June 2016 – FayreneClarkReese.com

SISTER EFFIE

Effie Doshier was my Sunday school teacher when I was five years old. I adored her. When permitted, I sat with her in church. It was there on a Sunday evening where, after the pastor preached, she bent and whispered in my ear.

“Faye,” she asked softly, “Would you like to pray with me and ask Jesus to come into your heart?” I was already crying knowing, though I couldn’t have verbalized it at the time, the Holy Spirit was speaking to my heart.

“Uh huh,” I answered with a sob.

She took my little hand and led me to the altar, where we knelt together. She prayed with me as I confessed my sin and invited Jesus into my heart.

Many would pooh-pooh such a practice, but I knew exactly what I was doing. Salvation was a truth I had heard over and over again during my short life.

I don’t remember most things that happened to me when I was five years old, but I do remember that night. That initial salvation experience became a new way of life in Christ Jesus.

It was a life like that of other believers – a life of spiritual successes and mistakes, a life of growth and backsliding. Sometimes it seemed that for every step I took forward, I took two backward. In spite of missteps along the way, with God’s help and that of my parents, pastors and mentors, I stayed the course.

God kept me through those lean teenage years, until finally by a difficult and circuitous route, I understood God’s plan for my life—a place in full time ministry.

Saying “Yes” to God meant becoming a world missionary. That was a nearly impossible decision to make. Leaving everyone I loved and, more particularly, everyone who loved me was almost more than I could bear. Yet,obedience was my only alternative, if I expected God’s blessing on my life.

In preparation for ministry overseas, I was required to visit our churches and raise support for my work.

On a Sunday morning, at a little church in Arvin, California, I stood before the congregation and told them that God had called me to minister in Europe on behalf of children. I talked about how necessary it is to reach kids while they are young, and how foolish we are to wait until lives are ruined before they are confronted with the claims of the gospel.

As I shared, I recounted the story of my own salvation telling how Sister Effie Doshier had led me to Christ at the age of five.

Following the morning service, a feisty little lady with a sassy hat perched on her white hair came to the front of the sanctuary to shake my hand.

Looking up at me, scrutinizing every feature, she asked, “Are you Faye Clark, whom I used to know in Mesa, Arizona?

“I’m Faye Clark,” I replied, “And I used to live in Mesa.”

“Well, I am Effie Doshier, your Sunday school teacher, “she announced with a great deal of satisfaction.

My family had been close to the Doshiers when I was little, but they moved away and I lost all track of them having no idea where they were. I was totally dumbfounded by this turn of events. Nothing would do but I have lunch with Effie and her daughter. As adults, we became friends. I spent nights with her when I was in the area. After I went to the field, she sent me $5.00 and $10.00 money orders with sweet letters.

Effie was kind of like the little widow in Luke 21:2, who put two mites in the offering. Jesus said that she had given more than anyone because she gave all she had. Effie’s support was not the greatest amount I ever received, but it certainly was the best.

I can’t forget that she gave her life for ministry to children just as I had. She was one of the reasons I was in the ministry.

It has been many years since I ministered to children, and I understand that it is getting more difficult to find workers today who will take the time for kids. But, I must tell you that there is nothing more satisfying than leading a child to Christ knowing that a whole life has been saved for His Kingdom.

If you have young children in your home, don’t neglect their spiritual welfare. Talk to them about Jesus. Read the Word to them. Pray with them. Don’t leave this all-important responsibility to someone else.

AND – if you have any energy left at all, volunteer to help with the kids at your church. Be like Sister Effie and give your best to Him.

THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW

YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL FACE

I am the consummate weight watcher. In fact, I am the Weight Watcher Poster Child.

All my life I was overweight – extremely overweight. Twice I lost over 100 lbs, but each time I gained it back and even more. I couldn’t seem to get a handle on it.

I hated being fat. There, I said it! I tried to make up for it by being smart and dressing well. But, honestly, everything is more difficult when you are heavy. People look at you as though you have just consumed two dozen Krispy Kreme Donuts. Which, I never did.

There were times when, a well-meaning, or a stupid person, said to me, “You have a beautiful face. It wasn’t what they said that was offensive. It’s what they didn’t say. I wanted to slap ‘em.

My niece, fifteen years my junior, traveled with me in ministry for awhile. She was no bigger than a peanut, and she was never hungry.

If I said to her, “It’s almost lunch time. Where would you like to eat?”

Her standard answer was, “I’m not hungry.”

