Memorial Day / Mrs Amy Vassak

 

Mrs Amy Vassak

Pastor's Wife

Northeast Baptist Church

Danbury, CT

 

Memorial Day!!

 

 

A few years ago, my husband and I attended the birthday party of the young son of a family member. The party was being held on a Sunday afternoon which made it difficult for us to attend, and it was at a crowded restaurant.
Our oldest daughter was five years old, and had lost her first tooth on the way over, and she was bleeding...and crying...it was the beginning of a terrible afternoon.

It was so crowded that we couldn't even sit next to each other, but my husband was sea...ted next to an elderly man that was all by himself. He struck up a conversation with him to find out that he fought at Iwo Jima! He began to tell a story that I'm so glad I was close enough to hear.

He said he was sixteen when he signed up, but he lied and said he was eighteen. Even at a young age, he was a patriot, and wanted to go and fight like so many of the young men from his high school had done.

Before arriving on the shore at Iwo Jima, he was assigned the job of Flame-Thrower. These men had the difficult task of shooting flames into the bunkers where the Japanese were taking cover as they fought. The life expectancy of a Flame-Thrower was twelve seconds. Twelve seconds.

This elderly man recalled with tears running down his face, how he somehow made it to the top of that big hill and he was still alive. He couldn't believe it! Then he turned to look at the carnage below him, and his elation quickly turned to grief at the brave young men who had laid down their lives scattered all over the hillside.

My husband thanked him for his service, and he said this,

"Don't thank me, I'm no hero. I've lived my life. I got married. I had children. The real heroes are the ones who didn't make it back."

Of course, we consider that man a hero just the same, but on this Memorial Day weekend, remember those who have so bravely fought for our freedom, but they never came back. They lied about their ages to go and fight; their short lives were given without reservation.

Today we celebrate Memorial Day, a day that as Americans we observe to remember those soldiers who willingly laid down their lives so that we can enjoy life here in this great country of ours.

They gave up high school and college, so that we can further our education. 

They gave up their marriages, so that we could enjoy our marriages. 

They gave up becoming parents and grandparents so that we could have families. 

 They gave up future  careers so that we could work the jobs of our choosing.

 

They ran across battlefields so that today we can run across ballfields.

 

Never forget their sacrifice.

 

Freedom isn't free.

Freedom isn't free.

I Am Naked / Mrs Susie Montgomery

 

Mrs Susie Montgomery

Pastor's Wife

Liberty Baptist Church

Chillicothe, OH

 

I Am Naked

When I was a child, and even a college student, I had nightmares of showing up for class without clothes.  They were so real; and I was so embarrassed.  In my dream I found myself hiding, much like Adam and Eve, from people.  I’m sure you can relate.

Adam walked with God every day in the Garden.

Adam got to know God. Adam had nothing to hide, and that’s the way God intended it! Adam was naked, not only physically but, spiritually too. God desires to walk with man who will hide nothing from Him.  Then Adam sins, realizes he is naked, hides in the bushes, and makes a covering of fig leaves to hide his shame.  God is sad. He wants to redeem man. So God’s only Son came to redeem man. To walk again with the Creator, the way He intended from the beginning.

Today we still try to hide from God

We are so busy “serving Him” that we don’t have time to walk with Him.  We hide behind all these “fig leaves” pretending we are ok.  We don’t allow God’s Word to speak to us.  It is time to peel off those “fig leaves” and allow God’s Word to divide the thoughts and intentions of our hearts… even where it hurts.

Hebrews 4:12-13 

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

I had a very dry patch in my walk with God.  I thought “Is this all there is?”

There were days during this time that I read Gods’ Word, out of duty, and gleaned a truth. I sincerely saw people who struggled with their sin and wanted to help.  I knew Gods’ Word had the answer. I never even questioned that.  It was my handbook for life.  I knew if I could get people to understand that, and live a life like mine, that they too would be happy and free of the sins of this world.  Don’t get me wrong, I knew there were areas that I needed to grow.  I needed to pray more, read my Bible more, be a better wife, mom and friend.  I knew I needed to grow and worked on all those areas while serving Gods’ people.  If they could just see how happy this Christian life can make them, they would stop all their bad habits and live like me.

I thank God for His longsuffering, because He doesn’t just see me for who I am today but, who I am to become.

God doesn’t want me to just DO the right things; He wants me to BE the right person! I was hiding behind the “fig leaf” of DO.  I wore the right clothes, had the right bible, talked the right talk, avoided the right things, listened to the right music, and sacrificed the right way.  Thinking all the while this is what makes me holy.  But Gods’ Word has a way of dividing your thoughts and intentions! All the good works in the world are just “fig leaves” and I thought I had a relationship with the Creator because I had them all in the right places.  

 I knew something wasn’t right!

