Twas’ the Night Before Christmas in Bethlehem
Tara Rye/ Copyright 2003


Twas’ the night before Christmas
In the Town of Bethlehem
The villagers were bustling
Since the census began

Joseph and Mary were traveling
With a babe jostling inside
Hoping to reach the village
Before he decided to no longer hide

Joseph was urging the caravan on
As his senses were heightened
By the mission
He was on

As best as she could
Mary stayed with the pace
Concerned with the expression
On Joseph’s sun weathered face

The contractions came
With quite a surprise
Mary’s voice cried to the wind
Under Bethlehem’s sky

Quickly they knocked
On each villager’s door
No one had room
Not even a floor

One Villager
Who saw their plight
Said I have a stable
You can have for the night

The sheep, cows, and donkeys
Munched on the hay
As Mary laid down
To deliver this day

Emmanuel, God with us
Was born this night
Our Deliverer and Redeemer
She swaddled so tight

As shepherds nearby kept watch
Over their flocks at night
Angels appeared above them
And gave a terrible fright

The Glory of the LORD shone
And the angels declared
We have great news
No need to be scared

Today in the Town of David
A Savior is born
He is Christ the LORD
Go find Him in a manger this morn

Suddenly the sky was filled with singing
Glory to God in the Highest
Peace and good will to men He was bringing
With whom His favor rests.



Hallelujah!


Praise the LORD!

AGAIN!

I love it when a child enjoys something so much that they say, “AGAIN!” When I hear these words I know I have connected with their heart and mind. Yesterday, as I taught at the mission I heard this request—AGAIN!

I looked out at the women in my class pondering that their stories are similar, but different. I felt overwhelmed by the collective pain in the room. Our lesson point—God takes that which is ordinary and uses it for the extraordinary. Without a thought, I told HIStory while inserting one of the ladies names into the plot…

“Sheila, God so loved you that He took His Son and said, “I need You to go to earth for Sheila.” God sent Jesus as a baby lying in a manger—so ordinary and simple. Yet, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature in favor with God and man. He did everything the Father asked of Him. He preached, taught, healed, cast out demons, and loved. Yet, man spat on Him, rejected Him, cursed Him, and killed Him on a cross. Jesus willing accepted all of this for you. He went to the cross, He died, rose from the grave and is coming again for you. God took that which is ordinary—a baby and did something extraordinary, He gave us a Savior. He wants to do the same for you. He wants take that which is ordinary and do something extraordinary.”

Just as I finished the story Patricia looked at me and said, “Will you please say that again?” I asked, “What part?” She said, “All of it!” A grandmother of seven and mother of five asked me to tell the story AGAIN! There is sweetness in hearing the story of Jesus. It is truth that penetrates into the very marrow of our bones and heals. I retold the story with her name. Who in your life needs to hear the simplicity of the truth that God so loved you that He sent His one and only Son to earth just for you?

Father, give us opportunities to simply tell the story and hear the blessing of AGAIN!

I wish I could be with you now to connect with you-- face to face, heart to heart and simply tell each other the story.

Simply, Tara

September 22, 2009

This photo is taken by my step dad Paul. It truly is one of those GOD incidents. But it truly captures my heart and how I felt as I worshiped in Pageant these last few months. Serving in Pageant with my daughter Mikayla (she is the blonde angel just over my head) has powerfully blessed me beyond measure. I have met God face to face daily in amazing ways that are hard to put into words. Last night just before our last worship time, as I sat in the baptistery praying and waiting for Mikayla and I to go out and minister over the manger, I saw the shadow of the manger hay on the wall and it looked just like a crown of thorns. My heart was pierced with the thought, Jesus came into this earth with us pricking Him with hay, He walked on this earth with us pricking Him with our judgment, and He left this earth with us pricking Him with a crown of thorns. Yet, He still loves us! ONLY JESUS! ONLY THE SAVIOR! UNTO THE LAMB… GLORY FOREVER! Thank YOU Jesus for YOUR Gift of Life this Christmas Season! It is my prayer that your heart glows with deep embers flaming for JESUS not just today, but every day this YEAR!