Sometimes I felt like slapping her, too. I was always hungry.

One day, about eighteen years ago, I made the decision to put a screeching halt to the insane way I was living.

Do you ever wonder how you know it’s the right time for whatever? Somehow I knew this was the day. So I crawled out of bed and, in a pouring rain, I went to a Weight Watcher meeting.

“Do you want to join Weight Watchers,” chirped this cute little thing?

“I don’t know,” I growled.

I let them weigh me in – 267 pounds, and I stayed for the meeting. One woman had reached her goal weight losing 90 pounds. She didn’t shut up the whole meeting. It was annoying, but I left there saying, “If she can do it, so can I!”

I never looked back. It took me a little over two years to lose 130 pounds.

A few months before I reached my goal, I attended a grand Christmas event. I had a new outfit – a long black velvet skirt and a glittery red top. I stood in front of the mirror a gorgeous woman looking back at me. I felt like Cinderella. I was so proud of what I had done.

When I had lost 100 pounds, my leader asked me to tell the group how I had done it. “Well,” I said, “I followed the program and I prayed a lot.”

My prayer every day was, “Lord, I’m doing exactly what they tell me to do. Please cause my body to respond as it should.”

I always knew that I would forever have to be careful lest I gain back what I had worked so hard to lose. For fifteen years I kept the weight off going faithfully to a meeting every Saturday morning.

At one of those meetings a gal said, “I’ll be so glad when I reach my goal, then I won’t have to think about it anymore.

I laughed right out loud. “Honey,” I said, “You will have to think about it ‘til the day you die.

However, when sweet Cecil came along almost four years ago, I threw all caution to the wind. I wasn’t aware of it at the time. I was in love having so much fun. I just let life happen. There was the wedding, the honeymoon, Cecil’s illness and death, and my downward spiral into darkness. Somewhere, during all that, I realized that my clothes didn’t fit anymore. It didn’t seem to matter so much.

But, I am back! And it does matter. This morning, Saturday, I crawled out of bed and went back to meeting.

This time, I have only 38 pounds to lose. But it won’t be easy, because I am older now and not so active anymore.

How will I do it? I’ll do it just as I did before. I am determined to follow the program, be careful and active, and pray a lot.

Anything worth doing whether in day to day life or in our service to God, demands self-discipline, determination, carefulness, and above all, God’s enablement.

I have discovered that it is not always physical weight that slows us down. Sometimes we are carrying other baggage that keeps us from being our best.

How do you get rid of it? Pretty much the same way you get rid of the fat. Follow the program; God’s program, walk with Him (exercise), and carefully to do what’s right.

Hebrews 12:1 – 2 says, “Strip down, start running – and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus…”

Leviticus 26: 3 – 12, “If you live by my decrees and obediently keep my commandments… I’ll give you my full attention: I’ll make sure you prosper…I’ll set up my residence in your neighborhood…I’ll stroll through your streets. I’ll be your God; you’ll be my people.”

THE CLOSER I GET TO JESUS BRIGHTER SHINES THE SUN.

IT WILL COME OUT TOMORROW!

Closer Than a Brother

My big brother left home to join the Navy when I was seven years old. We never lived in the same town for the next seventy-three years. For years we were separated by the Atlantic Ocean and then by the North American Continent. However, in spite of the distance, we were close. We wrote, we talked on the phone. He came. I went. As unlikely as it may seem, we were probably closer than our other siblings.

He was kind of nutty, my brother. He loved to laugh and joke. He was talented and funny, and smart. He had made a name for himself in the world of Opera both in Europe and here in the States.

A few days ago, at the age of ninety, he died leaving his sweet wife and son and grandson and me. I miss Him! Though we seldom saw each other still I miss him being there. A certain richness has gone out of my life, and I feel bereft. The world is a lonelier place without him.

In 1974, when I broke the news to my Mother and Sister that I was going to be a missionary, My Mom said, “Oh, no!”

My Sister cried, “No, don’t!”

I said, “But, Mama, all my life you have taught me to do exactly what I am doing.”

The day that I left her house to begin my missionary deputation, Mama stood in the driveway by my car. With tears running down her face, she said, “Now you’ll always be alone.” In a sense, my Mother’s pronouncement was prophetic, for I was, to all appearances, alone for many years, in my life and work and ministry.

