Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing a beautiful Thanksgiving to you all! May you be blessed as you bless others!

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

Philippians 1:3-11

NLT

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye...

by Niki Turner

I hate endings. The end of a great book, the end of a good movie or TV program, the end of a vacation ... or in this case, the end of what has been a lovely opportunity to interact with other PWs, past and present.

That said, I'm not going to drag out my goodbye ... I'll let the VonTrapp children do it for me!

Blessings to you all, contributors and readers alike! I hope you'll pop by In Truer Ink from time to time and say hello. In the meantime, see ya around the Internet!

Thanking God for YOU: My Final Post for PW Speaks

I pray for you. In fact, the #1 item on my office whiteboard is "Pray for readers, editors, my agent, myself." So before you ever visited this blog or read my post about The Fun Things I've Learned from My Cats, or How Sharing Your Messes Makes You More Lovable, or What God Isn't, I was praying for you.

You are the reason I write. Okay, that was not 100% true. I write because I have this wild, mad love affair with words and the way stringing them together can change a peson's outlook, heart, or life.

But I don't put my words out on blogs or in print simply to satisfy my passion. I do it for you.

If one word, sentence, or story touches your heart, draws you nearer to the endless love of God, helps you like yourself better, or makes you laugh, I have fulfilled a slice of my dream.

It's sad when something good, like this blog, must end. Although I'll miss you, I hope you pop over to Mirth and Worth sometime to say "hi." I write the same kinds of crazy, uplifting things there that I do here, so you'll feel right at home, I promise.

I'm thankful for you. And I will keep praying for you. That's another promise.

With Love in the Lamb,
Jen

“Nutty with a dash of meat” best describes Jeanette Levellie’s speaking, writing and life. She has published hundreds of humor/inspirational columns, articles, greeting cards, and poems. A spunky pastor’s wife, Jeanette is the mother of two, grandmother of three, and waitress to four cats. Her first book, Mirth and Worth in the Real Lane, will be released in April, 2012. Find her mirthful musings at www.jeanettelevellie.com

Dealing With Transitions

This was the last box to pack. It would be the first to be unpacked when we arrived at the new house. For a moment I studied the framed photo in my hand before cuddling it in bubble wrap and tucking it next to the homemade calendar that had hung on the kitchen wall, and the set of quilted placemats we used for family meals. There were the girls’ favorite Winnie-the-Pooh ornaments from atop their bedroom dressers, a few precious bedtime storybooks along with the family bible, and the living room clock that ticks its way through all our days.

We’ve packed a similar box for every one of our moves back and forth across the country. It’s been our way of creating a small comfort zone upon arrival in a new and unfamiliar home.

In each of our moves, we knew we were following God’s call to take up ministry in a new location, but leaving behind beloved people and the comfort of familiar places was still difficult. Transitions are traumatic, regardless of the circumstances. To minimize the stress for our children we made up lists with the phone numbers and addresses of their best friends, and encouraged them to keep in touch. We researched the new area ahead of time and as a family chose places we would explore. We acquired photographs of the new schools and church, and sometimes even a floor plan of the new house, with everyone’s bedroom identified.

As soon as we arrived in our new home, the first thing to be unpacked was the ‘homecoming’ box, eager hands reaching for their special treasures. Our first day’s devotional time included reassuring verses from the bible:

“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” [Zeph. 3:17]

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.’"
[Psalm 91:1-2]


There are so many transitional times in life – moving, changing jobs, death of friends or family members, retirement. But my husband is fond of the saying, “We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know Who holds our tomorrows.” We know that when we place ourselves in God’s care, He goes ahead of us into every situation and will be with us as we make the necessary adjustments.

Have you faced any major transitions in your life recently? Did you have special ways of coping with them?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carol J. Garvin is the wife of a retired Presbyterian pastor, mother of four and grandmother to several more. Her life has been a wonderful mixture of school teaching, church and family activities, owning a professional dog show business, and freelance writing. She and her husband live in a rural suburb of Vancouver, Canada.

