Wellspring Women’s Ministry Blog and Online Community

It is that time of the year again…when the guys all feel the pressure to buy candy and flowers and cards if they have any sort of significant other in their life. I was in the grocery store last night and this guy was fussing about the cost of flowers as he purchased a dozen roses for his girlfriend. His attitude was sort of like he had to pay taxes…”there is just no way out of this and I just want it to be as pain free and as inexpensive as I can make it.”
So the clerk (a young man of 18) and I talked about it for a little while after the man left the store. We decided that there is a LOT of pressure out there to prove your love for someone on Valentine’s Day so what’s a guy to do???

I have been married for almost 29 years and it is my privilege to be Thom’s only Valentine and he is mine. It is not a chore, it is a gift. I have the opportunity to tell him every day, but I especially tell him on Valentine’s Day…because I love him.
We, like that guy at the grocery, sometimes lose sight of the fact that if we have someone to love it is a blessing from God. It is our privilege to tell others that we love them. It is our duty to tell them…they need to know. They need to feel acknowledged and appreciated. They need to see love in action sometimes. Our attitude should reflect the joy of the love rather than the struggle with the duty, don’t you think?

Jesus didn’t just love us one day and then forget about expressing it any more. He is constantly speaking His love to us!  It is His joy!  He is the only one that can love us like that and He delights in doing so!!  Not only that but He wants us to communicate that love to the world for Him. It is our privilege…it is our duty.

So, like those poor guys today that went to a lot of trouble and expense to make sure that their Valentine’s understood that they were loved, you go and do likewise…tell the world that they are loved by Christ and His body.  If it gets expensive (don’t try to save your life, remember?) or it gets time consuming, or they just don’t listen, that doesn’t let you off the hook.  Every day is Valentine’s Day with Jesus.  :-)

This week we have a beautiful post written by a friend of mine.  In it she shares her journey with God; her ongoing transformation of Jesus turning her heart from a wasteland to a garden.  I felt like it would be a fresh word for all of us, though, because isn’t this what God does with all of his kids?  Read it and enjoy it!

Hi, my name is Debbie Lennon.

In the last couple of years, I’ve been on a journey to discovering my true authentic self in Christ.  Actually, it’s been a life-long journey, but it’s been rather intense within the last couple of years.

Let me explain:  If there is one word that describes my growing up years, it’s CONFUSION.  From a very early age, I was confused about my identity as a person, as a girl, and as a woman.  I felt deeply ashamed to admit this to anyone including myself.  Well, I knew I was confused, but I kept judging myself to be stupid and that I need to “get with the program.”

I thought I was confused because of my profound hearing loss.  I lost my hearing at the age of 3 for reasons still unknown, and as a young girl, I thought people talked funny because I could never understand what they were saying!  This created a lot of comical moments for my parents and teachers as they worked with me to re-establish my vocabulary and practice my listening skills.  The extraordinary length my parents took to help me gain footing in a hearing world is the very reason that I am able to function as well as I do (my father had actually gotten a new engineering job after he graduated from college and he asked for a one month extension before he started his career so he and my mother could invest their time working with me).

So I knew I was loved.

However, as I grew older, it became apparent to my family and to me that I was deeply confused about who I was, what my dreams were, and how I felt about things.  I had relied on my mom to help me navigate my way through childhood and adolescence.  For some reason, I lacked the ability to form my own thoughts, my own opinions, and to forge my own independence.

Through my mother’s influence (and Billy Graham), I became a Christian when I was 14, but it wasn’t until my early college years that I really began to understand what it meant to “be saved.”  From that point on, God began to painstakingly reveal Himself to me.  In the process, He began to reveal what was in my heart.  He revealed that it was a vast wasteland, void of deep emotional roots and that this was the reason for my confusion.  This was painful for me to accept. I was deeply embarrassed & ashamed to admit this.