I want to respond to my own blog... A few blogs ago I wrote about a phrase, "God has no expectation upon you." My initial reaction was that is impossible of course He does! God has a way of making a question come to light later on as we reflect. Recently, as I reflected on the prayer... "GOD has no expectation upon you." I remembered something. GOD knows everything about me. He can't expect upon me because HE already knows what I will do and be in this life. Likewise, GOD is love! When we truly love someone we do not have expectations upon them. We simply love them! Mind you we might have expectancy, but not expectations. When we have expectations we often are greatly disappointed because expectations place one in a position of meeting anothers standards. This can change from person to person. What one expects is different depending upon life circumstances. But expectancy is a hope for enjoyment, delight... presence. Two sources helped me with this struggle: a novel and a devotional. I read in a devotional by Charles Spurgeon that since GOD is love He cannot be in isolation. WHY? Because love must have two for it to be love. This is what spurred my realization that since GOD is love He does not have expecations upon me. He loves me as I am simply because I am His. That is incredibly special. What a sweetness we have in our Jesus! The novel-- The Shack provides a great dialogue with this exact concept. I really enjoyed how the author tackled this concept. Both of these challenged my thoughts... I love a good thought provoking moment in the LORD!

But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord. Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." Acts 15:35-36 (NIV)

Good day mates! Yes, we are back from the land down under and we celebrated a joyful time with our blokes (friends)! As I reflect on our missionary journey to Australia, I am reminded of Paul and Barnabas going on their missionary journeys. I realize our time was all about the Word of God! The Father allowed us the privilege to encourage the saints and find ourselves also encouraged. We prayed, we discipled, we ministered grace, and we taught the Word. We received prayer, discipleship, grace and heard incredible praise! One thing is for certain, I have asked GOD to teach me to praise as our brothers and sisters do in Australia. They do a minimum of an hour of prayer, praise and worship before the teaching even begins. Without a doubt, many miraculous things happened, but this trip will remain one that we will have to wait and see the details of all that took place when we are in heaven. The Word was prevalent and grace was evident. Joy manifested itself in expressive ways. The Deep was pursued and He never fails.

Maurine and I had the privilege of visiting Ayudell and Adeola our first full day there. (Their four month old passed a way just before we came.) The Father allowed me the privilege of washing their feet. Sometimes I wonder what people must think of me. It simply came to this… as I prayed for them I asked God what would Jesus do if He were here. I knew my words were useless and it was not the time to share a personal story or even speak the Word. Jesus would cry and touch. I told them so and that I simply wanted to be Jesus to them by touching them in a loving way to let them know Jesus loves them. By God’s grace they both humbly allowed me to wash and massage their feet. AND YOU KNOW I PRAYED OVER THOSE BELOVED SOLES!

Until mid day Saturday, I dealt with a daunting spiritual oppression. It fell on me the minute we arrived in Australia. I do so hate oppression. It is such a frustrating nemesis. I always battle my mind when this happens. The only way I can describe it is like a fog covers my mental capabilities and I cannot think as clearly. I know it is oppression and not digestion because it typically remains for a specified amount of time and is only released as prayer is upped! I confessed to Maurine what I was dealing with mid Saturday morning and she began praying over me and I know this would have been Friday morning for ya’ll and this would have been when ya’ll would have started praying. Thank YOU! Clarity is a good thing when you are teaching and I really want it evident in me when I am teaching.

Someone did pray to recommit their life to Christ. At first I thought it was someone asking for salvation, but after clarification it is someone that walked away from GOD and is now returning. Please pray for this loved one. Also, after the Saturday night service Shally brought Gloria up to me for me to pray. She has a benign tumor on her fallopian tube that is causing her great pain. I always feel so inadequate praying for someone in pain. I am so glad GOD is great and HE alone is healer and sustainer. Anyhow, I prayed with fear and trepidation that I only honor GOD and HIS perfect power. Gloria’s face was so sad and her eyes showed that the pain was intense. On Sunday morning as I saw her walk in, I was amazed by her appearance. She looked lifted so I went to her to ask her how she felt. She leaned in and whispered to me, “I had something happen to me last night. While driving home I felt something and I no longer had pain after.” Her eyes were clear and bright. Praise GOD! She is scheduled to have surgery this week. Please pray that the pain stay gone and that they are able to remove it without destroying her female organs.

