Hey Friends,
I can't tell you how much your prayers and support have been to us these last couple of months.
Here it is a few days from March, and we are still struggling in our little boat. We have confirmed that land is ahead of us, but the current, waves and wind still pound us. We are following Jesus...He is walking ahead of us...In fact, I can see Him better each day. Oh! How I want to follow Him! Even through this treacherous storm...I don't want Him out of my sight.
I believe He has given me permission to share some of the details of our storm.
On January 9th Mike was let go at Billy Graham. Since my job had been cut back to 1/5th time we knew we were in serious trouble. I know there are a lot of folks in our situation in this economy, but this also brought out some pride issues and hurt...like I've never experienced before.
Why is it that Christians can be the most cruel to other Christians?
Mike was out of work one week.....He got a job at Cracker Barrel as a server. I am so proud of him.
Our whole life has been up in the air tossed and turned by the wind and waves of this storm. Our bills, our insurance, Zoie's school....everything.
But when I say Jesus was walking ahead of us, I meant it! We have not missed one payment on anything! He has provided everything! Even counseling! Mike and I are going to a counselor because of the hurts and anger that came to the surface. It has been wonderful....hard at times ...I mean who wants to bring up their junk anyway....but...oh...so...healing.
Now for the land we see ahead.
Through God's amazing guidance and grace, Mike is filling out all the paperwork (and there is a ton) to become an Army Chaplain. He feels more called to this than anything I have ever seen him go toward! If all goes well, he will enter Army Chaplains/Officer's school in September. He will be there three months. Then we will move to where ever God directs us.
This is God Y'all! Our families and Zoie are behind this! Our church and friends have all been more than encouraging.
Mike put it this way: "I have never dreamed that there was a vocational ministry position out there, that would take every desire I have ever had in ministry and roll it into one position... until I looked at The Army Chaplaincy."
Our life is changing...in every way except one...
GOD IS WITH US AND FOR US!
Pray for us as we start this transition. We will remain in a finacial storm until September. Pray for this priss-pot as one day soon she will be in the middle of an Army base surrounded by people in fatigues carrying guns! I can't wait!
I love you guys
Pamela
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A Mouse Story
Hey Friends,
I have been meditating on friendship and prayer this morning.
It brought to mind this story that someone had e-mailed me about 10 years ago. I had saved it to use as a children's sermon. I pulled it up and would like to share it with you.
I do not know who the author is. If you know this story and the author, please let me know so I can give credit where it is due. I hope this story impacts you the same way it did me this morning.
A Mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. "What food might this contain?" He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house." The pig sympathized but said, "I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow. She said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse, I'm sorry for you. But it's no skin off my nose."
So the mouse returned to the house, head-down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.
Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well. She died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it doesn't concern you, remember that when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. In the book of Genesis, Cain said about Able his brother to our God: "Am I my brother's keeper?" We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and be willing to make that extra effort to encourage one another.
In talking about the body, Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 12:26, "So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one is honored, all the members rejoice with it."
You have prayed with me, encouraged me and rejoiced with me. I thank God for your love and friendship. Thank you for not being like the pig, the chicken or the cow!
Our storm is starting to clear...at least a little...we can see the the horizon again. We are not out of trouble. But I see Jesus walking on the water ahead of us. I, unlike Peter, am going to stay in the boat and keep my eyes on Jesus!
More later
Love Pamela
I have been meditating on friendship and prayer this morning.
It brought to mind this story that someone had e-mailed me about 10 years ago. I had saved it to use as a children's sermon. I pulled it up and would like to share it with you.
I do not know who the author is. If you know this story and the author, please let me know so I can give credit where it is due. I hope this story impacts you the same way it did me this morning.
A Mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. "What food might this contain?" He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house." The pig sympathized but said, "I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow. She said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse, I'm sorry for you. But it's no skin off my nose."
So the mouse returned to the house, head-down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.
Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well. She died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it doesn't concern you, remember that when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. In the book of Genesis, Cain said about Able his brother to our God: "Am I my brother's keeper?" We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and be willing to make that extra effort to encourage one another.
