Can We Ask: Where Was God?
/Where was God? When my daughter or son was diagnosed? was hit by that truck?was making such self-destructive choices? Why didn’t He intervene?
Read MoreJehovah, My Shepherd
/Psalm 23 is such a familiar psalm of David. As I was reading this psalm recently, I began to think about how the Lord shepherds His people. These verses talk about the...
Read MoreOur Best Friend
/Everybody wants at least one true friend that will stick by us through thick or thin, a friend that will love us through all kinds of adversity and not desert us in time of need (Proverbs 17:17; 18:24b). Is there such a person for each one of us? . . .
Read MoreWrestling with Questions
/Many, but not all, bereaved parents have tough questions they want to ask. Often it’s hard to find acceptable answers. Often God doesn’t answer as quickly as we would like.
Read MoreGrief and Brokenness
/A quote from Experiencing Grief by H. Norman Wright says:
In a sense grieving is a show of faith. We are trusting God to hold us in our most vulnerable time, when our feelings are raw, our life is in pieces, and our strength is gone.
An example of grief is a broken clay pot. If you take it outside and drop it or take a hammer to this clay pot, it will break into several pieces. Then take a marker and on some of the inside pieces write what your grief feels like (pain, a broken heart.) And then on the outside pieces write some of the things that support you and what is helpful in your grief (friends who listen.)
Then reassemble the pot with glue. While doing so, use this time to talk with God. Ask for His presence. Tell Him how you feel on the inside. Tell Him the pain you have. He wants to hear from you. He wants to meet with you in the brokenness. As you glue the pieces that have things on them that support you thank God for those things, the people that hold you as you cry and listen while you express your anger.
As you complete the pot remember that God is the original Potter and that He wants His name to be written somewhere on one of the outside pieces. He wants to support you, to be the glue that holds together the brokenness.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
This activity can be done individually and also as a family with school aged children.
The Blameless Walk
/Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellow man, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken. Psalm 15
As I read this Psalm it brought to mind...
Read MoreA Season For Everything
/There is a season for every activity under heaven,…As I look at the list and think about grief, most of the “times” can be part of grief
Read MoreExtending Support
/On Monday evening, September 9th, there were 3 support groups that met in different locations, all addressing different concerns and at the same time centering on the same resource, the Word of God. In one group . . .
Read MoreAbundantly Available
/Perhaps you are helping someone through ministry or caring for a loved one or even feeling overwhelmed by what is going on in your life right now. In Psalm 55, David was up against some really tough enemies and feeling pretty distressed by his situation. However, David knew that...
Read MoreJohn 11 - Jesus
/His deep troubles were personal, for Lazarus and this scene in front of him. And His troubles were about the BIG picture – sin brought death; death stings; there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood; His blood shed for us, each of us is a sinner.
Read MoreGod's Flood Insurance
/Recently we experienced an unexpected flood in my parents' home. As the waters rushed through the duct work from the top floor to the bottom floor of the house, we scurried to turn the water off. There was quite a mess to clean up and the task seemed daunting, but we all pitched in and the affected areas were cleaned up and allowed to dry for several days. As fast as the water was flowing, it seemed like it would overtake the entire house if we didn't turn off the water. This makes me think of...
Read MoreThe Importance Of Obedience
/Wow! Do you and I realize that incomplete obedience is really disobedience? And all disobedience to God has serious . . .
Read MoreJohn 11 – What Was It Like For Lazarus
/His family was dealing with his death – sorrow, burial arrangements and the burial itself. Visitors, food, tears, sorrow. You know how it feels. ...Meanwhile, Lazarus is on the other side of the life/death divide. Who greeted him in Heaven?
Read MoreServe In Love
/Our new missionary/ministry staff training week was completed a few weeks ago. This week is called SERVANT Orientation and the purpose is to...
Read MoreJohn 11 - Expectations
/In response to these observations and remembering some of what this Jesus had already done, they wondered why He hadn’t prevented this death, because they knew he could have. They had high expectations of Jesus...
Read MoreGod Is My Portion
/Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you could not go any further? Perhaps you were giving your all to what you were doing and your strength was waning. Maybe you were ready to...
Read More2013 SERVANT Orientation
/As I type this, H*VMI is completing our 2013 SERVANT Orientation training week. It's a time where the new members of our team learn more about the background, philosophy and staff which make up this organization. As in the past, I am humbled and blessed to be a co-laborer with our new staff members. Their love for the Lord, desire to please and serve Him along with their experience and education simply amazes me. They all fill positions within the organization that are vital and God is already using them to bring Him glory and reach out in their specific area of ministry.
Our new H*VMI family members include:
Steve Gentino, our accountant
Stephanie Noble, sharing the Gospel with women in prison through our REST ministries and serving as a counselor at Handi*Camp
Charles and Linda Johnson, expanding H*VMI in the state of Delaware by promoting the ministry to pastors and setting up seminars
(from right to left, back row: Steve, Charles; front row: Stephanie, Linda)
Please pray for each of these precious servants of the Lord as they utilize the gifts God has placed within them.
Legacy
/Legacy is a word that holds a lot of meaning. When a loved one dies, I believe we still learn from our loved one’s legacy. We learn to never give up on something we believe in, we learn more about suffering and we learn to live in the moment.
A few weeks ago at the BASIS picnic Don and Iris showed us the trees they plant every year in honor of their daughter Crystal’s legacy. I loved walking around their yard learning more about Crystal and what a lovely daughter, mother, wife and softball player she was. There were two paintings of a pair of softball cleats in their living room. One was done by Crystal and one was done by her daughter, Robin. Crystal’s legacy lives on through her children, Robin who is now in college and Jeff who is in high school. The tress are symbolic reminders of her life which was well lived. As I was thinking about the symbolism of the trees, I remembered a song by Justin Rizzo, the lyrics include, “I want to be like a tree planted by the streams of living water...”
I imagine the lyrics come from Jeremiah 17:8 which reads...
They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
I loved the symbolism a tree can represent in our own lives. God often uses our “drought” seasons to mold us and then He turns them into seasons that bear fruit. This is a perfect example of what the Lord is doing through Don and Iris. He using their testimony to walk alongside others who have lost a child.
As C2H2 evolves it is my desire to explore the idea of legacy with children and teens and encourage them to find their own ways of honoring their loved one’s legacy because legacies live on beyond us to impact the world with the Lord's love and compassion. God can turn our darkest seasons into something He can use to help others. That is why our God is always good.
I would love to hear how you honor your loved one’s legacy and how you have seen God's fruit during "drought" seasons? Please share below.
Healthy Perspective
/It is not always easy to maintain a healthy perspective in life and ministry. There may be times when fear, anxiety, unmet expectations, frustration and anger may creep into what we are trying to accomplish for God. We may ask ourselves - Why am I so concerned about...
Read MoreJohn 11 - If Only...
/If only...’s are tough questions that come out of faith and hurt and hope. Jesus is Lord of these details too. He invites you to ask your tough questions.
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