With His grace, I was able to go on to lead a successful career as a trainer and a teacher working with special needs students.  I developed a wide circle of friends.  I mean, I led a privileged life – so how could my heart be a wasteland?  I felt like something was wrong with me.  I confessed, I repented, I prayed, I received prayers and yet, I still felt stuck in this wasteland.  I thought it was my fault.

God patiently took me on a journey to explore my heart.  He revealed to me that I had experienced early hidden trauma in my life.  I struggled with His revelations and wanted to die.  Last fall, He gently told me in a dream that He wanted me to join Him in the “desert.”  I didn’t want to go.  My life felt like a wasteland and He wanted me to go into the desert??  But I submitted to Him and waited to see what he would reveal to me there.  It was hard.  But I tell you, it has been life-transforming.

It seemed to me that once I began my journey with Him in the desert, everything in my life kind of went south.  My teaching career became a tragedy of sorts as I struggle to meet confusing federal and state mandates.  My old friendships dried up for inexplicable reasons.  My family relationships became distant as each of us went on to lead our own lives.  I began to question – once again – who am I?  What is the purpose of my life?

One day, I was reading my Bible and came across this verse in Matthew 8:20.  Jesus was responding to a scribe who told Him that he would follow Him wherever he went.  And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”  This really puzzled me.  Why would He speak in riddles to someone who wanted to follow Him?  I asked God to reveal what He meant.

And He did.  God revealed to me that when Jesus came to us, He did not have an agenda of His own except to do His Father’s will.  In other words, he didn’t have a peg to “hang His hat on.”  He did not promote His own agenda of theology points or philosophy.  He did not rely on his own heritage or career as a carpenter to define Who He was.  He submitted Himself to the trials and tribulations of the Roman government.  He did not even defend Himself to His own people.  His whole identity rested in the knowledge that He was the beloved Son of God.

This really resonated with me.  It dawned on me that I was going to have to let go of the things that I relied on to give me my identity.  God had already prepared the way for me to do that as it seemed that everything in my life was already going south and they were no longer sustaining my identity as a worthwhile person.  This was a painful process for me because I realized that as a single person, I could not rest in my identity as a wife, a mother, a Godly woman – not even as a teacher or a faithful daughter or friend.

So what was left for me?  Back to my confusion – Who was I and what is my purpose in life? Do I have anything to live for?  I came in possession of a book called “Transformed into Fire: An Invitation to Life in the True Self” by Judith Hougen.  God used this profound book to reveal and cement my true identity in Him.

And this is what I wanted to share with you: We are His Beloved.  Another book, “Life of the Beloved” by Henri J.M. Nouwen expounds this point in a more succinct manner.  I encourage you to read both books for a greater understanding of this truth: We are His Beloved.

God revealed this profound truth to me last spring.  It is still relevant to me today and it has finally brought me a measure of peace after a lifetime of confusion.  My wasteland is slowly transforming into His garden.

I also feel that God wants me – and you – to know that if we truly accept our identity as His Beloved who submits to His rule and Kingdom, it will very likely bring polarizing reactions from the community as He uses us to expand his Kingdom.  This was certainly true during Jesus’ ministry on Earth.  Many will be drawn to Him by His astounding love through us.  Others will resent us, because they will think “How dare we believe that we are special?” Let us take hold of this Word and allow it work in us.  Don’t allow our earthly identities deflect who we really are in Christ.  I believe it will carry us far as we go outside of our comfort zone to reach the lost within our community.

Thank you and I say to you….Go with God….

Last Sunday Michael and I ministered in a church in Virginia that is undergoing drastic change. It had been founded over 200 years ago as a denominational church, but had gone without a pastor for several years and dwindled down to about 20 members, all of them over 70. Those 20 faithful had prayed about their options: should they take the risk of trying to find a new pastor (and put up the money to pay him!) or should they just give up and shut down the church? They decided to find a new pastor.