The LORD is good in that Pastor IB and Shally both said that they will want me back. This is only to the glory of the LORD! God willing I will go again someday. This trip also solidified for me in my heart that someday I pray GOD will allow me the privilege of going to Africa as well. The Father has given me a great passion for the Latin American Cultures and the African American Cultures. Both make me want to be bolder in reaching them for Jesus. Once again I am reminded of how Paul was assigned to the gentiles while Peter to the Jews. Isn’t GOD wonderful!

Their women were so generous to us in so many ways. Jo Holley, our hostess, fed us every meal and made us tea! Living with her and visiting with my Maurine was truly a girls retreat! The church commissioned a lady in London to make me a traditional dress and headdress that is typical of Africa. Remember, we ministered in a Nigerian Church in Australia. It is a beautiful mint green with detailed embroidered flowers around the nape of the neck! INCREDIBLE! They said it makes me look like a angel! I sure felt blessed!

Shally is a real tease. She can joke and never crack a smile. Well… she knows how on our Russia trip we were required to wear only one skirt and take only three tops. So she told me i in jest, along with Adeola, that I had to wear a skirt and head scarf every time I taught. Ayudell’s face proved they were teasing me. I shared with Jo what happened and she determined to help me get back at Shally. Her dear friend Moreen is the same size as me so we borrowed a traditional African skirt, sash and head piece. I showed up for my first teaching time dressed in this since Shally said I had to wear a skirt and scarf. She did not blink an eye. She simply said, “Go home and change. You cannot wear that!” Needless to say she got me again. But I did not change because she was teasing. I wish you could hear the laughter that roared through the congregation as I told the story that night. It was fun! The funnier thing was I waited about 15 minutes into the lesson to share it and Moreen’s husband had walked in and told his friend Austin, “WOW! Moreen has a dress just like that!” Apparently, his surprise was the greatest.

Now for my sweet blessing... Shally took us to the zoo on Monday as our treat for serving. Their zoo is very similar to ours but one thing is different. They allow many animals free range. For example the kangaroo exhibit is an enclosure that allows you to walk a path that the emu’s, kangaroo’s etc can walk on too! While standing next to the separating bar near their feeding area a kangaroo hopped out and visited a lady. She petted him and he hopped back in. I was so disappointed because I wanted so much to touch the kangaroo. I said in my heart, O God I want to pet a kangaroo. We waited a bit and then a kangaroo stood up looked at us and hopped right up to me. I knelt down and petted his chest. He loved it so much he took my hands and pressed them up to his chest tighter. I scratched more. After a while he tired of me and he pushed my hand away and hopped off. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! I felt like GOD kissed me personally! What a blessing! I touched a kangaroo! How cool is that!

Australia is very much like North America. In fact, the influence of Britain and America are profound. It felt like America, but sounded different. You might say it is America with an accent. I don’t say that to take away their wonderful identity. I say this so you can know best how to pray. They suffer the same cultural pit falls that we do. Of all the places the LORD has allowed me to visit it is the one that I had a hard time remembering I was not in the US. Even with them driving on the wrong side of the road. I came to the conclusion they did this because of the Corealus Affect. This makes their toilets swirl the opposite direction of ours. So if something was a bit different I blamed the Corealus Affect.

Thank you for praying! God heard your prayers and allowed us a great privilege and honor! Thank you dearly! I love you and I praise GOD for you!

Gardening 101
Chapter One of Heart Garden
By: Tara Rye

“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.” Matthew 5:3

With anticipation I waited for the missionaries to show up at our breakfast meeting. I could not believe that I was on my first international mission trip in Foz de Iguazu, Brazil. My mind raced with all kinds of random questions: What are they like? Will they like us? What will they ask us to do this week? How did they become missionaries? What compelled them to leave all to serve Christ so far from home? The elevator opened and the family filled the room with their greetings. Hugs were given as if we were life long family friends returning home. As Donya came to greet me, I giggled inside because she sported a tiny diamond stud on her nostril. Since, I did not feel it appropriate to mention the cute stud I mentioned the next fun thing about her. “I like your necklace. It is cool the way you have it hooked.” Her hands rose to her neck and reminded her of what she wore. “Thanks! I made it!” She then took it off her neck and wrapped it around mine. “I want you to have it! Just promise me you will wear it!” I wonder what she would have done if I said, “I like your diamond stud!”

