The Fashionista

I have always thought that if there was such a thing as reincarnation (which there is not!) I would like to come back as a “fashionista”. This is a term used to define a woman with a penchant for shopping and a natural flair for combining both current and vintage fashionable trends. I have a few friends that fit that description and it seems to me that they can put together a smashing outfit with little or no effort. And when they go shopping, which they seem to have time to do often, they find the most lovely items for the best prices! Getting dressed for them is a joy and going to special occasions is simply an opportunity to display their creativity.

Then there are people like me. Shopping and root canals are in the same category. Finding an outfit for a special occasion throws me into a tail spin. I usually have no more than about five minutes to rush into Marshalls or Steinmart to find the perfect dress. As the minutes tick away to six, seven, eight, nine ... the anxiety level increases until I finally race out in frustration, only to put off choosing the perfect dress to another time when I might be able to find another five minutes to squeeze out of the day.

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God makes it pretty clear in Scripture that He dresses the lilies of the field. I am not sure I truly believed that until the day we filmed “God Will Open Up The Windows and Pour You Out a Blessing” a great song written by Babbie Mason.

We had reserved the Alpharetta Methodist Church for the filming. We had arranged for a large choir from Destiny Church to fill the choir loft and be a part of the song. Wonderful Babbie Mason and Jen Carozza had agreed to do the duet. Everything was in place AND we even had hired John and his boom camera.

But then the night of June 7, 2005 came and the weather did not cooperate. A massive rain storm covered the area and driving was hazardous. I arrived at the church only to find that Soteria and their crew were setting up but no one else was there.

About fifteen minutes later, a few of the participants from Destiny Church straggled in and then twenty minutes later a few more. Now we had about twelve members of the choir. But soon word came that the rest could not make it. We were at a standstill waiting to see if Jen and Babbie could weather the storm that raged outside.

At seven thirty they walked in carrying huge piles of clothes. They had come in separate cars and had not discussed dress with each other before arriving. Kelle and I ushered them back to the bride’s dressing room to see just which outfits would work the best. They put their mini-wardrobes down on the couches and stood back. That is when we noticed it. They HAD ON perfect -I mean perfect- outfits that coordinated so beautifully one would have thought a true “fashionista” had made all of the decisions for the clothes. And indeed, at that moment I felt HE had!

The choir of fifty never materialized. Instead the group of twelve turned out to be exactly what was needed for the type of song we had chosen. Their great enthusiasm, musical talent extraordinary patience and stage presence absolutely made the music DVD better than anything we could have ever imagined.

Three hours later as we were packing up cameras, sound equipment and unused clothes I realized the song really did fit this occasion. God really did open up the windows and He had poured out upon us all a really great blessing.

 

Matthew 6:28

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:

they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory

was not arrayed like one of these.

Be Patient

When our kids were little we loved to sing along with tapes whenever we were traveling in the car. One of the songs went like this;

Be patient, be patient
Don’t be in such a hurry.
When you are impatient
You only start to worry!
Remember, remember that God is patient too,
And think of all the time that He has had to wait on you!

It is a catchy little verse and the truth is that even now that our children are grown with children of their own, that little song still sticks firmly in my head!

Webster’s dictionary says patience is “calm endurance of hardship or annoyance or inconvenience or delay”.

And it is this very thing, PATIENCE, that seems so important to God. We are told to bear fruit with patience. It is by our patience that we will gain life. We are to have patience in hope, and pursue it, knowing that faith produces patience. The list is fairly impressive and the bottom line is that God wants us to have it and anyone who reads the stories of His children in the Bible can attest to the fact that He even produces opportunities for us to learn patience in all kinds of creative ways!

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As Christians we are often encouraged to journal. That usually comes through various sermons or seminars or conferences. But for some reason the purpose of journaling seems elusive. I mean after all who has the time? And besides surely we will remember all God has done for us.

Well I have come up with a really, really good reason to journal: it gives us the rest of the story. Through a journal you can read about a crisis and then pages (or journals!) later find out how it got resolved. It helps us see that God can ask us to be patient because He is at work whether we realize it or not!

