Author: Vickie

I almost messed up big time. It can be difficult to know if you should just listen to how you feel and give in, or just keep pressing on. I’m not talking about that little voice inside your soul that whispers, “You know this is wrong.” I’m talking about the flesh, bones, joints and muscles of you, that scream, “You know this is hard, and I don’t want you to make me do it anymore!”

 I made a personal commitment to myself a couple of weeks ago – one of the classic ones, “I resolve to exercise every day.” It doesn’t have to be big, like a two-hour workout or even something considered “complete” like I usually choose to do but often don’t have time for. Just a time set apart from my day to raise my heartrate, tax my muscles or stretch enough to maintain that flexibility I enjoyed in my younger years.

 I place this commitment in my “good report” thinking from Philippians 4:8. “Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.”

 Exercise yields a good report. It has been studied and the results have been documented in print and in the flesh of those who enjoy better health because of it. Exercise is good. But because of the same “flesh” between our ears, we start to think that if some of a good thing is good, lots of a good thing is better. We can go overboard and sink trying to somehow be a better version of ourselves. The flesh demands its price.

 1 Timothy 4:8-9 says, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and that which is to come. This a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.” Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.” So even if there is a small profit from exercise, it is still a profit.

 There are very few things in the Bible that we do physically that are mentioned as profitable. Even the great heroes of the faith knew that being physically active produced benefit. However, any good thing taking precedence over our spiritual growth causes it to be less than what it was intended.

…any good thing taking precedence over our spiritual growth causes it to be less than it was intended.

 Our goals or resolutions should always be held up to the light of God’s Word. I may think my way into all sorts of distractions from His will and His ways, declaring something noble and of good report and all the while leaving Him behind me. Doing it for “self-improvement” instead of “Spiritual improvement” in my life.

Regardless of my motives, I was serious. I know my tendency to put things off, (I am such a procrastinator), therefore, I resolved this would happen first thing in the morning. Even before coffee. Big mistake. Setting my alarm an hour before our normal alarm goes off or an hour before I have to be getting ready to be somewhere was the plan as well. Sleepy eyed, I would grab a water bottle and head to my workout/craft room in the basement and sweat it out for about an hour.

 Three days in to my commitment, I had to be somewhere early, one week in and I needed to be somewhere even earlier. I was beginning to think I should exercise before bed, but then I would be too revved up to sleep! All this getting up early and not sleeping well because I was worried about getting up early weakened my immune system and I got sick. How’s that for self-improvement?

 Yet I was determined, getting up, getting the water, sweating it out and struggling through the day exhausted. Finally, four days into “sick” I put up the white flag and went to the doctor. The recommendation “rest.” Along with an antibiotic and steroids. Thank you, Lord, for medical providers and medicines and wise instructions for those of us who don’t know when to quit.

Our goals or resolutions should always be held up to the light of God’s Word.

 Romans 8:5-6 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”  Carnal minded refers to thinking in a merely human realm, temporal, here and now existence. Being a child of God, I have more than that to live for. Every commitment I make, I should make it considering the good of the eternal me, the spiritual me that will live forever, from here to my heavenly home. Thus, the struggle with the flesh.

Every commitment I make, I should make it considering the good of the eternal me, the spiritual me that will live forever, from here to my heavenly home.

 After I went back to bed, saying it was just too hard and I give up, there was that darn little voice again. “There is no peace and life in this.” “Yeah, I know” I replied, “but no one would fault me for it,” and so went the conversation in my carnal mind. Eventually, out I came again with an energized resolve that the flesh lost this one. Or did it?

 In this life, there is so little we have control of. We have had no control of where we were born or whom we were born to. We have no control of the genetic material we were created to grow from or the reaction the world we live in has towards us. But there is one thing we do have complete control over – our own free will to choose Christ and His will in our lives.

 Our Creator wants all of us. He wants every decision and every reason for every decision to be for Him and His purpose. What is that for you? I can’t answer except to say that He gives you the freedom to choose it, and it is very specific for the unique woman He created you to be. And that if you seek Him and His ways in His Word, you will find it. Each day you give to Him, He will show you, in big and small ways, who you are in Him. And in each day, as you choose, according to the Spirit, you will experience the “life and peace” He speaks of in Romans 8:6.