How little did I know that this first encounter with international missionaries will greatly change my spiritual walk and prayer life forever! It is through their lives that God revealed to me that He intended for me to be a gardener. Not just a local gardener, but international gardener as well. Let me explain, by gardener I mean a person who plants seeds, but not the type of seed that goes into the soil of the earth, but the type of seed that must be planted in a human heart. Hence, a heart gardener! In fact, God calls each of us to be a heart gardener. Scripture is filled with numerous references to sowing, planting, reaping and harvesting. This is proof positive that the Creator wants hearts to be tended just as a gardener tends a physical garden.

David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?" 1 Samuel 21:1

The conversation began simply. I saw her walking along the path as she headed toward the lake, her ten-year-old face deep in thought. The rule at camp is no one is ever to be alone. We must go in twos. I quickly joined her since she belonged to my family group. “What ya doing?”

“I just left the store. Did you know I can buy a Bible for $1.00? They are used Bibles and they sale them for a small donation. I am going to buy myself a Bible.”

“Do you not have a Bible?”

She replied, “Yes, we do at home, but I want one for me now.” Her big brown eyes melted my heart. Immediately, I began to devise a way to get her a Bible before she could buy it herself. Then I felt the familiar tug from the One I love so much. “ASK HER IF SHE HAS EVER ASKED JESUS TO BE HER SAVIOR!” I used to not listen to His voice or even argue when He told me to do this, but not anymore. I honestly do not know when HE made that change happen within me. I simply asked, “Have you ever come to a place in your life where you personally have asked Jesus to be your personal Savior?”

She looked up at me with a thoughtful expression. “No!” She tilted her head pausing to think. “I have asked to be forgiven of specific sins a lot, but I have never asked Jesus to be my Savior.” Honestly, her response stunned me. Obviously, the LORD was moving in her life. I just happened to walk into a moment of HIS calling out simply because of a rule that states no one is allowed to walk alone. “Do you know what a sin is?”

“Yes, it is when I do bad things.”
“Who are they against?” I asked.
“God.” She replied.

At this moment, we entered the lake front area. LORD, this will the test, I am going to sit down at that picnic table. If she is serious, she will remain to continue the conversation. I lifted my leg over the bench and sat down as she quietly joined me at the wooden table. We watched for a moment as one brave soul flew through the air as another blobbed them off the big blob on the lake. I gazed over at her and said, “Each of us will have a time in our lives that we must make a choice. We will either choose to accept the free gift of salvation from God or not.” Earlier as we walked I had picked up a rock off the road. “Do you see this rock?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it is as if GOD is saying to each of us. This rock is my gift to you. You can either accept it or reject it. The rock is His Son Jesus.” I held out my hand to her and she reached out to pick the rock up.

“I want to do that!”

“All you have to do is pray. Just tell Jesus what you just told me.”

We bowed our heads and she prayed on her own. “Jesus, will You be my Savior? Please increase my faith in You. Help me to read my Bible and be a good friend…” She paused for a long moment, obviously not knowing what else to say, so I said, “In Jesus’ Name” and we both said, “Amen!”

Before our leadership meeting I ran into the store and asked about the Bibles. The older women were so excited to join in the celebration of our new sister in the faith. We carefully went through each donated Bible to pick just the right one. I wrote her a note reminding her of the conversation to best of my ability in the front of the Bible. I dated it and signed it. Praying as I wrote asking the Father to speak mightily to her through it. At dinner, I laid it in her lap as she ate. I kissed her on the head and walked away basking in a rule that said, no one must ever be alone!

DRAGON SKETCH
By: Tara Rye

“Mom, will you please teach me how to draw a dragon?”

Obviously, Grant needed some mom time all to himself. “Of course, Grant!”

Grant and I gathered the paper and pencils needed, as we went to the computer to research pencil sketches of dragons. It did not take us long to find the perfect image for us to draw.

“Okay Grant, the first thing we will do is lightly sketch out the shape of his face using simple circles and squares. It is important we focus in on the proportions of the shapes. This will keep the image realistic.”

Grant lifted his pencil and began to draw the head and jaw line. Slowly, we patterned out where the eye, teeth and even long horns flowing from his head loosely on the paper. The sketch took form and the idea of a dragon began to take shape.

“You know Grant drawing is something that takes time. If you want a picture to be beautiful, you must fill in details. This requires patience.”

