Tag Archive - ordinary

The Amazing Effect of Red Chairs

May 31, 2010 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 1 Comment

Some days an extra something special is needed to get a smile. Where contentedness is elusive and stress is the norm, a deep sigh of rest is refreshing. That’s the kind of smile I needed when I looked out my back door window.

On the porch were a bunch of chairs. Red chairs. They had been old, rusty church castaways when I rescued and painted them. Don’t they look fun and inviting?

Red Chairs
On this Memorial Day, I’m going to go out into the Africa hot sun, grill some meat and take a deep restful sigh. Yes, sir, I’m going to smile and be thankful for blessings both grand and simple.

Consider grabbing an old rusty chair and either dream of how to recreate it or just sit in it while remembering blessings. May you get to relax and smile this Memorial Day.

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Spring Worm Wins Teeth

March 16, 2010 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

Spring has come…along with a few other uprisings. The skies are blue with scattered puffiness. The air is crisp with fragrant smells. And the temperature is pleasant, inviting outdoor activity. I can’t bear to be under a roof when lying in the sun beckons. It’s like my skin begs, “More vitamin D, please.” Vitamin D and sun on skin are related somehow. Spring is healthy and makes me feel good, until it happens.

Along with spring, come the menaces—the bugs, bees and weeds. Then from out of nowhere pops my bulging disc. Somewhere between L4 and L5 (lumbar vertebrae) I hear a scream, “Stop pulling weeds!” I admit it. I’m kind of soft, very much like a worm. It looks like the weeds win.

But God has a promise for us worms. “Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you. Though you are a lowly worm, . . . You will be a new threshing instrument with many sharp teeth” (Isa. 41:13-15).

Whew. I needed help, but I got more than that. I got TEETH. Ever seen a worm growl? “Grrrr.” God is making me new and powerful. Move on over weed, the whole hillside too, if I choose.
God tells us to, “Forget all . . .for I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun!” (Isa. 43:18-19). He goes on to say he is making pathways clear, deserts full of water and wild things thankful. Why is God doing this?

He’s doing it for me, the lowly worm, “so my chosen people can be refreshed” (v. 20). God promises to pour out his Spirit and his blessing (Isa. 44:3), so we can proudly claim, “I belong to the Lord.” And we “will write on [our] hand, ‘The Lord’s’ (v. 5).
That’s right, God’s making me new and powerful like a new plow. Picture a shiny, new John Deere on a field of weeds. I might smell like a worm but I’ve got new teeth, a refreshed growl and “The Lord’s” painted in yellow and green on my hand. Menaces beware.

(I hope my spine reads this blog.)

So how’s your spring? Send a comment, share your spring experience.
May you find time to be in the sun, to growl at the menaces and to brand “The Lord’s” on your hand. Be blessed.

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Life Interrupted

December 8, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 3 Comments

I get aggravated when things don’t go as I plan. Like preparing a meal only to find out that my husband ate the same thing for a business lunch. Or when I’m doing my normal work and difficulties keep making the easy task impossible. Even when I’m expecting and waiting for some great experience, I get irritated when it doesn’t happen on my timetable. Like when I prayed for and got pregnant. I really wanted this child, but it was Labor Day and we had planned a steak dinner. Going into labor was not on the calendar. And Christmas. The extra rush of the season—decorating, cooking, gifting, and partying, just doesn’t fit into my already busy schedule. Surely I’m not alone in my frustration when life is interrupted.

Snow Interrupts Flowering

That’s when I read about three people whose lives were interrupted in a major way.

  • In Luke 1 Zechariah went about his duties as a priest when the angel Gabriel showed up and changed his life forever. He was struck speechless when he questioned God about the promise of a child and because of his doubt he would remain silent until the birth. If I was Zechariah desiring a son, I would be somewhat irritated at the situation surrounding this child and being struck dumb. How could I tell anybody?
  • Elisabeth, his wife, had her life changed as well. Imagine desiring for so long to have a child, and then in old age with a wordless husband, she finds herself pregnant. I’d go into seclusion too.
  • I read further where a young girl’s life took an extreme twist. She was engaged and preparing to be wed, when Gabriel shows up and tells her she would get pregnant and give birth to a special boy—God’s son. Talk about wedding changes. Life interruption!