Have I ever been lonely? Of course, I have. Occasionally, over the years, I watched families and other groups engaging with each other, and for a brief time loneliness threatened, but I had learned to deal with it. After Cecil died, however, our house was empty and my heart was empty. I kept looking for him in every room, but he was gone. Even surrounded by people I knew and loved, I suffered intense loneliness. It was and still is, perhaps, the deepest pain I will ever know.

After my sister’s husband died, she told me, “You know, I am lonelier at church that I am at home alone.” I believe that kind of loneliness is lessened only through the grieving process.

However, I have discovered that there is a great difference between being alone and being lonely.

Loneliness is a painful, negative state. It is where we feel estranged from other people. We feel excluded, unwanted, unimportant or unnoticed. We miss being with someone.

In contrast, being alone can be wonderfully satisfying. Just ask a mom with young children in the home. It is where we are perfectly happy to be by ourselves, and relish and enjoy our own company. I sometimes choose to be alone rather than go with the crowd. I suppose that stems from the years of having no choice. Truth told I like my company. Being alone gives me time to rest, relax, reflect, rebuild and refresh.

When I was a young rookie missionary, I heard the story of an elderly missionary to India. In her early twenties, Anna found herself, the only foreigner, in an isolated area of the country working with widows and children.

During the day, while she was busy, she was all right, but when she returned to her humble room at night, the loneliness was unbearable, like a physical hurt.

Finally, she cried to the Lord, “God, I can’t bear it. I’m so lonely I’m going to die if you don’t help me.”

In that moment she felt the warm, comforting arms of her Savior encircle her as though physical arms were holding her close. She was not alone in her loneliness after all. That revelation of Christ’s physical presence enabled her to stay the course. Of course, she was lonely but from that moment, Anna was certain she was never alone.

All those years ago my Mother said, “Now, you’ll always be alone.”

At the risk of contradicting my sweet mother, I must tell you, “NEVER, never in all these years, have I ever, for one nanosecond, been alone.”

Yes, my brother and I were close, but Proverbs 18:24 tells me I have a friend “who sticks closer than a brother.” He is a friend with whom I can share my greatest need and my darkest secret. He hears my cries and feels the pain of my loneliness.

In Hebrews 13:5, He Himself said, “I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.”

Please know today, no matter what you suffer, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

REMEMBER, THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW

A New Song…

I have been a singer all of my life. But, a time came when I lost my song. I couldn’t find a reason to sing.

In the spring of 2010, at the age of seventy-four, I retired (kind of, sort of.) I don’t think I really thought it through. It just seemed like time for me to live near family. So, I bought a house, my first house ever, and moved to the Arizona desert leaving behind friends and colleagues of a lifetime.

I imagined my nieces and nephews throwing me a house warming party for my new abode. My sisters would weep with gratitude at my return after such a long absence, and any church would be glad to have me, wouldn’t it? After all, I had racked up many years of experience and wisdom and skills in a variety of ministries.

These were not conscious thoughts, of course. Certainly they were never verbalized. They were there, none the less, hiding deep inside my attitude.

What a blow to my ego! There were no banner headlines, no parties and no rejoicing at my return. At church, I was just another congregant among a multitude of others.

I was totally lost! I missed my ministry. I missed the pulpit. I missed my friends, and I missed the esteem that I had always been accorded. I didn’t know anyone, and even worse, no one knew me. I had lost my identity.

Friends had told me how exciting and how much fun retirement would be. They talked of travel and golf and leisure, but there was nothing fun about any of this.

I would go to a small church, I decided, so that I could really get involved and be of service. I would go where someone really needed me. I tried, but I soon discovered that no one was interested. I was attempting to invade a tight knit church family discovering that they didn’t want anyone else.

After several months, I left whining, “I can’t do this anymore, Lord.”

No one ever called to see whether or not I died. All that information they had demanded of me, was a total waste.

Following that experience, I went to a large church. I liked the church. I liked the people. The preaching was good, and I liked the way they did things. But, nothing had changed for me. I was still lonely and alone, and my heart was devoid of song.

Sitting there on Sunday morning I was tempted to stand and shout, “Somebody! Put me in charge of something.” I made myself go to church faithfully and went through all the motion, but most Sunday’s I just felt like crying.

It is wonderful how God knows our thoughts and feels our feelings, and how He arranges for just what we need.

One morning, our sweet worship leader began to sing a song about seasons and how we can always find a reason to sing no matter what is going on in our life. If I quote the words to that song, I’ll have to pay somebody big bucks. Song writers are funny about things like that. So I’ll depend on you to know exactly what I am talking about.