Grant nodded his little head as his brow furrowed with deep concentration as he penciled in the dragon scales. After an hour of drawing, I suggest we take a break and work on it later. We walk away from our dragons and focus on other things. It did not take long before the call to visit his dragon tugged on Grant’s heart. “Mom, do you think we should…” His little pause told me he did not want to me to say no and he hoped that I wanted to do what he wanted to do. “Sure, let’s go draw.”

“Grant, since the details will make the dragon come alive I will now show you how to make the scales look like the light is shining on them. We will darken in the far left edges with a scratchy dark line. As we move to the far right in the scale, we will lighten our touch on our pencil to create a reflection effect.”

Grant’s tongue pressed against his lips as he slowly filled in each scale. “I only have twenty-eight more scales to fill in.” After coloring in nearly a hundred scales, what is twenty-eight more? With each scales completion the dragon began to move on the page. With only the flowing horns left to fill in, Grant’s anticipation was palatable. “Mom, how do I make the horns?”

“This is the same as the scales, but you will shade from the bottom to the top. Once you have the shadow effect then add a small curved line along the base. This will give it a rounded feel to it.”

“You know mom, when we started this I thought the first sketch of my dragon was ugly. It was only lines and it didn’t look right. But now that the details are added I love my dragon. He is beautiful.”

“Grant, you are so right. This reminds me of our relationship with God. When we first ask Jesus to be our Savior we can only see the simple sketch of what our life is to look like in Christ. But the more we study God’s Word and allow Him to show us the details of how we are to live our lives we discover that our lives in Christ are more beautiful than we can ever imagine.”

I am wondering. Where in your life do you have a simple sketch, yet you desire to see the live image of what is to come? Ask the Father to fill in the details for you so that you can see the beauty of His plan. The details He will add are immeasurably more than you can imagine!


42 This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body—but only if you keep in mind that when we're raised, we're raised for good, alive forever! 43 The corpse that's planted is no beauty, but when it's raised, it's glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up powerful. 1 Corinthians 15:42-43/The Message

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

This morning as I sat through the worship service in church my heart and mind saw Jesus in Guatemala. Scenes from our mission trip rolled as a movie scene across my mind. One day Molly said that the music playing in the background made her feel like she was in a movie scene. In my mind I replayed the movie on my personal DVR. This reminded me of the verse in Malachi 3:16 that says, "Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another , and the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name."

I read this verse in the airport in Guatemala as we waited for our plane to leave. We spent nine days together talking of the LORD, praising the LORD, serving the LORD, and submitting to one another for the LORD's sake. He watched us and listened. He heard all we said and did. He will not forget. He has written His own book of remembrance because we meditated on Him. What a sweet God we have!

As we communicate and gather we remember. Remembrance is so valuable. It is crucial. We must not forget! In the days and weeks to come, we need to remember the GLORY of the LORD and how we met Him in Guatemala.

I read this verse yesterday morning and thought this is Chris, Donna, and Dick. "A bruised reed He will not break and smoking flax He will not quench..."Matthew 12:20 The Father allowed us to learn how to love through acts of service in such a way that Jesus was the center.

Father, we ask YOU now to reveal to us how we can go and serve in love sacrificially and through prayer. Encourage us to motivate one another in love and acts of service that demonstrate that YOU first loved us. We saw this in Chris, Donna, Benny, Cindy, Saul, Hannah, and Dick. We can only pray that others will see this in us here as well.

Help us to never forget. As YOU read YOUR scroll of remembrance help us to read ours too! Let us be Jesus in such a way that when we see someone with smoldering hope that we seek to ignite them in the fullness of Your All Consuming fire! In Jesus' Name, AMEN!

I love you all so much! Thank YOU Father such a rich experience!

Okay, I am going to push the edge and see if I might capture todays moments in Guatemala. We traveled up GODs glorious mountains 6,000 something feet on a dirt road suffering the beating of heavy rains. As Chris gunned the van up the mountain we jerked all over laughing at the roller coaster ride we endure.

At one point I ask Chris about his ministry and while climbing the mountain he looks back, talks to me and keeps driving up as we begin to tease him to drive the van. He is an amazing man. The first snap shot I want you to see today is a man that serves with joy and celebration the people of Guatemala in Jesus Name. Chris leads Bethel ministries here. They build wheelchairs and houses. How about that. Listen up and get ready to find your place of service. There are needs here. BIG prayers needs. There are issues right now with deliveries because of new government. There is a stop on the shipments for the houses. Please pray for the shipments to begin again. They only have four houses left to build a home and then they will have to wait. The stop on shipments will also affect the wheel chair ministry. Please pray the Lord will open the doors swiftly.


