One month later....

I ran across these photos tonight and thought I should post them. At Living Water, we gave school supplies to 144 kids this year---a record high. Last year, we helped 117 kids and spent $22.00 per child. This year, we spent $27 per child---that's how much things had gone up in one year! As much as was possible, we tried to supply the entire list for the kids.

This is only the supplies for Stinnett, Fritch and Spring Creek schools on the tables. We'd already bagged the Borger kids' supplies before I thought to grab the camera.

It takes lots of crayolas these days.
You can see some of the filled bags (white trash bags) in the background.

There was lots of stuff....

even piled under the tables.

I think teachers are predicting a flu season....

Meet Mandy

This is Mandy. Mandy is one year older than me---she's 54. And she has quite a story. Mandy has done drugs for years. And she's also been married a few times---15 times, to be exact! I wish you could come to Living Water and meet her---you'd love her instantly. Mandy used to come for groceries but now she just comes to hear the Word and to share God's love with others. Mandy was saved about a year ago at Teen Challenge and was also delivered from drugs. She's been clean for 9 months now. She also attends a weekly recovery program at Fellowship Baptist here in Borger. They've helped her alot. And she mainly shares her story with other people who come to Living Water who are also doing drugs. She has a passion to see other lives transformed. Mandy's 15th husband still does drugs--so it's a daily challenge for her to be around the stuff and stay clean. But she puts the rest of us to shame. She's pulling people up out of the pit and telling them about Jesus. This past week, she brought 2 of them to me who needed help. It was so exciting to be able to call Lindsey's mom, Shala, who works at Faith City Ministries and partner with her in getting help for one of these girls. (Please pray for Joyce---she needs to get clean. She already knows Jesus, but sometimes it's a long way out. And pray for Shala as she deals with these women on a day-to-day basis to help them.) Mandy had also brought a young man at the same time who desperately needed help. He was addicted to drugs and had tried to kill himself twice recently. She had found a place where he could go for a year to get off of the drugs. Mandy was telling him about Jesus. She had a little different evangelism technique than most. She asked this guy if he wanted to spend his life in hell! He wasn't sure, so Mandy whipped out her cigarette lighter (still has that little habit) and flicked it open and held the flame up to this guy's arm. She asked him how that felt! Did it burn? Didn't he know that hell was going to be much worse than that??? (LOL!) Before Mandy got him into this rehab place, he jumped out of a window and cut himself all up and is now in the pavillion. But they're working on getting him well enough to send him to the place Mandy had lined out. I'm telling you...Mandy is a preacher. She can't be at Living Water without sharing her praises---and she can't do that without preaching a little at the people present. She just wants everyone to find the same freedom she's found. In the meantime, Mandy is being transformed. She's just a sponge. Everything she learns, she quickly applies to her life. Something you wouldn't know about Mandy if you met her is that she can't read. But that doesn't stop her. She's memorizing the Word at a steady speed. And she doesn't just memorize it, she believes it and takes it to heart. She actually cried when she found out that hell wasn't created for us, but for Satan and his demons. I have to be honest with you....Mandy challenges me. She questions everything I believe and wants to know why I believe it. She forces me to go places I've never gone. And she is a wonderful contender in the kingdom of God---she doesn't believe there's anyone too far gone for God to love and bring back. I just looked up the meaning of Mandy's name. I wasn't surprised to find out that it means, "Worthy of love." I think God loves this girl a lot! I'm wondering if she's not a lot like Rahab. Redeemed.

*I just had to add this since it just happened (again) and refreshed my memory. Mandy has been giving regularly to Living Water since last February. She just wanted to give back since we'd helped her. She also comes by occassionally and loads up her large car with our excess clothes and takes them to her neighborhood and gives them away. Love in action....

Gib preaching

I did it!
I videoed Gib preaching at Living Water.
And 8 people were saved that day.
I love this man!
Amazing.

Rachel & Leah

Ember & I just finished a study on Rachel & Leah. It was so exciting to me---I learned things I'd never thought about or heard before. Here are a few highlights from my notes.

1. Tradition teaches that Rachel & Leah may have been twins. Isn't that interesting? It explains why Jacob could have been confused with the great switch-off--they were the same size. Tradition also suggests that Rachel may have clued Jacob in on how deceptive and manipulative her father was. It says that they came up with a code so Jacob would know he was marrying Rachel. But Rachel, knowing her father was determined to marry Leah off first, gave the code to her sister to save her from great public humiliation. And then (get this!), Rachel snuck under the wedding bed so she could answer Jacob--so he wouldn't be surprised by Leah's voice.

2. Rachel was jealous of Leah. Leah was jealous of Rachel. They each wanted what the other had. Rachel wanted children and Leah wanted the love of her husband. You can see that Leah finds her peace in the progression of her children's names. She names her 4th son Judah---giving praise to God. She is the first person in the Bible mentioned who praises or thanks God. I believe that Leah overcame her jealousy and wanted a relationship with her sister and the 2 maids they'd given to Jacob to have children. She names Zilpah's 2nd son, Asher, for she said, "What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me." It's also interesting that Rachel died in childbirth--the very thing she coveted.

3. The lineage of Christ came through Leah--not Rachel, the beloved wife. Jacob was also buried with Leah, not Rachel. Leah was buried with all of the patriarchs and matriarchs.

4. Rachel died as a result of the curse that Jacob spoke. He cursed whoever stole the idol from Laban. I thought it was so interesting reading what the Rabbis had to say about this issue. I read dozens of Rabbi's websites and there wasn't even a question about this point. They all agreed.

