God – Page 31 – Pastor Susan

Oasis RMA in Progress

November 6, 2009 tlc4women1 Comment

Let me take you on a tour of what we did at the store today. We decorated grids in each department. It’s not quite finished but it will be tomorrow.

We separated out departments so that each part of the store has its own area. This is the men’s department.

We began folding t-shirts and sweaters and putting them on shelves

The children’s area got some decorations. Putting up all these little clothes really made me think of my own babies who are now 28 and 23 and how I SOOO would trade it all go back to when they fit into these clothes and I could squeeze them up and kiss their sweet cheeks!

The furniture and appliance section got some arrangement to it

Decorative pillows were added to accent the couches

My favorite part! FASHION! A scarf donated by one, a sweater with the tags on it from my mom’s closet, a pair of pants donated by another and a pair of shoes donated by another and VIOLA! we have a cute outfit!

It’s all coming along! Tomorrow we tackle the housewares! I’m exhausted and going to bed! I’ll post more pictures tomorrow!

New Ministry

November 5, 2009November 5, 2009 tlc4womenLeave a comment

Pastor Doug measures and praying about leasing this space

Yesterday I told you that I’d fill you in on what’s been taking up my days and nights for weeks now. We are opening a RE-Store. A RE-Store is a new name for a thrift shop. For weeks now, we’ve been gathering items, and now we should have our official grand opening on Saturday.

Can you imagine what we can do with this space?

We modeled our store after the La Porte, Texas store run by an organization called Role Models Of America. This RMA store will be called Oasis RMA and will be the West Coast representation. We are proud that they trusted and allowed us to join forces with them.

Dawn and DeWayne taking a break from their hard work as volunteers

We had to first dispel the notion of what a thrift store is with our congregation. As you all know the TLC4Women scripture that we base our ministry on is:

Romans 12:2 2. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The grid walls are in. Let's start moving in!

This scripture applied here big time. We had to change our mind about what a thrift store looked liked and felt like. So here is the vision of our new ministry:

We are not a yard sale or a junk store. Our ministry is one of excellence and so the items in the store are items that are in good condition. No stains, no rips, no tears, no “good enough”. We want to offer a good product to our community because, after all, it represents the ministry. Nothing is wasted. Anything that doesn’t go into the store is sent to be recycled. This is important to us because we don’t want to waste resources. God’s commandment of replenishing the earth doesn’t mean making more landfills!

Mary Lou and Dawn working some long hours!

This ministry will help on multiple layers. We have partnered with our county to help clothe people for their job interviews. Sometimes all it takes to land a new job is to have a new outfit to boost your self-esteem. We also offer help getting your resume together and giving mock interviews. We also will have items to help with benevolence. The economy being what it is, we will have access to things that can help. We aren’t even open yet, and a woman who is a week away from giving birth just moved to town. They don’t have furniture and we got a couch donated that we think will be a blessing to her. Being able to help is what we are called to do! Besides it makes me really happy!

The money that the store generates, will help with our food pantry, a youth program that we need and help us with our missions work. Our community has been so helpful! We really live in a good city with good people who have a desire to make it a better place. We could not be more grateful!

So now you know what we’ve been up to. The store will open on Saturday. I’ll be sure to post some pictures and update you as we go. For now, we covet your prayers!

Naomi and Ruth offer comic relief at the end of hard day's work

I Don’t Have To Perform To Earn His Love

November 2, 2009 tlc4women1 Comment

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God’s love for me is not dependent on any sort of act I do. It isn’t about how much prayer time I have, it’s not about how much I serve him. He just loves me because we are a part of each other. I could be on my best behavior or my worst and he still loves me.

That is not to say that I don’t have to work at doing my part. No, in fact, I work at doing my part not because I have to but because I WANT to. That is a big difference. I pray because I want to talk to him. I obey because I want to please him. He doesn’t take his love away whether I do it or not.

