that I’m praying for. When someone excitedly tells me how they overcame anger that week, my heart exults. Because my heart is involved, my reward is greater. The more you love people, the more your heart will be in your prayers for them. 

I had prayed hundreds of times for a man from the Czech Republic to be saved. I had never met him, but a friend of mine passed her burden to me to pray for him. I prayed every day for years for his salvation. I threw my heart into my prayers. Over time I grew to love him as a brother, and I wanted so badly for him to be saved. (I shed no tears, though.) Last year our church announced that he had been saved! I felt so much joy – my heart was soaring! I nearly screamed, “Wooohooo!” except for the fact that I did not want to cause a disturbance. I felt like I was walking on clouds the rest of the day. I had a taste of what the angels felt because of my obedience to put my heart into my prayers. 

www.SusanEvans.org

Walking With God ebook

As Christians we know we should pray and that we need to pray more. But there’s an even better reason than Christian duty to pray. It’s that God just wants to be with us! He is just WILD about you and me!

Would you like a closer, more passionate relationship with God through daily prayer and studying His word? Spending time with Jesus at His feet like Mary of Bethany did? 

You don’t have to pray for hours every day, or get up at the crack of dawn either.  God never goes on vacation. He doesn’t have call waiting. And He doesn’t have to try to squeeze you in on His Dayplanner. God is always there for you!

This ebook also includes BONUS goodies  – two of my articles on prayer, plus Session #2 of my 7-audio, bundle set on quiet time with God.  To learn more about my ebook Walking With God for sale for only $10.99, click here.

How To Get Wisdom

Join my friend Susan Evans today in her guest blog here as she shares more on the topic of prayer. In this article, I just love how Susan shares about God telling her to simply bond with her child.  Susan has a website Hands-On Learning that is full of creative ideas for teaching your children at home using a unit study approach and including Charlotte Mason’s excellent, hands-on methods.  Check out Susan’s site at www.SusanEvans.org.

How to Get Wisdom

by Susan Evans

Prayer is so powerful. It connects you to God and gives you a channel through which to receive perfect wisdom. God knows everything.  When I ask God for wisdom, I’m surprised. 

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5 ESV) 

Everyone knows that Scripture contains wisdom, so by knowing the Word of God and growing in holiness, we will gradually acquire more wisdom. But how do you get specific wisdom for day to day decisions? 

One day I was having trouble with one of my sons taking forever on his math. I went to my room and got on my knees and asked God what to do to get my son to do his math more quickly. I was quiet. I opened my heart to God. 

The answer was this: Spend time bonding with him.  

What on earth does that have to do with math? It doesn’t even make sense. But I went ahead and did it.

We were lying down chatting about life together. I felt like I hadn’t connected to him in a long time, and I hadn’t even noticed. I was glad for the conversation. 

The next morning he finished his math quicker than he ever had before. And he continued being diligent for weeks. Go figure. Ask God for wisdom, and it works. My son must have needed time to talk and be understood, so that he wouldn’t feel disconnected or lonely. 

Another time, one of my children was whining and complaining first thing in the morning. Instead of getting mad, I went to God to ask for wisdom. I was quiet. I opened my heart. 

The answer was this: Put him to bed. 

That didn’t make sense because our family wasn’t doing very much at that time.  We had no outside activities, and the kids hadn’t gone to bed late. But I went ahead and obeyed. I put my child to bed. Ten minutes later I went to check on him, and he was snoring. Only God knew that he was tired. 

Many times I have asked God for wisdom when I am counseling someone, and God has miraculously given me the right words when I need them. Pat answers don’t help people. Fresh insight from God does. 

Isn’t this fun? God knows everything, and His Spirit is in us. We have access to wisdom at any time. God promises that if we ask for wisdom, He will give it to us. God is not a liar. So just be quiet and wait for the answer, because it will come. 

www.SusanEvans.org

Prayer and Provision

This post is the fourth guest blog in a series on prayer from my friend Susan Evans. Be sure to check out Susan’s website Hands-On Learning at www.susanevans.org. On this site you will find articles and pictures that will give you ideas for teaching children using a unit study approach and incorporating Charlotte Mason’s excellent, hands-on methods. Science, history, literature, early childhood, and birthday ideas are included. Be sure to stop by Susan’s website today, and enjoy her prayer article below!

Prayer and Provision

by Susan Evans 

I am amazed at the number of times that God has provided for me when I have asked Him for my needs or desires. It often happens on the same day that I ask. He has granted me exactly what I’ve asked for so many times that I have now come to expect it. As long as it is a selfless request, He gives it every time that I can remember.

