Here Comes Da Judge

February 2007
Four of us were in Orlando, Florida for yet another National Religious Broadcasters Convention. While having dinner the first evening one of the ladies suggested that we offer to pray for our waiter when he brought us our food. She and her husband did that regularly and it was such a privilege to include the server in the blessing for the food so we decided that was a good idea. And I must admit it did make us feel more spiritual. After all we were at THE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS CONVENTION and so what better time to be more RELIGIOUS! Our waiter was a cute young man and so after the food was delivered we asked if we could pray for him. His eyes lit up and at once he came up with a prayer need. He had just graduated from Bible College and wanted to be a youth pastor so he needed a job. We were delighted to fill that request and did so with fervency. As the week went on we had more opportunities take prayer requests and it was always heart warming.

We stayed in a lovely hotel that offered breakfast in their deli. Every morning we would stand in line, give our order to the person behind the counter and wait until she dished it up onto paper plates and then we would find a table and enjoy our breakfast. And every morning we were met by the same woman behind the counter. She was cold, unsmiling, seemed slightly irritated no matter how hard we tried to be quick with our orders and just all in all unpleasant. After the first day we decided we would do everything we could to make her our “friend.” And so every morning we graciously greeted her with a cheery “good morning”. We put our order in with great speed and kindness which she did not acknowledge and we thanked her profusely and even complimented her dress and still she was as cold and hard as ice. She never became our F* much less our BFF**.

We left Orlando to drive back home early Friday morning. About the time the sun was coming up we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast. The restaurant was empty so the hostess led us to the table of our choice and we began to peruse the menu she had set before us.

About that time a tall, older, angular woman appeared as our waitress. She was abrupt, impatient and had only a few teeth. We ordered coffee and as she left to retrieve it for us we had some unkind words to say about the situation.

“Here we go again”!

“Only this one doesn’t have all of her teeth”

When do you think we will get a really NICE waitress for breakfast?”

I wish I could say that was as bad as it got but it wasn’t. More was said then should have been and none of it kind.

She came back with our coffee and took our order, never a soft word spoken. Ten minutes later she came back with a huge tray filled with food. Plates were passed around and just before she left one of the ladies asked, “Is there anything we can pray for you as we say the blessing?”

And at that moment a most incredible thing happened. Our waitress stopped, turned toward us and with tears in her eyes said, “Oh thank you! You can pray for my husband. He is home dying with Pancreatic cancer, and I need to work to pay the bills and can’t always be with him.”

And with that she stood at the head of our table, head bowed, eyes closed ready to pray with us. We all joined hands and prayed so fervently for this precious woman who we had maligned as her husband was home dying of cancer.

After she left, I struggled to eat. I struggled to keep back the massive amount of tears that wanted to come pouring out of my eyes. I wanted to fall at the feet of Jesus and beg His forgiveness.

After we had finished our breakfast (and it was a fairly silent one as we were all so ashamed of ourselves) our waitress came back with the check. Again as tears welled up in her eyes she thanked us profusely and ended by saying she felt God had sent us to her that morning to encourage her heart and that we had indeed done so.

It was more salt in the wound. Such kindness, such gratitude for us …the sinners.

We emptied all of our money onto the table leaving by far the largest tip I am sure she had ever received. Yet it wasn’t what we had done for her that mattered. It was what she had done for us.

But it does make me wonder about the woman behind the counter at the hotel. Did she have a similar story? Could we not have prayed for her even if there would be no “show” to it, even if she would not have ever known? We didn’t really need for her to like us. We just needed for her to love Jesus. I wish we would have prayed for that.

It all made me see clearly why our Lord insists that we do not judge others. Because we stink at it! We make judgments of those around us by only what we see…the exterior…and we have no idea what life they live, what sorrows they face, what burdens they bear.

It was one of the greatest lessons of my life I will never forget and to this day I am immensely grateful for it.

Matthew 7:1-5

Judge not that you be not judged.

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged.

*Friend ** Best Friend Forever

Party!

It came into my mind a few years before. I had been asked to speak at a ladies’ Christmas Luncheon for a local church. It was held at The Metropolitan Club, a special events facility. From the moment I walked in the door I thought it would be a wonderful place to someday celebrate God’s goodness. I had no idea at the time, but that day would come and it would be beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

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All of the DVDs and workbooks were completed. It had been a monumental job to say the least. It had taken fives years and forty people working tirelessly. And yet for all of our hard work we knew that God had opened doors that were shut tight. He had provided almost two million dollars without us even telling anyone that we had a financial need. He had guided us and encouraged us. In fact I think we knew full well that in many ways He had done it all. And now we wanted to celebrate…celebrate the God who so graciously, kindly, faithfully made sixty- six DVDs and eleven workbooks possible.

