What devastation we have witnessed over the course of the last weeks for Japan following the earthquake! Daily, there has been new footage, new stories, new loss, new reunions. This age of “real time” technology has kept us all “in the moment” of all that’s occurred. I’ve seen scenes that have just baffled me – the power of the sea, the shaking of the ground are like special effects that no movie maker could recreate. I’ve watched moms and dads searching for their children and I’ve seen tearful reunions as they heard with their own ears, a sound that could be no other than that of their own child’s voice calling out to them. Simply heartwrenching and powerful! Only the God of the universe can bring peace and comfort during a time such as this…and helplessly, we lift up the countless people affected by such tragedy. It is the prayer of Rejoice! that God will show us how He’d like to use us in the coming weeks in relation to this devastation.
I can remember when my children were small, going to playgrounds full of shrieking kids, some laughing, some crying, some just calling out “mommy, watch this”! No matter the tone of the request, I always knew when my child was the one calling out. Amid many simlilar voices, I could always discern the sound of the my own child’s voice! It’s uncanny that mothers are gifted with this but I know from my friends that this is true – it’s not just my personal talent. Every mother I know instinctively raises her head when her child cries out. It’s interesting that, even if the words are the same “Mommy”, there is a recognition that defies explanation. It’s still true now that I have teenagers. For instance, in the car line picking up my son from high school – you should know that sometimes I wince when I recognize his voice and say “yep, I recognize it, that was MY son”.
Thank goodness for reclining bucket seats these days! Are you aware that you CAN actually see through the space between the steering wheel and the dashboard to drive in a forward motion and yet be slouched down so that no one can see your head? (You think I’m kidding here, don’t you?) I know the sound of my child’s voice – always!
I also know that on a much grander scale, my heavenly Father, can discern my specific voice out of the multitudes crying out to Him. I think the first time I ever really realized the scope of this was watching the movie “Bruce Almighty”, where Jim Carey has been given the ability that God has to hear people talking to him – every single person – the sound was maddening and I couldn’t even pick out one particular voice. (Bruce couldn’t either, really, or at least he couldn’t begin to keep up with the requests!) No matter, your opinion of the movie, it was a great illustration of the magnitude of God’s “inbox”! Yet, without a doubt, He knows my voice, the instant I speak. Amazing! I’ll note just one scripture among many regarding this: Isaiah 30:19
He will be very gracious to you at the voice of your cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer you…
He knows you, He knows your voice…beautiful! Actually, the ability of God to hear my voice is a completely different post, it just seemed to fit to bring this point out as well! Because He knows our needs so well, as we ask for His assistance – it’s important to be able to hear what He’s saying in return.
Where I’m really going is that our desire is to be able to discern the voice of God through all the noise – the same way that we know the voices of our children AND the same way that God, Himself recognizes our voice. In the madness of this life, He is our place of peace, our green pasture within which to graze and rest, our refuge, our hiding place. His voice is what we desparately need to recognize and depend upon in the midst of chaos. His voice is our only source of stability whether we’re living through natural disasters, such as the daily events in the news, or just the simple, disastrous events of a day gone wrong in our families, on our jobs, or in our emotional lives.
John 10:3 – 5 (NIV)
(3)The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (4) When he has brought out all his won, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. (5) But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.
John 10:14 – 15
(14) I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – (15) just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.
It’s interesting to note that it isn’t just the WORDS being spoken as much as it is the sound of the VOICE! Much like our children – a playground full of kids can produce a resounding call of “mom”(!) They may all be saying the same thing…But only the sound of my own child stands out to me! Oh, that I would perfect my ability to hear the voice of my Father in heaven that same way…the way that He so perfectly recognizes my voice…and it makes sense that He would, I am His child, you know!
I can’t promise that it will happen in the coming week – but in the near future I’d like to share what I’ve been studying about learning to discern the voice of the God…so watch for it!
For now though, practice over and over, minute by minute, picking out the sound of your Father’s voice…and ask Him to let you hear and recognize His voice…to make it stand out in the noise.
Love to our friends,
Maria
Just so you know, Rejoice! is headed Virginia this weekend. Here’s where we’ll be:
Sunday, March 27th
First Christian Church – Clifton Forge, VA @ 11:00 am
Calvary Brethren Church – Buena Vista, VA @ 6:00 pm
We’d love to see you – feel free to tell your Virginia friends too!
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Hello again! Yesterday, I needed to wash the dishes in my sink! Somehow, I kept finding other things to do while my dishes kept staring at me! (you laugh but I saw the eyes and they WERE staring at me!) I was amazed by the way this task loomed over me – for hours. As a matter of fact, I found that I was actually avoiding walking into my kitchen all together after a while…sadness set in for my stomach…and the rumbling got louder.