One day I asked for a flannelgraph so that I could teach my two toddlers about God. That same day, I went to a yard sale, and, of all things, they were selling a flannelgraph. They sold it to me for half of what they were asking because that’s all the money I had. I used that flannelgraph for years and taught hundreds of Bible lessons with it.

Another time I was going yard saling with my mom. I abruptly pulled over to the side of the road and said, “I forgot to pray first.” I prayed that I would find a slide projector for $20 because I had some slides from England and all over the world that I had collected for teaching purposes. Lo and behold, at one of the yard sales, there was a slide projector for $30. I asked if I could have it for $20, and the person said yes. When I later showed it to my dad, he said it was worth $300. It was a good one, and he said that he was jealous. Since my dad was a pastor, I offered to give it to him. My dad said no, that God had obviously provided it for me.

Another time I asked God for a frame for a nursery rhyme picture in my daughter’s bedroom. I found an oak frame with matting that matched the poster, all for $6 at Goodwill. Money was very tight, and I needed that money for food. I stopped and asked God if I was allowed to buy the frame.  Yes was the answer. After that I went to the grocery store. On the empty parking lot, I saw money lying on the ground. I picked it up and saw that it was $6. It felt like a kiss from God, because I really did need that $6 for food. I knew that God had paid for the frame and gotten it for me as a present. God felt near. He is so specific. He could have easily had $10 or any other amount, or nothing on the ground. But He wanted me to know that He was the One who was in control of the situation.

I led a group of Cub Scout boys for two years. Every time I asked God for something related to Cub Scouts, He gave it to me. I asked Him for sports equipment, and sports equipment practically rained on me. I found leather mits and bats in good condition for 99 cents each, or just one or two dollars. It was ridiculous. I had never seen so much sports equipment at Goodwill before. A few weeks later, I was wondering how I was going to find 8 large jars for terrariums. The next day a fellow believer said that she had been saving big jars, and she didn’t know why, but she had 8! 

My husband and I wanted to give $100 to a short-term missions couple going to Africa. I asked God to help me sell stuff, and sure enough, we made $100 just in time. 

My husband and I had determined in our hearts to send a $10 bill to each of our nieces and nephews for their birthdays. Most of those kids were adopted and had rough lives.  My sister had no money.  I knew it meant the world for this month’s birthday kid to get that money.  I had no paper money; I only had coins. So I went to a resale shop and sold some toys and kid clothes. I prayed for a $10 bill, and the items totaled $10, so I had the $10 bill to send.

God has provided for me so many times that I can’t even count them. But I had to ask. Scripture tells us: “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:2b-3)

Ask God to give you the right desires. Then ask for what you desire, and it will be given to you. 

www.SusanEvans.org

Welcome home party and Ray with cake

This week my husband Ray Jones returned from Haiti where he flew for a medical missions trip to help our pastor friend Jay Threadgill of Fishers Of Men International and the earthquake victims. He set up a medical clinic on pastor Jay’s school compound, treating 200-300 patients a day. Here is a very short video clip of Ray with his cake that we had at his Welcome Home party I gave for him last night. I had the bakery make the cake to look like Haiti – chocolate for the dirt, blue icing for the ocean, and plastic palm trees. It said “Welcome Home, Ray. Our Hero In Haiti.”  I will be posting more videoes as I upload them to YouTube.  Enjoy!

Welcome home party and enjoying food

Ray just got back from his  month long, medical missions trip to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, where he set up a medical clinic at our friend Pastor Jay Threadgill’s school compound to treat the earthquake victims. You can read my blogs on Ray’s missions trip here at www.bethjones.net.  Below is a short video clip of our family and friends enjoying the food at the Welcome Home Party I gave Ray last night.  I will be posting more videoes as I upload them to YouTube.  Enjoy!

Welcome Home party food

This week my husband Ray just got back from his medical missions trip to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, where he helped our friend Pastor Jay Threadgill of Fishers Of Men International and the earthquake victims. You can read my blogs on Ray’s medical missions trip to Haiti here at www.bethjones.net.  Here is a short clip of the food for the Welcome Home party I gave Ray tonight. I will be posting more videos as I upload them to YouTube.  Enjoy!

Welcome Home banner with Ray

This week my husband Ray just got back from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, where he flew to do a medical missions trip to help our friend Pastor Jay Threadgill of Fishers Of Men International and the earthquake victims. You can read my blogs on Ray’s medical missions trip here at www.bethjones.net.  Here is a short clip of Ray by the Welcome Home banner and sign I set out in the front of our house.  I will be posting more videos as I upload them to YouTube.  Enjoy!

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