October 18, 2016

 My nephew ran a marathon Sunday. Can you imagine? He posted on Facebook “By far the hardest thing I have ever done.” I am so proud of him, facing “the hardest thing.”

A marathon is a little over 26 miles, 26.2 to be exact. No matter the distance of the race, everyone takes it one step at a time. For some that is more steps than others. Phil is a tall fellow. His stride could be two of mine. (That makes me feel like maybe I could run a marathon if it was only brought down to my scale). Sadly, that can’t happen. It is a standard distance that doesn’t fluctuate according to the physics of the people who run it. All have to complete the miles if they desire to finish. And every runner faces his or her own voices during this test of endurance.

No matter the distance of the race, everyone takes it one step at a time.

Life can feel like a marathon, or a series of them, depending on your journey. The difference between my nephew’s marathon and mine would be the size of our strides. My race takes more steps to complete; thus, no one’s race is quite the same. One thing we all have in common is that we have to take one step at a time. We have to lift our foot and move forward, over and over again. And on days when we feel paralyzed, those are the days we need to remember Jesus’s words, “…With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:27.

I don’t know where you are on your journey. You may be experiencing a really comfortable stride where the road is slightly downhill and the wind is at your back. Your lungs feel clear, and you’re breathing comfortably. Or, you may be taking a steep hill. You can hear your heart pounding in your ears, there’s sweat burning your eyes and your mouth is so dry you could choke. In either place, remember, you need God to finish well. The success of the race called life is not measured by the world’s standards.

Paul teaches, in Hebrews 12:1, how to run this race. He tells us there is a crowd watching, witnessing our marathon. “Therefore we also are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

… there is a crowd watching, witnessing our marathon.

Lay aside what weighs you down. Confess your need for Him, and He does the rest through you. He provides the endurance you didn’t know you had, because it isn’t yours, it is what He gives when we open our hearts to receive it. He will go before you and surround you, because He always goes first when we put Him first. Remember, “We love Him, because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:10

Our Saturday at Encouragement Café was above and beyond all we’d hoped for. But that is just like Jesus! We realized after we arrived that the entire event was immersed in prayer. Every detail.

There were gentlemen who opened the doors to welcome us into an area where tables were set up with lists of names of women who had registered prior to the event. Each table had a placard with a Name of God placed above each list. Each of those Hebrew titles for God described a divine attribute of Him. As the prayer team brought us to God before the event in prayer, the Holy Spirit led them to a Name and a character or nature of God to fill our need. It is humbling and awe inspiring to know that women have prayed for you and asked God for a “Word” to share with you.

This table, at the entrance for the event set the tone for the day. This would be an unforgettable day with our Father. The placard for my list said “Adonai” (LORD, MY GREAT LORD) The back of the little card I got to take with me says, “God is the Master and Majestic Lord. God is our total authority.” With these scripture references, Psalm 8; Isaiah 40:3-5; Ezekiel 16:8; Habakkuk 3:19, I have the truth that He is my Great Lord.

The Cross Lanes Baptist Church staff made sure we knew where the restrooms were (and that we could use the “Men’s” since there was an overabundance of “Women.”) We enjoyed free coffee, tea, water and cookies. One of our ladies asked me, “Can I just have this cookie?” God’s plan and purpose for us that day most certainly prevailed.

I felt welcomed and loved and encouraged. Jesus was the star of the day and His light and love filled the atmosphere. Every session began with worship tunes that tuned our hearts and minds to Him. Led by the Grammy Award winning song-writer and vocalist, Laura Story, the worship time lifted Jesus high and our hearts into His presence.

The speakers shared their stories and encouraged us to let Jesus be the hero of our own. To keep His Word in our hands and hearts and live for our Bridegroom. To let go of the idea that if we are doing things right, we won’t make a mess, because we will. The glory of living for Christ is that He is always with us, we are never alone in our mess. He stays for the clean-up and will be our strength and peace.

“Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle — My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge.” Psalm 144: 1-2

This scripture was featured by one of the speakers (Susan Call) going through a scary, terrible mess. The Word fought for her and delivered her. Another speaker (Laura Story) told us that she reads Ephesians 2 several times a week. Focusing on verse 10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” This declares to us as daughters of our King, we are a masterpiece He uniquely designed to share Him with the world.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

No matter your story, your mess, your situation, remember you are His. He is yours. You are a masterpiece with Jesus as you Master. And the best is yet to come.

PS – If you were at Encouragement Café at Cross Lanes on October 10, 2016, and would like to add a comment about your personal experience that day, please do so. I sometimes gain a blessing and better understanding from the comments I read than the articles themselves. Please share!

 October 3, 2016

On Thimbles and Pain

I’ve been doing lots of quilting lately. Not the big, gorgeous, intricate quilting like the artists of the craft do. Just small, cute baby quilts. There are six young women in my circle of family and friends “expecting” within the next few months. I am having fun hand-stitching these little crib quilts and thinking of those new little lives that will be warmed by them.

Thimbles are designed to protect your fingertips as you push the sharp needle through the two layers of fabric and warm fluff in between them. You have to stab blindly through those layers and you won’t know you’re through them until the needle hits something else. For me, it’s my middle finger tip on the other hand and, ouch! I’ve never quite mastered keeping the thimble on the tip of that finger, so there it goes and I hope that it’s not so deep that I put a little bit of red on the fabric.

I’ve developed a pretty good callous on that finger by now, but once in a while an over-zealous needle gets me and it is a harsh reminder that I’ve pushed too hard. Pain has a purpose. Always. Even at times when it makes absolutely no sense to us. Sometimes we can protect ourselves from it, sometimes we just can’t. But if something truly beautiful is getting created there is a pretty good chance there will be hurt.

Pain has a purpose. Always. Even at times when it makes absolutely no sense to us.

New life comes with pain. Just ask any woman who has given birth. The baby just can’t come out of her body without it. How we handle pain is as unique as we are and there can be no judgement of ourselves or others as to how it is experienced. All I know is that God cares about our pain because He cares about us. He’s felt our pain and knows we are human. When others can’t, He understands.

I can put a thimble on or choose not to quilt, but how can I create those quilts without risking some pain? You may be faced with pain that will not go away this side of heaven. There are no answers for that other than Jesus. He promises comfort. “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.” (John 14:18)

There was a song I memorized during my last pregnancy, I called it my “labor song” because I sang it in my head during contractions with my youngest daughter. It lasted about one and half minutes and so did they. It goes like this:

“O the blood of the Passover Lamb, is applied to the door of my life,

No power of darkness could ever withstand, the force of the blood sacrifice.

Though Satan will bring accusations, I let him know right where I stand,

For now there is no condemnation, I’m under the blood of the Lamb.

O I’m under the blood of the Lamb that covers the guilt of my past.

By the mercy of God, holy and righteous I stand.

I’m under the blood of the Lamb, safe and secure from the enemy’s plan,

No weapon formed against me will stand. I’m under the blood of the Lamb.”

After 41 weeks and about five and half hours of hard work, I got to see this beautiful, lavender and pink screaming, chubby baby and my heart just about burst. Glory! At that point the pain meant nothing. And that is how I think we will feel when we see Jesus. The Author and Finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

Of course, if you’re reading this, you’re not there yet and it’s hard and you’re tired. Rest in His Word. Find and sing a “labor song” and trust Him day by day or minute by minute if you have to. He loves you and will be with you. As much as we wish He would just take the pain away, it could be birthing in us something so beautiful and glorious that we have just not seen yet. I won’t tell you to just “hang in there” because that sounds too much like you can make it on your own effort. And what you’re going through is too hard for you. “Hope in Him” seems like a better saying because He always keeps His promises and has your best outcome planned. (Jeremiah 29:11)

It’s a crisp morning here at the Turkeyhen Run Road farm. September still, yet the air says “get ready, things are about to change.” My farmer looks out the deck door at the thermometer and I know he’s thinking “time to pull out the long johns.” I’m thinking “Praise God! It’s cooling off.” One of my questions I think I’ll ask on the other side, “Lord, why do opposites attract?” Sometimes it can be annoying.