For instance, I have written more than a hundred times throughout the years words that shout crisis! Here are some from Big dream Ministries:

“We have no money and I don’t know where we will get any.”

“NO ONE is buying The Amazing Collection and our warehouse is full of product!”

“We have a shipment coming on Friday and no place to put everything!”

“ We need personal testimonies for the next four books and there is no “story” in sight!”

Well I could bore you, the reader, with many, many more such outcries but I will spare you. The point is that I DO have a journal and I can read forward to see how the story ends. And in every case, the great and terrifying crisis turned out to be just another opportunity to trust Christ. And in the end (never early) He brought about more than we could have ever imagined.

So for the rest of the story:
We received almost two million dollars in four years that paid completely for production…just in time.

Today hundreds of churches and small groups across the country are doing the study.
And we have had to reorder workbooks over and over again to keep up with the demand.

A warehouse came available only a mile from the office….just in time.

And of course every book ended up with a fabulous personal story as the “story teller’ showed up just in time.

Patience. When I read the end of the stories it grieves me that I EVER worried. It was a huge waste of time and energy for sure. There was so much hand wringing and sleepless nights…..instead of simple joy that all was in the Savior’s hands and He would lead the way and provide.

So that is a great reason to cultivate patience. It basically says, “I trust God and He is faithful”.

As I write the above words it surely seems easy. But sometimes the battles are huge. My nephew is battling cancer at the age of 42. My friend is struggling with a rebellious daughter. And we have many folks that we love dearly who are out of work. There is much to worry about.

UNTIL I read a few pages of my journal …. and then I remember the song,

“Be patient, be patient
Don’t be in such a hurry
If you grow impatient
you only start to worry…..”

I don’t know how God will resolve the issues at hand but some day I don’t want to look back and see that much time and emotional anxiety was wasted because I did not trust that God is good, and He is faithful and He is at work, and that He has heard my prayers.

He simply says, “Be patient”.

But let patience have its perfect work,

that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

James 1:4

Perfect Timing

We had lived in our first home in South Portland, Maine less then a year when I was awakened out of a sound sleep at three in the morning by someone pounding on our door and lights flashing through the windows. My first thought was that our house was on fire and that seemed to be confirmed when we threw open the door to find two firemen standing there. But it was not our house but our neighbors. A small fire had begun in the kitchen but they had all been sleeping and by the time they were awakened by the smoke it was too late and they lost almost everything.

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And so in June 2005 we had a warehouse full to the brim with thousands of workbooks and DVD sets. We had been careful to secure it as best as we could and were simply basking in the fact that everything had fit into the space perfectly. On June 16th, Jodie and Rosemary headed for the warehouse early in the morning to take inventory and organize the boxes in a systematic way.

They arrived at 7:00 AM. It was already getting hot outside, after all this is Georgia in the summertime, but inside the warehouse was cool because of the new air conditioner that had just been installed days before. A half hour into the morning it began to warm up inside the warehouse and by eight o’clock it was unusually hot. Rosemary went to inspect the air conditioner only to find it was smoking and a small fire had started. They were able to quickly unplug the air conditioner and douse the fire with the bottle of water Rosemary had brought along.

The fire department came and checked everything out. The air conditioner was defective we were told but other than that everything else looked fine. We soon had a new air conditioner installed and have had no more trouble with the warehouse since that time.

It would be easy to say it all was just a coincidence that somehow we just got lucky. It was just a coincidence that Rosemary and Jodie just happened to be at the warehouse so early in the morning on that particular day. It was just coincidence that they noticed the change in temperature, that the air conditioner had stopped working. It was just a coincidence that Rosemary checked the air conditioner and just a coincidence the she had a bottle of water and just a coincidence there was enough water to put the fire out.

And yet there was no space for error. If they would have arrived at nine instead of seven it would have been too late and we would have lost everything. If the room had remained cool but the fire continued it may have advanced too far for a bottle of water to put it out and the whole warehouse would have burned down, in fact the exact amount of water was important. No, the timing had to be perfect and it was. In this case timing was everything.

