I'm Sharing This Because............

I really had second thoughts about sharing this but decided to because of you (you know who you are) and your faithful prayers in supporting my husband and me and Renewal Ranch.

I decided that those of you who know me well know that this is not a pat on our backs........this comes in spite of all our weaknesses and shortcomings--pure grace from God.

I wanted you to feel the love and gratitude also from one of these precious men.  Thank you so much for your faithfulness.

Always loving you,
Dianne
2011-the Year of Beyond

Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to your name goes all the glory
for your unfailing love and faithfulness. Psalm 115:1
                

Lord, truly you have blessed us beyond our wildest imaginations for 2011--to You I give all the praise and glory.

Tempetuous, like the angry, rolling sea
Sometimes my spirit boils up--
Someone rescue me.

Over the horizon
I feel a calm and normal me

If only I could get there
From this strangling death be free.

Lighthouse--oh come and rescue me--

Oh God, you are my lighthouse,
Jesus, you are my lifeboat,
Holy Spirit, you are my lifeline.

Rescue me--rescue me from myself.


When I quit talking and listened these were the words that came to my spirit:

"You are my servant, 

I have chosen you

and not rejected you. 

So do not fear,

for I am with you,

Do not be dismayed

For I am your God.

I will strengthen you

and help you,

I will uphold you

with my right hand."

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. John 15:16a

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" Matt 14:31

I think one of the great benefits of reading His scriptures every day is portrayed above. Seemingly, I was helpless, drowning, but when I called for help, the scripture that I had read over the years came back to my spirit and rescued me. I am not patting myself on the back for reading the scripture. I can't even take credit for realizing that I am helpless, hopeless, a total wreck without Him. He is even responsible for showing me that. I am giving credit to my God who says His Word will NOT return void.

So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11

Loving you,
Dianne
2011-the Year of Beyond

a repost from past pages

Photo:  Carmel, California  1996

The Mind Unshaken

Yesterday when I was in the grocery store at the meat counter in the very back, without warning the whole store went black.

Immediately, panic tried to set in. I just finished reading Daniel Woolley's book, Unshaken, Rising From the Ruins of Haiti's Hotel Montana and it seemed as if his whole book flashed in front of my mind--what stood out was how important it is not to panic and, of course, God's faithfulness.

After reading all he experienced and especially the darkest times of being buried alive under six stories of the Hotel Montana and singing praises to God a good portion of those two and a half days--all of this made its way instantly through my mind-- and almost immediately I felt a peace, a calm, the antithesis of panic--

Also during this blackout, I was already starting to formulate in my mind a plan of how I could get to the front of the store the safest way.

What was interesting was the mass exodus as soon as the lights came back on--about a second, maybe not that long, later--yes, I am not joking--the store was totally black a second or less.  However, I suppose many thought that the lights would probably go out again because a couple minutes later, the loudspeaker was calling for all help to the front.

I don't know whether everyone just happened to get to the checkout line at the same time or whether they were thinking about the people of Japan or the fault line here in Arkansas that has produced its own earthquakes lately--in fact, we had some yesterday in Greenbrier--small ones--3.3 was the largest I think--Greenbrier is about an hour's drive from here-

Another day, another time, I might have done the same but I continued on with my grocery shopping in perfect peace.  And I know it was nothing of my doing, it was only because my mind was stayed on God and His incredible grace and peace.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3

I guess there are a couple of things I can glean from this experience--

the first being that our minds are created so magnificently that in one second, we can have myriad thoughts--thoughts so precise that they can be related later--

and secondly, just how wonderful God's peace is and how totally palpable it was to me today--

The title of Woolley's book, Unshaken, refers to the faithfulness and love of God--our minds will be shaken at times--shaken to the point we think we might lose it all--it is only in His steadfastness, His utter unshakability that we have any hope at any time of our lives, no matter how steady the ground under our feet or how much light is available.

So, today, right at this moment, I ask Him to shake me--to rid me of the things that need to be shaken loose so all that remains is what He can use for His glory.

At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,  for our “God is a consuming fire.”  Hebrews 12:26-28

Consume all that is not pleasing to You, O Lord.


Loving you,
Dianne
2011-the Year of Beyond

Just SMH

If you have done much cyber messaging over the last several years, you know the shortcuts such as LOL--short for laughing out loud.

