I'm Slipping . . . no, wait . . . I FELL! For His Glory, Monday, June 22, 2009

Yeah - it's been four weeks ago today that I crash landed. While I would LOVE to be telling you that "the rest is history" it's not. Today, I started physical therapy. For most of it, I cried - great rivers of painful tears. While I kinda "knew" in the back of my head that this was gonna hurt, I really had NO IDEA how badly. Muscles have stiffened and were in spasm, crutches were too short, brace wasn't adjusted correctly, hip was out of alignment - in short, I'm a wreck. BUT once I got done with the therapy, I actually began to feel some relief. Am I uncomfortable - yeah. Is it actually better than before the therapy? Absolutely? I had to laugh when I finally made it back to work as the scripture from Saturday's devotional was Psalm 94:18 which says "I cried out, 'I'm slipping!' and your unfailing love, O LORD, supported me." While God didn't keep me from falling, His love has continued to support me and I feel it. While I was waiting for therapy to start, I was flipping through a scripture card index I have made and am taking greating comfort in the Word from Psalm 17:6 which says "I am praying to YOU because I know YOU will answer, oh God. Bend down and listen as I pray." (both NLT). Friends, it's tough and for some, it may get tougher before it gets better. God may not keep us from falling (physically or spiritually) but He WILL help us when we do and when we're on our backsides after the fall, I KNOW that we can pray and that He will bend down to listen as we do. Be encouraged today that no matter how low you're feeling, how far you've fallen or if you're down and can't get up, His love is supporting you and will continue to do so and He WILL hear you when you pray. Loving you with His love! AA

The Miracle of His Grace - For His Glory, Wednesday, June 17, 2009

1 Peter Chapter 1, beginning with verse 3 and continuing through verse 9, says:

All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

for it is by HIS boundless mercy

that God has given us the PRIVILEGE of being born again.

Now we live with a wonderful expectation

because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.

For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children.

It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled,

beyond the reach of change and decay.

And God, in HIS MIGHTY POWER,

WILL PROTECT YOU until you receive this salvation,

because you are trusting him.

It will be revealed on the last day for all to see.
SO BE TRULY GLAD!

THERE IS WONDERFUL JOY AHEAD,

even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.

These trials are only to test your faith,

to show that it is strong and pure.

It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold –

and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.

So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials,

it will bring you much praise and glory and honor

on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

[WE] love him even though you have never seen him.

Though [WE] do not see him, you trust him;

and even now [WE] are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy.

OUR reward for trusting HIM will be the salvation of our souls.

[Words - God - 1 Peter, Chapter 1; Emphasis - Mine]

Brothers and sisters, friends - these past three weeks have been difficult - culminating at the end of last week with yet another fiery trial - one involving yet another battle with our drug abusing, angry and wounded son and his girlfriend. I'm afraid, my friends, I did not rise above the fray and at first was mildly irritated at being called on the carpet about how I had and had not raised our son and then became angry and wounded. I said somethings I wouldn't want splashed across the headlines. I reacted out of anger and I need forgiveness and mercy. Oh, my dear friends, I KNOW life is tough. Yet I know that we can thank God for HIS indescribable gift. None of us, my friends, is born with the character of God. We are to "add" to our lives all that character means and that character MUST be developed. Nor are we born with habits — we have to form Godly habits on the basis of the new life God has placed within us. NONE OF US are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of HIS grace. Oh, my friends, I know my true, un-Christ-like nature will rear its ugly head and let me tell you, Satan has beat me up for my humanity. If any man (or woman) be in Christ, he or she is a new creation and I know and will testify with my last breath how the grace and mercy of God have changed my life! It is my earnest prayer that, through my tears, my failures, my shortcomings, my mistakes, my mis-steps and stumbles, that all who know me will see the Miracle of God's genuine grace displayed to me and that I can continue to learn how to demonstrate, without words, the miracle of that Grace to ALL I encounter! Loving you, praying for you and soliciting your prayers for me as we continue to make this journey, by His Grace, For His Glory! Much love - AA