Sure, there were good times: a soul saved a big day at church, a date gone right, or, my personal favorite, a word of praise.  But, God hadn’t spoken to me personally for years. When He started to cut, it hurt! One by one, as I started to yield the “fig leaves” I saw Him high and lifted up! I saw His Glory! And I saw how wretched my “holy life was! His goodness to me became clear. He patiently taught me to trust Him, and His will for my life.  It is my firm belief that in Gods’ greatest glory I will find my greatest good!

I was sincere in my good works.

When God was in the garden waiting to walk with me, I was busy hiding. Not from Him, but from people.  I didn’t want them to know that God was no longer speaking to me. I never want to be there again!  Now reading

His Word is no longer a duty but something I truly do look forward to.  I want Him to read my thoughts and intentions! Why? Because He is worthy of my praise! 

Some practical points:

1. Keep reading His Word, even if it is out of duty

2. Ask Him to expose the “fig leaves” in your life

3. Don’t be afraid to change what you have always known 

 

Do Him Good / Mrs Traci Ferguson

 

Mrs Traci Ferguson

Pastor's Wife

Glory Baptist Church

Des Moines, IA

 

"Do Him Good"

 

Hello Ladies!  This month at our church, we are focusing on all aspects of the home.  It has already been a huge help and encouragement  to me!  As I was praying about what to write for this blog post, the Lord reminded me of Proverbs 31:12. "She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life".  This, of course, is speaking of the virtuous woman, and the manner in which she treats her husband.  Every single time I read this verse, I am challenged!  There are many times that I can get so busy with homeschooling, housework, or church functions, that I forget about making sure my husband is taken care of as well.  This verse is so simple in its wording, but sometimes so hard to practice!  "She will do him good...”.  When I want to complain about ironing his shirt as we are trying to walk out the door, I need to stop and think about how this is something I can do to be a help to him. I should not view it as an inconvenience!  I am pretty sure that as wives, we can all find one area that we KNOW would bless our husbands, if we would just be willing to love him in this practical, selfless way!  Here is a small list of ideas that maybe will help get us started!
  *Preparing the coffee the night before (in our house, this is THE job that neither of us enjoy  doing!)
  *Using the tablecloth that makes dinners feel a little more fancy
  *Buying strawberry jam, knowing it's his favorite, instead of what you would prefer.
  *Getting him a Snickers bar for in his lunch.  For no reason at all. 
  *Folding his shirts/matching his socks/etc. In that particular way he likes it done!

Okay,  now let's all find something  to  do  TODAY  that will "do him good!"

Grace More Precious than Works / Mrs Misty Beutow

Mrs Misty Beutow

Pastor's Wife

Grace Baptist Church

Tremont, IL

 

Grace More Precious than Works 

 

6:00 Hit the snooze 

6:45 Realize you hit snooze too many times 

6:46 COFFEE 

6:52 The short one wakes up crying, needs changed 

7:17 Start pouring the cereal 

7:19 Clean up spilled cereal 

7:25 COFFEE 

7:47 The tall one has nothing to wear today, meltdown begins 

8:08 Explosions happen…The short one needs changed  

8:37 COFFEE 

8:42 The creative  middle  is painting her best piece of art work…on the living room wall 

9:27 Pull into church parking lot and you see her…. 

There she is. You know. Mrs. Gotitalltogether.  Getting out of her shiny new SUV. There she is with her children in matching plaid outfits. The sweet little girls with their big hair bows. The little guy with his handsome bow tie and matching socks. And those shoes. Look at her shoes!  Arm and arm she walks into the church with her loving and attentive man. You feel defeated as you slump down into the seat of your mini van that reads “WASH ME” on the back window.  You don’t want her to see you pulling dried cheerios off your goodwill cardigan. I bet she doesn’t even wear goodwill sweaters. She probably shops at Saks.  She looks so happy. How does she do it? How does she always have it all together? You finally get up the energy to muddle into the church. The short one crying, the creative middle dancing in the parking lot, and the tall one, oh the precious tall one…she feels awkward and insecure. When did she grow up so fast? She is hesitant to go to youth group this morning.  And you, you walk through the doors feeling like a failure. You are tired. You are weary. And you are frustrated. Why? Why am I always frustrated?  Why am I the only one that feels defeated?  

