My Story—Part Two

My story continues with part two—one year later. (See My Story—April 11, 2020.) My soon-to-be husband sang in a Southern Gospel quartet, and the group was singing at a church near our home one Saturday evening. My mom and I knew this would be a wonderful opportunity to invite Dad to church with us. We’d invited him several times over the year, but he believed it was nonsense to go to church so often. We felt certain he would want to hear Kenn sing, because Dad loved music. With all of us working hard to persuade him, he caved and agreed to go with us.

Dad enjoyed the singing, but the rest of the service was too much for him. An older gentleman stood to preach a quick message and held up a newborn baby with one hand as he walked back and forth at the front of the church. I guess Dad thought the preacher might drop the baby.

“I will never go to church with you again,” my dad said after we arrived home. “Those people are crazy!” He meant it, too.

The Lord had other plans. Although Dad said he wouldn’t go again, the following morning he dressed for church and attended with Mom and me.

I’m not sure if he received the Lord into his life that day or later. But once Dad committed his life to the Lord, he didn’t stop attending church or serving the Lord daily. In fact, when he retired from his regular job, the church became the place where he spent his days volunteering, doing everything he could do to serve the Lord. He served as the church’s clerk and in other capacities for thirty years, and he took to heart Psalm 100:2.

Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.

My earliest memory of him was sitting in his lap as a young child combing his hair. As I grew older, I remember him dancing and singing around the house and acting silly. I’m sure I didn’t think he was all that funny as a teenager, but as an adult, I loved his enthusiasm for life. Last week, when my husband told me I’m as silly as my dad was, it brought a smile to my face. I am like him.

In his sixties he took part in a video skit with his church’s music department. Dad was not a talented singer, but he liked to have fun. The skit ended with four men singing a song called “Moving on up to Glory.” The song was beautiful! However, they weren’t singing; it was a recording of the Cathedral Quartet. Dad and the other men were only lip syncing, but it appeared that these four tone-deaf men had become an overnight success. It was this same song that played in the background when Dad took his last breath. He moved on up to Glory to dance and praise the Lord as I held his hand ten years ago. I miss you, Daddy!

Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp.

Psalm 149:3, NIV

Father, I’m thankful for Christ’s death, resurrection, and new life in Him. I pray that each person who reads this blog post has received or will receive new life in Christ. Draw them to You, Lord. May each person surrender their hearts to You and make You the Lord of their lives. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

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Photo of Bible by Rod Long - Unsplash

My Story

Other than God’s Word, there’s no better way to proclaim the miracle of the cross than to share our personal story of when Christ’s death and resurrection changed our lives. Here’s my story.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Psalm 23:4, ESV

Depression became my foe while alone in a hotel room. My friend had plans without me, which meant I spent the day with nothing to do. My depression felt like death. When I found a Bible in the drawer, I read Psalm 23 and hoped the words “for you are with me” were true. I prayed and asked God to help me get my life on the right track, because misery awaited me if I didn’t make essential changes.

I grew up believing I was a Christian—attended church, could quote the Ten Commandments, and believed in God. What more was there?

After graduating from high school, I headed the wrong way in life. I didn’t hang out with the “obedient kids,” which distressed my parents. For three years I tried to find myself and discovered I needed to focus more on the Lord.

Two months after praying in the hotel room, my mom and I started attending a nearby church. On our first visit, I decided I was where I needed to be, but fear held me back. What did God want from me? The church was beginning a series of evangelistic revival services, and we discussed whether we should attend. We were both terrified they might call us up to the front of the church. But we went anyway.

On the final night of the revival, something happened inside me. But during the prayer time at the end of the service, my mom looked at me and said, “If you go forward to pray, I’ll die of embarrassment!” I responded, “I’m not going up to the front of the church—don’t worry!” We both knew we needed to pray and accept Christ into our lives, but neither of us wanted to take the first step.

After a restless week because of the Holy Spirit’s conviction, I looked at Mom the following Sunday during prayer and said, “I have to go to the front, now!” She nodded, because the Holy Spirit had moved in her heart too. I hurried forward and met Jesus that day. He became my Lord and Savior. I realized that in my head I’d assumed I was a Christian because I believed in God, but I didn’t know Him in my heart. On that Sunday, Jesus became my everything, and I confessed Him as my Lord. I began a lifelong relationship with Him, and later in the week, my mom too, received Christ into her heart and life.

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from
the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9, ESV

Have you decided to follow Christ? Do you believe in your heart, and not just in your head, God raised Jesus from the dead? My prayer for you today is that your story is like my story and you, too, can say “Jesus is my Lord.”