Fall has always been a time to get back to learning for me, even though we should never stop trying to gain knowledge, most of us take a break over the summer. When Fall leads into Winter, we spend more time indoors as the weather is a little more unpredictable and the sunlit hours are fewer.

I am in the autumn of my life. At sixty I know my moods are a lot more unpredictable, my sunshine moments are fewer and I really need to focus on renewal so I don’t become a grumpy old lady that others dread having around. I need to remind myself that the only way to keep going in a cheerful direction is by doing all I can to keep learning from the greatest Teacher, The Holy Spirit and from the greatest Book, The Bible.

The truth is, it doesn’t really matter where you are in the seasons of life. If you ever think for one moment that you’re okay to just stop where you are, that learning new things is not important, you will become a woman that finds difficulty in many areas of her life.

Colossians 3:10 tells us that we get renewed by knowledge and God’s best plan for renewal is to obtain knowledge from the One who created us and knows us best. He doesn’t need to study us, He made us. We need to study Him through His Word to be renewed. What better reward for the effort of renewal than to be a better reflection of His image.

In Genesis, the very beginning of mankind, The Bible says in verse 26, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” That is the image we had when our Triune God first made us. After the fall of man, we messed up that image with sin. In order to be restored and renewed, we need to be re-born. This happens at salvation and from there we need to keep growing by learning and becoming all we were created to be.

If you ever think for one moment that you’re okay to just stop where you are, that learning new things is not important, you will become a woman that finds difficulty in many areas of her life.

Dear sister, if you are feeling stuck, don’t become stagnant. Learn something new today from His Word. Write it down, put it where you can see it throughout the day, record it on your phone or use whatever works best for you and I guarantee you the Holy Spirit will do the rest. John 14 says in verse 26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” Our job, read the Word, His job, teach it into our lives and renew us. That’s a promise that gives me hope, how about you?

Last Saturday morning I saw something amazing behind my house. Something I have not seen in a very long time. A rainbow. This summer, with the long, dry weeks we’ve experienced, has prevented this hopeful vision that has the Biblical meaning of God keeping His promise not to destroy most all of mankind with a world-wide flood. (Genesis 6,7,8) It is a sign that comes after a good washing of rain that manifests itself even today, thousands of years later. God does keep His promises.

Another thing that struck me the other day was how God “washes” our souls with the His Word. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:26, when teaching how God cleanses His bride, the church, “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” and who hasn’t been mucked up by living in this world and working too much, or playing too much and paying attention to things that really don’t satisfy the soul that He died for.

I felt dirty the other day and I remembered Lauren Daigle’s hit song, “How Can It Be.” I got alone with scripture and I read and recited and prayed the Word and the dirt started coming out and off of me. The lyric: “these hands are dirty, I dare not lift them up to the Holy One” came to my mind and wow. I saw how it can happen. We can think we are too busy, that the Bible is outdated and powerless to make a difference, that there are lots of other ways to get close to God. That is a lie straight from the mouth of the devil. He wants nothing more than to keep you from The Book that holds all the truth. The Book that can wash you clean and show you promises that are never broken because He allowed Himself to be broken for us.

Spend time in it. Absorb the powerful love and truth that can save you and set you free.

Welcome to Glory Renewed!

For those of you that are new friends, I have been blogging for nearly three years on my first website ever, “You Glory Us.”  Why the reboot? (Aside from the fact that my tech-savvy daughter insisted that my blog needed a new face…) I thought it would be a great time to renew everything and give it a fresh new look. The direction the Lord is leading me in right now is renewal, and I’m at a place in my life where I really need that. I am embarking on a new adventure, continuing with something that truly never can get old for me, the glory of knowing and growing in the Lord.

I am embarking on a new adventure, continuing with something that truly never can get old for me, the glory of knowing and growing in the Lord.

I want this place to be a space where other women can come and experience how much we are alike and loved and gifted by God. I want it to be a sharing place where your comments and questions are welcome, and we can pray and encourage one another on our journey from the now to the not yet.

I invite you to the Glory Renewed Facebook page. There you will discover when there are new posts. Just follow the link and happy reading!