Big Enough / Benita Reffe

Benita Reffe

Church Pianist / Music Coordinator

Amazing Grace Baptist Church

St Charles, MO

There was a day not long after the start of 2019 that I just felt defeated and discouraged (this always seems to happen when I'm doing dishes... can I get an "amen"?). I was just so overwhelmed with the weight of my little world on my shoulders. I just had so much to do and the list just seemed to keep growing by the minute. I vividly remember staring at my pile of dirty dishes and just bursting into tears. 

You see, as women, we have a lot on our plates. We are wives, mothers, sisters, daughters and friends. We are housekeepers, chefs, baby keepers and spouses. We are teachers, encouragers and examples. We are Pastors wife's, nursery workers, Sunday School teachers and piano players. We kiss boo-boo's, make lists and go grocery shopping. We're the chauffer, laundress and diaper changers. We wipe away tears, play games and organize chaos. We pay bills, plan vacations and work jobs. We run Bible studies, carry the burdens of others and crack jokes to make someone smile. We are cheerleaders, sooth, and function on little sleep. We soothe the scared, comfort the sad and fill in the gaps. We are warriors of God.

And while it should never be a burden to care for your family or to serve the Lord, there are those overwhelming times that we all go through. It's those times when we are standing back and looking at the big picture and not seeing how God is helping us get through day by day. 

Here's the thing. You, my friend, are a Child of God. He is your Abba Father. Your Heavenly Papa. He is your friend and companion. Your shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold. He is your guide and protection. He is your rock and un-shakable foundation. He is your never changing, never leaving, all knowing Father. The same one that laid down His life, out of love, for YOU! The same one that created the world and all that is in it, decided that the world needed a you! It is just so amazing to me, that out of everything the Lord has to keep track of, I am still on His radar. 

That disastrous day I mentioned at the beginning, where I was basically washing my dishes with my tears, I had two songs come on my play list that only God could have arranged. The song "Big Enough" by The Clark Family and "He Knows My Name" by The Rochester Family. The second verse to "Big Enough"  goes like this:

"There are days when the shadows of doubt make me feel small. I declare that I don't stand in my own strength at all, cause I don't live a day You didn't plan, every single moment is in Your hands. Even if the whole world shakes You're the Rock on which I stand." 

Chorus: "So when it seems it can't be done, I know God is Big Enough. I can run the race I'm called to run cause I know God is Big Enough. He'll finish everything He starts, He'll meet us right here where we are. And I can feel faith rising up, Cause I know God is Big Enough."

Let me tell ya'll, after this song reminding me to give all my cares and frustrations over to the Lord, I just felt so much lighter and way more positive. We don't have to go through this life alone. The shoulders of Jesus are broad enough to help bear your burdens, no matter how big or small. It could be anything! And God will not turn His back to you and say "Sorry, not today. That's just too big for me." I promise, that God will NEVER say that to you!

1 Peter 5:7 says " Casting all your care upon Him; for he careth for you." 

The Bible tells you to cast your cares upon Him! He does not want us to bear our burdens alone, He WANTS to be wanted and needed by us. If He didn't, then our lives would be perfect. And I can testify that life certainly is not perfect.

Psalm 30:10-12 says "Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever.

Not only will God hear us and help to bear our burdens, but He has a plan in place to change our circumstances and attitudes around! What a thought. He not only sees our problems but He has solutions for them! I don't know about you, but I find that to be very encouraging! 

So, in conclusion, just know this. The God who created the mountains, seas and galaxies, knows YOUR name and is big enough to help you through your troubles, trials and daily life. 

You are loved and never forgotten. ❤️      

YouTube Video for "Big Enough"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM4ej6G4niM&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0k-R5CWprBPu6p7fq1WIKZ1tt6M-GyfKLQpV2sbbK6eE_N-vCG6XtC_q0

YouTube Video for "He Knows My Name"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO3I8fQdrOY&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0pBk_VUHg_bDZPYprboPusMi1IQB8ssmdlnpAPDPg5eYHy_1-JSjTUdBY

What is Your "Wont"? - Jennifer Ruth Green

Jennifer Ruth Green

Co Teacher - Ladies Life Changers Sunday School Class

First Baptist Church

Hammond, IN

Founder / Director

MissionAero Pipeline Program

Aviation Training Progam

STEM servants for Christ

What’s Your “Wont”?

I travel often. I serve in the US Air Force and take frequent trips out of town. I have a roommate. When I leave, my roommate does things to the house. She will redecorate, she will deep clean, and most likely she will paint yet another item in the house, the color turquoise. Often times when I call to say hello from out of town she will tell me of her latest completed project and I jokingly respond with — “Of course.” It’s short for, “Of course you did that; it’s what you always do.”