I don’t do laundry for my husband because he expects it or because I win his love by doing it. I already have his love. I do the laundry out of a want in me to do nice things for him. In other words, it’s not a performance. I do it because I want to. I want to go see movies he likes. I want to snuggle up to him while I read my book and he watches the military channel. I want to take time out of my day to call him on the phone just to say hi. I don’t call him because I need to and not because I have to or he’ll be mad if I don’t. Simply I do things for him because I want him to feel appreciated. I want him to feel loved. I want him to feel like he is the luckiest man on earth.

So often as women we begin to see men as fixtures. They aren’t fixtures. We take them for granted and we nag them to death about all the things they fail to do and bypass the things they got right. We need to take a step back and realize they are aren’t slaves to be mistreated they are supposedly our love, our heart’s desire.

Conversely, you do not need to be perfection to earn a man’s love. If a man withholds his love from you because you are not performing to his expectations it’s time to move on because he is not a keeper and definitely not marriage material. If you have to jump through hoops like a trained dolphin then it’s time to go. Love can’t be bought and I see men who want to be with women because of what they can get her to do. I also the reverse, women whose boyfriends sit and stay as they are told. I am old enough, I guess, to still believe that a man should open a door for his woman and treat her to dinner without the expectation of sex afterwards but neither do I believe that a man has to buy us. I don’t think cleaning your boyfriends apartment is appropriate either if it means that’s how you have to keep him.

So, the key here is this. Do things for the people in your life because you love them and you want to do things that make their life easier. Don’t take them for granted, they are not fixtures. They are free people who can choose to leave when they’ve had enough of being ignored or taken for granted or bossed around. Remember you are not a trained monkey. If you are performing to get something it may not be worth it.

Soul Esteem

October 28, 2009October 28, 2009 tlc4women1 Comment

2825217494_2491d4a509 — http://www.flickr.com/ photos/stephage/ 2825217494/

Mary Hollingsworth coined the phrase soul esteem and when I first read it I loved it. It spoke to me on so many levels. I believe that we as a society have put so much effort on self- esteem that we think it’s the end all to our exsitence. There are things that bring you so much more than the absorption of focus on self.

The word esteem means to regard with respect. How many of us respect our soul? If your soul is the core of your being then what are you doing to build it up and to fortify it? As a follower of Christ I fortify my soul through prayer, through the meditation of the word of God, through friendship with other believers, through books that provoke thought and through the media in various forms. I wade through vast amounts of information on what is happening in the world and how that affects us all and how it infringes or goes along with my thought process.

Let’s talk honestly though, how many have no time because other things take priority in their life? On-line gaming, television and the normal distractions of life keep us from taking care of our soul. What is more important than that though? The bible says;

1 John 1:2 – Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers

So the principle here is that our body be in good health just as our soul be in good health. It means that there are certain things that make my soul weak, sick and poor just as there are things that make my health weak, sick and poor.

What are some things that make my soul healthy other than the things already mentioned above? Helping others makes my soul esteem rise. The feeling that I contributed in a small way to the world that I live in makes my soul prosper. It is not just about the things I do for myself but it’s in the reaching out to others that gives us a sense of purpose. At the core of our being we are relational. We are connected to each other and to deny that in our selfish actions is to deny a big part of who we were created to be. We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘it did my heart good’. Reaching out to help others actually helps us. I’ve seen depression cease as people reach out to others. They find a purpose other than a focus on their own lack is and it makes a transformation happen in their life.

Getting plenty of rest makes us less stressed out and they add the well being of our soul. Learning to be content in our lives and not always striving for that next best thing helps our soul. Getting out into nature for a walk and taking a look at God’s creation with a fresh perspective helps our soul stay healthy. Getting together with friends and laughing and talking makes you feel good. Learning to rejoice in other’s blessings are all things that help your soul esteem.

Don’t let your soul get weary and old. Revitalize, renew and refresh your soul as often as you can. You will be a better human being for it.

It’s Pastor’s Appreciation Month

October 27, 2009October 27, 2009 tlc4women1 Comment

Oasis has fun! We have this initiation that the youth group does. They put forks in the lawn of every new family and they put signs up with notes. Well, we woke up Sunday morning to this and pink silly string! Oh yeah, it must be Pastor’s Appreciation Month!