What they found was a guy who is an old and dear friend of ours, a man with deep mercy wells inside, sensitive and caring and gentle but also not given to compromise. Our friend is a musician as well as a pastor so he became not only the new pastor but also the worship leader for the small congregation. It has been over 2 years since he moved in with his family and most of the 20 he started his ministry with are still there. Last Sunday the sanctuary, which seats about 75 comfortably, was jam-packed with young people, mostly in their late teens and early 20’s. The music was lively and contemporary and there was dancing in the aisles. The pulpit, altar rail and choir loft were all removed and electric guitars had taken the place of the organ. A digital projector and screen have replaced hymn books and the rest of the altar furniture is scheduled to be removed in order to create more space in the sanctuary because they are growing!

Families with young children have begun to come on Sundays so a children’s church has been started, and one of the men has built a deck on the back of the building to accommodate covered dish dinners. Things are changing! And things are changing QUICKLY! I couldn’t help but wonder how the “old guard” felt about the change — did they still think they had made the right decision?

After church on Sunday there was a covered dish dinner and I got to visit with one of the “old guard.” I asked him how he liked all the changes. He said God had taught him something important. God had reminded him of when his father had died, of how sad he was because he missed his dad, but how happy he was because his father was no longer in pain and was in the presence of the Lord. He was happy and sad at the same time, and that is how he was feeling about his church right now. “I love the old hymns,” he said. “And I miss the old altar rail and the old pulpit and it makes me sad sometimes. But I don’t think I have ever been so excited about what the Lord is doing! I don’t want the old things back; I am so looking forward to seeing what God is going to do with us!”

I fell in love with that old gentleman right then. What love for Jesus and His Church was revealed in his life through his words! As Michael and I drove home, praying for Church on the Rise, I was reminded of Psalm 133:
Behold how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his robes,
It is like the dew of Hermon
Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing — life forever.

Lord, command blessing on this church and cause her to prosper and grow and bring glory and honor to Your name!

Have you ever been frustrated by a relationship that you just can’t make work? I’m not talking about the relationships that are close and vital that sometimes get cracked or broken, but about the random people you run into on a regular basis — the lady who checks you out every week at the grocery store, your mail deliverer, your neighbor from down the street with the nasty dog in the backyard — that make part of your life consistently unpleasant at times. You can’t avoid them and you can’t make them like you, so every unavoidable encounter is unpleasant or, at best, awkward.

For years, the Lord and I have been playing a game with these people. I talk to Him about them, and He gives me clues about how to win them over. When Jesus and I coax the first smile out of them, we have a wonderful celebration together. The first time they actually say something pleasant, we really whoop it up! Not so the person sees, of course — that might destroy all we’ve accomplished! — but in the privacy of my car on the way home.

Many years ago, this little game began between Jesus and me through my reading 2 Corinthians 3:15-16. “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?” I had read that passage in my morning devotions, not paying a lot of attention, frankly. Later that morning I was at the grocery store and a customer was really rude to me. I tried to be nice and not take offense at her, but I kept running into her and every encounter brought another rudeness. At the check-out, the clerk commented on this woman’s attitude (she had checked out just ahead of me). “Somebody needs to wash the stinky off her upper lip so she’ll stop turning up her nose at everyone!” the clerk said.

We both laughed and the tension was defused but the unpleasant woman was definitely still an irritation in my soul. On the way home I began to ask the Lord about her. He said, “To her, you stink. You have BO.” Instantly, I remembered my devotional reading and understood. The fragrance of Christ in me was a stench to her! I had Body odor (as in Body-of-Christ odor)! Fantastic! It wasn’t anything I had done that irritated her, it was Jesus in me. I smelled like His Body!

I was instantly inspired to begin targeting this woman with the love of Jesus — and the Lord was my co-conspirator. I began to run into her everywhere, and once noticed, I became an observer of her. I came to realize that she did not drive and that she was never with friends. I saw her pushing her little shopping cart along the roadside in all kinds of weather, so one day I stopped and offered her a ride to the grocery store. We got the cart into the trunk and her into the front seat, but I don’t think she said a single word on the drive to the store. I offered to meet her after our shopping and give her a ride home. Still no words, but she did give a yes-nod.