Every once in a while, one of these would appear that I did not know the meaning to--some I could almost figure out and didn't want to know the meaning. Others really got my curiosity up though.

One of those I kept seeing on many of my former students' Facebook pages was SMH.  I didn't have a clue what it meant but was too cool to ask.   This is where my old standby--the urban dictionary--comes in real handy--yes, at just a cyber touch, I knew that it was short for--shaking my head!

They use this mostly when they think someone is acting a fool and words will not convey a strong enough meaning for how they are feeling about it.   It can also be used when you witness something that you stand in awe of and words will not adequately describe how great it is.  Mostly they use it as the first meaning.

What is amazing to me is how almost every expression we have, if you dig deep enough, had its origin in God's Word.

So this morning when I read Psalm 22:6-8, I could just imagine the sarcasm with which these people looked upon David and slung their hurtful words--

But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

“He trusts in the LORD,” they say,
“let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”

I am choosing to use the second meaning today as I look out my dining room window at God's little yellow jasmine trumpets blooming in mass all over the pergola--I just stand here SMH!

Hope you can use the second meaning and have something really wonderful to "shake your head at" today, my friend.

Loving you,
Dianne
2011-the Year of Beyond

Walking in White

This devotional by Oswald Chambers came to my mind this morning and I wanted to share it with you.

Do You Walk In White? "Buried with Him . . . that . . . even so we also should walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4 No one enters into the experience of entire sanctification without going through a "white funeral" - the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crisis of death, sanctification is nothing more than a vision. There must be a "white funeral," - a death that has only one resurrection - a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can upset such a life, it is one with God for one purpose, to be a witness to Him. Have you come to your last days really? You have come to them often in sentiment, but have you come to them really? You cannot go to your funeral in excitement, or die in excitement. Death means you stop being. Do you agree with God that you stop being the striving, earnest kind of Christian you have been? We skirt the cemetery and all the time refuse to go to death. It is not striving to go to death, it is dying - "baptized into His death." Have you had your "white funeral," or are you sacredly playing the fool with your soul? Is there a place in your life marked as the last day, a place to which the memory goes back with a chastened and extraordinarily grateful remembrance - "Yes, it was then, at that 'white funeral,' that I made an agreement with God." "This is the will of God, even your sanctification." When you realize what the will of God is, you will enter into sanctification as naturally as can be. Are you willing to go through that "white funeral" now? Do you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends upon you.  ~~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

I will never forget the first time I truly read or "got" this devotional of his--the magnitude of it all was overwhelming but over time it seems that I trudge through the graveyard picking up the cobwebs of that old life and trying to put it back together.

My prayer today is that I might truly learn what it is to be baptized into Jesus' death--to die to myself once again thereby opening the doors to true newness of life.

Always loving you,
Dianne
2011-the Year of Beyond

Pearl of Great Price

Just thought of this cute little story this afternoon and hope you will get a laugh out of it as I did.

A friend of mine shared with me that she had bought her young son a new Bible. I think Andrew was nine or ten at the time--not sure. This was quite a few years ago--it just popped in my mind today. But he was old enough to know how to write and to know some of his mother's habits. smile

It seems that my friend, Lisa, presented him the Bible but had forgotten to fill out the page where it says:

When she went to get the Bible from his room to record the pertinent information, she found written in his childish scrawl:

What will your children remember about you? What will my children remember about me? We can be sure they are or were watching.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1,2

I think what this verse is telling us is this: Just as children imitate what they see, we should imitate God as Jesus did when He gave Himself for us.

When I started writing this post, I was just going to tell you the little story about Andrew. As it developed, the little laugh turned in to a sobering moment for me.


A repost from past pages.

In and Out

I will be spending time with some of my grandchildren and old friends this week.

Don't know if I will be able to post or not but will try to keep up the prayer portion of the blog. Whether I get the prayers posted or not, I will be praying for you and yours.

Hope your week is blessed!

I love you,
Dianne

Lessons From a Robin

I love to learn and have spiritual lessons reinforced by a Word from God. I feel like this has happened to me this week through the actions of a robin.

As you may know, I have a prayer segment to this blog and really it has become my most serious focus. I have always prayed for my children, my seed, and many times written my prayers or recorded scriptures that I am claiming for them.