Coincidence? I call it a God-incident. He was in control and He protected us once again.

Psalm 31:14-5

But as for me I trust in Thee O Lord,

I say, “Thou art my God.

My times are in Thy hands.

Space & Weather

I know all about space. For instance, when I was getting ready to travel to Mexico recently to speak at a women’s conference, I was told I could take one suitcase, one small carry-on and a purse. But the area in Mexico I would be staying can have tropical weather that could sometimes turn to freezing temperatures. And so I piled all of my neatly folded clothes on the bed, clothes that would fit the bill for a five or six day trip to such a climate. But then I also needed my hairdryer and electric curlers and makeup appropriate for a sixty-five year old. Soon all of my spaces had been packed and …well…there were still many items that would not fit! So the important things stayed in the suitcases: makeup, hairdryer and rollers. Much of everything stayed behind! Suitcases are uncompromising!

Space can be even more personal. I have some jeans. I like desserts. When I gain an extra ten pounds my jeans refuse to accommodate my expanded body and something has to give. So I don’t wear jeans until I loose the extra weight. You see with space, there is NO COMPROMISING!

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In June 2005, we were preparing to receive the many pallets of product back from Navpress. They had a huge warehouse and at that point we had none. We had scoured the town and found nothing available that we could afford. Then one day Jodie said she had passed a farm house about a mile from the office and there had been a sign that said “Warehouse for rent”. We immediately contacted the number on the sign only to find out it was owned by Jeffrey, a fabulous young pastor and his family! They called us back with their asking price: $100 a month!

We were ecstatic! The warehouse was the exact size of a two car garage. We had no idea how much space the workbooks and DVDs would take up but surely this would be enough room! We were told there would be forty pallets coming but truthfully none of us women had any idea how large a pallet could be yet we were confident we would have enough space!

We purchased enough shelving to go all around the sides of the room and assembled them one afternoon. There was no insulation so our friend Paul came and insulated the room, added a heater and air conditioner and sealed the floors. It looked great to our eyes.

The following day the inventory was suppose to arrive in two semi trucks at 1:00 sharp. Our new warehouse manager, Rosemary Nelson, my husband Chuck and I were there waiting at 12:45. We had rented a fork lift to move the pallets off the trucks and into place while Chuck had agreed to stay until 2:00 and to operate it. But the truck didn’t show up at 1:00 nor was it there by 1:55. We were panicked as Chuck had to leave but he called Paul who graciously drove across town to take over the fork lift responsibilities.

At last the first truck arrived but in coming in the driveway ripped an electrical line down. We found out later that it was one that was no longer in use but at the moment it was not a happy sight! The truck driver parked the truck and opened the back doors and remarked with confidence “there wasn’t a chance in &*%$ that all of that stuff would go into that small space!”

Just about the time Paul started moving the pallets off the truck with the fork lift the sky grew extremely dark. It looked like it would open up at any minute and pour buckets of rain! We didn’t know what to do so we prayed, begging God to hold off the rain and help expand the space to make room for our entire product! It was a fervent, frantic prayer turning to the only One who controlled space and weather!

We had twenty-four pallets loaded into the space and it looked just about completely full. The second semi arrived and we continued to work as fast as we could while storm clouds threatened. After about two hours of working frantically the last pallet was moved into place and we all stood back and looked in amazement. There was not an extra inch of space left but there had been a place for all forty pallets….. and the moment we shut the door to the warehouse it began pouring rain!

The immense power of God toward those He loves is incredible. I praised God all of the way home as I am sure Rosemary did also. We had felt like we were in a battle and yet God, our great defender, had provided everything we needed and proved Himself Lord of weather and space. Indeed, Lord of all!

 

Job 5: 8, 9, 10

But as for me I would seek God…

Who does great things and unsearchable,

Marvelous things without number.