The giving of rides became a regular thing between us, but conversation has never taken place. Once I was given a sturdy metal cart that folded. I put it in my trunk and the next time I offered her a ride I gave it to her. That made the ride offers much easier for both of us, but I still, to this day, do not know her name!

This lady was the first of many who reacted to my BO and became the target of my Jesus Game. I shared it with Michael and he has become an avid player as well. We never push a relationship, but we do try to go a bit out of our way to express thoughtfulness to them. In fact, this game we play with Jesus actually requires that the more rudeness they show, the more love is required of us. Fun! There have been some amazing break-throughs! There was a “Customer Service” person in the Walmart to whom Michael was very gracious who ended up pouring out her heart and her troubles to him while he waited for me. She let him pray for her and even accepted his invitation to church. There was a surly bag-boy at the Big Star that I eventually had the privilege of praying with to accept Jesus.

Eventually, I moved away from the town where the cart lady lives and did not see her for several years. But a few weeks ago Michael and I were riding through that town and he pointed and said to me, “Isn’t that your old friend with the shopping cart?”

I looked where he pointed, and there on the corner, with the old folding shopping cart, was my rude friend, waving AND SMILING to catch my attention. It was the FIRST TIME I had seen that smile! Michael and I (and Jesus) had a grand celebration!

It isn’t often that Catholics and Protestants talk to one another much less enjoy it! But while we lived at the coast we met a lovely couple who were Catholics. . . AND they were genuine, born-again, baptized in the Holy Spirit, believing and evangelizing Christians just like us. Charlie was our real estate agent. He prayed with us to find the right house and later prayed with us to sell it. Now, I had met Catholic Christians before, but these friends were my first experience with Christian Catholics who were as RADICAL in tgheir commitment to Christ as I was! I also found that they often experienced the same kind of bewilderment and misunderstanding from other, less radical Catholics that we experienced from other Protestants. We became close friends with Charlie and Lydia during the three years we lived in Carteret County and have continued the friendship ever since. That’s one more dividing wall broken down and shattered in my life!

Through Charlie and Lydia we met a friend of theirs, Father Ed Wade, a Catholic priest who is also a radical Christian. Ed’s heart really burns for unity in the Body of Christ as does ours. So while we were at the beach we formed an unofficial “coalition” for the purpose of fellowship, mutual support, and prayer for unity among believers. WE sponsored a few public meetings, but mostly we fellowshiped together. Our little group came from the most disparate of backgrounds. In fact, the one common denominator among us was radical commitment to Jesus Christ. There was Charlie and Lydia and Ed and us, plus a black Pentecostal apostle and his wife who is a pastor, and an Episcopal priest who had had to leave his denomination because of disagreement over the ordination of homosexuals (now THAT’s RADICAL Christianity!) and his wife. When we got together we rarely talked about the things that separate us, but majored on the things we have in common. Nothing was off-limits for conversation, but our hearts really reached out to one another in a genuine desire to know, love and support one another. I think we all grew as we fellowshiped together.

We still see all these old friends regularly — not as often as we would like because we are all busy, but enough to keep the relationships healthy and alive. In recent months, Father Ed has been able to host a weekly radio program on International Catholic Radio (Radio Maria) called “Thy Kingdom Come”. On it, Ed and a lovely Scottish woman named Elizabeth Pringle interview some of the most interesting people, including my hubby twice now. They had Michael to talk about Prophecy and it was fantastic! On the second program people called in from all over the place to ask questions about the gifts of the Spirit. There are Catholics out there who are hungry for the things of God! How awesome that He would allow us to be in one spreading the word among them!