Needing to leave my house in the next 10 minutes, I decided that the dishes were not washing themselves (they were sitting there, just staring, you know) and that I did not want to come back home to a sink full of rabid ceramics (with freaky eyes). So, with a huff of disgust, I tore into them. Being the lover of fun that I am, I decided to time myself to see how long this would take. Thus began the clock! Ready, Set, GO! Unloading, putting away, scraping, rinsing, loading, detergent-ing, door closing, button pushing – and she’s done! Five minutes, 14 seconds yelled the anouncer in my head! (Hey don’t judge, you’d have voices in your head too if your dishes had eyes)
I realized that I’d spent about the last 5 hours, dreading, ignoring, avoiding those dishes – all the while, their taunting was stealing my joy! After putting the “joy” to the dishes (that’s dishwashing detergent, you know) – I was free. The eyes were washed away! I felt some serious JOY now that this was done! And it took all of 5 minutes – good grief, really?!
It got me thinking of other situations that I treat the same way – shocking, I know, but there are many!
For example, every year, I say that I will get started early on Christmas shopping, card writing, present wrapping (well, I don’t know how you expect me to do that when I don’t even have any presents – duh!!!), and cookie dough making. I don’t, of course, and my lists of “to do’s” start to take on animalistic characteristics – right down to sprouting an eye or two!!
We are getting ready to begin our series of Christmas concerts tomorrow in Boydton, Virginia. So, I’ve been listening to (and, yes, putting off learning) our Christmas music. It hit me how full of JOY all this music is – yet we put it off to one or two months each year…that’s not really my point. My point is: We have all this music popping out everywhere at this time of year and yet somehow, we’re so distracted by all the things we have to do while this music is playing, that it’s easy to miss out on the JOY of this season!
Let me take you back a couple of thousand years…
Imagine this: a world unable to experience the JOYof the promise of eternal life – while they waited for the Messiah to appear. A world where the only hope was to abide fully by the laws of God – slipping up, even putting off obedience, but trying desperately to gain heaven. The sleepy little town of Bethlehem would become the location of a plan put into action – steps started that would change the world forever.
As a star appeared in the heavens and angels began to show up, people began to take notice, a rumbling of excitement filled the earth. The promised Messiah was arriving!! A humble beginning though it was, the angels knew the magnitude of this moment!! They were bursting forth with glad tidings of great joy. The Savior of the world had come! The plan of Salvation had just been put into motion. An innocent baby boy, born to the virgin, Mary, would go on to live a sinless life, to fulfill His Father’s plan, to teach and to love, then to be scorned and mocked and put to death on a cross as a common criminal. He allowed Himself to suffer, even to the point of death, removing His royal robe in order to wear the sins of the world upon His back – your sins and my sins - because on our own we couldn’t carry them – couldn’t make atonement for them.
Thankfully, though, the story doesn’t end there. Three days later he arose, victorious over death and the grave forever! A plan now complete, giving the taker (those who would believe in Him) the ability to experience the true JOY of the hope of life eternal!!
I’ve known this story for as long as I can remember. I’ve sung Christmas songs of JOY since the day I could talk. I don’t even know how to imagine a time when there was no plan of Salvation already in place. The world as we know it today has always known that this plan existed (even those who choose to deny it!). But the people of Jesus’ day – those in Bethlehem – who were awaiting the Messiah had a first hand view of the beginning of the plan. JOY filled them in a very real way – a way that’s hard for us to understand. The road to heaven had been an impossible path up until now! JOY had come to earth!
This season, as your “to do” list “stares” at you, as music filled with the JOY of the Savior’s birth plays in the background, imagine yourself a shepherd on a silent hillside, hearing for the first time that the Messiah has come – that your life will never again be the same!
Resist the urge to complain about Christmas music that’s starting too early - the decorations that seem premature! Remember that even though we easily lose sight of the meaing of the season – the JOY brought by celebrating the birth of our Savior is as powerful today as it was back in Bethlehem. Don’t postpone it – own it – get filled with that JOY today!!! And by all means turn up the Christmas music!
By the way, go see our shopping page - because you can get “JOY SPREADING” Christmas cards and other gifts from our friends at Dayspring…check it off your list!! And get on with the JOY!!
If you need some help owning your joy, download some of our music on CDBaby – one song or a whole album! It’s not even Christmas music -so no excuse for grumbling! Just uplifting songs that we hope will share our JOY!
If you happen to be around Boydton, VA tomorrow at 6:00 pm come visit with us at Boydton Baptist Church – we promise to share our JOY!!!