Have you been there? Can you relate to feelings of inadequacy? Or the constant comparison? How is it that we can barely make it into the church building alive and others look like they just jumped out of a Target ad? Can I let you in on a little secret? They struggle too. Mrs Saks that has the seemingly perfect husband and beautiful smile? She wears that smile to cover the hurt she is feeling because her husband didn’t get home until 2 am. And he wasn’t at work. The lady over there with the perfect children? She doesn’t want you to know that the oldest was sneaking around this week  Her heart is aching for them to know God  again. See the tiny little lady across the room with perfect body? You think shes vain and doesn’t eat enough. Wrong. She has health problems you have no idea about. The truth is, she is in pain every day. It’s a struggle for her to get up in the morning. And that couple over there. Always so happy.  It’s obviously they’re so in love. It’s because they don’t have kids. Kids can get in the way of a relationship. Wrong again. They have been through a very long painful and emotional road trying to have a sweet little baby. They just got news that the adoption they so longed for fell through. They are beginning to lose hope. The older lady that is always teaching a class or helping others? You long to be like her someday. Always calm. Always peaceful. Her kids are grown and serving the Lord. She has arrived. She has it all figured out. Nope, sorry.  She is struggling too. She lost her job and has no retirement. She is unsure of how she is going to afford her grandkids favorite snack when they come for a visit. She is carrying a huge financial burden. And her husband’s health is getting worse. She’s worried. She’s afraid. She too feels defeated. 

So why, then? Why am I the only one that is defeated? Why am I such failure? Well, you’re not. You just feel that way. Often times we let our feelings take over. Instead of recognizing that our feelings are indicating there is a problem, we let them dictate how we live our life.  And because we FEEL like a failure, we begin to live like a failure. So where do all of these feelings come from? I believe it comes from comparison. We pull into the church parking lot and compare ourselves to Mrs. Gotitalltogether.   We walk into Sunday School and sit next to Mrs. Dress in Saks clothing, and think how nice it must be while she has a credit card bill in her purse she is hiding from her husband.   We pick up the short one at the nursery from Mrs. No Kids, and think how nice it is that she gets to go home to a house with no children to care for and pick up for; while she is trying not to cry from the emptiness she feels as she hands over the short one to you. We spend so much of our time looking at all the Pinspired family pictures. All the great moments our friends are posting on facebook and Instagram. We look at those picture perfect moments, not realizing that it took 27 different shots trying to get that hot dog dinner to look like a gourmet meal! We sit there and compare our spilled milk and Mt. Everest laundry pile to someone else’s perfect moment. And that’s all it was. A moment. A split second of time that they captured and posted for all to see.  A moment that will get 247 “likes” and reassure them that they are NOT a loser. And then  there is you. Trying to just push through the toy pile on the living room floor. You haven’t washed your hair in 3 days. The dishes are piled high. We are so busy comparing our insides, the moments no one sees, to everyone else’s outsides,  the moments that everyone sees. Comparison kills contentment. 2 Corinthians  10:12 tells us that comparing ourselves among ourselves is not wise. So what’s the answer? How do I get out of this foolish comparison trap I am in? One word,  grace. 

 

Grace. Such a beautiful word. What does it really mean? Grace is God's unmerited favor.  Grace is God doing good for us when we do not deserve it.  We all know the verse that says “By grace are ye saved through faith”. We have memorized it. We have shared it. It is the foundation of our faith in Christ. We have accepted God’s grace for salvation and trusted God’s grace for our eternity. But  what about daily grace? Does that even exist? Should we just trust God for salvation and then try to earn our favor with Him? I don’t believe that is how God intended it to be. You see, we are all about grace for salvation. And we know that we don’t earn it. It’s something that God in His loving kindness has chosen to give to us. Did you know that you don’t have earn God’s love? There is nothing more and nothing less that you can do for God to love you any more or any less? I’ll admit, that’s a hard concept to grasp for some people. We are taught over and over again to do more. Do better. Be better. A better Christian, a better wife, a better mom. A better house keeper. A better cook.  And should we do those things? Yes! Absolutely! We should never get to the point where we feel that we have finally arrived. That we are now the epitome of the Proverbs 31 woman. We should strive to do our best for Christ. But I think as Christian women we have missed it. We have missed God’s grace on a daily basis.  

Did you know that when God created you that He gave you hormones? Why? I have no idea! But He did! And He knows that you are going to fail Him. He created you! Matthew 9:12- 13 tells us “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  If we were perfect beings we would not need God. He is our great and perfect Physician.  It is the sick and the sinners that He wants to bring to Himself. Christianity is not a self improvement plan. We cannot just make ourselves better. We must come to Christ for strength and healing. 

 One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Our whole purpose is to bring God glory. To love God and to love others to Him. What a better way to show the love of Christ than to let Him work through our failures. Our failures, our weaknesses, our defeats and our trials can be used to bring others to Christ! So my dear friend, my sweet sister, please stop the comparison trap. Please embrace the grace that God has tenderly and lovingly given to you. Please stop trying to be better in your own strength. Relinquish that control, that messy house, those dirty dishes. Give those to the Lord. Let Him be your strength.  

 I will leave you with these beautiful promises from Hosea 6 “Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn us, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord; his going for this prepared as the morning; and he shall come to u sas the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”  It’s hard. I know. But it’s harder to do it your own way. Grace is more precious than works.