My Broken Furnace Taught Me To Let Go

Have to tattle on myself! Last night I was calm when the furnace died on a cold, cold night. There was a split second or so with the "what???", but then I knew God would take care of it.

Well, our friend Bill and his wife, Lisa, showed up to help. He showed Rick what to do to keep it going through the night. Things were looking up. Only a solenoid needs to be replaced. Yay!

After they left, Rick started feeling pretty sick. Very sick! Things went from okay to UGH fast, and my brain lost control. He showed me how to keep the furnace running and went to bed. He needed to! I felt abandoned! I felt alone and angry. I even said out loud, "Why do You keep allowing this kind of stuff? Haven't we been through enough? Rick's illnesses, my illnesses, other appliances & cars breaking down, hassles with insurance companies and doctors over and over, isn't that enough?" I stormed around the house trying to do some things without waking up Rick and I banged on the furnace where I was supposed to when it tried to start.

Then I fell apart. I sat at my desk and grumbled and started crying. All I could say is, "I can't do this anymore! I just can't!!!"

I heard a small voice say, "I know, but I can!

Stopped in my tracks, I realized how I had been trying to control what I had no business controlling. I wanted things to go the way I wanted them to and this was not it. It was like a fog had been lifted off of me.

I let go! All I could do was cry and cry out to Him!

The house was getting a little cold and I heard the furnace trying to work. I reluctantly went to it and waited to do what I was gonna maybe have to do all night long to keep the house warm. I waited to see the glowing orange light. I waited to hear the click I was supposed to hear. I waited thinking I would have to bang it soon. It was then that the furnace started working on it's own again. No banging. No trying to get it going. And it's been working on it's own all night long since then.

God will use all kinds of things to teach us what we need to learn, even cranky furnaces, sick husbands, and quiet cold nights. I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful He loves me enough to show me where I am weak and how He is strong enough for both of us!

"And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." II Corinthians 12:9

True Peace In The Midst Of Chaos

Peace, such an easy word to say and something we all would like, but is so elusive.

What really is peace? Most of us think about peace when there is chaos in our lives. Things get hectic and crazy. We have tons of things to get done. The kids are going nuts. The news is depressing. There is violence around the world. The money that comes in never seems to quite match the money that needs to go out. The laundry never seems to ever get done. The yard needs mowing and it won't stop raining. The dog just got loose. The cat just threw up. The car "Service Engine" light came on.

How did those old commercials go? Calgon, take me away! (Do they even make that anymore?)

But is a few minutes in the bathtub with a fragrant bath additive really what peace is. It may feel like peace. It may look peaceful, but in the end is it really peace.

Not really. In fact, not at all. It's only the appearance of peace, not true peace.

Peace defined is:
1.freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility.
2.freedom from or the cessation of war or violence.

When was the last time in your life you truly had that kind of peace? Seriously think about it. Have you ever really had freedom from disturbance? Has there ever really not been war or violence? If you're honest the answer will be no. I have to answer the same. We always have things going on in our lives, around our lives and through our lives that are far from peaceful. Sure there are moments, but nothing seriously continuous.

So if it is something we can't really completely get, why do we seek it and want it so much? Because it is a part of who we should be spiritually!

Let me explain.

Born in each and every person is a knowledge (whether we recognize it or not) that something is missing from our lives. That something is God. He made us that way. We are wired to seek Him. Part of who God is, well, is Peace. You may have heard one of the names of Jesus, The Prince of Peace. He is named that because that is who He is. He IS Peace. It is a part of His character, who He is as God.

John 14:27 says "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

My peace I give you....... Think about that for a minute. My peace I give you. If Jesus is peace and He is giving us His peace He giving Himself to us. How do I know this? Well I could say from personal experience, but that's a little subjective. But Scripture is very clear on this.

John 14:15-17 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

Did you see that part I emphasized? The Holy Spirit dwells within each and every Believer. Because He does each and every one of us can know Peace, true Peace, not the temporary or momentary kind, but the kind that lasts. This is a peace that you can't explain!

Phillipians 4:7 "and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

That kind of peace is something that no Believer I know can really explain. God was very clear in saying that it is a peace that "surpasses all understanding". It truly does. It never makes sense, nor can we ever give this kind of peace to each other. It's impossible. It only comes from God because of what His Son did for us on the cross and through the Holy Spirit.