We began our day in the wheelchair ministry offices. I have taken pictures of more wheelchairs and parts than we can count. STunned by the sheer numbers of people that will be given freedom as they are given life in a wheel chair. WIthout these some will never leave their ten by ten square home. Or never know the joy of riding to town to work. Powerful indeed. I saw a room filled with the tool the LORD uses to release captives from bondage.

Upon entering the village the sites overwhelm you. Gracious people welcoming us with buenos dias. The family smiled graciously as the crew of nineteen entered their small space. Their current home is built with cane poles or corn stalks with a tin roof to block out the nightly rains. The hands of Jesus went to work immediately. Rick and Courtney our father,daughter duo went to work on relocating the electrical pole. Chris just mentioned this must be done and they did it. No questions asked just faithful obedience to serve. There is something tremendous watching a father and daughter serve hand and hand in hard labor for the glory of the LORD.

Steve, Rhonda, and Carly move wiht gusto and laughter in all they do. Proving without a doubt that the joy of the LORD is our strength. I think we could play a game in Guatemala called WHEREs STEVE? One moment he was using an shovel and then I looked up and he was on the roof. Then the dirt with a trowel. The next thing I know I hear that he went down to the school. The children were lined up in two lines and he ran up took the ball and kicked in and out doing soccer drills. Much to the surprise of the children. I keep waiting for them to shout THERE ARE GIANTS IN THE LAND. We are so tall. They are so small.

Gina and Tiffany were not afraid to pick up the shovels and rake the dirt. I think the most amazing thing of all is that all were so willing. So hard working. When one got tired another swiftly picked up. I let you know the labor side, because MEN hear this... YOU NEED TO BE HERE TOO! The need more muscles.

At one point Pastor Juan and Saul were working tirelessly when the ladies brought out a bend for us to sit on. Crazy...WE had to sit. We could not sit, they brought it. So they worked and we sat for a few. Pastor laughed when I cracked a joke that we were resting while they slaved away. THat is when I realized he knew english.

The group is separating food right now for us to go deliver to the people.

This has been incredible. We have had the privilege of being Jesus hand and feet. We have worked and labored to give a strong foundation for a home. The mother and girls watched our every move. Can you imagine?

We also were able to hand out candy in the streets. Robbie celebrated this privilege.

I will sign off for now.

I love you and all is well on the mission field in Guatemala.

I will try to do this as much as possible.
in Jesus.

About three years ago my little dog ripped an "L" shape in the left arm of my beautiful plaid love seat. We used to sit this couch by the window, but he has a fetish for the mail man and his little claws are too sharp. I have a fetish for this couch and the tear devastated me. I searched high and low for slip covers that might match and found some that work okay, but they do not make my heart sing like my plaid upholstery. I recently decided to repair the tear. I contacted a dear cousin that is known as gifted with the needle to ask her for advice on what to do. She informed me that if it is a simple tear it will be a simple solution. If it is frayed then it might be more complicated.

Excitement filled me up as I contemplated the pretty plaid upholstery displaying its secure attachment to the frame. My slip covers drive me nuts--they slip, hence, their name "SLIP". It is a never ending battle between me and them. They never seem satisfied with my personal arrangement of their fabric and I am not satisfied with their traveling skills. Yesterday, I lifted the slip cover up to begin my repair, what I saw grieved me. My simple "L" shape turned into a frayed torn mess. I quickly threw the slip cover over the tear and felt so defeated. The tear left to itself over time grew and affected a much larger area even while being covered.

As if the Holy needle of heaven pricked me, I instantly caught a truth. This is exactly what happens to my sin when I try to cover it. When I first act upon a sin it tears into the fabric of my walk and leaves a simple scar. If I confess it immediately then it is repaired without too much impact in other areas. However, if I wait and try to cover it up, over time it will continue to tear and rip into the fabric of my being leaving a frayed mess. Is it beyond repair? NO! But it might take more stitches to fix it up and maybe a patch or two. Either way, confessed sin can be removed. Unconfessed sin leaves scars.

