Where Grace and Love Found Me

When I was in my early twenties Pride and Prejudice was a popular movie among my friends.  It was a season where a lot of my girlfriends were newlyweds or wanting that perfect romance. Many of my girlfriends told me how wonderful the romance between the two lead characters developed and how they could watch it numerous times.   

I was wrapped up in the same things they were.  

I believed that the perfect guy would come to sweep me off my feet and fix all my problems.   

I would not have to face being alone or face all the “adult” things such as taxes or regular car maintenance things.    

I have learned over the years that my perspective and ideas were not reality.    

I had the wrong expectations.  Expectations set people up for failure. 

I decided one Friday night, when I had no plans, to watch the raved movie.    

First mistake - watching it alone.    

What girl should watch a romance movie alone when they are feeling like everyone else has a relationship?   (Future note - my attitude and perspective changed over the years to believing truths and not lies of jealousy and envy.)

Second mistake - watching it with a broken heart.   

A broken heart due to wanting to hang on to a past relationship.  

I did not believe in the promise of a better future with Jesus.  

So that is the setting of my movie adventure, I made it all the way to the part where Kera Knighly is yelling at the male character that she would never love him.     

Watching this scene, I felt like my life experience was flashing before me. The look on the face of the actor was the exact look on the face of my ex boyfriend.  Realistic performance by the actor - so realistic it touched a deep hurt in my life.     

I  instantly could picture the look on his face the day I broke his heart.  I told him I did not want to fight anymore.  I did not think that we could work through our differences.  I could not feel alone in our relationship anymore.   I needed someone to be my partner, to communicate our hopes and dreams.  

What I realized years later was that a lot of the problems were based on my lack of identity. I was trying to have other people and things fill my happiness.   

The truth is I needed to find my identity through being a loved child of God.  

I started to learn that Jesus is the only thing that could truly fill that void.

I loved my ex the best I could as a broken 22 year old.  Love was based on feelings and circumstance back then for me.  

I know now that love is a choice.    

God's Word tells us: Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, doe not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I learned how to be loved and love others unconditionally through the love of Jesus in my life.   It was a process through years of tears and victories. 

I am still learning and God is teaching me how to love more like him every day.

Christa Mayer
Guest Blogger 

Obedience - A Mother's Legacy

Isaiah 43:2  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

Several of us who are going on mission trips this summer will be choosing to leave young children to obey the call of God on their hearts. 

Recently, I was reading a hymn reflection on the life of James Montgomery, the author of the Christmas song, Angels from the Realms of Glory.  When James was six years old, his parents obeyed God’s call to be missionaries to the island of Barbados.  They left young James in the care of others in Ireland in the late 1700’s.  He never saw them again because they ultimately ended up giving their lives for the cause of Christ. 

God was faithful to the Montgomerys though, and He kept His hand on James’ life.  James grew up to have a huge influence for Christ in Ireland.  Even today we still sing some of his hymns.

I was raised in the Christian and Missionary Alliance.  I grew up hearing story after story about people who having heard God’s call and then answering the call had no other choice than to leave their children in a boarding school rather than take them into dangerous lands, so that ultimately others would hear the Gospel message. 

God cared for these families then and He cares about our families of today.

Before my son Nathan was even born, I gave him to God and asked God to use his life in a wonderful way for His Kingdom.  At that time, I thought perhaps that one day I would have to be willing to say goodbye as Nathan would perhaps hear and answer God’s own call for his life. 

Never did I really think that before that would ever occur, God would ask me to be obedient and leave him for a short-term trip!

I was praying tonight for us mothers of young children who will be saying goodbye soon.

Even though we will be only going for a short time, in comparison to the missionaries of the past who gave up years of relationship with their children, the pain of saying goodbye will be just as real and just as significant. 

So I prayed that God would send those same angels that He has sent to missionaries over the years, the ones that gave strength to their breaking hearts and the courage to be obedient to the Call.

One thing I have learned through this whole process is this. 

When we are obedient to the call God puts on our hearts, He works out all of the details not only in our lives, but in the lives of our children, in the lives of our families and in the lives of those around us who simply are watching us live the obedient life.

Obedience to the will of God is the greatest gift a mother can give her children. 

Who knows what effect our obedience will one day have on our children's lives because they watched their mommies answer God’s Call. 

I truly pray and believe it will be one of the greatest legacies we leave these children- a picture of what obedience to God can look like.