This Thursday at 3PM Eastern Time I will be on the “Thy Kingdom Come” program on Radio Maria. I would encourage you to listen and to pray for us. And please give me your feed-back here or on Facebook. We will be discussing things from my book, In the Beginning on the topic of women and God’s vision for women. I had a marvelous time discussing this today with Elizabeth over Skype video. She is thoroughly delightful and I expect you will love her almost as much as I do already! You can find the program online by going to the Radio Maria website. When you get to the Homepage, click on the button for “Listen Live” and it will take you directly to the broadcast which will begin at 3 PM.

In January I decided to start in Genesis and just read through the Old Testament book by book.  I almost didn’t make it through Leviticus.  Sorry, God.  I just don’t do numbers and really long sentences very well.  I’m happy to say I did make it through, and now I’m in 2nd Samuel.  It has been so awesome these past months reading about how it all started.  I have been reacquainted with some really cool people.  They are not just characters in a story to me anymore.  I found that I can identify with every single on of them – the good and the bad.

At the same time of reading through the Old Testament I’ve also been experiencing a revival of sorts in the area of arts and creativity.  I think it started one day when I was so upset about something, and I was tired of talking to God about it, tired of thinking about it, and I just wanted it OUT of me.  So I decided to draw it out.  I took all of my colored pencils, a blank piece of paper, and I just started writing out exactly what I was feeling (it was VERY raw), one phrase on top of the other, until I had gotten everything out and it looked like this…

I felt much better.  I’ve been doing it since then, when I really just need to express some strong emotions – it has been very healthy for me.  The other day I did another one that was inspired by all of the people I have “met” in my Old Testament reading.  I have come across hero after hero, people who were normal ragtags just like me, except that their aim to live and die for God’s fame being spread has made them heroes of the faith, and I long to have that kind of a warrior heart.  So I just thought, I don’t want to forget these guys.  I want to remember that if they can do it, I can do it.  So I drew out an ode to these heroes.  Here’s what it looks like…

I simply wrote out what marked their lives (in my opinion), whether it be a certain statement they made or a description of their character.

I have found such release in drawing my feelings out on paper.  It doesn’t matter if it’s color splashes, words, symbols, or just PLAIN BLACK OVER THE WHOLE PAGE (that’s for when I’m REALLY mad and upset and confused and depressed!), I feel like it keeps me healthy.  But that’s just me.  I’d encourage you to try it.  And I would also love to know what YOU do to stay emotionally healthy.  What are some ways in which you expose your soul to God (not that He doesn’t already know, but you get my drift)?  How do you vent?

Jessica

It’s funny how we learn things without realizing we have learned it — like patterns of behavior, for instance. When I was a kid my dad moved around a lot with his job. He went to seminary when I was 6 and then, from the year I was 9 until I left home for college at 18, we never lived in one place longer than 3 years. He was a pastor who was good at helping troubled churches and became bored when everything was going smoothly — so we moved a lot!

I didn’t consciously realize it, but somewhere along the way, I began to protect myself from the pain of losing friends by not allowing many people to get close to me and, when someone did become a close friend, I cut them off quickly when we moved. I separated myself from them emotionally and never contacted them again. I did not make a conscious decision about this, but, in self-protection, I adopted this pattern of behavior.

In 2000, Michael and I moved away from Fuquay Varina where I had lived for over 20 years (it was his home town). I had many deep friendships there, some with women who had grown up in the Lord together with me. But when we decided to move, I fell back into that old pattern of behavior I had learned in my childhood. I shut down towards my friends, and after we moved I did not write or call or visit or try to continue those old friendships. I didn’t make a conscious decision to do this, but I just fell into it. I was miserable in my new town, lonely and depressed, but trying to throw myself into the new work and into making new relationships in the new place. I missed my old friends terribly but felt it was somehow my duty to not look back but to press into the new thing God had for me.

One day, one of those old friends from Fuquay Varina drove down to see me and confronted me (lovingly but truthfully). “Why are you cutting me off?” she asked. “From the time you knew you were moving you began to shut me out of your life. At first I thought you were mad at me, but then I realized you were doing it to everyone. What’s going on?”