One Step at a Time

I made a birthday cake for my granddaughter this past week. I found a recipe in one of the magazines that said it was the only cake recipe I ever needed. I decided it was worth a try and so bought all of the ingredients. There were numerous steps. The flour and baking powder and salt had to be sifted and set aside. Then the eggs and butter needed to be beaten until smooth and creamy. Step by step I progressed until the batter was poured into the parchment covered pans. Then all went into the oven and 45 minutes later out came three beautiful layers of yellow cake. Chocolate frosting completed the job and wha-la! Birthday cake! And yes it really is the only cake recipe I will ever need!

Most great projects are accomplished step by step. A cake is a fairly simple project, but producing and filming sixty-six DVDs and eleven workbooks was not.

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By October 2004 all of the teaching had been filmed and the Old Testament books completed. But this was just a little more than half of the steps that were needed to complete the total project! We still had twenty-seven New Testament books to produce. Every DVD needed a special opener, something that would grab the attention of the viewer. Kelle and Shane would have a tremendous amount of work to do in order to come up with ideas for twenty-seven creative “grabbers’, and then produce them. Plus we wanted a new theme song and video clip that would introduce the New Testament.

And then there was the music. Twenty-seven music videos had to be produced. Vocalists needed to be found, music chosen and sets arranged. Much of the background music needed to be replayed and recorded, and some even needed to be written! Licenses for each selection needed to be obtained and some of the music required more than one license.

We did not have one testimony filmed for the New Testament books. In the beginning it was really quite easy to find the right story because we knew personally many women who had great testimonies but as we progressed, that became more difficult.

About that time Navpress told us they wanted the entire collection completed by June 2005. We had about eight months to finish the work. It was a massive undertaking and of course always there was the question of money. Would God continue to provide? Could Soteria come up with the creativity needed? Could we find the right music and testimonies? And could we possibly take on such an enormous undertaking and complete it in such a short period of time? There were many steps ahead of us and with each step an unforeseen outcome.

One thing for sure, God’s ways are not our ways and He alone orders our steps. By June 2005 our partnership with Navpress had terminated when sales did not reach the numbers they had hoped. In a very short period of time we had to completely organize and establish a sales/marketing company along with the continued work of production. We prayed and followed hard the steps that God laid before us. And quickly a company began to emerge called Big Dream Ministries which included a Customer Care Director (Dorinda Hathaway), an Office Manager/web site coordinator (Jodie Mannion), a Board of Directors (Sally Shriver, Linda Sweeney, Eleanor Lewis, Robin Rosebrough and myself), a Warehouse Manager (Rosemary Nelson) and a Product Assembly Director ( Franna Luther). As for finishing the entire sixty-six book collection? It would take another year. The last set of DVDs arrived in the warehouse on June 23, 2006.

All projects require one step at a time. But as one follows hard after God, those steps must first be His. We seldom know where He is going but it is His steps we follow, one step at a time, and those steps prove to be the very best!

Uphold my steps in Your paths,

That my footsteps may not slip.

Psalm 17:5

Birthing the “Baby”

She had taken thirty some hours to come into the world and then at last, she came screaming into the doctors waiting hands. She was bathed and swathed and brought to me and I looked at that baby in my arms and one of the first things I thought was “I wonder who you will grow up to be?” I think most mothers experience some of this same kind of feeling. I was enjoying the present (I was still numb!) but I already had an eye to the future. After all no one has a baby so they can keep it a baby. They have a baby so it might become an adult …and in some ways move from baby to child to…well…friend!
And if all of our hopes and dreams are realized we mothers pray that our children’s lives will amount to something that really makes a difference for the world! Birth is hard but it is only the beginning and with it comes an eye to the future.

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August 2004
Our contract with Navpress was signed and now the work began. We sent all of the VHS masters to them for reproduction along with the manuscripts for the eleven workbooks. I received six possible designs for the workbook covers but after looking at them I found I liked a portion of four of them. I talked to the design man and told him what I liked and about an hour later he sent me a compilation of those four designs and it was beautiful! We were all thrilled with the cover design and so one more detail and decision was made.

Navpress designed a marketing packet, along with the packaging for the product. A date was asset to send out 50,000 marketing packets to churches and individuals across America. The baby was ready to come into the world!

