GCR Women

Tomorrow is a big day.  For almost a year now, we've been planning a retreat and we leave tomorrow.  I'm filled with so many thoughts feelings.  Excitement, anticipation, exhaustion.  I've been writing lists and rewriting them trying to make sure I've covered what I'm responsible for. What will the weekend be like?  Will the reality of the weekend measure up to our plans? It's one thing to be a part of a large project for work.  It's still another to be part of a large project for family.  But being a part of a large project for God's Kingdom - well, that's something else again.  He's put our team together, adding to it over the years, allowing some to come and go as He calls them to other good works. Our Father has placed before us opportunities to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves, challenging us to trust, to do, to stand. The task has indeed been a challenge, but no matter how big we dream, God has consistently shown us tha...

I've recently had to choose which course of action to take in an important decision.  It has not been easy.  At first glance, both choices before me are good.  So, I had to dig a little deeper to see the differences and be better informed to make the choice that will work best for me. How do I know when I've made the right decision?  That's difficult to say.  As I said, both choices have a good side. And once the decision is made, there's no going back.  Do I trust my instincts?  What if I've made the wrong choice? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to look at a situation through decision-making glasses?  Kind of like the Ben Franklin glasses in National Treasure.  Then, as I looked, I'd see the answer right there before me.  I wouldn't have to guess.  I'd know. I don't know how you make your tough decisions.  It's a very personal thing, isn't it?  I look at the information provided by one side of the question.  I kno...

Today is the day our income tax is due.  We have various opinions about the taxes we pay in this country, but right now, it's the law of the land and we do what's required of us. Once, Jesus was approached by a group of Pharisees and Herodians trying to trip him up and hoping to be able to get him into trouble with either the religious or civil authority.  On the surface to us today, this might seem like a simple situation.  But there are layers of unspoken traditions and truths that turn a simple scene into a powerful lesson for them and us.  This story is told in Matthew 22:15-21; Mark 12:13-17; and Luke 20:20-26. The Jewish people were required by Rome to pay a certain tax.  The tax had to be paid in the currency of Rome.  The Roman currency had on it a portrait - a graven image, if you will - of Caesar.  Some of the Jews saw possession of such a coin as a violation of the second commandment.  There was also an inscription on the coin stati...

About two weeks ago, I fell and dislocated my right shoulder.  If you've ever been in a position where one of your arms is disabled, you understand how frustrating these past two weeks have been.  To get an idea of how hard life is without use of your right arm, try wrapping it in a sling close to your body where it can't move.  Add some significant pain and you'll understand.  It's difficult, if not impossible, to do some things for yourself that you're used to doing pretty much without thinking.  Even now that my arm has begun to heal, so many things are out of reach. My left arm has been getting a workout but without my precious husband, I don't know how I'd have managed: helping me dress, buckling my seat belt, taking me everywhere I need to go, bringing me food and drink, pulling up the covers in bed, putting everything on my good side so I could reach it.  And all with great patience, tenderness, and love. But it hasn't been easy.  I'm pret...

Some friends of mine and I are fixing dinner Monday night for the kids in the Apartment Ministry at the Renaissance Apartments.  It's just one meal, our turn coming about once every three months - not a big deal for us. But what does it mean to them? Once a week, every Monday night, a group of dedicated individuals from Golf Course Road spends the evening with these kids, eating supper and opening God's word.  These folks find time each week.  No, that's not right.  These folks make time each week to teach these children who God is and how much He loves them.  They make sure there's a meal each week and they make sure the time they spend with them is fun.  Most importantly, they make sure each child feels loved. This is a noble calling, to be sure.  These children are some of the poorest around here and the complex they live in is not very attractive or safe.  I don't know their situations.  I don't know if they have enough food in the...

Today is my mother's birthday.  Born in 1925, she's certainly seen a lot in her 88 years.  She grew up in a small house deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas.   The house belonged to her grandfather.  He passed away eight years before she was born, but her grandmother and aunt still lived there, along with her mother and father and sister. There was no running water, no electricity.  She walked to the one-room schoolhouse several miles away every day and studied by coal oil lamp every night.  She knew how to ride a horse but never learned to ride a bicycle. She graduated from that little school at age 15 and went on to go to college at Sam Houston State in Huntsville.  About 50 miles from home, Mom might as well have been on a different planet.  She studied Home Economics and had exciting experiences like eating Jello for the first time.  She had an adequate wardrobe but only one pair of shoes. Home was too far away to visit except on hol...

In the past two week, four treasured ladies have passed from this life into the next:  Margaret Poulter, Jane Blackwell, Alice Odle, and Marguerite Goudeau.  These ladies died gracefully in Christ but what's more important is how they lived. Each of them lived her life as a beautiful example of the transformational love of Christ.  As they walked through this life, they chose to order their steps according to the Word of God.  Wisdom, grace, love, joy - these are the riches they possessed and more. Did they live easy, carefree lives without trouble or pain? No, each of them had struggles and suffered pain and loss. But the way they overcame gave glory to God because each of them let Him help her through it all. What is their legacy to me?  Their deaths?  No, it's their lives that speak to me.  Their lives encourage and challenge me to choose God's way because their lives tell me that God's way works, that it's the best way - a way of victory and ...