However, the enemy has a way of bringing doubts to our minds if what we are doing is right, biblical or really needed. From time to time, I second guess myself about my daily prayers for my children with thoughts such as "Well, if you trusted God like you should, you wouldn't always be praying for them. You would pray a prayer and keep believing that it would be answered."

I keep going back to this:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. Matt. 7:7 NLT

On Monday of this week, I noticed there was a robin preparing to build a nest in a small tree right outside our kitchen window. She or he (don't know if it is the dad or mom) was looking for the perfect place--the tree is perfect--really thick leaves at the top and branches that cascade downward--lots of protection from weather and also camouflaged from danger.

The robin saw the glass of the kitchen window and I guess thought there was another bird close by who might present trouble. It has come back every day since Monday, five days in a row, hundreds of times during the day, pecked on that window and tried to fight the bird it sees. It has not given up on protecting its seed.

The very first day it came, after an hour or so of it coming back again and again to fight this "other" bird, I started to get the message from God.

In my spirit I felt that God was saying to me, "Yes, I want you to knock, I want you to seek, I want you to care about your seed and their spiritual legacy so much that you will come back to me, day after day, hour after hour. If the robin is this faithful to protect her seed, how much more have I given you the love and capacity to care for yours?"

Oh God, thank you for sending this robin to teach me about faithfulness. Help me always to be faithful to the greatest privilege and responsibility I have for the care of my children, my grandchildren, my seed, Prayer--

A Cross of Ashes

Being that I am not Catholic, I have only received the cross of ashes one time in my life----when I was teaching at Immaculate Conception in Tulsa, OK. I will never forget how I felt that day--

I knew that everyone else would know that I was a follower of Christ and I so wanted to bring glory to His Name, and not bring any reproach upon the Savior of the world--I watched every step I took, every word I said--like I should do every day anyway.

I spent much of the day in tears because I could not think about anything but Jesus and His suffering on the cross for me.

However, and this is a big however, my friend, Sheila, over at Becoming Women of Peace wrote a post today that I want you to read so much. And please read to the very last line...........it is truly priceless.

Beautiful Fruit!

What do you think of when you see beautiful fruit? Do you stop to think about the someone somewhere who cultivated this crop, planted the seed, pulled the weeds, turned over the sod, covered it when the high winds and bitter temperatures came, provided nourishment in the form of sunshine and rain?  This kind of beautiful fruit doesn't just happen but I am one of the guilty ones for taking so much for granted at times.

Well, do I ever have some fruit to share with you today?

These are some of our awesome men who are in the process of letting God restore their lives at Renewal Ranch.

This is Michael, our cook.  Michael gets up at the crack of dawn to start preparing for the day.  Every time I am there, he is working the whole time.  He truly has the heart of a servant.  Michael, we are so glad to have you at Renewal Ranch.  Michael is a deep thinker and a seeker.  He gave me a list of over one hundred searching, probing spiritual questions.   He who seeks will find.

This is Charles.  He moved to Arkansas after Hurricane Katrina--he was one of those housed in the Superdome in the aftermath of that horrible tragedy.  Charles is very friendly but a good portion of the time when I am there, you will see him sitting and studying his Bible while all of the rest of us are laughing, talking, visiting.

He has memorized twenty scriptures and I couldn't be more proud of him.  He wants me to meet "Mama Lucy" one day and I truly hope to.  She is probably the earthly reason that Charles is with us--a true prayer warrior and his heroine.

How Charles came to be with us--Charles was riding a bicycle and one of our board members hit him accidentally.  He stopped, took him to the hospital and checked on him in the days afterward.  Thank God he was not seriously hurt.

One of the other guys at the ranch said to me, "Charles is giving 150%.

Atlas is a very gentle and sincere man.  I haven't gotten to know him as well as I want to but it is evident that he is serious about getting his life restored and being the man that God created him to be.  He has given his testimony on several occasions and what I am struck with is his gratitude to God for Renewal Ranch and those who are investing in his life.

This is Michael (in blue shirt) and his beautiful family from Tulsa, OK.  How ironic that they are really good friends with the family of my oldest's sons best friend when we lived there.  They and their church, South Lakewood Baptist, are hosting the men and workers from Renewal Ranch on Sunday, May 8.  Please come and worship with us if you are in the vicinity and would like to know more about RR.

We have five more men in this class who I will be featuring in the days to come.