How I praise God for that friend! We prayed together and God showed me that old behavior pattern I had adopted as a child. He convicted me of having an area of my life that was not entrusted to Him. In the area of friendships, I was trying to protect myself instead of trusting Him. I repented, and He faithfully gave me grace to stop the old pattern. Today I have renewed those old friendships in Fuquay Varina and continue to have contact with those women and they are a great joy in my life. In addition, I have been able to make new and lasting friendships here in my new home, and I am so grateful to be set free in this area of my life!

Yesterday a young woman called me to ask for prayer. A very close friend of hers was moving away in a few weeks and she found herself shutting down emotionally toward the friend. She thought she had a “bad attitude” and had been repenting for being resentful and offended at her friend and at God for separating the two of them. But the repentance was not working. She continued to be unable to stay emotionally connected to her dear friend.

As we prayed together, the Lord reminded me of my own old behavior pattern so I shared that experience with her. It turns out that she was an “army brat” and grew up as I did — moving a LOT. The Holy Spirit convicted her that she was like I had been, stuck in a stronghold of self-protection. When her friend decided to move she fell back into the old behavior pattern of her childhood and shut down toward her friend.  She prayed with me over the phone, repenting of her self-protection and choosing to entrust that area of her life to Jesus. The whole conversation did not last more than 10 minutes, but she was set free to be a friend.

I just got a phone call from her. She has called her friend and shared with her what happened on the phone, and their friendship is once again on a solid footing. She is finding a new freedom in her life, as I have, in the area of friendships. Praise God for the deliverance He brings from destructive behavior patterns that steal our joy!

So here is another principle of the Kingdom of God floating to the surface of my life: when you get healed of something, you turn around and there is someone needing to experience the same thing! “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any afflictions with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. Praise God for the good behavior patterns we learn from the Holy Spirit!

Gloria

My brother is The Mountain Man.  He lives about 40 minutes outside of Boone, in a 400 sq.ft. cabin on a few acres in the mountains of Tennessee.  Just him and his pure bred German Shepherd, Hunter, who looks scary but is one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever met.  Joseph, my mom, and I went to visit my brother on Sunday, and came back Monday. It was a short trip, but so worth it.  It was great to spend time together, to get a small glimpse of the world he lives in, and to enjoy the mountain air.  And let me just say that now I understand why my brother hates the city!  Once you’re up there you realize you can live without the fast-paced pressures life has to offer.  It’s a laid-back, simple life up there and I LOVED it.  Here are some of the highlights from our 24 hours in the mountains of Tennessee:

1.  Huge tracts of land, rolling green hills filled with wildflowers and Christmas tree farms that amazingly were not being taken over by townhomes and condominiums.  Here in Greensboro, everywhere I look they are building new apartments or condos.  I don’t understand why a city needs that many!!!  Just keep the trees up and let us breath a little but, for cryin’ out loud!!  :-)

2.  Seeing my brother’s land for the first time.  We went down one road, then turned onto his “street”, which is just a gravel pathway big enough for one car to fit on, and drove up and around and around again until we saw his cabin.  It was the cutest thing ever!  So tiny, but just perfect for him.  He has his own vegetable garden growing out in the yard, and he has a storage shed that he uses to, well, store stuff obviously, but also to set up equipment to record music.  So cool.  Lots of trees all around, a nice view of the mountains beyond, and total peace and quiet.  He’s done pretty well for himself.  I was proud of him.  

3.  One of my worst fears came true.  I forgot to pack my underwear.  Yes, I did.  And yes, I said it for the whole blogosphere to read.  I’ll say it again.  I forgot to pack underwear.  Now, remember, this was only a 24 hour trip, so although you might scoff at the idea, I am not too high maintenance to wear the same pair of underwear 2 days in a row.  Sometimes you just gotta live a little.  And live I did, with the same dang pair of underwear I arrived in.  I thought it was funny, and thought that us sharing a laugh together would make it even funnier!