What an amazing gift it really is. In the midst of all the craziness of life, in the calmness of life, in the tragedy of life, we can have peace. Recently I experienced an abundant amount of that peace. It happened when my husband became violently ill with food poisoning and then learned when he was in the hospital that he would have to have a toe amputated. Imagine how most of us would feel watching our spouse get sicker and sicker with food poisoning, taking them to the ER and finding out while there that he was to lose a toe and that he had a raging infection throughout his body. I think the normal response would be panic, fear, sadness and a whole gamut of other emotions.

But I can say, and my friends and family can attest to the fact that during the whole process I not once panicked. I remained calm and deep inside I was sure things would be fine no matter the outcome. Seriously, no matter the outcome, even when the surgeon said he was concerned about my husbands whole foot being in danger and when he explained how serious the infection he had was. I knew God was in control and I felt His perfect peace at all times.

That's peace that "surpasses all understanding".

The only way to have true peace is to have Christ. If you don't have Christ you will never be able to understand nor experience this kind of peace. Having Christ is a simple act of faith in what He has done for you and me.

I Corinthians 15:3-4 "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,"

That's how you and I can have peace, true Peace!

Making A Deposit On A Promise

For years now I have seen how important it is to keep your word. I think we all know how important that really is, but sometimes it really comes home in a unique way.

Many years ago I met a wonderful women. She was not a typical woman. She was her own self and was not afraid to be who she was. You might say she was a little quirky, but it was a very good quirky. To give you an idea of what I mean, when she married her second husband she and her husband went on their honeymoon with two other people, my mother-in-law being one of them. Telling you the whys and all about that would take too long, but it was something she, her husband and everyone else enjoyed a lot. Oh and she was in her 60's when this honeymoon took place.

This sweet and unusual lady was named LaBerta! I love her name and when she got married again he last name became LaTurner. LaBerta LaTurner. Isn't that just the neatest name? And it fit her wonderful quirky personality too. But what was even more important and wonderful about her was her testimony. She was a powerful woman of God. She loved the Lord and had no fear in telling others about Him and all He had done in her life. I loved that about her and through that testimony she taught me a very important lesson.

I'm sure many of you (hopefully all of you) know the importance of prayer. In any Believer's life it is vital. It can make a huge difference in how we live our daily lives and with our relationships with other people. But LaBerta taught me something about prayer I had never thought about before and have never forgotten since.

I need to tell you that LaBerta was an amazing prayer warrior. If you wanted someone to faithfully pray for things going on in your life she was the person to go to. She was consistent in her prayer life and she followed up. If you asked her to pray for something she would come to you later to find out what the answer to that prayer was. She believed in and practiced the power of prayer! I learned a lot from her by that example, but the one small step she took that impressed me the most was what she would do when you asked her to pray.

This small step became very evident to me the first time I asked her to pray for me. We were standing in the foyer of a church. She noticed that I was not doing very well (long story) and asked if she could pray for me. I told her what was going on briefly and she said she would pray. That's when the most amazing thing happened. She stopped right there in the midst of a lot of other people, took my hand and started praying. It did not matter who else heard or saw, she just started praying. I can't tell you how special that was to me.

But it was not the only time she did that for me or my family. If we ran into her at the grocery store she would stop right there and pray for us. If we talked on the phone with her she would end the conversation with a prayer. If we met in the post office she would pray for anything and anyone. Wherever she was, if you needed prayer she would pray for you right then and there. She did not care who else saw what was going on or who heard, not that she prayed loudly. Her concern was to pray and pray immediately.

I had a chance one time to ask her about it. She kinda snickered and said she thought that telling someone you would pray for them was a promise. Promises were something to be taken very seriously, as seriously as God takes His promises to us. She told me that when she became a Christian she learned how important promises really are to God and since saying you would pray for someone was in her mind a promise (and I agree with her) she had to make sure she kept it. So when someone asked her to pray she was going to make a deposit on a promise and she did every single time.

I treasured that thought and mulled it over in my mind for quite a while. I had never heard of anyone thinking about praying for someone in that way before. It made a huge impact on me. LaBetra taught me something that to this day has stuck with me and has changed how I see prayer and my prayer life.

Do I do the same thing as boldly as LaBerta did? No, I wish I did. But I have done my best to keep the promise I make to people when I say I will pray for them? Yes! Prayer is a vital part of my life and it was forever changed by a small lesson from LaBerta LaTurner.

Thank you Berta!!