When I named this year, 2011, the Year of Beyond, I really had no clue what was in store.  The blessings these men have brought to our lives is beyond any human reasonings or imaginings my mind could have ever entertained.

It has been my privilege to volunteer some but I deserve no credit.  There are people though, who have made deep sacrificial givings of their time and money to make this ministry a reality.   We are totally and utterly dependent upon God to keep this ministry running.  Jesus paid the price and continues to pay it.

So to those who have tilled, planted, protected this precious fruit so that "restoring broken lives through Christ" could become a reality, I am in awe--mostly to You, Lord Jesus, at how much You care for each one of us so individually.  You are awesome and to You be all the glory in this age and the ages to come.

These men are inundated in the Bible from 7 to 4 every weekday except Friday when they do service projects in the community.  On Monday nights they also attend Bible Study Fellowship, church on Wednesday nights, Saturday worship service every week at the ranch and church on Sunday.  For a detailed listing of their course descriptions, please go here or here for a more general look at RR.

If you would like to become an active part of this ministry, would you please join me in daily prayer for these men by going to "Pray With Me" in the sidebar.  I would love for you to join me in prayer each day for the RR men and for our seed also.

Always loving you,
Dianne
2011-the Year of Beyond

Photo-taken with my IPhone at Kroger yesterday morning.  I kinda like the tag left on the apple.

Weekend Worship

Photo:  Crossing the Arkansas River, Pinnacle Mountain in the background, picture taken with IPhone

A Mighty Horse

Prayer for March 3, 2011

No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine. Psalm 33:16-19

I had a dream one night several years ago that I was riding a mighty horse--We were flying through the forest at an incredible speed, the horse's hooves barely landing on the ground before accelerating into mid air again--the feeling of exhileration was like being on some kind of an endorphine high and I felt as though the horse and I together were one and could accomplish anything. It is really hard to describe how I felt especially since I have always been uncomfortable around horses--not actually afraid of them, just not comfortable.

After a time the horse pulled up short and I knew something was terribly wrong. I jumped off to examine the horse and where the breast of the horse joins the legs, the horse was bleeding terribly and all the skin was torn back exposing bone and raw flesh.

I didn't have a clue as to the meaning of the dream until after waking I read the verse I have included at the bottom of this post. Was I or am I trusting in something besides God? Anything I trust in apart from Him will never bring true security. God is my refuge and my strength--a very present help in time of trouble.

This morning during my devotional time I read this verse again and was reminded of that dream. May we only place our trust in the One true and Living God!

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.  Psalm 20:77

Good morning, Lord, here I am again asking, seeking, knocking for my descendants. 

Lord, if my children and those others for whom I am praying this morning, are trusting anything in their lives more than You, I pray that they will come to the realization through your Holy Spirit that anything or anyone, apart from You, is a vain hope for deliverance.

May they all learn a deep reverence and awe of You, and to trust totally in You and Your statutes.

I pray that this will become more and more real to me as well.  Show us what our "other gods" are, convict us and help us turn to You and Your mighty hand.

For all you are, for all you have blessed me with in this life, I give You humble and grateful thanks.  I love You, Lord, with all my heart.

There is one, especially for whom I am praying today.  Lord, You see the angst, the agony, the seeming hopelessness of what they are going through.  Where healing is needed, please restore, where Your calm and peace are needed, let Your sweet breath bring refreshing breezes, where understanding is needed, give acceptance of Your loving care and provision each day.

I ask in Jesus' Name.  Amen

Dead Man Talking

There is no way I can do justice by my meager writing here to capture the utter peace, joy and air of celebration which invaded the sanctuary of Little Rock West Church last Saturday morning.

It was a lengthy service and one that I did not want to end. It started with congregational singing and Bro. B.'s 85 year old widow was one of the first to stand, start clapping her hands, and raising them to Jesus in songs of loudest praise.

I had not heard him preach since I was a teen-ager so to walk into the auditorium with a big screen flashing pictures of him and his voice coming strong over a loud speaker was quite emotional and entertaining for me. He was the most sincere, the funniest, "the most" of any good adjective concerning preachers that you can ever imagine.

But the strongest message, among many, emphasized how much he loved his flock and the community around his church--he was pastor to a whole community.