I have a friend in the ministry who handles conferences and many events. She has “things.” She is always willing to provide anything anyone needs. I come into her office and ask for “things.” I say, “Do you have (a band-aid; a letter opener; a one-legged stuffed monkey)? And she says, “Yes,” hands it to me, and then I jokingly say, “Of course,” short for, “Of course you have that; you have anything and everything.”

I love my Pastor. He is a humble man and sometimes as he leads staff devotions he speaks of a decision the convert he was discipling earlier that morning (before staff meeting) made. I am astounded because I am not a morning person and all I’ve done that day so far is make myself presentable to the public. My pastor is a soul winner and discipler. I appreciate that example. When I hear those anecdotes, I am challenged, but I often think, “Of course.” 

If someone had to describe what my “of course” would be, I think it would be that I will always choose to fly instead of drive. Perhaps it would be that I will always choose Chipotle if given a choice. Maybe it’s that I will order tacos regardless of whatever else is on the menu. All of those would be quite accurate normal tendencies for me. 

In the Bible, the word “wont” is used as an adjective describing “1. (of a person) in the habit of doing something; accustomed.” It is used nine times throughout the Bible. Four of those references occur in the New Testament. Three of them are in the Gospels. Two of them speak directly of Jesus (Mark 10:1 and Luke 22:39). We will examine both of those instances one at a time. 

In Mark 9, Jesus is teaching the disciples personally, as others are nearby. He’s fielding their questions and posing questions to them in order to stir their hearts and minds. Then in Mark 10:1 the Bible says, “And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judæa by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again.

Jesus invested in others. He knew if His apostles didn’t get it, it would be a difficult outlook for others to understand the truth of His coming. We have the privilege of hearing the Gospel of salvation today because they held fast to the truths they learned. Jesus spent time teaching them, and it was “the norm.” He taught multitudes, His apostles, small groups m and individuals. I can imagine someone in Judea looking at Jesus with the people and saying to their friend, “Look, there’s Jesus, teaching His disciples.” I can also imagine their friend simply saying, “Of course.”

In Luke 22 we read of Jesus’ betrayal. He knows His fulfillment of his earthly duty is coming quickly. After the Last Supper, we see him depart the upper room. Luke 22:39 says, “And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.” When He gets to the mount of Olives He begins to pray, fervently and deeply. He had a special place where He was accustomed to spend time with God, communicating the depths of his soul and hearing the Father’s comfort and confirmation. I can imagine the disciples knowing that Jesus is taking them to go and pray and then announcing they were all headed to the Mount of Olives. In my mind’s eye I see someone walking along and whispering, Of course.”

I think there are powerful lessons to be learn here. What was Jesus known for? What was his “norm?” He was known for 1. investing into the spiritual lives of others and 2: separating Himself to a certain place, to seek the Father.

Lord, please help me to want that to be my wont, too.

Everyone Has A Story / Susan Foote

Susan Foote

Agape Baptist College

Agape Baptist Church

Stockton, MO

Everyone Has a Story, mine is something like this....

I am on my 3rd marriage to the same man!

Mark 10:8 - 9 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

June 28, 1980, I made this vow.

I, Susan, take thee, Craig, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish and obey, till death do us part, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge myself to you.

As very young adults, we had no idea what those vows meant. You never really think life and all the heartache will happen to you. It is just experiences you hear about, that happen to other people.

My first marriage was to a lost man. But I was lost as well.

I knew after dating him for a month he would be the one I married. It took him a year to figure it out. We got engaged in Dec. of 1979, we were married in June of 1980. And Emily came along in May of 1982. I was very happy to be a mom!

We were very young when we got married, I was 17, my hubby was 18. We had no idea what we were in for! We were in love… but we had a lot of struggles because we were living for ourselves and very much in the world.

Two of my older siblings got saved and began to pray and witness to the rest of my family. My oldest brother became the pastor of a little country church in my home town. As a result of the prayers and outreach we went to visit his church.

In November of 1982, we got saved!

My second marriage was to a saved man - The Preacher

When we got saved everything changed, we started living for the Lord and for each other, now our lives and marriage were lined up with the Bible. We had always gone to church, but now we were hearing Bible teaching on marriage,

family, and how we were supposed to live. We still had the struggles of a young family, but our marriage relationship improved greatly!

In November of 1983 our first huge trial came! Our second child was born, but he was still born. I had never in my life felt such pain, I had no idea what grief was all about. I had a c-section to deliver him, so I spent the next 5 days in the hospital. My husband was the single pall bearer at his funeral. I couldn’t bring myself to even go, so I just stayed at the hospital. We experienced what my husband calls the second phase of God’s grace. He wrapped his arms around us and healed our broken hearts. Our daughter was 18 months old at the time, I was so thankful to have her to fill my heart and arms, that were aching to hold my baby. I don’t know that you ever get over the loss of a child. I can’t wait to see our son, Rusty, in Heaven one day. But through this tragedy, the Lord brought us closer together and it also taught us compassion for others who had lost someone dear to them. Everyone grieves in their own way, but sometimes it helps if you can just say “I have been there, I know how you feel.”