4.  Nature.  I love being outdoors, so I had the best time walking around the Appalachian Trail, climbing up rocks to see a waterfall, sticking my feet in the clearest, cleanest, freshest water.  It was so beautiful.  

5.  Nighttime.  FREAKY  Seriously, it was a little creepy at night when we went to bed because it was so quiet and so dark.  I turned off the lights and thought, “Is this what it’s like to be blind?”.  I had my eyes open but could not see ANYTHING.  It was pitch black.  So eerie.  And on top of that it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.  Took me a while to go to sleep because I like a lot of noise while I’m sleeping.  

Those are the main highlights of my 24 hours deep in the mountains of Tennessee.  Not a very gripping tale, I know, but at least the part about me forgetting my underwear was interesting.  There I go bringing it up again.  It must have been really life-changing for me to think about it that much!

What did you all do this weekend?

Jessica

As I thought about what to write this week, I realized that there is nothing I could share that is better than the word below that I read yesterday.  It expresses well what has been on my heart.  I’ve been weary of certain things from past seasons.  I’m tired of the devil getting more credit than he should.  Giving him place where no place should be given.  And while I’m also personally tired of (as an intercessor) of talking about birthing, transition, being pregnant with promises of God, etc.  (I’ve been hearing this kind of talk for years and not seeing many babies born), the reality is that we go through transitions all the time, living as ever changing children of God in a physical world.  We really are currently in a time of change and with change comes certain difficulties.  It should be no surprise.

No change in my life has come without pain.  I have come to greatly value the results that the pain of change brings.  The humbling and breaking of my own proud, selfish heart.  I cherish it and if any hardship is from the devil, than I do give him credit for being responsible for pushing me closer to the King of this world  HA! and having my heart and life changed to be more like Him.  Isn’t it wonderful that the devil is a tool in the hand of God?  I hope you enjoy this word as much as I did.  

Sue

“Invitation to a New Season”

by Shelly Kalenius of Extreme Prophetic Ministries

Apr 27, 2009 

Recently, I had the honor to participate in the birth of our second grandson Ethan. As I watched my daughter Sarah go through the different stages of birth, the Lord gave me a picture. There are several stages of labor, but the one He spoke to me about was “transition.” 

Transition is the most difficult phase of labor, as the contractions are stronger and longer than earlier contractions and they prepare for the final push. Many physical and emotional symptoms may occur during transition such as dizziness, trembling, nausea, anger, and surprisingly, despair. The pain is so intense and the task of getting that baby out seems so impossible that the mother may lose hope and sight of the goal for a short time. Pain can change our perspective and behavior in ways we could not imagine.

I will never forget Sarah’s words during this time, “I can’t do this anymore…I don’t want to do it…I don’t want to be here! Can I stop now?” These words tore at my heart. I wanted to take the pain away, but it was not my battle. What I did do is pray, encourage her, tell her she could do it, persuade her to keep up the good fight and remind her how close to the goal she was. She needed to make it through this transition in order to move to the next stage, the actual birth.

Over the last several years, we’ve been blessed to live in a time of spiritual awakening to the hidden things of God, the supernatural realm of the Spirit, signs, wonders and miracles. I believe in these last two years we entered into a major transition. We have been, and continue to be, tested, shaken, and pruned. The whole earth, the economy, and the Body of Christ are being shaken and sifted. 

In this season, our love for one another has been tested. It has been a time of learning how to “go low” and prefer others above ourselves. These are key lessons to learn, because Love is the foundation that will stand during this next season.

Like transition during the physical birthing process, I believe we are moving into an even more intense level of transition. There will be a time of tremendous pressure as we draw a line in the sand, choosing to stand for righteousness and justice, for mercy and grace. We must choose this road if we want to press forward. We must understand and count the cost of this choice. We need to listen for the cries that will come with this transition, “I can’t do this anymore…I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to be here! Can I stop now? This hurts too much!”

