Driving the Anchors Deep

    As our family enters the teen years I have often found myself asking God how do we navigate these "waters" in a way that will look different.  Different from what the world says the teen years will look like or what I see it looking like in other families.  The Lord said to me "Drive the anchors deep".

      Recently we were on the shores of Puerto Rico and as I sat on the beach looking out into the ocean I saw a huge cargo ship sailing out to sea.  I began to think about its anchor and how it would be used during any storm it might face or to anchor itself to the shore.  In the same way we all need an anchor that will secure us to Jesus and keep us steady through the storms of life.  That anchor is the Word of God and our faith.  By establishing anchors of the Word in our children's heart we are preparing them to face a secular world. (1 Peter 3:15)

     In our current culture 75% of Christian young people leave the church and their faith after high school (as specified in a recent survey by Barna Research Group and USA Today).  I believe that percentage is due to three major factors.  First, God and a biblical worldview has been removed from public schools.  The second factor is that many churches focus on feel good messages and a host of activities that tingle the senses with little or no deep teaching of the Word.  Lastly, and most importantly, parents are non-engaged when it comes to training their children in biblical truths.  Smith Wigglesworth stated it so very well when he said, "Many Christian feed their body three hot meals a day and their spirit one cold snack a week."  To drive the anchors deep into the soil of our children's hearts their has to be an awaken within our own heart and then we must "train our children in the way they should go".   (Proverbs 22:6)

     How then do we engraft a biblical worldview into their heart that will set them apart and anchor them to Jesus?  It takes a daily dose of the Word as well as time spent praying as a family every day.  Being intentional in bringing them face to face with Jesus will plant seeds of truth in their heart that will carry them through any circumstance or temptation they may face.  (Duet. 11:18-21)  Driving the anchors deep takes a determined effort but the fruit of our labor will be produce a generation of of teens who know who they are in Jesus.  May He grant you wisdom and grace to accomplish this good work in your children.  (Eph. 1:16-19)

Brooke Glass      

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Trophies

A few weeks ago I attended a  Kingdergarten  awards ceremony for my youngest daughter, Elizabeth. Just being able to write that is a miracle in itself. All of my five beautiful girls are adopted and have faced their own  challenges. Elizabeth was born with serious health challenges related to drug use while she was in the womb. She was not expected to live, but fought her way into the world 7 weeks early and survived. God blessed me to be at home with her for the first year. We would rock in the glider and pray and sing in between all the doctor's visits and therapy sessions she needed. The first few months of her life were spent fighting withdrawal pains and being constantly poked, prodded and tested. She had to fight for things that come normal to most kids, like sitting up, crawling and walking. We prayed, and laughed and cried with her every step of the way.

During the awards ceremony, there were two sets of awards given - academic and social. Due to some delays we are still conquering, she did not receive an academic award and had to sit and wait through all of those being called. I watched her and kept smiling at her as she waited. I could tell she didn't understand why her name hadn't been called yet. Once she even got up and started toward the front, but then sweetly sat back down when I shook my head no and motioned her back to her seat.

Finally, her name was called... Elizabeth Beck! She received the glowing personality award for always making everyone in her class smile. I watched her receive her award, and thought she would go back to her seat like all of the other kids had. Instead of taking the award back to her seat, she quickky ran to me, held it up in front of me so that I could see it, and then handed the award to me and ran off. All the other parents fussed over her being so sweet, but I couldn't say a word. My little fighter had brought me her trophy, and it was all I could do to hold it together.

In that moment, I knew that was what God wants from me. He wants me to run to him with my victories so that He can rejoice over me as well. I have faced a lot of challenges in my own life, though very different from Elizabeth's battles. We all have. There have been times when others thought we weren't going to make it. There were some days when we weren't sure ourselves if we would. But all the while Father God was holding us, declaring over us, and believing in us. Never once did He doubt we would make it or even consider giving up on us. What incredible joy it must bring to Him when we run to Him with our victories. Not just taking glory for ourselves, but giving it all to Him because we know that if He hadn't fought for us and with us, there would be no victory at all.

Don't be discouraged by delays and disappointments, my friend. No matter what you are facing right now, you are going to make it! You have someone in your corner who will never leave you or forsake you. No matter how long you have to wait for your turn to come, He'll sit smiling and waiting with you. Get ready to run to Him... your manifested victory is on the way!

Debbie Beck

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Every Day Our Father's Day

     "How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son."  Ephesians 1:3-6

     Reflecting on Father’s Day I am so thankful to have had wonderful Father figures in my life: an amazing Dad who would do anything for his kids, the best Father-in-law you could ask for, a caring Step-Father, wonderful Grandfathers and I was even blessed to have a few Great-Grandfather’s! Most importantly though I have been so blessed to have a family that has surrounded me with ABBA, Daddy God’s love!

     As I am sure most of us spent last week looking for the perfect Father’s Day gift, I can’t help but think about what kind of gift would bless our Heavenly Father. My Ezekiel did the sweetest thing a few days ago and it melted my heart so much that I just had to give in to his request. I had just tucked the boy into bed for the night when my husband Brian began playing his guitar and preparing for worship for Sunday morning. At once Ezekiel started crying from his room begging to sing for Daddy! I opened his bedroom door, he had his own little guitar in his hands and as tears began rolling down his little face, he very passionately repeated, “I want to sing for Daddy”!