For His Glory, Thursday, June 11, 2009 - My Redeemer is Faithful and True

What a week!! What a three weeks. As most of you know by now, I fell on Memorial Day and fractured the tibia (really ouch), ruptured the cartilage and tore the meniscus in my knee. Surgery was done on June 3rd and left me with some small punctures and some slightly bigger wounds where they put in THE SCREWS (known to those ortho guys as 'orthopedic hardware.') Does this mean ya'll can now call me Ace? Hah! In the midst of all, life goes on and sometimes we want the merry go round to stop spinning so we can get off of it - if only for a moment or two - and catch our breath. Having been in a head-on car accident almost 27 years ago I thought had "forgotten" how painful bone injuries can be. Uh, yeah - NOT! For most of Thursday and part of Friday, I wept out of the sheer physical pain I was in. Now, I'm not "tough" but I'm not a total pain weenie but this one kids hurt me. Is still hurting me. God, however, in HIS infinite, wonderful wisdom and timing, has brought us to a new place in our journey. I received word on Monday - while at home still trying to get my bearings - that the Firm by whom I am employed will cease to exist as of September 30, 2009. The men who own the Firm have been partners for 19 years and friends for closer to 30 both of them having been former Directors of the Arizona Department of Insurance. I was at home with my Tanner when I got the news and when I hung up the phone, I cried as if I had just been told my dearest friend had died. I have been in the employ of these two amazing people for almost eight years and it certainly wasn't part of MY grand plan to change that - at least not in the immediate. My sweet Tanner tried so hard to be calming and despite my tears, I looked at him and said "baby, we KNOW that ALL things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to HIS purpose!" I reminded Him that God, indeed, knows the plans HE has for us - plans to prosper us and NOT harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future. While I am sad at the end of this era of my life, I am excited as the Lord is already beginning to fill me with HIS confidence and His assurance as HE is NOT a God of chaos. He is a God of Order and if we will allow Him to, He will order the very steps we take for our good and For HIS glory. Oh, dear ones, my leg is broken but healing, my future is unclear but CERTAIN because I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES and the tears I shed are, in part, out of pain and in part, healing cleansing tears that clear the cobwebs and remind me that nothing that happens in our lives is without God's permission. I don't know what each of you is experiencing today but trust me on this - OUR REDEEMER IS FAITHFUL AND TRUE and regardless of the physical or emotional pain that you're in, regardless of the financial worries, regardless of the future you can't see - GOD IS STILL GOD and if we will trust Him, I promise, It's gonna be okay.

Romans 12:1-3 says:

And so, dear brothers and sisters,

I plead with you to give your bodies to God.

Let them be a living and holy sacrifice –

the kind he will accept.

When you think of what he has done for you,

is this too much to ask?

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world,

but let God transform you into a new person

by changing the way you think.

Then you will know what God wants you to do,

and you will know how good and pleasing

and PERFECT his will really is!!

Max Lucado said on Twitter today that his prayer for all who reads [these] words "May God root you in the soil of His love. May He bask you in the warmth of His hope." Oh, my friends - here's Hope!! Join me on the journey and trust that I will make it with you, loving you with His love and desiring that ALL I do is For His Glory! Andrea

The Story of My Life

Okay- so broken leg notwithstanding - I am getting by. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow and we're "bopping" along as well as we can "bop." Yesterday, my "page a day" scripture was from Jeremiah 17:14, which says "heal me, O Lord and I shall be healed; save me and I shall be saved; for THOU art my praise." When this happened - after I got over the initial shock of "Now what?" I began to ask the Lord to be glorified in this circumstance and vowed that I would, as I attempt to do with everything in my life, trust Him implicitly to know what He's doing through this situation. One thing that has become abundantly clear is that the Hand of God has written the pages of my Life. I know and trust that God, indeed, is the story of my life whether it be in how He has blessed me with my children, blessed me to be Brendan's wife, blessed me to be working where I work, ministering where I minister and serving where I serve. God is written on every page and God WILL be written on this page too. I shared with my sweetie this morning that I believe I have never felt so loved and attended to by him as I have this past week or so. He has tended my every need - even letting me cry on his shoulder in pain and frustration. I know that the Lord will heal this broken leg and I trust the surgeon's skilled hands to do his part to get me knitting back together but through it all, Romans 8:28 reminds me that we KNOW that all things work together for good even those things that to our earthly, seeing eyes, don't seem to have much good about them. Am I thankful for this broken leg? I'm learning to be. Am I rejoicing that God is using even this to write the story of my life. The song by Shannon Wexelberg says it all:

You are the story of my Life

I need you in my Life

Both now and ever

You are the Lover of my soul

no matter where I go

I know it's true

the story of my life

is You.