As those around me sang, I suddenly woke up knowing that God was speaking directly to me telling me that no matter how difficult life seemed I had many things for which to be thankful.

I went home thinking about seasons and singing remembering the greatest vacation I ever enjoyed. I traveled, with friends, to New England in the fall of the year, when the whole world was resplendent with color. It was impossible to take in all the beauty surrounding us. We drove up and down the hills in Vermont singing the “Hallelujah Chorus.” It was easy to sing in the midst of all that glory.

Summer and winter, spring and fall are not the only seasons of life. I found myself in a dry desert season both physically and spiritually. The Arizona desert is an extremely dry place, but no dryer than my spirit at the time.

No matter what troublesome season you are trying to navigate at the moment, be assured, God has made provision for you. He has provided rain for the dry places.

Joel 2:23 – 24 says, “…He will cause the rain to come down for you…and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.”

Isaiah 35:1 – 2 tells us, “… The desert shall rejoice…even with joy and singing…”

In the midst of the desert, God put a new song in my mouth, and I remembered a multitude of reasons to sing.

Psalm 40:3, “He has put a new song in my mouth – praise to our God…”

THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW AND YOU WILL SING AGAIN!

Is It Time Yet???

Waiting for a special event can be exciting, but it can also be very trying. Every parent knows the sound of that persistent little voice asking, “Is it time yet?” “Is it time yet?”

What are you waiting for? If it’s something good, there is probably a little bubble of excitement bouncing around inside you. If you are not sure what is coming, there may be a bit of anxiety nibbling away at your peace of mind.

A few months ago, my nephew and his family came from Germany to see me. The last time I saw Tony he was seventeen years old – just a boy. That was twenty-five years ago. Now he was married with a four-year-old son.

I was excited at the prospect of this visit, but I was also a bit uneasy. Tony and I had exchanged a few phone calls and Christmas Cards through the years, but I really didn’t know this man, my nephew.

With great care and precision, I made all the necessary preparations for my guests. The house was shining, and so was I. The beds had been changed. There was new soap and fluffy towels in the bathroom. The pantry was stocked and meals planned. I did everything possible to get ready, and my guests did, too.

I was standing on my sidewalk when the car pulled up. Immediately the back window opened.

Little Jay, the four-year-old son, stuck his head out the window and yelled, “Aunt Faye, you’re my Great Aunt Faye. You’re my Grandpa’s sister.” Someone had thoroughly prepared this baby for our meeting. Though he had never seen me, he was free and generous with his hugs and kisses for this old aunt.

In that moment, all anxiety evaporated. We were family and our time together was flawless.

I’m glad I worked hard. I am glad I was prepared for this visit.

Preparation is important. It is necessary for almost everything in life.

In the beginning days of my ministry, I worked a great deal with children. If you have ever had the privilege of ministering to kids, you know that preparation is the difference between success and total chaos.

I used to suffer these terrible nightmares. I stood on the platform half clothed, in front of hundreds of out of control kids. The pianist hadn’t shown up, my visuals were still backstage, the projector was inoperable, and the puppets were nowhere to be found.

It was so real I could feel my heart thumping, and I woke up in a cold sweat determined that this would never happen to me.

Preparation was the key.

We expend an enormous amount of time, energy, and money preparing for a plethora things and events while many of us totally neglect the most important aspect of our life – that is our eternity, our life after this life.

If you ever visit the rotunda of the Library of Congress, you will see a series of plaques above the pillars that support the dome. Written on these plaques are gold lettered quotes. One plaque reads: “One God, one law, and element, and one far-off event to which the whole creation moves.”

These words are from the epilogue to Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “In Memoriam.” The Poet is thinking about the brevity of this life and the inevitable end of the world as we know it. Tennyson reminds us that our world is moving toward one God-ordained event that will bring history to a close.

Though this thought may be disturbing to some, we need not fear the future, for God has given us detailed instructions, so that we may be prepared for this end time event.

Jesus is coming!

In Revelation 3:11 and 22:20, Jesus Himself tells us he is coming. First, he says, “Behold! I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” Then He tells us again, “…Surely I am coming quickly…” He really wants us to know.

The fact is, no one knows when Christ is coming. Matthew 24:44 says, “…you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

How do I prepare for His coming?

First: I must be sure that Jesus is my Savior, that I have surrendered my life to Him.

Second: Hebrews 12:1 tells me that I must get rid of everything that hinders me and live according to God’s plan.