In January of 1985, our 3rd child was born, after some complications and an emergency c-section, the Lord gave us our son, Shannon. Our family was complete! We were blessed with 2 healthy children. He was the New Year baby that year, so he came with lots of gifts, and free hospital stay!! Wow! My husband was a happy man, he grew up with all sisters, so his desire was to have a son.

Psalms 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

In 1986, my husband was called to preach at Pastor’s School in Hammond Indiana. So, we packed up everything we owned and moved to Hammond, Indiana. I had always lived near my family, I am a #8, I have a very large family! So, this move was a huge change for me. I have a twin and it was hard to leave her and my family in Louisiana. Once again, I learned to have compassion on others who did not get to live near family. The Lord brings things into our lives, so we can help others.

My husband pastored 5 churches from 1990 to 2018. His longest tenure was at Grace Baptist Church in Marrero, LA from 1998 to 2014. We loved the pastorate, we had many great years of serving the Lord together. The part of the wedding

vows for RICHER, for POORER, we had lived on both sides of that one for years. Now we were going to experience the other 2.

I am going to back track to the tragedy struck our lives on Nov. 19, 2011.

My THIRD marriage – Still the same man but learning to live with a different personality because of traumatic brain injury!

The part of the wedding vows, for better or WORSE, in SICKNESS and in health, really came life, we had lived on the side of better and health for many years. Now we were dealing with WORSE and SICKNESS. Things had changed!

Romans 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

This is easy to quote but hard to live!!

On November 19, 2011, a young man attacked my husband with what was believed to be a baseball bat. He hit him in the back of the head, while he was out soulwinning. This landed him in ICU with traumatic brain injury. For 6 days he didn’t know anything. He had a blank stare in his eyes. The back of his head was squishy to the touch. Who attacks a preacher… I had never worried about him getting hurt on the job.

He didn’t know where he was or what day of the week it was, but… I knew he was still in there because when he would pray, he could pray for all the missionaries that our church supported. And our church family in alphabetical order. The devil attacked him, but the Lord preserved the part of his brain in which his Bible knowledge and prayer life was stored.

When I would feel lonesome I would ask him to pray so I could hear the Craig I had known for years! Again, I got to experience the second phase of God’s grace. I did all I could to help him get better, taking on the role of care giver. I was his chauffer for 51 days!! Because he lost the use of his arm, due to blood clots in his shoulder, he could not drive. Eventually he regained full use of his arm with physical therapy.

Don’t ever pray for patience…. just saying!

Our kids and church family took amazing care of us at that time. I was able to share and pass on the goodies and prayers with all the other families in the ICU waiting room. There were so many without family, friends, hope or the Lord. Most were in there because of motorcycle accidents.

When we got home, and life settled back into a routine…. things were different… our relationship, his personality, the way he made decisions, the way he did things.

For example – he had washed his truck on Monday afternoon for 31 plus years, now he hardly ever washes his truck. This is a small change, both are fine, just different.

It is hard to explain the differences to other people, but to me they are Huge!

Emotional detachment and perseveration are the 2 main differences we still deal with. Along with him losing his sense of taste and smell.

I had never heard of emotional detachment, but I was now having to learn to live with it..

Definition of emotional detachment - a tragedy that can cause a person to lose their emotional connection to other people.

Definition of perseveration – repetition of a particular response.

The first year was all about his recovery and getting things back to normal.

The following year I knew something was terribly wrong.

People would say, “your so blessed that he survived!”

And yes, I was, but I still had to allow myself time to mourn the loss that I felt.

That is when I realized I was mourning the loss of the man (my honey) that he was before the attack. The man that I had loved for 30 plus years, that man was gone!

I would find myself crying over everything because I couldn’t tell anyone why I was really crying… I felt so guilty for feeling this way, because he was still right there in front of me. I finally asked the Lord to take away my tears… and He did!

I started a journal of sorts, that helped a lot, to just write out my thoughts and verses that spoke to me. I also kept my schedule so busy that I just didn’t have a lot of time to think.

Phil. 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I am still working on this, but I consider myself a content person.

I feel like mourning the loss of a person who is still alive, is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do!

This is God’s will for our lives, but at times, hard to deal with.

I claimed these verses and hung on for the ride!

Psalms 29:13-14- I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

On the flip side it has opened doors for me to help other women who have experienced some of the same issues. Whether it be their spouse or a child.

I am not in control of these things, but deeply loved by the One who is!

We promised till death do us part, and we both meant it. June28, 2019 will be our 39th wedding anniversary.

Marriage is for a life time!

Will it always be easy? NO

Will it be worth it? YES

Just remember, everyone has a story.