Love – loaded with JOY,
Maria
www.rejoiceonline.org
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I’ve been reading this morning…Joshua 1:1-9. God’s promise to Joshua and to the Children of Israel is that the land lying ahead of them is theirs for the taking. The battles await, but through trust and obedience, these people WILL be delivered into this wonderful land of milk and honey! A very evident message of encouragement! Verse 9 is the most encouraging of all for me.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
How simple it is to be strong and courageous…NOT!!! The concept is easy but actions of strength and courage are not.
If I were lifting weights or sprinting up a hill, I’d have a tangible example of my strength (not that I can do either of those with any ummmphhhh!). Or if I were walking through a dark alley, with my head held high exhibiting no fear, I’d be able to measure my courage (not likely to see me walking through a dark alley, either!).
But in a life filled with challenges and dilemmas, showing strength and courage can be difficult. How do you hold your head high when your heart has plummeted to the floor and shattered around your feet? How do you boldly walk forward when the path ahead of you is treacherous, dark and loaded with danger? The promise of these scriptures in Joshua is very clear…”The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go”.
Not a person on this earth, can exist without facing trying times or scary situations and the truth is, pain hurts so very much and fear is very scary!
We have a loved one preparing to travel across the world into a country filled with turmoil and danger, yet on Friday he will board a plane to begin this journey. A land where Christians are few and the hazards are plenty! What an opportunity he will have to show a strength and courage that is tangible! We feel frightened for him…and the Lord says, “I am with you always!”
A funeral was just performed yesterday for the husband of one of gospel music’s most talented singers and a fellow sister in Christ. Today, the sun is up, the day is new, her heart is shattered and the pain in her life is overwhelming. This is one of those times when having strength and courage is the only way to survive. Our hearts break for her pain…and the Lord says, “I am with you always”.
I read a story that helps me understand how it is that strength and courage are put into action:
A child who had to walk past a very dark, spooky house each night on the way home was filled with fear. He was offered help from some adults close to him. The first, gave him a good luck charm to ward off ghosts, he clutched it tightly in one hand and gripped insurmountable fear with the other. Another adult trying to help, had a bright light installed on the street near the corner of the house. He gazed towards the light while trembling with fright. The third adult, suggested “It is a sin to be afraid, Trust God and be brave”. While it was good advice, it certainly didn’t help his feet to move more steadily.
The last adult said, “I know what it’s like to be afraid. Take my hand and I will walk with you.” With that, the anxiety and despair melted away, and the little boy took the hand of his protector and boldly forged ahead with newfound confidence and assurance.
Strength and Courage seem to be easy words. How often do we say or hear, Hang in there, be strong – have courage? Words alone do not provide the confidence. It is only by total faith do we believe that we are not alone, that Jesus walks beside us holding our hand, leading us into the place of victory, that we are able to proceed with abandon. The path will not be easy. There is no assurance of ease on your journey…but you are promised that you are not going it alone. He walks before us, behind us, and beside us!
Through Christ, we have strength for every weakness and courage for every fear. Boldly, because he has promised that he will NEVER leave us nor forsake us, we can pray…
“Lord, I give these terrifying things over to you and ask that you lead me into this land of the unknown. Thank you for the promise that you will be with me always, even unto the ends of the earth. Thank you that you have a firm grip on my hand. Give me the strength and the courage to hold fast to yours”.
Take time this week to read (over and over again) Joshua 1:1-9. Take heart and take hold of his promise…”I WILL be with you wherever you go”!
Be strong and very courageous until you reach your home!
Maria
www.rejoiceonline.org
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I could pretend that you’ve missed multiple blog posts throughout the summer – my tiny gems that have not yet been uncovered…WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??? BUT, I suppose you might start to sift back through our blog and find nothing since, well, I didn’t even want to look at when the last post might have been – so let’s just move on!
We’ve had a great, busy, fun summer (so the blog suffered a little? you say) and the blog suffered a little. Partly because there was always something going on and partly because sometimes you just get a little writer’s block – for a few straight months! So, I’ll try to chop up that block today…hey, don’t worry, miracles do still happen!
I was wondering today why it seems that miracles are sometimes not going on. I’ve spent a lot of time this summer in prayer for Rejoice!, for my family, for me, for people around me (and I spent a little bit of time praying for the girl at Burger King who seemed really angry that I was coming through the drive-through a few days ago). I guess sometimes I get a little down wanting, desperately needing, some major miracle to occur!
- You know, a check in the mail for insurance premiums that I over paid – instead, ”just the bill ma’am, please pay the bill”…hrrrumph!
- A relative (one I never knew existed) has passed on to her heavenly reward and, yes, has left her BMW (mint condition – because she really didn’t drive much) to – ME!!!!! (Allowing me to junk my jeep, that keeps eating up my insurance premium money) No, no notices in the mail today of unexpected blessings, no child who has decided to never get me riled, and to do his homework without being asked and to clean house everyday after school without expecting a dime…no, so far today, everything’s just “normal”.