Many stories abound of how he was the first one present in the middle of the night when there was a need, a hospitalization, a tragedy.  Some people there validated the fact that instead of calling their own pastor during a time of crisis, Bro. B.'s number was the first one dialed.

Two of his grandsons spoke--one a preacher himself following in the footsteps of his grandfather.

After I"ll Fly Away and several other rousing songs, a quartet from many, many years ago sang Beyond the Sunset, one of his favorites.

Bro. B could preach heaven down in a matter of minutes but he could not carry a tune in a bucket with a lid on it. However, there was one song that from time to time he would start singing out of the clear blue. We had an incredibly talented pianist who had perfect pitch--she played by ear and honestly I've never heard anyone in my life who could play better than she.

If anyone in the church started an unplanned song (this was quite common fifty years ago), she could, almost immediately, go straight to "the key" they were singing in and start the piano accompaniment. She would tell the guitarists and the accordion player (me) and away we would go. However, Bro. B.'s singing was so bad that she would hunt and hunt before she could find the "key" he was singing in. We always laughed and said he was "singing between the cracks of the keys."

In spite of the unheard of chords, when he started this particular song it was so anointed that if we had been lifted straight to glory at that moment, it would not have surprised us. So, when the song leader started

He's God all over the ocean,
He's God all over the sea,
He's God all over creation,
And he's God all over me,

I know God is God and He always will be God.

He's God in the pulpit,
He's God at the back door,
He's God in the Amen corner,
He's God all over the floor.

I know God is God and He always will be God.

He's God in the Father, He's God in the Son,
He's God in the Spirit, He's God all three in One.

I know God is God and He always will be God

Needless to say, we thought we all might go straight to Glory with Bro. B right then.
Oh My!

The tilt of his hat in this picture tells you just about everything you need to know about Bro. B.

Bro. Ballard was a patriot to the marrow of his bones. He served under Gen. Patton at the Battle of the Bulge during WW 2. When asked what he remembered Gen. Patton saying to his troops, what stood out in his mind was this: "Let's win this war, men, so we can go home."  Patton was smart enough to know that the mention of home would motivate them like nothing else.

A soldier presents Bro. B's widow with the American flag that draped his coffin.

When I took this picture I knew that Bro. B.'s widow had said her goodbyes to him back at the funeral home when they
brought in a chair and she sat down beside him, leaned over the casket and talked to his earthly tent for the very last time--the body that she had touched for the last sixty-nine years.  And this picture says to me:
O death where is thy sting?  O grave where is thy victory?

Well, Bro. B. was a mighty warrior--a warrior who has gone home to his reward--His greatest reward? Quite simply the privilege of laying his crowns at the feet of Jesus, the One He loved with all his heart.

The preacher who spoke shared this scripture as his text:

"By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead."  Hebrews 11:4

He made the point and gave many examples of how Bro. Ballard's voice is still speaking even though he is dead.

One of my favorite stories that was told Saturday morning went like this:

"I lived in the community around Bro. Ballard's church and I was not going to church at the time.  It was on a Saturday morning and I was out in the driveway working on a car and here comes Bro. B driving his little Opel, stops, gets out and proceeds to help me work on that car.

Now I don't know what I would have done if he had been driving a Cadillac cause it was all I could do to handle the load of conviction he dumped out of that little Opel, let alone a Cadillac."

In a pastoring career that spread over a half century, his voice has spoken to thousands of the great faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ. My friend, his voice speaks as loud or louder today than when the breath of life came from it.  Powerful words, aren't they--Dead Man Talking! What will my life say after I am gone?

Bro. B. was my hero--a better husband, a better father, a better pastor, a better soldier I have never known.

I will always hear his voice as long as I have life and a sane mind.  He was one of the propelling forces in my life who taught me to love God more than my next breath.  And since his oldest daughter was my best friend and I spent more weekends at their home than I did my own, he was more than my pastor, he  was my father.

Bro. B.'s burial was in a small town about an hour and a half drive from the Little Rock area.  It is a little out of the way town that I had not returned to in fifty years.  It brought back many memories of my teen-aged trips there with their family.

As the day drew to a close, my heart was sad but so, so glad--so glad that I had been privileged to know this 5'5" tall giant of a man whose legacy will go on as long as this world lasts.


Always listening for His voice and his too,
Dianne
2011-the Year of Beyond