And to all the V.I.P. Youth group: IT’S ON! And who wrote “bangin eye color”?

Why I Love Oasis

October 26, 2009October 26, 2009 tlc4women5 Comments

Our church is not a building, even though we seem to talk about our building often these days, following the fire. Our church is a people who gather together to learn about God, to pray, to lift one another up, to encourage each other to good works. Our church is generational where parents have brought their children and their children are now bringing their children and we are months away from one family having four generations worship together in the same row in our congregation.

Today blessed me and I wanted to share it with you. Vincent has just turned 3 years old a few weeks ago. He wants to be a guitar player. He got a guitar and he immediately came into the sanctuary and got up on the platform and took his place. He was very serious. His mom had to help him with his strap but then he got busy. In some churches the culture would make this inappropriate but we believe with all our heart that the children learn to lead this way.

Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

Vincent arrives with his mom and dad on prayer night and kneels at the altar in between his parents and begins to pray. He’s three, he gets bored after a while, so pretty soon he lifts his head but remains kneeling and pushes his trucks and cars quietly in his place while his parents continue to pray. Oh, how I wish I could show you a picture because this blesses me. Only I feel that I would be intrusive taking pictures during prayer so I refrain. Let me just tell you, it’s beyond a blessing to see and it touches your heart. I’m sure you can picture it.

Today though, when Vincent got up on that platform I couldn’t help but snap a few photos. I hope they make you smile like they did me. I pray that you are teaching your children to praise God, to worship him and to make him the priority of their lives.

In the middle of I Am Free he lifted his hand! Sooo cute!!!

That Is A She

October 24, 2009 tlc4women2 Comments

I am reading Sex God by Rob Bell and it really put these thoughts in perspective for me. The thought of how we devalue people and treat them inhumanely by simple acts. I mean we don’t go around torturing people but we don’t have to torture to devalue.

Have you ever watched a man’s head turn, like he’s Linda Blair in the movie the Exorcist, when he sees a women he finds attractive walk by? Have you ever heard a man say to another man, “Wow! I’d love to have a piece of that!” Of course you have and you see it everyday.

The problem is that “that” is a “she”. When we dehumanize a person we are devaluing her, God and ourselves. If we believe the bible and it says we were created in the image of God then to call her a “that” is to be void of any recognition of God in her. God didn’t create “that” he created “she” and “he”.

And it doesn’t just happen in those moments. It happens all the time in all sorts of situations. When we see a person who is homeless and it makes us uncomfortable so we ignore them. When we see a woman who we think dresses immodestly and we label her a slut, we devalue who she is. When we see an alcoholic who is behaving obnoxiously and we are disgusted because of his lack of self-control and determine that we are better than that.

An incident happened in my life to really bring this home this week and I had to examine my own heart regarding this situation and really assess how I had devalued someone. I know a man who is not what we’d consider a nice man, he’s not breaking laws but his lifestyle leaves a lot to be desired. Anyway, you get the picture.

He came to me with a story that totally made him the victim of something bad and I didn’t want to believe him even though I had to because I could tell he was telling the truth. I wanted to say, “Well this is how you live your life so deal with it”, but that would have been wrong because I would never have told anyone else that. It also would have been a lie because he didn’t deserve to be treated that way no matter what he had done. I realized that in my mind because of his lifestyle I had devalued him as a person. The feelings I had towards this new situation in his life had more to say about me than it did about him. I had forgotten that he was person.

When I forgot that that he was human I didn’t just devalue him. I devalued his creator. My actions said God had made junk. It really hit me that I thought somehow I was better and I am not any better. My sin is no less than his. My actions are no better than his but somehow I had reconciled all of that in my brain. I had justified something false and fake all the while wanting to be authentic. Truly, it breaks my heart, as I am no one to stand in judgment of anyone. In fact, to question what God was doing was not even my right or my place. I had to repent and see him as God saw him. God saw him as broken, hurt and in need of help. That same creator, the one who also created me saw the weaknesses in me as well and it broke his heart just as much for both of us.