Blog: http://careann.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/mBj1F7

Twitter: @caroljgarvin

 

I Am the Offering

The kids get so dirty after a day at school. I imagine they use the play yard like their own personal treasure island. They ravage their domain for every ounce of dirt they have time to dig up. It would explain the creases of grim inching down their necks and trailing up their scalp. The teachers giggle while they run about happy to see their imaginations at work. No one seems to care how dirty they get.

I cringe because I never wanted to get dirty as a child. My mother had to push me outside to play. Barbie’s were clean and reading was sanitary. Today, I still don’t enjoy getting dirty. When the girls were babies, they used my blouses as burp clothes. I grumbled every time.
When the kids reached elementary school and suffered some careless spill at lunch time, they knew I would have a complaint. “Girls should stay clean.”

But as I unveil myself from the vanities of this world, I see something different. I am dirtier today than I’ve been my whole life. I can’t scrub hard enough. I want to feel the squeaky clean that comes from a steaming hot shower and a luffer sponge. But the grim of sin has saturated the surface and is deep down in my bones.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags;” Isaiah 64:6

I take heart for one reason: My dirt is an offering–an opportunity for Christ to overtake me. When I climb up on the gleaming altar of holiness with all my dirt and muddy dispositions Christ turns me into His masterpiece. I become a gleaming vessel and a glowing light.

When I try to conjure ways to give God something in the way of thanks, it pales in comparison to this. The thanks that He desires is the dirty me willing to lay it all down. I want for us to understand that Christ wants all of us, and He knows that means more filth than fine goods.
Will you give Him all of you today? Won’t you stop trying to clean it up and give it up to the One who can straighten you up.

Share with me in the comments: Do you feel too dirty for God sometimes?

Tamika Eason is a passionate wife, writer, and awestruck mother to three daughters. She is amazed by God's great grace- that He chooses to love a woman so full of unworthiness. She and her husband serve in ministry in Austin, Texas.
You can find her writing inspirational fiction that showcases the power of supernatural love and blogging at The Potter's Wheel
http://www.tamikaeason.com/

Whose team are you on? {Marriage Monday}

by Niki Turner

(Husband comes in after work, throws his jacket and briefcase on the sofa.)
HUSBAND: You won't believe what happened today, honey. So-and-so walked into my office and accused me of losing those books I was using to study from last week.
WIFE: Well, did you lose them?
HUSBAND: (defensive) No, I didn't lose them.
WIFE: Then where are they?
HUSBAND: How should I know? I put them back in the church library.
WIFE: Are you sure? You know how forgetful you are.
HUSBAND: I'm leaving. I can't even get any respect in my own home. (storms out)

This wife chose the wrong team. By aligning herself with her husband's accuser, she immediately created a rift in her marriage. Now it's Team Wife v. Team Husband in the same household, and that doesn't bode well for anyone.

"However, let each man of you [without exception] love his wife as [being in a sense] his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him,  venerates, and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly.]"

Ephesians 5:33 Amplified

I'll admit, there are days when just reading that verse makes my toes curl up in my shoes. But Paul's words here are a description of what it means to be on the same team, not in opposition against one another, not competing with or battling our spouse for power or control or even for the right to be right. One of our longest arguments started over whether a pound of liquid weighs the same amount as a pound of solid matter. We both wanted to be right. But as soon as we got in strife over it, we were both wrong.

Let's make sure we're on the right team ... Team Marriage. One unit, together, through thick and thin, good and bad, not berating one another, but building each other up. Offering acceptance, approval, and unconditional love, a safe place to land after a hard day.