At the first idea of a celebration The Metropolitan Club came to mind. It was beautiful. It was expensive. Yet as we looked for other facilities I kept coming back to that one knowing in my heart that the celebration was to take place there. And so after presenting the plan to the board and much discussion (the very gracious, wonderful, generous, faith-filled board) permission was given to spend the money and the party date was set: January 25, 2007 from 6:30-9:30.

I happen to believe that God truly does love celebrations and so He went before us. Within a short period of time we received a total of $17,000 from three different donors earmarked for a party!

Robin, who is a whiz on the computer, printed lovely invitations and we invited over two hundred people. Every single one of them had something to do with making the big dream come true. There were our production company, many donors, tech folks, musicians, vocalists, sixty-six brave women who had given their testimonies, our catering women, the back stage crew, our wardrobe consultant, makeup artists, writers, editors, proof readers, literary consultant and the list went on and on.

We had prayed that all would come full of joy and dressed in their party clothes and no one let us down! Each and every person who came through the door that night was absolutely radiant and “party dresses”, long and short abounded. Indeed, everyone came ready to P_A_R_T_Y!

The “living room” area at the Metropolitan club offered a perfect spot for appetizers and punch. It is a gracious, welcoming room and yet large enough to embrace all of us. The excitement was high and good cheer was the air we breathed. At 7:00 the big doors opened into the enormous dining room and it really was magical! The room was lit by candlelight and the champagne silk table clothes topped floor length black ones. Crystal lanterns adorned every table giving a sparkly, glittery appearance to the room…and it was just beautiful.

Jen Carozza, one of our favorite vocalists started us off with her jazzy rendition of “Come on Into the House”. Robin followed her with a heart felt welcome that immediately set the tone for the evening. And as all of our studies begin with the opener of The Amazing Collection, we thought it was appropriate to do the same for our evening and so it was shown up on a huge screen. And then the feasting began!

There was much more that night. There were brief speeches from the board members followed by Charles Billingsley who gave a concert and then led us in celebratory worship. Too soon the evening ended and all said good night. But I have to believe we went away believing that we had all had a glimpse of heaven. We had enjoyed the beauty of the surroundings. We had feasted on the finest food. We had been clothed in our very best. We had loved on one another. We had worshiped with full hearts. And through it all we had basked in something else.

Emmanuel.

The Celebrating God had been with us.

Psalm 5:11

But let all those rejoice who put their trust

in You.

Let them shout for joy…

Let those who love Your name

Be joyful in You.

What’s Next?

Eleanor’s screened porch overlooking the lake made a perfect place for the Big Dream Board to conduct important business. We had gathered together for two days to discuss, plan and evaluate our office, staff, and warehouse needs, finacial status and future projects. Each May we “retreat” to get a pulse on the ministry and see where God might lead us for the next year and we always come away with deeper faith in God Who has done far beyond anything we could have ever thought or asked.

After reviewing the present status, the question came up that I have heard over and over again from many of our loyal customers.

So what is next?

For the customer, that question is simple but for the board it is not because we are not the ones who set the path. It is God’s ministry and God’s will and God who we serve.

So the question really is “What does the Lord want us as a team to do next?

Linda didn’t seem to hesitate.

“We need to move forward with teaching women how to live THROUGH the Bible in their marriages and their homes. We have taught them the books of the Bible and have certainly encouraged them to study and know them all but there is a great need for women to know the ”HOW’ of living a godly Christian life.”

For years we have been intrigued, challenged and burdened with the Titus 2:3-5 command.

“Older women ….. encourage (train) the younger women to love their husbands and love their children, to be sensible, pure workers at home, kind being subject to their own husbands that the word of God may not be dishonored. “

Intrigued because it speaks to the older women in the church .

Challenged because there are so many facets to the command.

Burdened because we stand by and watch homes and marriages fall apart.

There was something about Linda’s confident statement that so resonated with each one of us. We have talked about such a curriculum for years but truthfully have not had clear guidance as to how the Lord would have us do such a thing.

So we left the screened porch and the lake and returned to our daily lives with conviction that we will pray fervently and ask God to help us help women who in turn will strengthen their homes and families and in the end bring further glory to God and His kingdom.

The following week I received a phone call from a woman I had never met. A friend of hers had encouraged her to call me. We met for lunch at a local sandwich shop. She was lovely, bright, and energetic. And she had a burning heart for women and their marriages and their families and their homes!

She had no idea that our board had just been discussing this very thing and now she had come to me with the same desire! And I began to think that perhaps God was up to something!

So what’s next for Big Dream? We do not know for sure but we do know there are signs, hints of what that direction looks like and it could be very good indeed.

Isaiah 30:21

And your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right or to the left.”