Let’s begin to see people as God’s creation. We are his masterpiece. I for one have learned a valuable lesson this week. I hope I’ve expressed it well for you. My prayer is that we all begin to see each other as human. Yes, we notice flaws but that we notice them with the understanding that we all have them. We need to understand that we all fall short. That we are all in this together and that we would do better to help each other rather than to judge one another.

This Christian Believes In Evolution

October 23, 2009 tlc4womenLeave a comment

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Yes, you read that right. I believe in evolution. I don’t believe that I am a descendant of an ape but I do believe that I have choice to either evolve in my life or atrophy. The second option just doesn’t seem like an option to me. No, I can unequivocally say to atrophy or get stuck isn’t even in the thought process of my life.

So, I read, I listen, I watch, I search out wisdom. I want to be learning something on the day I take my last breath. I don’t think that I will ever achieve nirvana and complete enlightenment, but I want to go out a whole lot smarter than I came in. I’m not content to just believe something because someone told me it was so, I want to know it for myself. I plan to be a student forever.

I also work on myself, not just intellectually but emotionally as well. I want to find a balance in life. Where there are too many deadlines and stress in a life, there is a shortening of life where eventually you meet your own deadline in the form of a flatline because of a heart attack or high blood pressure or a stroke. I have the ability in my hands to shorten my days and I don’t plan to do that. For this to happen, I must plan my life and I must take control of my health. This means that I must balance my life between the world of my work and my personal time. I can’t let either consume me. This was a hard lesson to learn but I believe I’ve come to a peace within myself.

1 Corinthians 13:11. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

While many Christians are consumed with the earthly debates of rapture and end-time prophesy and their opinion on pre/post/mid, I don’t even care. God isn’t here yet and I have work to do. I know that whatever God decides whether it be pre/post or mid I will be secure in Him. In the meantime, there is an urgency to find out what my destiny and purpose is and then to fulfill that purpose. There are people who need someone to talk to about their problems, I am a good listener. There are people who need a meal. I am a good cook and I have in my hands a network of resources to buy some groceries or get some help. There are people who need a coat for winter. I’m not above asking someone to help with an extra coat. There are babies who need strong arms to hold them and love them, and I am capable of that. There are animals who need our help and humanity and I have a heart for that as well. There are just too many things that need my mind to be focused on them. For me to be worried about at which point my Lord decides to take me out is just a waste of time. One day God will reveal to me all I need to know. For now, I have work and love to give and I have my part of this whole picture called life on earth, to live out.

So yes, I believe in evolution. So what about you, are you evolving?

Romans 12:2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Answers To Questions Asked

October 22, 2009October 21, 2009 tlc4womenLeave a comment

I had a couple of questions that weren’t asked directly to me on the blog but instead came by way of search that I really want to answer.

To the person who said they blasphemed the Holy Spirit and there is no point in living. There can be no way to blaspheme the Holy Spirit and feel remorse, so while you may have been mad at the Holy Spirit it’s a different thing to blaspheme. I know that you read my blogs on this topic but please hear me when I tell you, your life is worth living. I am desperately praying for you. This is a massive trick of the enemy to steal your soul and I pray you are able to stand on the word of God through this.

To the person who asked Why does he put stipulations on getting married? He puts stipulations because he doesn’t want to get married and this is probably a good thing. You want someone with whom you are compatible and who loves you and wants to spend his life with you. To tie yourself to someone who “loves you but…” is no way to live.

You guys rock! Keep reading and I hope I can help!

Hannah’s Prayer

October 21, 2009October 20, 2009 tlc4women3 Comments

What an awesome 3 year-old. She prayed solidly for seven minutes. Beautiful!! She ministered to me today. I pray that she touches your heart as well. She certainly was given the proper name wasn’t she? Hannah, who poured her heart out before the Lord as Eli walked by thinking she was drunk only to find out that she was praying in her heart’s desire. Oh, Hallelujah Jesus! We praise you for parents who teach their children to pray! May you bless them Lord! And Lord while I’m here with you in this moment, you know my grandchildren that have yet to be born to time, may they be mighty prayer warriors and worship you with all their hearts, souls and minds! In the mighty name of the one and only Jesus! Amen.