About the Author: Niki writes fiction, blog posts, articles in the local newspaper, grocery lists, and Facebook status updates. She can be found at her own blog, In Truer Ink, in addition to posting here and at The Pastor's Wife Speaks. She was a 2009 finalist in the Faith, Hope, and Love "Touched by Love" contest. She and her husband pioneered a church plant in 1998 and pastored that church until 2011 before turning the work over to another couple. Nowadays, she's enjoying being a grandma to her first grandbaby and waiting to see what God has in store for the next season of life!

A Heart for Hospitality

We hadn’t been in our first pastorate a full year when the Moderator of our national church was scheduled to arrive on tour in our small town. A meal was suggested – “just an intimate and informal gathering” – so I invited the church elders and their wives to come for turkey dinner at the manse.

Easy peasy, right? How hard could it be? Turkeys pretty much roast themselves. What I forgot, however, was that there would be twenty-five people coming, and we owned six chairs, melamine dinnerware for eight and a mishmash of cutlery. The house was small, and even with extra items borrowed from the church hall, we couldn’t possibly accommodate twenty-five people for a sit-down turkey dinner.

Entertaining is not my forte. In my post a couple weeks ago I explained how I prefer hiding in crowds rather than playing host to them. A panic attack was a distinct possibility in the week prior to the moderatorial dinner. I wrote down a menu, created a prep schedule, went over it multiple times and cleaned the house until it shone. The day before the dinner I looked around our crowded, toy-strewn living/dining room and burst into tears. I was sure the evening would be a disaster.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be hospitable. I didn’t grumble or resent that people were coming. I was simply overwhelmed with the logistics of hosting an event I believed needed to be of a caliber in keeping with the guest of honour. And of course, when I finally took my concerns to God, he provided – not the miracle of space but of love, plus a desire not to shine but to serve.

In the end, a friend in the congregation took our two youngsters for the evening, the turkey was perfect, and I served everything buffet-style, right down to the glazed carrots and cranberry sauce. People filled plates and stood, or sat on the few chairs, the stairs and even the floor, as they ate and visited. It was intimate and informal, just as it was meant to be.

I thought back to this incident during our Canadian Thanksgiving last month. We traveled to celebrate with family, and felt welcome even before we entered their home. A wreath graced the front door, and pumpkins and pots of chrysanthemums decorated the stairway.

The day of the dinner, the fragrance of roasting turkey tantalized us, and our daughter-in-law had everything ready and a beautiful table set well before the other guests arrived with their appetites. It was reminiscent of similar meals I’d had in the homes of our other family members. In comparison to my angst-filled efforts years before, there was warm and gracious hospitality without stress.

Some people are blessed with the gift of hospitality. They enjoy guests and have the knack of turning even the simplest fare into a shared feast. But not all of us are like that.

Despite not being a gourmet cook or a whiz at entertaining, I’ve come to accept it’s not what I do that matters, but why I do it. God looks upon my heart, not upon the deeds I perform. At least, I think that’s what he intends when he says, “Render service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.” [Ephesians 6:7]

Now I just need someone to gently remind me of that the next time the Moderator comes to town!

~

Do you find offering hospitality easy or difficult? Why? What kind of entertaining do you prefer to do when a social gathering is called for? Do you think the church house (your home) should be the central spot for the congregation’s social activities and meetings, or would you rather they be held at the church?

~

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'” [Matthew 25:35-40]

~ ~ ~

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carol J. Garvin is the wife of a retired Presbyterian pastor, mother of four and grandmother to several more. Her life has been a wonderful mixture of school teaching, church and family activities, owning a professional dog show business, and freelance writing. She and her husband live in a rural suburb of Vancouver, Canada.

Blog: http://careann.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/mBj1F7

Twitter: @caroljgarvin

 

On a WHIM: Your Expectations Are Showing, Part Two!

By Kathy Carlton Willis

Last month I wrote about my summer look at "expectations." I felt challenged to be intentional in how I form expectations in the first place, and how to plan ahead to address unmet expectations. 