But while we waited for the birthing we found we were having trouble with the delivery. We were out of money and we owed $16,000.

We can understand how those Israelites complained in the wilderness even after God had done so many wonderful things for them. They simply forgot. A couple of days pass and I am convinced the human mind can forget even extravagant answers to prayer. And so we all began to get nervous as we cried out to God.

While we were in this time of grave concern (I could use the term panicked anxiety but I do not want to sound so unspiritual), I had lunch with my friend Darlene. After lunch she had to go to a luggage store to buy a new rolling suitcase and asked me to come with her. She made her purchase and as we were leaving she stopped, went back to the cashier and returned rolling a second suitcase, the most wonderful deluxe suitcase I had ever seen. “You need this”, she said, and handed it to me. I protested but she stood firm. She wanted to buy it for me because she KNEW I needed it. The truth is I DID but it was not in the budget. “For you, she said, “From God”. How she was aware of this need I do not know but it was a fabulous gift and such a generous act but more than that it was assurance that God knew what we needed and could provide.

The next day, once again the mailbox was empty…no checks from donors, nothing. I wrote “We are standing on shifting sand when we want to stand on the Rock!” Two days later we received a check form $6000. Later that week we received $1800 from a foundation and then Navpress called and said they were freeing up $8000 and with that we had all we needed. Soon after the baby was birthed, the marketing packets were sent on their way and the completed product arrived at the warehouse! The baby was here and now we waited to see what it would “grow up to be”.

Isaiah 66:9

Shall I bring to the time of birth and not cause delivery? Says the Lord

Power!

Sometimes I think we Christians throw out the word “pray” like we have no idea the great power that is behind it. And so we are quick to say, “Would you pray for my neighbor’s dog”, or “Would you pray I have a good day” or whatever. If we have prayer requests in church or small group, we feel like we have to come up with something even if it is absolutely inane and we ourselves don’t find it important enough to pray for it because it makes us appear spiritual. But the truth is, prayer is power. It is engaging the God of the universe to move on behalf of what we are asking for.

I have become very careful about what I ask people to pray for and if I am not fervently praying for something I don’t ask any one else to pray for that either. But if I do have a prayer need, then I go to people I am convinced understand that power and will approach the task as the “holy occupation” that it really is.

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And so in May 2004, I had a huge prayer request and I knew exactly who to approach. Julie Lord is probably the most dynamic prayer warrior I have ever known. Now in her seventies she has the mind and body of a thirty year old and a heart for God that seems ageless. She and her husband Bob have managed to raise five extraordinary children who are devoted to God and serving him greatly in various areas. Now her grandchildren are following the same path and great grandchildren, though still young, I feel certain will follow Christ with the same fervency as the previous generations.

Julie had been on my prayer teams since the beginning of our Big Dream. Every week she would show up to pray and she kept a journal of those prayers and the powerful way God had answered them. So now we needed that power to help us finish the filming for The Amazing Collection. We had twenty two books left to film and we had decided that it would be financially astute to do them all within a week’s time.

It was a huge undertaking for the teachers and placed a great amount of pressure on each one of us. All four of us were feeling like we were under constant attack as we were being hit in different areas (our weakest area!) and were reeling from the stress. Preparation for four or five teaching sessions demanded every waking hour. So I decided it was time to bring in the BIG GUN. I called Julie.

And so on filming day, Julie was by our side, encouraging, praying, and bringing our minds back to the truth of Scripture. Then as each one of us stepped on the platform to teach, Julie went into a nearby room all alone and came before the God of All and brought us to the Throne of Grace.

So then what happened? God answered. As each teacher took her place, the Lord began to speak through her. Eleanor. Linda. Margie. Me. Calm, mind sharp, words flowing, cameras running….and then before we knew it the week was over and the last teaching session was complete.

My journal records, “We have completed all of the filming and it has gone smoothly, the best we have ever done. God heard Julie’s cries for us! I am so grateful to God for her!”

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man

makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working).

James 5:16

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