In talking about the body, Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 12:26, "So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one is honored, all the members rejoice with it."
You have prayed with me, encouraged me and rejoiced with me. I thank God for your love and friendship. Thank you for not being like the pig, the chicken or the cow!
Our storm is starting to clear...at least a little...we can see the the horizon again. We are not out of trouble. But I see Jesus walking on the water ahead of us. I, unlike Peter, am going to stay in the boat and keep my eyes on Jesus!
More later
Love Pamela
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Counting Sheep
Hey Friends!
Thanks for playing with me last week it was a great break for me, to not focus on the storms that are raging in my life right now.
We are still in the midst of them. But I do think I might be seeing a break in the clouds....or was that just more lightning?
Even though we are still being pounded by the wind and waves of this storm, we are still standing on our faith!
Like the fishermen/disciples on that stormy sea of Galilee, we do all we know how to do. All the things that have worked before. Things we have done many times and have trained others to do. We batten down our hatches with prayer, secure the sails through reading the Word, say memory verses in chants...so that our timing is in line with God's, huddle together so no one goes over board, and lower the anchor by practicing the spiritual disciplines like fasting, confessing sins, and singing songs of thanksgiving and praise. All these things are helping to keep our boat afloat. Alas maties! Even as it was with that storm on the Sea of Galilee....what happens when the storm is still too much?
Like the disciples I find myself wanting to go shake Jesus awake!
I too want to ask Him, "How can You sleep when Your child is nearly drowning? How can you not get up and do something?"
Jesus asked the disciples a question that also comes back to me:
"Where is your faith?" Luke 8:24
Did the disciples not show faith by coming to Jesus? Am I not showing my faith by doing all the spiritual things I know to do?
You know what I think? I think the answer is no!
They would have shown greater faith by going down and going to sleep with Him!
Faith is not the work of the spiritual disciplines and rituals. Faith is the resting! Resting and letting Him take care of things even if He does it in His sleep!
After doing everything we know to do...after all, I do believe God expects us to use the gifts, abilities and knowledge He gave us...we should then REST!
So for today...during this hard storm...I think I will continue to ask you to pray for us, while I go take a little nap with Jesus!
Good night!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Pamela
Thanks for playing with me last week it was a great break for me, to not focus on the storms that are raging in my life right now.
We are still in the midst of them. But I do think I might be seeing a break in the clouds....or was that just more lightning?
Even though we are still being pounded by the wind and waves of this storm, we are still standing on our faith!
Like the fishermen/disciples on that stormy sea of Galilee, we do all we know how to do. All the things that have worked before. Things we have done many times and have trained others to do. We batten down our hatches with prayer, secure the sails through reading the Word, say memory verses in chants...so that our timing is in line with God's, huddle together so no one goes over board, and lower the anchor by practicing the spiritual disciplines like fasting, confessing sins, and singing songs of thanksgiving and praise. All these things are helping to keep our boat afloat. Alas maties! Even as it was with that storm on the Sea of Galilee....what happens when the storm is still too much?
Like the disciples I find myself wanting to go shake Jesus awake!
I too want to ask Him, "How can You sleep when Your child is nearly drowning? How can you not get up and do something?"
Jesus asked the disciples a question that also comes back to me:
"Where is your faith?" Luke 8:24
Did the disciples not show faith by coming to Jesus? Am I not showing my faith by doing all the spiritual things I know to do?
You know what I think? I think the answer is no!
They would have shown greater faith by going down and going to sleep with Him!
Faith is not the work of the spiritual disciplines and rituals. Faith is the resting! Resting and letting Him take care of things even if He does it in His sleep!
After doing everything we know to do...after all, I do believe God expects us to use the gifts, abilities and knowledge He gave us...we should then REST!
So for today...during this hard storm...I think I will continue to ask you to pray for us, while I go take a little nap with Jesus!
Good night!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Pamela
Friday, February 6, 2009
Mystery Solved
Hey Y'all,
Are you waiting with baited breath?
The best detective and mystery solver is .....
Mivida at http://faithwithheels.blogspot.com/
She got 8 out of the 10 questions right.