There are times that no matter what we do, others will let us down. We have great expectations because we want them to live lives in the light of God's favor and blessing. But they choose a different way, flirting on the edge of darkness. 

Here are some more random thoughts on expectations--especially when it requires tough love.

• Sometimes others will do things that are not acceptable—that’s not judging, it’s just discerning. Because I want the best for them, my expectations will be unmet when they choose what is not acceptable.
• God wants me to still love them, but I don’t have to love their attitudes or actions, and I don’t even have to like the person right then! Often, I don’t like the person they are becoming. But I can still be hopeful that they will realign more with God’s principles (because I want His best for their lives).
• My prayers for these times should be more about how I can best show God’s love to them rather than praying they respond in a way I find acceptable. I should evaluate, what does God want from this? How can I share the truth in love? How can I release my feelings so they aren’t invested in this? How can I be okay if this is never resolved to my satisfaction? The answer is, to realize “it’s not about me.” It’s about reflecting God’s Light even when others don’t care to stand in that Light.
• This also requires discernment to know how involved to be with someone who isn’t going to be a positive part of my life. Maybe they are toxic to me. Or maybe they choose to go down the wrong path. The words “mark and avoid” come to mind from scripture. I know that sounds severe, but sometimes loving the way God loves requires tough love. He doesn’t expect me to hold their hands when they are slapping mine!
• There are times that no matter what we do to make something right, the other person isn’t going to do right, and we have no control over that. All we have control over is our response. The way we deal with our feelings. Our choices. I can choose to not keep doing favors for these toxic ones if they’re going to treat me poorly.
• Love doesn’t mean we roll over and play dead. It means we will release them, much like the prodigal son, to find their way back to what God wants in their lives. It also means being willing to receive them back when they come with repentant hearts. And in the meantime, not getting worked up about it. I can’t let their poor communications skills or their inconsideration render me ineffective for God's use. I’m learning!

Now it's your turn. How will you deal with expectations in a different way? How does being in ministry affect your expectations in others, and their expectations in you? 

 Kathy Carlton Willis shines, whether she's shining the light on God's writers and speakers, or reflecting God's light during her speaking engagements and written works. www.kathycarltonwillis.com

Whiskery Wisdom

Cats: most people either hate or love them. The haters contend that felines ruin furniture, kill song birds, and consider people their slaves. The lovers argue that cats control rodents, relieve stress, and cover up their own poops.

     I find my four“spoiled brats in fur suits” brimming with wisdom. Here are some insights I’ve learned from the devilish angels:

• If you fight with the family cats, you won’t have energy left to ward off enemy cats.
• It’s okay to have whiskers and pointy ears.
• Look for a patch of sunshine and stay there.
• Naps are cool.
• Don’t fuss about your food, or the one who feeds you may start buying a cheaper brand.
• Purring will get you everywhere. 
• Master the “Shocked and Innocent Look” if someone laughs at you. Better yet, stick your nose in the air and saunter away, pretending you don’t care.

•  Naps are fun.
• Act as if you know what you’re doing even if you don’t have a clue.
• Convince those around you how blessed they are to live in the same universe with you.
• Refuse to give up. If one bird escapes, climb another tree.
• Naps are refreshing.

Similar to cats, people are a mix of aggravating and endearing qualities. When I’m tempted to dismiss a brother or sister as too ornery to tolerate, I remember how God bears with my faults and stupid mistakes. Receiving His unconditional love frees me to love myself and others, focusing on positive qualities.  

Now if I could convince my husband to see the good in our kitties…

“Nutty with a dash of meat” best describes Jeanette Levellie’s speaking, writing and life. She has published hundreds of humor/inspirational columns, articles, greeting cards, and poems. A spunky pastor’s wife, Jeanette is the mother of two, grandmother of three, and waitress to four cats. Her first book, Mirth and Worth in the Real Lane, will be released in April, 2012. Find her mirthful musings at www.jeanettelevellie.com