From tears to blessings

God is so good. This morning I had the privilege of speaking at the Mother’s Day Tea at the Carriage House in Butler, MO. About 15 delightful ladies attended, from ages 8 to 80.  This event was a Mother’s Day Tea for a Grief Support group, the group born out of the heart of a grieving mother, Lisa Evans, whose 27-year-old daughter Jessica Evans suddenly died in a car wreck. Jessica made a profound impact on me in the brief time I knew her.

The scripture God gave me to speak on today was Psalm 84:6:

“As they go through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.”

The NASB version of this scripture says, “The early rain also covers it with blessings.”

Are you going through the Valley of Weeping?

In the original Greek language, the word baca means “valley of weeping.” It was a valley in Philistine, so called from some reason connected with its name, probably because it was a place that was gloomy and sterile. (Blue Letter Bible, Strong’s)

Sterile means “not producing seed, unfruitful, lacking imagination, creativity, or vitality, lacking the power to function or ineffective.” It means having no life or power.

God wants you to be productive for His kingdom and fruitful – walking in the fruit of His Spirit and by His Spirit. He wants to fill you with His presence and His power.

God wants you to be fruitful and a spiritual mother

Maybe Mother’s Day is hard for you. You may be single, barren physically, unable to have children, or you may have lost a child due to miscarriage, abortion, or death.  God wants to still use you to be fruitful, a spiritual mother to others through mentoring, discipling and praying for them.You can make an incredible difference in the life of others.

God has collected your tears in His bottle

God has good plans for your life (Jeremiah 29:11), a great destiny and purpose. He knows everything you have been through in your life, all your pain, and He won’t waste any of it! He wants to heal your pain and use it to help and encourage those around you.

God has seen all your tears. He has collected your tears in His bottle!

“You keep track of all  my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” (Psalm 56:8< NLT)

From tears to blessings

God wants to heal that deep hurt inside of you. He wants to free you from pain, emptiness and bitterness so you can go on to fulfill the great purpose He has for your life.

He wants to take you from your place of sorrow, pain, and tears to a place of His joy, peace and blessings.

Here are a few pics from the tea today:

Each table was decorated with a bouquet of beautiful flowers. I love fresh flowers, don’t you? These daisies were stained lovely shades of pink.

To prepare for the tea, Lisa and her daughter Stephanie ironed every table cloth and all the beautiful rainbow of colored napkins for each attendee. Lisa shared today that she had three napkins left to iron when she wanted to quit, and as she talked to God about it, He showed her that she didn’t HAVE to iron them. But she chose to finish what she started; after all, Jesus did! What a powerful little word and example!

We should do everything with excellence, to the best of our ability. This was reflected in Lisa’s efforts at the tea.

Lisa’s mother Barbara Grainger used to own the tea house on the town square in Butler. She worked hard behind the scenes, making all the sandwiches by hand, the salad, and the delicious dessert made of orange and lime sherbert, whipped cream, nuts, and macaroon. The sandwiches were ham and turkey with cheese on croissants, egg salad sandwiches, and YUMMY cucumber sandwiches.

Barbara, Lisa, and Stephanie inspired me with their servant’s hearts. When I arrived, I helped with decorating the fences with tulle, cutting and putting the flowers in vases of water, folding napkins, setting tables, and serving the salad, sandwiches, desserts, tea, raspberry lemonade, and water. Jesus was the greatest servant of all. He is always our example.  Below is a pic of Barbara’s delicious sherbert dessert. See the orange and lime thin slices on the side as garnish? It’s all almost too pretty to eat, isn’t it? Oh, but I did! (By God’s grace, I restrained myself from eating a second piece which Barb offered me!)

The community of Butler donated gifts for this special Mother’s Day event, including a shampoo and conditioner set, a Sonic’s gift card, a McDonald’s gift card, a manicure and pedicure, a Country Mart grocery gift card, and beautiful flowers. I loved watching Lisa listening so carefully to God’s still, small voice in whom to bless with the gifts.

Lisa was also given an unexpected gift, which made her cry. Her mother-in-law finished sewing the quilt which Lisa’s daughter had started on before she died.  So touching!

We opened the tea with worship to set the tone with God’s presence. Renee, a Butler resident who’s from a family of anointed singers, blessed us with beautiful worship on it all being about spending time with Christ and keeping your eyes on Him. Amen!

I will post a video of Renee’s powerful, anointed singing later. It’s late (past midnight!). I have to finish packing for my trip tomorrow to the Bahamas. I’m very excited and can’t wait to share pics and stories with you when I return home.

Thank you so much for your prayers for me and my family while I”m gone. I love you and will “see” you when I get back home! I have a surprise event for you when I come back. It will be fun.

Remember that God wants to take you from your place of weeping and pain to His joy and blessings!

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