Actually most of you were right.
So here is the actual answers:
1) I am 5 feet tall. Exactly 5 feet tall, so short is the right answer.
2) My hair is blond...always has been, though I do control my coming gray with highlights
3)My hair is just past my shoulders so I accepted long or shoulder length.
4) I can't believe I'm admitting this but...I am 46.
5) After carefully watching myself these last few days, I decided that I wear pink and red lipstick equally....so I counted either one.
6) I do wear glasses and I have since I was 16 years old. Sigh...
7) I fooled everyone on this one! I am a priss-pot with un-kept nails....isn't that just sad! Its a money thing for me and I don't do a good job by myself. I guess I am more stingy than prissy!
8) You know, Zoie made me go count the colors in my closet. I had one color in mind but when I actually looked through my closet I discovered that I don't need any more blue clothes!
9) I wear my hair straight...I work hard getting it straight every morning but as you will see in the pictures...It is NATURALLY curly. I did count it if you said wavy!
10) Everyone got this one! Zoie rolled her eyes when she read the question, then looked at me with a grin on her face and said DUUUUH! So smile is right. I can't help it; I come from a long line of laughers. We just find the world funny...even at sad times we find something to laugh about. Maybe we are just plain nutty!
So now I am going to try to put the pictures up here. There are two. The first is how I look everyday. Even though I am trying to lose some weight. The second is my natural curls. You guys need to feel special because usually the only people who get to see this, are those who see me...after I've got caught in a bad rainstorm!
See my nails? SAAAAAAAADDDDDD.
See all those curls...look close do you see my hot pink pump earrings?
I had so much fun doing this!
I learned somethings about myself too! Like, I seem to have a lot more blue clothes than I realized!
Thanks for playing with me!
love ya!
Pamela
Are you waiting with baited breath?
The best detective and mystery solver is .....
Mivida at http://faithwithheels.blogspot.com/
She got 8 out of the 10 questions right.
Actually most of you were right.
So here is the actual answers:
1) I am 5 feet tall. Exactly 5 feet tall, so short is the right answer.
2) My hair is blond...always has been, though I do control my coming gray with highlights
3)My hair is just past my shoulders so I accepted long or shoulder length.
4) I can't believe I'm admitting this but...I am 46.
5) After carefully watching myself these last few days, I decided that I wear pink and red lipstick equally....so I counted either one.
6) I do wear glasses and I have since I was 16 years old. Sigh...
7) I fooled everyone on this one! I am a priss-pot with un-kept nails....isn't that just sad! Its a money thing for me and I don't do a good job by myself. I guess I am more stingy than prissy!
8) You know, Zoie made me go count the colors in my closet. I had one color in mind but when I actually looked through my closet I discovered that I don't need any more blue clothes!
9) I wear my hair straight...I work hard getting it straight every morning but as you will see in the pictures...It is NATURALLY curly. I did count it if you said wavy!
10) Everyone got this one! Zoie rolled her eyes when she read the question, then looked at me with a grin on her face and said DUUUUH! So smile is right. I can't help it; I come from a long line of laughers. We just find the world funny...even at sad times we find something to laugh about. Maybe we are just plain nutty!
So now I am going to try to put the pictures up here. There are two. The first is how I look everyday. Even though I am trying to lose some weight. The second is my natural curls. You guys need to feel special because usually the only people who get to see this, are those who see me...after I've got caught in a bad rainstorm!
See my nails? SAAAAAAAADDDDDD.
See all those curls...look close do you see my hot pink pump earrings?I had so much fun doing this!
I learned somethings about myself too! Like, I seem to have a lot more blue clothes than I realized!
Thanks for playing with me!
love ya!
Pamela
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Pinkshoelady Mystery
Are you having fun playing my game? See post below to play.
I am!
Some of you are pretty good amateur detectives.
I love mysteries. Life is full of them but God has the most.
I believe that we will never understand all the mind and the ways of God. Two reasons mostly: if we knew the full mind of God we would then be equal to God...never going to happen, and second since I believe God has no limits there will be no limits on what I can learn about Him even in eternity.