We had so many questions through this study. Did Rachel feel cherished? Or was she so consumed with wanting a child that she never embraced Jacob's love? Did she become less beautiful to him because of her complaining spirit? Did he grow to love Leah? How did Bilhah and Zilpah feel? Used?? Would Rachel's prayers for children have been answered sooner if she had been content? Why did Rachel steal her father's idol? Did it bring security to her? Was she protecting her father from idol worship as some Rabbis suggested? Did it remind her of her mother? Did she do it to spite her father? And did Rachel ditch that idol or continue to hide it? Why did God allow the lineage of Christ to come through Leah?

But Ember & I agreed that the greatest lesson we gained from Rachel and Leah was this: Quit complaining. Learn to be content with what you have. Quit longing for what others have. And look for reasons to give God thanks. In fact, we've agreed to fast from complaining for a month in hopes of starting a new lifestyle. Want to join us?

Quit talking, Becky.

I have a tough relationship in my life. (No, it's not Andy or anyone in my immediate family--in case you're trying to guess! ha!) I've tried and tried to love this person...but I seem to always come away feeling rejected. It's wearing. So my human response has been to quit trying. And from that attitude has come complaining about the situation.
So this morning, I was reading in Lamentations and got a whuppin' from the Lord.
"Let him sit alone uncomplaining and keeping silent [in hope], because [God] has laid [the yoke] upon him [for his benefit]." Lamentations 3:28.
It would seem God has an answer for everything! I think I'll go sit in silence and hope...uncomplaining, of course.

Addendum: I had a prayer partner stop by and she made this observation. Our hope is in God--and that He will use this yoke for our benefit. I think that's why I gave up---my hope has always been that God would make this a great relationship. But now my hope is that God will bring great benefit into my life through this yoke--He designed this particular yoking from the beginning, didn't He? No more yoking with my past and the offenses that lie there. I'm yoking for benefit. Ahhhhh.....I'm getting it...and I'll get there.

Fasting Facebook and Blogs

"Let us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord!" Lamentations 3:40

This is what I've been doing in my life recently. I found myself addicted to facebook and blogging. I have a personality that I give myself completely to whatever I'm doing. And I couldn't get on facebook without reading every single thing everyone posted. (Well...maybe with the exception of the multitude of tests or games that people do--those kind of drive me nuts!) And let me just say here at the outset that I don't think facebook or blogging are wrong (obviously). I believe they are amoral---it's all about what we do with them. (But I do believe they foster narcissism. Does anyone really care about what I'm doing every minute of the day???) But I found myself spending hours every day on both. The interesting thing is that I also was exhausted during this time. I would come home from work, get on my bed and log on. I would spend no energy that evening perusing facebook or blogs, but would wake up the next morning depleted.

So...I stepped back. I already knew I was spending more time with facebook than God. And I decided I needed to fast from the internet and devote myself completely to God and His Word. I wasn't completely ignoring God...but I had erected idols in my life. So I turned off my computer and opened my Bible. And God began to speak to me. I found out why I was so exhausted. I had "white noise" going on constantly around me. There was no silence in my life....I was never still before God. We live in the busiest time--ever!! It's hard to get still. It's hard to have silence. But I know it's necessary for our spiritual existence. I also found out that I was existing on spiritual junk food. And we all know what a diet of junk food will do to you. I was lethargic and growing fatter every day. I'd get my taste of God and then fill up on facebook and blogs for my steady diet. I was convicted that what I was doing was sin. Anything that comes before God is an idol---and I was worshiping at my high places.

During my fast, God began speaking to me. You know what it's like when you find that place of fellowship with God. It's a safe place for your heart. And what God showed me is that these are dangerous days. And Satan is setting many traps to keep me busy, keep me exhausted and to keep me worshiping anything or anyone but God. We're living in spiritually perilous times. But God wants me FOCUSED. I'm not going to be able to avoid the minefields that Satan has set unless I know where to place my feet. And I'm not going to do that unless I'm hearing God. The white noise has to be shut off. I need to devote myself to God and hear Him to be effective for His kingdom. If I want to be energized, I have to eat spiritual meat. And if I want to produce spiritual fruit, I have to be plugged into the vine---not facebook.

Will I be on facebook or blogging? Yes...I will. It's all about priorities and limitations for me. And it's constantly testing and examining my ways. I encourage you to do the same. It's time to return to the Lord!

The Rabbi's Teaching

Last week, I happened to watch two men on GLC. One was an African-American pastor and the other was a Jewish man. (Not a Messianic Jew) The pastor, Keith, wanted to learn Hebrew, so he went to Israel and met this Jewish man, Nehemiah, who was his guide. (A part-time guide, but a serious student of Hebrew.) Long story short, Keith convinced Nehemiah to teach him Hebrew. That was 8 years ago. In the '80's, it was discovered that Matthew was first written in Hebrew. So Nehemiah came to Keith and told him they should study it together. Out of that study, they wrote a book together called A Prayer to Our Father. As they talked about it, the thing that stood out to me was the phrase, "...thy kingdom come, thy will be done..." They said that in the Hebrew, it actually meant, "thy will will be done in thy kingdom!" I got so excited! I ordered the book and can hardly wait for it to get here.

Well, that got me to thinking. If the Hebrew is so different from the English, how much more are we missing in the translation? I'm doing a study on Rachel with a friend. So tonight, I decided to google the Hebrew meaning of Rachel and Leah's names. Somehow, I came across a site that had a little blurb written by a Rabbi. Ding, ding ding!!! I decided to google "Rabbis teaching on Rachel and Leah." I am enthralled! It's like I can't get enough. I know some of the things that are taught come from tradition and not scripture, but it's so interesting. I encourage you to take a look. Isn't technology wonderful---that I can sit at home and learn from Rabbis?