     How much more would it bless Daddy God if we sincerely ran to him with that kind of passion? The desire to sing for Him, to please Him! John 4:23 says, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” The Father is SEEKING such to worship Him! Worship is so much more than just singing a song to Daddy God, but living a life that magnifies Him in all we do!

     I think the perfect Father’s day present would be to share the love of the Father so that all will know of His lavish gift-giving that he desires to bestow on us! I don’t think anything would bless Him more than for us to carry His love to others so that He can bless others through us! His Kingdom come, His will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. Not just on that one Sunday in June, but EVERY day as Our Father’s Day!

~ Calla Cuff

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Rhythms of Grace

Matt 11:28-30
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
 Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

How do you balance marriage, work, kids, ministry, friendships, devotions, housework, quiet time, volunteer hours, hobbies & recreation?  Can it all be balanced?  Is there a perfect answer?  This, sisters, is the never ending question!  As women, we have so many responsibilities and people demanding our time from us.  When we're at work, we feel bad for not being at home.  When we're with the kids, we feel like there's work we need to finish.  When we have to go out of town for business, we feel like we're letting our family down.  When we volunteer, thoughts come at us... 'should I be with my husband, kids, finishing that big project, organizing, bible study, meal planning, laundry'... STOP!!!!!  Jesus said, walk with Me, work with Me & learn the unforced rhythms of grace!  

There is a rhythm and a grace for you on the journey that God has designed for you.  My rhythm looks different than your rhythm.  We can't compare our race to any one else's race because we are only graced for our race!:)  I have to seek wisdom and ask my Heavenly Father for His plan (rhythm) for my life.  When I am operating in the 'unforced rhythms of grace' then I will not be tired, worn out, or burned out!  As a young woman with a husband, 2 kids, 1 teenager, 2 churches in 2 states, lots of missions work, traveling, conferences to attend, & dinners to cook... I need to hear from heaven for MY rhythm.  I cannot say yes to all the 'good' things.... I must say yes to all the 'God' things!  

I recently ran my 1st ever 5K race in the amazing Pittsburgh Marathon.  It was awesome for this non-runner to finish a legit race.  As I was running, I noticed right away that we all had different strides, different paces, & different  rhythms.  At one point I was running backwards to take a picture of downtown Pgh. and an older woman said, "Honey, you need to turn around and run your race."  HA, she was right!  But what she doesn't know about me is that I want to enjoy the journey!.. and document the journey with pictures:)))  I don't have to be 1st place, I'm not in this race for the sprint but for the long haul!  

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, whoever you need to spend time with... be there.  Be ALL there!  Be engaged, be alert, be present... whether you are on a date with your husband, playing a game with the kids, spending time with the Father, finishing a project for work, volunteering at church, or traveling the world... may you always find yourself in the UNFORCED RHYTHMS OF GRACE!!!

xoxo... Amy

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Never Say Never

Have you ever said, "Never!" to God?  Oh my, we all wish we could answer that with an emphatic, “No!”  The truth is, we probably all have made this untoward mistake at some time or another.

I can remember a few times I said, “Never!” & they both involved locations!  I told the Lord I did not want to move back to my hometown, but that’s exactly where He sent us to base our ministry in 1993.  Believe it or not, I also told him I didn’t ever want to live in Europe.  For me, I wanted God to send me to the hard places and not the fancy places.  Yes, I cried when He first told us to move to Barcelona. 

I know, what was I thinking! 

Here is what I learned: He is smarter than me!   It’s true, we think we see the big picture; He actually does see it.  He says,  “He will give you the desires of your heart.” in Psalms 37:4.  He also knows how to fulfill each one.  Pioneering our ministry from our hometown ended up allowing us to go forth surrounded by a group who supported us & sustained us. 

What about Europe?  Well, I fell in love with Spain & that love remains to this day.  It’s a country that has helped carve the course of our ministry & where I can call home.  I guess you could say that He knows more about the desires of our hearts than we even do.

I’m so thankful I didn’t follow the times I said, “ Never!” but followed Him.

I wonder what my life would be like had I not had to eat those words & do what I thought I didn’t want to do.  It just might be the same way with you.  To get to your dreams, you may have to do a few things you thought you could not do.  We have some great examples to follow of people who would have never done some things if they just looked at the situation using common sense…

Would Israel have gone into desert? Never.

Would Moses have crossed the Red Sea? Never.

Would the disciples have thought they could feed a multitude? Never.

We sure can limit God’s ability to move by our stubbornness.  Thankfully, Moses did have the priests step into the Jordan in Joshua 3 & the disciples did begin passing out what looked like just a few loaves of bread in Mark 8.  You see, these acts of impossibilities brought forth the power of God because  “With God all things are possible.”  Mathew 19:26

Wonderfully, it’s the same with us.  Those things that we find ourselves saying we’d never do are usually the steps of faith required to get us to the other side.  Yes, they took the children of Israel to their Promise & they will take us there too.

So, what do we learn?  Our words are powerful and can hinder us from going forth.  We know that our positive words can move mountains (Mk 11:23), but we also need to realize that our negative ones can hold back our dreams.

I dare you today to get rid of the “never” or all the reasons why you think you can’t do something.

I dare you to picture yourself doing what you thought you could not do. 

I dare you to simply say, “Yes, God! ” to whatever He asks of you.

Never say, “Never!”

~Judi Jo

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