Actually, though, come to think of it…my jeep decided it didn’t want to run anymore just hours BEFORE I needed to head out on the road for a destination a couple of hours away…allowing me NOT to be stranded, a woman, alone on a dark interstate…
and the other day I dropped my favorite baking dish, hard, onto my porcelain sink, and it bounced but didn’t break…
and the mean girl at Burger King actually gave me my food and nothing was wrong with it…(at least, I didn’t notice anything, oh gross)
and the 3rd air conditioner repair man who visited, said we didn’t actually need to replace the entire air conditioner (like the other two) but that for $140 he could have us back up and running (thus stopping the sweat from running down my face)…
and my dog almost ate the cat…but at the last moment the cat zigged and zagged just right…and was free (1 life down, 8 to go) Read the rest of this entry »
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And the crowd goes wild…Tyler Vestal, our bass singer, is now a graduate!!!!! Last Friday, Tyler walked across the stage at the Greensboro Coliseum to receive his high school diploma…and the 3 mom’s wipe their eyes as their hearts are filled with pride. What an accomplishment!
Since Tyler was a little boy, he has faithfully spent his weekends on the road with Rejoice! AND his Mondays mornings holding up his head in a high school class room! Not kidding here, he actually has a method for propping his head with both his hands so that it looks like he’s engrossed in his textbook in a way that no one can tell that he’s actually catching up on his zzzz’s not working on his ABC’s. The only trouble, he says, is when his head slips out of his hands and nearly hits the desk with a thud…LOL…can you just see that? You know, he could have unpaid fines for damage to textbooks – drool stains can wreak havoc on those pages! (goodness, I hope none of his teachers are reading this post!) (can you repossess a diploma?)
The Graduate
Read the rest of this entry »
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Baby needs new shoes - mommy needs to get to work! Actually, Rejoice! has all sorts of needs right now in order to further our ministry:
- from sound equipment
- to a new recording project
- to transportation
- to feeding Tyler week in and week out (only half-joking)
- to new shoes (just kidding, er, well, sort of - but We do love us some new shoes!)…
To bring you up to date, I’ve promised the group that I will take on creating new bookings with a vengeance! I definitely have a sales background but sometimes selling something that is so closely connected to you (i.e. selling yourself) can be so hard! Continuing to fill the calendar with appearances is the way Rejoice! gets to continue to move forward. Over the last few weeks, I’ve found myself on a bit of a roller coaster…I can do this…who do I think I am…this is a no-brainer…how in the world do I think I’m qualified for being a booking agent! I know, that’s a lot of ups and downs, forwards and backwards – hey, you should have been on the ride with me – head spinning and mind scrambling to say the least!!!! Read the rest of this entry »
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We had a great weekend in the mountains of West Virginia and met some wonderful people! We were singing in a little town called Spencer on Saturday night. If you think you’ve heard of the middle of nowhere, well you just think again – there’s a new middle of nowhere and it IS somewhere in West Virginia! We took Hwy 119 for many, many miles and there were more curlers and hair pin turns than a beauty shop on Saturday mornings! I felt like our trailer was flying around those curves like a metal pinball in an arcade game! Mark, our dedicated driver, engineer, and all around chief of “I’m just here to please” was apparently working on his all time high score! Ding, ding, ding Read the rest of this entry »
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Ah, morning in a household with teenagers! What could be sweeter? Um, yes, reality! There wasn’t much sweet about it – pretty chaotic actually! Somehow, each morning God gives me the grace to begin waking up my children with a calm and gentle voice and then within about 20 minutes, gentleness has given way to an all out battle cry! GET UP NOW or else…
I pray about it – I do – every morning just before heading in to the little darling”s rooms – that I will have a gentle spirit, that they will hear me softly calling, and that our morning will be filled with love and laughter and birds singing, yes, birds. I’m not sure upon which towel rack I place the grace that God has given me but it seems awfully easy to discard when trying to get them to hear me and to put one foot, then the next, on the floor and sleepwalk towards the shower. Read the rest of this entry »
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Rejoice!
Well, we’ve done it! After much resistance, we are moving into this age of being fully connected! It’s hard to believe that back in, oh, about 1998, I was having trouble double-clicking a mouse (used to be that I just screamed when I saw one) and now here we go blogging to an entire world with a just few keystrokes! This could be an interesting ride but hang with us as we give it a whirl! I guess change is a good thing because it keeps us learning and growing but, wow, it can make you feel dense! Hey, no blonde jokes here, please! How amazing it is to be able to connect with people you may never meet in person here on earth! Read the rest of this entry »
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