Will you pray for us and our families as we minister this summer?

Lisa

Please pray for the moms and their families who are going on trips through GCAC and those who going that are bloggers on this website...

Going to South Africa, May 21- June 5 - Melissa
Melia, Rayna, Caleb & husband Steve

Going to Gabon & France, June 9-25 - Emily
Ava, Faith & husband Tim

Going to Guatemala, June 19 - 28 - Lisa
Nathan & husband Nate

Going to Guatemala June 19-28 - Stacey
Bekah & husband Darrell

Thank you so much for your prayer support for these families!

Beginning in June our blogs will be Mission focused!  We will also be posting the blog updates from the field from the Gabon & Guatemala teams.  You can click on the Mission blog tab to keep up to date.

If you would like to keep up to date with Melissa and the GCC Soccer trip to South Africa you can go to their blog at gccwebsites.com/southafricatrip - we will also try to post some of Melissa's adventures here!

Memories to Cherish

Sunshine, warmer weather (mostly ;) with school almost at a close and summer about to take off!

I have taken many pictures over my lifetime, many more than I will ever get in an album or scrapbook. 

But the ones that I have done have been precious memories for myself & family.

I came across this challenge of 25 prompts for pictures.  There are some great ideas on here, but you could even add some of your own to fit you and your family! The idea is to be intentional about what you would like to save and remember. You can go to the link here.

Be intentional this summer to record some of your most fond memories and you too will have a keepsake to cherish for years to come!

Blessings to you on this beautiful day :)

A Glimpse of Heaven

I stand upon a street of gold 
A vision, I see, of truth foretold 
The spotless lamb my eyes behold 

From Him, intense, gentle love exudes 
In me, no doubt, just gratitude 
For joy and peace no more elude 

The perfect sacrifice He made 
A gift, unnecessary to repay 
For me, for all, and for this day 

God's grace, in Jesus, brilliantly shown 
His kingdom and family to call my own 
For in Christ's presence, I am home.

Christine Miller
Guest blogger 

Mind Moles

I never noticed anything like it until this winter.  The snow was just beginning to melt and we were taking a family walk through our yard.  I noticed all of these ugly mounds of dirt spread sporadically throughout the yard. 

When I learned that the source of these “little messes” was a ground mole, I was intrigued.  My husband, my go-to person for all outdoor knowledge, explained the life of the mole and that he was just doing what moles do, looking for food. 

As I pondered the whole “mole thing” I sensed a connection to our own lives. 

As Christians we can often encounter moles in our lives.  Just as when we encounter them in our yards making a mess, encountering them in our lives is never pleasant. 

The moles that I am referring to are those negative thoughts that come into our minds and wreck our peaceful days. 

As a Christian, I know that if I confess my sins, God is faithful to forgive them.
(1 John 1:9) He not only forgives them, but the best part is that he forgets them.  (Hebrews 8:12)

So why is it that I can be having a perfectly good day when all of a sudden something triggers a thought of a past failure? 

There it is, God has forgiven it, but the mole of shame or regret digs it back up and throws it into my mind, reminding me of my failure. 

Mind moles not only dig up our past failures, but they also like to feast on things like worry, past hurts, and feelings of insecurity. 

If I allow myself to ponder these kinds of thoughts, I am allowing the memory mole to keep me from being the effective, forgiven, victorious Christian that God wants me to be.

I was reading in Matthew 26 the story of Peter’s denial of Jesus.  Peter loved Jesus and was one of his most devoted followers.  In the beginning of the chapter he wants to fight the soldiers for Jesus, but by the end he denies he evens knows him. 

hink of the mind moles Peter must have had when he thought back on what he had done.  Yet we see later after Jesus’ resurrection that when Peter encounters Jesus for the first time since his denial, it is as if he had never failed his beloved Lord.  (John 21)

That’s the kind of forgiveness that Jesus offers us too.

When I asked my husband why I don’t notice the works of these destructive creatures in the summer, he explained that when he mows the lawn he flattens them with the tractor. 

Sometimes I wish I had a tractor that would flatten those negative thoughts that pop into my mind.  But there is something better than a tractor to get rid of these mind moles. 

We have the power of the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence to remind us that we are not captives to our thoughts or our emotions.  (Colossians 1:11)

We are forgiven children of God, equipped with everything we need to live victorious lives.

Don’t allow the mind moles to take control of your days.  Remember who you are in Christ and live victoriously!

Lisa Barber