Mentoring Woman: SHALL WE GATHER?

Mentoring Woman: SHALL WE GATHER?: This week I took one of my granddaughter's out to lunch and with me to the grocery store.  It is a part of my "Reconne...

SHALL WE GATHER?

This week I took one of my granddaughter's out to lunch and with me to the grocery store.  It is a part of my "Reconnection and Save Grandma Some Steps" summer program.  As we were hauling the groceries into the house, her comment to me was:  "Wow, grandma, this is some workout!"   I wanted to say to her, "Welcome to the sisterhood of "The Great Gatherers" my dear."  (Not to be confused with the "Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants", whatever that is!)  I  truly wanted to grab a wooden spoon and knight her on the head as part of this initiation process, but I thought she might think I had completely gone cuckoo cuckoo!

We women ARE gatherers, are we not?  We gather up the laundry to wash it.  We gather up coupons so we can gather the groceries at the store.  We gather up all the ingredients to make a recipe.  We gather up the kids to head out the door for school, games, events, and even church on Sunday.  We gather up the bills to be paid.  We gather up the items left on counters, floors, and car seats.  And last but not least, at the end of the day, we try to gather the little remaining sanity and thoughts we have together!  Whew!  No wonder I need a grandchild to help after all these years.  My gatherer is completely wore out!

God is a gatherer.  He really is!   The big difference is: God does not grow weary in His gathering.

Genesis 1:9-10, NIV "And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear."  And it was so.  God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas."  And God saw that it was good.

Psalm 33:7, NIV  "He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses."

Isaiah 40:11, NIV  "He tends his flock like a shepherd:  He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."

Luke 13:34, NIV  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

Matthew 24:30-31, NIV  "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.  They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.  And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."

Gathering is an important task that we women do. We may not think so at the time, because we just get one load of laundry done and it's time to gather another one.  But I am encouraging you as an older woman today, that you not grow weary in your gathering skills. Your family needs you!  If you continue on...then someday you might have the added blessing of a grandchild to help you with your gathering and this whole cycle of "The Great Gatherers" will continue on.


With all this talk about gathering, I suddenly want to break out and sing, "Shall We Gather At The River!"  Hmmm...maybe I am going cuckoo, cuckoo!

Mentoring Woman: 'LET IT BE!"

Mentoring Woman: 'LET IT BE!": You might think from the title that today's blog might have something to do with "The Beatles" or the type of Bee shown abov...

'LET IT BE!"

You might think from the title that today's blog might have something to do with "The Beatles" or the type of Bee shown above, but that is not the case.  I have to admit that the "Beatles" were my heroes in eighth grade, and yes, I even stood in line for several hours to get tickets to their first movie "Hard Days Night."  Silly teenager that I was!

No, today's blog has to do with my real earthly hero, my husband.  As I have told you before, I had polio as a child and now suffer from post-polio syndrome.  The nerves and muscles that once gave me the strength and the stamina to raise a family, are slowly wearing out.  They cry out to me in the wee hours of the morning with pain and make me really exhausted a lot of the time.  I don't tell you this for sympathy, but to let you know where I am coming from in our discussion.

I must admit that sometimes the affects of polio really get to me and I was having a day like that this week.  I asked my husband, "What good am I?"  "I can hardly do anything anymore!"  Hey, everyone needs a pity party once in awhile!  His answer to me has resonated over and over in my mind.  "You don't have to do, you just have to be!"  Yes, he is a keeper and as I told you, my hero.

This got me to thinking about my Christian walk.  God doesn't ask me to DO either, He asks me to BE!

Think about the story of Paul and Silas in jail in the book of Acts 16:25-34.  There Paul and Silas are praying and singing hymns and an earthquake happens and the prison doors are opened.  The jailer woke up and thought that Paul and Silas had escaped.  The jailer became fearful of what might happen if they did and was even thinking of harming himself!   So the story goes in Acts 16:28-31:  "But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself!  We are all here!"  The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.  He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (NIV)  Isn't that still the age old question?  We all want to DO something to win favor with God!    Notice what they said to him, "BElieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you an your household."  Acts 16:31,( NIV)  Really Paul and Silas it's that simple?  It's that simple!
We're the ones who make it hard, thinking to ourselves that we have to DO something before God accepts us.  Are you one of those ones who think I need to quit smoking first?  I need to quit partying first?  I need to try and do better?  It is a lie from Satan, himself!  God doesn't require you to DO!

Although not an exhaustive list, here are some other BE's if you are a child of God:

BE on your guard; stand firm in the faith; BE men of courage; BE strong. (I Cor. 16:13)
BE sympathetic, love as brothers, BE compassionate and humble.  (I Peter 3:8b)
BE merciful to those who doubt (Jude 1:22)
BE completely humble and gentle; BE patient, bearing with one another in love. (Eph. 4:2)
BE merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36)
BE joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12)  Even in post polio syndrome Lord?  Yes, even then!

These verses don't require us DOing but just BEing as a part of this new creation God has made us. This is my mentoring challenge for us all today!

Mentoring Woman: A SHOCKING EXPERIENCE

Mentoring Woman: A SHOCKING EXPERIENCE: Ever think about electric dog fences?  I know, the way my mind wanders never ceases to amaze me either! I was drivi...

A SHOCKING EXPERIENCE

Ever think about electric dog fences?  I know, the way my mind wanders never ceases to amaze me either! I was driving down the road last week when I noticed all these little white flags in someones yard.  I knew that either they had just gotten a new dog or they were training the one they had to stay in the confines of their own domain.

This got me to thinking.  What would happen if God zapped me each time I stepped out of the confines of  His domain also?  Oh, I don't mean a knock me on my seat type of thing, but just a little zap? "You shouldn't have said that Becky!"  ZAP     "You shouldn't have watched that Becky!"   ZAP
"You shouldn't have read that Becky!"  ZAP  "You shouldn't have had that thought!"  ZAP  You catch my drift?  I just wonder how many times a day I would get it?

In a way God does provide us with a ZAP by the Holy Spirit. When we trust Christ as our personal Saviour, the Holy Spirit indwells us.  One of  the things the Holy Spirit does is convict us of sin. , "When He (Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:  (John 16: 8, NIV) "You need to go ask for forgiveness from that person Becky!"   "You need to ask forgiveness from God for that sin Becky!"  The problem is, just like a dog does with these little jolts of electrical current,  I justify in my mind that it is worth the risk to run outside the boundaries and see what is on the other side.  Please tell me I am not the only one who struggles with this issue!

However, God's word tells me that everyone of us sins and we are deceiving ourselves to think otherwise!  My mentoring challenge for us today is this:  Listen to the Holy Spirit.  Is He directing you to seek forgiveness from someone?  Is He prompting you to confess a sin?   If so, rejoice!  God is at work in You conforming you to His imagine!   A good ZAP once in awhile never hurt nobody!  (I think my grandma told me this!)