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Photo by Thanti Nguyen - Unsplash

Hope in a Time of Crisis

Where can we find hope? There’s no better place to find what we need during this time of crisis than the Word of God. I believe the verses below speak of the promises we have in knowing our Lord, and they also offer us comfort.

I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.

(Psalm 130:5 NLT)

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

(Romans 15:13 NLT)

Confident expectation is the Biblical definition of hope as we look to God’s promises in His Word. During these difficult times, we can rest in the assurance of His love and His coming.

With God’s Word and Christ in us, we can rest in hope and dwell in peace. The Lord’s got this—whatever “this” is for us—the virus, other health concerns, a family situation, our job, and our finances. Trust Him.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

(Isaiah 26:3 NLT)

God’s Word doesn’t hide the fact that we’ll endure struggles, but these difficulties help us grow stronger in character and reinforce our hope of salvation.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

(Romans 5:3-5 NLT)

In two of the verses above, we see the role of the Holy Spirit equipping us with power. This gives us confidence and fills our hearts with God’s love. In addition, the Holy Spirit indwells, guides, and intercedes for us, and He is our comforter. Trust Him to hold you during this time of crisis, guide you through God’s Word, and intercede on your behalf as you pray and seek the Lord.

Father, I thank You for Your Word and for the rest and hope we find there. Thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit working in us as we trust in You and as you fill us with joy and peace. Lord I ask for Your protection over us, and for those who are sick, I pray for healing. Bless the lonely, the anxious, and those who feel forgotten during this time of crisis and may they find comfort in knowing You love them. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

I’m praying for God’s blessings upon you. Stay safe and well!

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Photo by Toimetaja Tolkeburoo - Unsplash

He Holds Our Hand

Our hands are often used to show kindness, love, and to offer help to others. Holding someone’s hand can signify a special moment of showing tenderness and concern. God does that with us—He holds our hand.

In my novel, Only A Glimpse, holding hands is a regular occurrence. My main female character, Keedryn, struggles with her new boss, Blake. He’s arrogant, heartless, and takes his frustrations out on her. She reminisces about her husband, Sam, who passed away a few years earlier. “He left me too soon. I need him to hold me and reassure me I’m strong enough to deal with my boss.” She also recalls how much she misses those special moments she and her husband shared. “I miss our strolls, how he held my hand in church, and the stability and wisdom he brought into our marriage.”

Special moments of handholding also take place between Keedryn and her friends as they join hands to pray in agreement for God’s will to be done in Blake and Keedryn’s relationship. “She took my hand. ‘Let’s pray and ask God what His plans are. Are you willing to do that?’ ‘Yes,’ I whispered.”

Blake, the main male character in my story, softens toward Keedryn and tries to win her heart. They travel by plane to an out-of-state conference and encounter turbulence. Keedryn does something unexpected. “I reached out for his hand and held tight, which was something normal for me when Sam and I traveled. But Blake? I tried to move my hand, but he put his other hand over the top of mine, grinned, and said, ‘We’ll be fine.’ I managed to yank my hand away on the second try. ‘Sorry.’ His eyes twinkled. ‘I didn’t mind.’”

Blake offers her his hand a few times when they’re walking together, but Keedryn refuses because she doesn’t want a relationship, especially with her boss. She lets her guard down on one occasion and accepts his hand, but soon after, something happens between them. She then struggles to forgive him for the heartache he’s caused. While in the car together, he requests grace. ‘“I understand God gives us second chances, I thought maybe you’d give me one too.’ He offered me his hand again. I hesitated for a moment, then accepted it . . .I turned my gaze onto the road in front of me. I should take my hand back. But did I want to?”

In another scene, Blake touches Keedryn’s hand in a moment of tenderness and compassion and to speak to her with sincerity. ‘“Hurting you was the furthest thing from my mind. Can you forgive me?’ I placed my free hand on top of his and sighed. ‘Yes.’”

Above I’ve shared how holding someone’s hand may offer reassurance, connect people in prayer, bring comfort and security, grow relationships, and express tenderness, compassion, and sincerity.

Although I’m sharing scenes from my book, I hope you’ll notice the correlation here with God’s love for us. He holds our hand too.

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Psalm 37:23-24, NLT

If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

Psalm 139:9-10, NLT

And when we feel we need more than our hand held—

Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms.

Psalm 68:19, NLT

Father, thank you for holding my hand. You offer me strength, security, comfort, and so much more. I’m grateful for Your guidance, along with Your tenderness and compassion toward me. May I always remember that You go before me and follow me, and you are always with me. In Jesus’s name, amen.

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Photo by Kimi Albertson - Unsplash