If we understand some of the by-products of transition can be despair, loss of hope and anguish, we can choose to come alongside people, encouraging them to fight the good fight, to remember the prize at the end of the race, and to help them through the hard places. We are all human and all going through this together. Who knows? It could be me or you crying out. We need each other and we need accountability. The pressure of birthing, of changing and transforming into the likeness of Christ is not for the faint of heart. Together, with God’s mercy and grace, we can finish this race.

Our Prayer: Thank you, Father, that You are the Master Gardener, pruning us when necessary so we will yield good fruit. We offer our hearts to You as we enter this new season.

We Decree that:

• There is no compromise in our level of love and mercy and we will not waver from the truth.

“But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth.”—Psalm 86:15

• Through God’s mercy, healing is coming to those in the Body of Christ who have been wounded by us or others in the Body. We speak restoration, wholeness and unity, in Jesus’ name.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”—James 5:16

• We walk in love with one another, putting aside fleshly judgment, preferring one another to ourselves.

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.”—Romans 12:10

• We choose to walk a very clear line, committing to be an example of His righteousness.

“O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes; make Your way straight before me.”—Psalm 5:8

• We take a stand for morality and will walk with and for God. We stand for His truth and righteousness (in love), and we ask God to help us so we will not disqualify ourselves by stepping into judgment or the anger of man.

“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”—Matthew 7:2

• Conviction and clarity will come to the Body, and unrighteousness and lawlessness will be revealed and dealt with.

“Love…does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.”—1 Corinthians 13:6

• We submit ourselves to God’s shepherding in this new season we are entering into.

“So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hands.”—Psalm 78:72

• We embrace the finished work of the Cross and ask forgiveness for pride in our own ability to fulfill what is right.

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”—Isaiah 53:5

• We depend on God’s grace to fulfill the assignment He has given us.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”—2 Corinthians 9:8

• We will walk in humbleness before the Lord and man. When we make mistakes, we will confess our sin. We will help each other and hold each other accountable.

“(Living as becomes you) with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because you love one another.”—Ephesians 4:2 AMP

• We will embrace this new season God is taking us into with open hearts and a willingness to take a stand for a moral revolution, walking in purity, grace, righteousness and mercy.

“And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.”—Galatians 6:9

Have you all read the “5 love languages” book by Gary Chapman?  (I highly recommend it, I read it the first time years ago and continue to reap the benefits of its wisdom.)  My husband, Thom,  and I found out that our love languages are a little different.  He ranked quality time first and I ranked words of affirmation.   Touch  was second for both of us though and we supposed that was a good thing!    We both ranked gifts last and service just above last.  

okay… last summer Thom spent a lot of time painting the outside trim of our house. (I only helped him on one of the four weekends that he spent doing it, and then only for a few hours….was it my fault he picked weekends that I was busy?  or that the temperature was in the 90’s??   Yes, I thought you would see it my way!)  Also, unlike the lady in the “Love and Respect” videos, I didn’t sit outside and watch him do it either… which would have been quality time I suppose.   

 When he finally finished, he came into the kitchen and informed me that it was all done.  To which I replied, “Great!”  But I guess my response was not what he was hoping for… he looked at me and wistfully said, “Gee, I wish service was your love language.”  Which made me laugh out loud and I told him I would work on it.

Ever since then we have looked for opportunities to do acts of service for one another..large and small things…out of a motivation of love.  It is amazing how much it makes you appreciate one another simply by acknowledging that the other person didn’t have to do the dishes (or whatever) but that they did it because they love you!  Of course, we are constantly saying to one another now (no matter which end of the giving/receiving we find ourselves on), “well, you know that service is my love language!”  

Try on some of the other love languages…do it deliberately…do it because Jesus loves us in every one of them and we should be able to speak them all (and receive them all too!!)  It is pretty fun I think.

Which one are you?

Quality Time?  Acts of Service?  Words of Affirmation?  Gifts?  Touch?  

blessings,

Sheri