All throughout the Bible and even today, God interrupts normal lives. I’m glad these ordinary people allowed God’s disruption. Their life intrusion gave me salvation. I will put away my irritations and embrace my life interruptions. Off to celebrate Christmas—the best interruption of all.

What interruptions and irritations can you celebrate this Christmas? Leave a thought or comment.

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Little Made Much

November 13, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

I sat in the crowd watching this grown man crumble in sobs. Every mark of strength and manhood couldn’t stop his emotion. Captivated by his experience, I and the other 13,000 watching people joined him with wet eyes.

The Moment
Watch this 18-minute video to see if you can resist. The man’s testimony begins around the third minute and consists of a child, now grown man, whose life was changed because someone gave up a few things to make a difference in the world of another. Be sure to watch it to the end so you won’t miss the surprise. It’s worth every second.

Catalyst 2009 Compassion Moment from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Child Sponsored by Compassion International: A Catalyst Conference Moment.

Will you give up a few things to make a huge difference in a child’s world?
Would you sponsor a child?

Christmas Idea:
Instead of Christmas presents to people who already have too much, last year we gave gifts to charities. Read the funny story at The Best Christmas Heifer! One was a Compassion International sponsorship, a gift that gives back all year by giving relationship, letters, and prayers.

May we make a difference in the lives of others like this man.

7 Tips for Women to Help in the Ministry

July 23, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife, Leadership, Ministry to Women with 4 Comments

Unpacking the Pastor’s Workload: 7 Tips for Women to Help Out

All hands on deck! The job is big and the pastor can’t do it alone. Women can help unpack the pastor’s workload and make a powerful impact in the lives of those in the community and the church. As I mentioned in the previous post, Partnership with Pastors, I have a desire to help the ministries of the church be effective in their mission. The following is part two of that post and lists seven tips for women ministering to women. Ladies, you can do this.

 

Partnership with Pastors, Unpacking Their Workload: 7 Tips for Women Ministering to Women *
 

  1. Realize you have something to offer. A listening ear. Wise counsel. Party planning. Training expertise. Organizational skills. Bake and Take friendship talent. You can always offer relationship to women who need relationships.
  2. Pray for a discovery of where you can help both in the community and in the church.
  3. Look for opportunities to serve women by determining their needs
  4. Communicate your availability and interest in helping your pastor reach the women of the church and community. Be sure to express your intentions of strengthening the church and families.
  5. Ask the leadership, pastor, or women’s ministry leader, what needs they see and how your skills and talents can help meet those needs.
  6. Learn the skills necessary to become more useable. Be teachable and always adapting to changes.
  7. Believe that God can use you to make a difference in the lives of others. No task is too small to make an impact, nor too big for you to do your part.

You can make a difference. With so many needs in our communities and churches, you have a great opportunity to assist life change by joining others and partnering with pastors.

* photo from www.jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu.

Please contribute your comment below. I’d love to know about your interest in ministry and leadership.

This is part of the  Insights into Ministry & Leadership Series. If you enjoyed it you may also like the Living and Working on Mission Series, the Spiritual Journey’s Gentle Nudges Series or the other Blog Series.

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Karan’s Ordinary Does Extra-Ordinary

November 4, 2008 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

“Stripped of myself, stripped of religion . . ., I had nothing before God. I drug my worthless emptiness to him anyway. I didn’t know what else to do. I had nowhere else to go. But what I found when I got there was an intimacy with my Heavenly Father that I had never known. An intimacy that might never have been mine if not for suffering.”

Karan Standley’s story powerfully demonstrates God’s redemptive nature of taking ordinary people – with not-so-pretty pasts – and using them to do extra-ordinary things. I met Karan at an event last month and was intrigued by her passion. 

Karan, please share your experience with us.

“What I viewed as an ending was really just a beginning.  When my first marriage died – and I say died because it was a long, slow death – I thought that I would sit upon a shelf until I died or the Lord returned.  I really did. I’ll never forget a conversation with my mom, "Karan, now God is going to do something!"  I laughed and thought. "Great!" I had been stripped of me and religion, but eventually found an intimacy with my Father that I had never known. My wants were few, and I never expected to teach Sunday school or lead a ladies’ Bible study again. I was okay with that. I only wanted Jesus and this new found intimacy with God.  