Isn't that exciting?
It excites me!
Tomorrow you will get the results of our game. I will select the winner and post my picture.
SEE ya then!
Love ya
Pamela
I am!
Some of you are pretty good amateur detectives.
I love mysteries. Life is full of them but God has the most.
I believe that we will never understand all the mind and the ways of God. Two reasons mostly: if we knew the full mind of God we would then be equal to God...never going to happen, and second since I believe God has no limits there will be no limits on what I can learn about Him even in eternity.
Isn't that exciting?
It excites me!
Tomorrow you will get the results of our game. I will select the winner and post my picture.
SEE ya then!
Love ya
Pamela
Monday, February 2, 2009
Wanna' Play A Game With Me?
He Y'all!
I had my procedure and I am sore, but doing well. I will know in about two weeks if it did the trick or not. It takes that long for the soreness to leave.
My family and I have been through so much lately. We are still in the midst of a physical and Spiritual storm. God is working and our faith is growing in ways I would have never dreamed.
One of the trials of life defense mechanisms, I have learned over the years is to find something to laugh about. Laughter is good medicine for both body and spirit.
That being said, I thought it was time to have some fun.
Do you wanna' play a game with me?
Here it goes:
Would you know me if I came into your church next Sunday? Would you recognize the Pinkshoelady? I have purposefully left off any pictures of me...so what do I look like?
Some of you have gotten to know the real me, not my outer shell, through my writings and our interactions...but would you recognize me in a crowd?
Here's the challenge. Answer the next few questions...making your best guesses.
The person who comes the closest to what my actual shell looks like, will win a prize!
Oh...and for the few of you who have met me and know exactly what I look like...you may play...but...sadly you do not qualify for the prize.
1) How tall am I? (Tall Short Medium)
2) What color is my hair?
3) Is my hair long or short?
4) How old am I?
5) Lipstick shade? (Pink Red Plain)
6) Glasses?
7) Are my nails kept or un-kept?
8) What color do you think I wear the most?
9) Is my hair naturally curly or straight?
10) What expression is most often on my face?
The winner will receive The beautiful book by Ruth Graham called Sitting By My Laughing Fire.
I hope you have fun. You may be surprised and some of the questions are tricky. I will pick the winner on Friday. I will also post my picture for the first time.
I am giggling as I post this and get ready for bed.
It is good for the soul.
Thank you God for good friends and laughter!
Love Pamela
I had my procedure and I am sore, but doing well. I will know in about two weeks if it did the trick or not. It takes that long for the soreness to leave.
My family and I have been through so much lately. We are still in the midst of a physical and Spiritual storm. God is working and our faith is growing in ways I would have never dreamed.
One of the trials of life defense mechanisms, I have learned over the years is to find something to laugh about. Laughter is good medicine for both body and spirit.
That being said, I thought it was time to have some fun.
Do you wanna' play a game with me?
Here it goes:
Would you know me if I came into your church next Sunday? Would you recognize the Pinkshoelady? I have purposefully left off any pictures of me...so what do I look like?
Some of you have gotten to know the real me, not my outer shell, through my writings and our interactions...but would you recognize me in a crowd?
Here's the challenge. Answer the next few questions...making your best guesses.
The person who comes the closest to what my actual shell looks like, will win a prize!
Oh...and for the few of you who have met me and know exactly what I look like...you may play...but...sadly you do not qualify for the prize.
1) How tall am I? (Tall Short Medium)
2) What color is my hair?
3) Is my hair long or short?
4) How old am I?
5) Lipstick shade? (Pink Red Plain)
6) Glasses?
7) Are my nails kept or un-kept?
8) What color do you think I wear the most?
9) Is my hair naturally curly or straight?
10) What expression is most often on my face?
The winner will receive The beautiful book by Ruth Graham called Sitting By My Laughing Fire.
I hope you have fun. You may be surprised and some of the questions are tricky. I will pick the winner on Friday. I will also post my picture for the first time.
I am giggling as I post this and get ready for bed.
It is good for the soul.
Thank you God for good friends and laughter!
Love Pamela
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