(C) The Story of My Life by Shannon Wexelberg

Dear ones - it is my prayer that you will allow the Almighty to be the story of YOUR life and I promise, while it will have twists and turns and all the "exciting" things (like broken bones) that life brings, if you allow Him, He'll write a perfect, ETERNAL ending. Yours, In Him! AA

For His Glory, Wednesday, May 20, 2009, "Cry Out to Jesus"

My dear friends - all around us people are hurting. They are in real pain and our hearts need to be breaking for those who are dealing with unemployment, financial crisis, marital crisis, a housing crisis, children in crisis. Do we see the theme here??? But I know that I know that I know - the only One who can deliver us from the immediate is Jesus. I weep when I hear the song by Third Day entitled "Cry Out to Jesus" (C). The song speaks

To everyone who's lost someone they love;

To all of the people with burdens and pain;

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on

when they've lost all of their faith and love;

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains;

To the widow who suffers from being alone;

For the children around the world without a home;

and then the words of the song remind us that

There is hope for the helpless

Rest for the weary

Love for the broken heart

There is grace and forgiveness

Mercy and healing

He'll meet you wherever you are

Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

My friends, I have been there, time and time again, when through my tears and my pain all I could do was speak the name of Jesus. I have had horrible nightmares where one of my children was being harmed that woke me screaming and crying but I could speak the name of Jesus and return to sleep with no memory of what had awoken me. You are not alone -we are not alone.
The Psalmist tells us at Psalm 107:28 "Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses." I know that when we cry out, He hears our cries and He responds. I do not know all that troubles us, but I do know the One who can heal our pain. Cry out to Jesus - He WILL meet you, wherever you are. Call me or e-mail me - I'll be there too and we'll cry out to Him - together. Loving you with His Love - AA

For His Glory - Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - "ME MONSTERS"

Tanner and one of his best buds love to listen to this comedian (whose name, unfortunately, I cannot remember cuz' he really deserves the credit for this) but he talks about "Me Monsters." You know, we've all met them and I dare say, at times, we've all been one! A "Me Monster" is that person who, no matter what the conversation, can always "go you one better." If your child got a 30 on the ACT (perfect score 36) ALL FOUR OF THEIR KIDS got a 40 (yeah, uhm, right!) If you labored for 30 hours, they labored for 30 days! You know, you're gettin' the gist of this. One of the things one of my girlfriends and I have noticed, as we desire to become truly Godly wives, is that 1 Corinthians 13 says that "love does not seek it's own; love does not envy and love does not parade itself." In short, LOVE is NOT a "Me Monster." Love is willing to take second place. OUCH! We all KNOW that second place is first loser but NOT in God's economy and NOT when we say we love. I cannot tell you I love you if at the same time I have to have my way, or I have to protect my "rights." This is a tough one for me, kids. I was the youngest in my family for a time and ended up the middle child. I missed that "youngest child" attention I got from my folks and did some pretty crummy things to get noticed. As the Holy Spirit is leading me and teaching me how to be a woman God can use for His Glory, I am compelled first and foremost, to truly love. That the things that break the heart of God would break my heart too. "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Silly Rabbit, "Me Monsters" are for kids.
Loving you, with His Love! AA

For His Glory - Wednesday, May 6, 2009, "Lip Service"

I recently have undertaken a study to truly learn what it is to Love. Trust me, it is not easy to get to be almost 47 years old only to find out I have been missing the mark. Admittedly, as my children grow and go through the difficulties of growing, I am learning that I do love them unconditionally because of who they are (my children) not because of what they do or don't do - or how long their hair is! I can honestly say that, unfortunately, I don't have that kind of unconditional, sacrificial love for EVERYONE in my circle and while it pains me, it also makes me angry enough to want to do something about it. We think of the number "13" as an "unlucky" number but I don't believe in luck and 1st Corinthians 13 speaks, for 13 verses about what love is . . . and isn't and love, according to my buddy, isn't "lip service." Don't say you love if you're not willing to put it into action. The text of the scripture follows:

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,

but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy,

and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,

and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,

but have not love, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,

and though I give my body to be burned,

but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind;

love does not envy;

love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

5 does not behave rudely,

does not seek its own,

is not provoked,

thinks no evil;

6 [LOVE] does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

7 [LOVE] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail;

whether there are tongues, they will cease;

whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect has come,

then that which is in part will be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child,

I understood as a child, I thought as a child;

but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

I don't profess to have all the answers but I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I do not want to be someone who casually, glibly says "I love you" but doesn't have the marbles to back it up with my actions. God demonstrated HIS love for us by sending HIS Son, Jesus to die for us WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS. God's love and gift was not conditioned on me being good enough and if I dare to speak the words I love you, my friends, it had better be more than lip service, whether I am professing my love for God and my Savior, for my husband, my children, my family, my friends, my neighbors. It doesn't matter what you've read here that touched your heart, if I cannot demonstrate love to you, unconditonally, I am nothing and my words are noise at best! My youngest shared a quote from Mr. Ghandi which says "Be the change you want to see in the world." If I want others to love FIRST because God has first loved us, the change must start with me! I would ask that first and foremost, you lift me to the throne of Grace as I desire to be one who loves and asking, second, that you make the journey with me. Yours, In Him - AA