My love seat is where I sit to do my daily Bible Study with the LORD. In fact, I am sitting on it to write this devotional. It will now and forever more be a visual reminder to me to confess my sins quickly and not try to cover them up. What about you? Can you relate? Have you had a time when you tried to cover up a sin in your life and it only left things torn and frayed? Remember, when we confess our sins HE (the Father in Heaven) is faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness! Not some... all! Now, I must find someone to patch my couch!

God is teaching me many things about praise and one is that it does not come so easily to my lips! Requests are so easy… praise requires work on my part. I am finding my prayer time is filling with more visual prayers as I praise GOD over situations. This is a new lesson for me all together. I must give you one that involved me. The last week of Ladies Bible Study I felt like I could not reach heaven with my prayers. Ever been there? The actual visual that I had was of a child holding a plastic cup over me like he would a bug to suffocate it! I just keep buzzing up and down hitting the clear plastic cover! Needless to say, I spent three days confessing, sitting, waiting, and trying to write… NOTHING! All I had was a scripture outline and handout for them to fill in the blanks, but none of the pretty stuff that pulls it all together. I kept beseeching GOD and again nothing. One day before I was to teach I had a visual come to me through a flower in my yard. We had placed a huge boulder beside our sidewalk along our flower bed last year. We completely forgot that we had tulip bulbs waiting to bloom lying dormant in the earth. As I set out to walk, hoping that spending time praising GOD out doors would lift this feeling, I saw my lesson! This tulip knew it needed the sun. So it grew up under the boulder to reach around it and then bend up higher until it rested on top of the boulder to catch the sun perfectly. It opened its bloom up to receive maximum rays from the sun. I thought “THAT IS ME!” No matter what boulder is placed on me I will do whatever it takes to get to the Son! I called a friend and asked her to pray for me for I knew now that I was dealing with oppression not sin. It was as if the evil one did not want the lesson taught! I taught the last lesson and release immediately came! What about you? Do you have any boulders in your life right now? Do you feel like you have a plastic cup on top of you preventing you from getting fresh air? Are you giving up? DON’T! Do whatever it takes to get to the SON! If you do… YOUR bloom will shine in HIS light for HIS Glory!

I love to learn a new truth! I especially love to learn a new truth that applies to the word of God and gives me new insight as I grow in Christ. This morning as I read through 1 Timothy Chapter 2, I stopped on verse 8. It says that men are to lift up their hands in worship without anger or dispute. Shortly, after this it gives a woman's mode of worship expected at that time as well. But as I thought about men and their need to lift up their hands without anger or dispute I wondered why? Why not women? Paul did not have to tell us (women) to lift our hands in worship. Why? Demonstrative behavior typically comes easily for the ladies... not as easily for men!? I wonder... our issue with worship centered upon our adornment-- how shallow is that! But how true for even today! Men still allow anger and dispute within their hearts to stop them from worshiping and women still focus upon their outward appearances more than we should. Then I stumbled across a thought in the Qwest Study Bible that said the reason the hands were lifted centered upon two words: Dependence and trust and then culiminated in one truth... expectancy. The lifting of the hands demonstrated physically to the Father that trust is in Him not the individual! I depend on You-- not me! I expect YOU to answer and my hands are lifted to receive! How powerful is that!

It so ministered to me. See... I am in the process of rewriting one of my Bible Studies titled Redeemed to Praise. I have made a commitment to GOD to fast from requests for a season. So... everytime I begin a natural flow of requests to God I will pause and say a praise instead! Try it! I have done this for a day at a time on different days that I felt that my praise wained, but I have never done it for an undetermined amount of time. I will do this until the rewrite is complete so that my every thought is focused on praise. I am lifting my hands up to GOD trusting HIM! I am dependent upon HIM! I wait with expectancy for HIM to bring about the right answers! His answer is always better anyways! How about you? Are you willing to take my praise challenge? It isn't as easy as you think. Especially, if you prayed and talked to God for years. You will be amazed at how many requests you make in a day. If you decide to do this let me know. I want to keep up with how you are doing too! My husband said, "You need to pray for Him to help you write and teach." I said, "I have done this for years! He knows my heart in this and has heard my prayers. Now I will spend time praising HIM for all the answers HE is sending my way." We lift our Holy hands up! We learn to trust YOU! AMEN!