But God had other plans.  A second marriage.  A pastor’s wife, me! Using me to encourage women to follow hard after him. God has surely put a new song in my mouth and given me a new name. I have a passion to see women set free from religion and learn to sit at the feet of Jesus. And all of this came only after I lost everything that I held dear. What I find most extraordinary about my life is that I have survived what I always said I could not. I have more than survived. I am thriving. But it is not due to anything I have done – it is all God!!!  An ordinary life always becomes extraordinary when placed in God’s hands with no strings attached.

Total surrender. I know He gives beauty for ashes – not just because His Word says so, but because I am living proof. I’m always amazed at the number of women who feel just like I felt: unworthy, no good, a failure, useless. The fact that God allows me to minister to them knocks my socks off!  I told God that I would be faithful to share my story to encourage others. But I didn’t know that He would take me up on it! I praise Him today because He delights in using broken vessels. That’s me: broken, but not forsaken.

I haven’t always liked my testimony. It’s not pretty. It’s messy. Ugly. Wrong. But people don’t need to hear another fairy tale story. They need to hear about someone’s less than perfect life and how they overcame it. I’m amazed at the growth that has come from suffering. The peace. The contentment. This place of quiet acceptance is very freeing. Maybe that’s the most extraordinary part: that God took a woman wrapped in religion and set her free in Christ. That He uses her to help others find their way to Him and freedom. Yeah, that’s me: a freedom fighter.  

Robin, there is so much more I could say, but I often feel like people are thinking, "Will she ever shut up?"  So, I thank you for listening to a portion of my story, for wanting to hear my story. I’m honored and excited every time someone asks me to share my testimony. Yes, the one that I despised at first has now become my joy to share. I understand your feeling that you would rather share your story than eat your next meal. I’m so there. Isn’t God just awesome?!!!! So press on, knowing that you are being lifted up to our Father in prayer.”

Thank you Karan, for sharing how God, in his great love, mercy, and grace, takes our broken, ordinary lives and does extraordinary things through us. It has been my joy to help you share.

Post a reply with how Karan’s story has encouraged you. It would delight me to help you share your story as well. If you have a story that would encourage others please contact me at Robin@RobinBryce.com.
 

Ordinary Gains Sacred

October 16, 2008 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

How could God ever use an ordinary person like me? Come on. I know who I am, what I think, and how I’ve behaved. All this baggage disqualifies any divine purpose or sacred use of my common life. Right? Why would God bother?

William Paul Young, author of The Shack, expressed those same sentiments in Atlanta at the Catalyst Conference ’08. His intentions for writing the parable was to explain his journey to God, healing, and wholeness to his children, to leave a legacy of faith for his kids. He had no intention of publishing it for the world or starting discussions amongst theologians, or stirring up dissention. (Actually—seeing this man in person—I felt he was quite humbled by God’s use of him, and not antagonistic while others maligned his character.)

But God . . .

When we yield to God, he takes our ordinary lives, our stuff, and can use it to make a difference, a change, in others lives. I’m not going to explore the theological rightness or wrongness of Paul Young’s parable, but the fact that God can and will use a common factory employee to tell about the grace, mercy, and love of God in a way that a God-seeker, believer and unbeliever alike, can relate. If God can use a common man’s parable to cause people to ask about Biblical truth, and read the Bible for truth, can’t he just as well use our stories and our lives?

The change agent, the difference maker, is our relationship with God. He takes ordinary mess and gives superb purpose.

Reminds me of another parable and journey told in The Dream Giver about a man named Ordinary. Both are stories I find true in my life as I seek God with all I have. The impossible becomes possible. The unthinkable becomes believable. The dream becomes reality.

If you’ve found God using your ordinary, I want to know about it. Others want to share in your excitement and joy you’ve found as God has taken your ordinary or mess and made a difference in the lives of those around you. Post a reply to this blog, or e-mail your story and a picture (if you wish) for inclusion in the iGETitLIFE e-Update newsletter of God doing great things amongst us. Sign up for the iGETitLIFE e-Update here on the right.
 

Eager to hear from you!

Robin

Blog Talk Radio topics

October 7, 2008 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

An Interview with Eric Canaday at Christianity Unplugged:

Blog posts with related topics for discussion are below. You can read them, get to know me a little and make comments.

Living Free from Fear, Religion, & Expectations

Ordinary Gains Sacred

iGETitLIFE 21 Day Challenge Wins 20 Day Reunion

Successful Life & Leadership

My Time, My Way, & My Best Interest

I Have a Dream