Third: I must keep my eyes on Jesus. He is my example.

Fourth: I must be watchful. Matthew 24:42 says, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.”

I WANT TO BE READY!

BUT—REMEMBER , until He comes, THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW.

AN ALL SEEING EYE

“There’s an all seeing eye watching you. Every step that you take His great eye is awake. There’s an all seeing eye watching you.”

When I was a little kid, we used to sing that old song in church. Those fearful words petrified me. Lying in bed, in the middle of the night, I could see that giant eye, one eye only, an eye with 20/20 vision, moving slowly back and forth, carefully watching everything I did, noting every little piece of mischief, and every scrap of disobedience. There was no way to escape that terrible eye.

However, as an adult, my thoughts concerning this “ALL SEEING EYE,” have totally changed. For now, I understand, and that truth that caused me nightmares, as a child, now blesses the socks off of me. Think of it! I am never out of God’s view or out of His mind. At any given moment, He knows exactly where I am and what I am doing.

Now, I grant you that fact is rather disconcerting to an unrighteous man, who doesn’t necessarily want God to look in on his life. But to the one who loves and serves God, and longs after Him, God’s awareness of every detail of life is, to him, like Linus’ security blanket.

What a wonderfully assuring thing it is to know that God has my life in view!

Psalm 139 has always been a marvelous encouragement to me. First, David tells us that God is “acquainted with all our ways.” He knows every word we speak before it is ever uttered, and David continues by saying, “He has laid His hand upon me.” Think about it! As unbelievable as it may seem, God’s divine hand has touched your life. He has touched my life.

Just writing about it brings such wonder to my spirit.

In verses 7 – 10, David says, I can’t get away from you, God. “Where can I flee from your

“If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.” By this time, David must have been dancing a gig shouting “GLORY! HALLELUJAH! HE IS MY GOD!”

In verse 16, we read that every day of our life was planned before one of them ever came to be, before we ever existed. I cried the night before I flew off to Poland declaring that I wouldn’t go a step. That was in the days before “THE WALL” between the east and the west came down.

I was taking a bunch of religious materials for my teaching assignment. I had no idea what would happen, when the authorities searched my luggage. Perhaps I would be thrown into prison never to be seen again. I‘d heard stories like that.

When I entered the terminal in Warsaw, they already had my number. The loudspeaker was blaring, “Will the American woman from flight so and so please come to window number three?” I must admit, in that moment, this gal, who claimed never to be afraid of BUT GOD! God knew of this moment in my life before time began. He had already made all the arrangements. I haltingly answered the official’s questions, and he let me go without ever opening my luggage. God walked me through that terminal and sat with me and my belongings in an illegal taxi (What did this dumb girl know?) until I was safely at the domestic terminal ready to continue my journey.

Psalm 124:1 says, “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,”

God was on my side that week in the city of Cieszyn, Poland, as I taught people who were eager to serve Him. When it was time to return to Brussels, all flights were cancelled because of a political uprising in Warsaw, and, yes, God already knew about that. So, with my translator, we suffered a wild taxi ride through a cold, snowy February afternoon to the railhead, where we boarded an overcrowded, no seats available train, for a five hour trip to Warsaw. Yes, God knew about that too.

On Monday evening, I flew back to Brussels with an overwhelming joy at the knowledge that God watched every step of the way.

Dear Reader, like it or not, “There’s an all seeing eye watching you.” He knows exactly what your day holds and the difficulties you will face. He has already provided for your victory.

Let the knowledge of his care draw you nearer to Him.

REMEMBER, THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW!

THE BIG BAD WOLF…

When Sir Walter Raleigh’s expedition first landed ashore on Roanoke Island, North Carolina in 1584, the white man’s 400 years war against wolves, in the new world, began. This 400 years battle nearly wiped out the wolf population. Now, after all these years, the wolves are being reintroduced into that area of the country. Why? Because, it was discovered that the wolf was not nearly the predator that he was thought to be. He is instead, a shy and secretive creature more apt to run away from man rather than to attack.

We often create real fear out of imagined circumstances. And fears always have catastrophic expectations attached to them. I have a friend who reads all the fine print on medication bottles. Every possible side effect, even if it has never been exhibited, is listed.

My friend has decided that she will surely be the one exception, so the medication is flushed down the toilet.

Fear is a terrible thing. It eats away at our innards and nibbles away at the edges of our soul. If gone unchecked, it can develop into paranoia bringing suspicion of everything and everybody, and total ruination to a life.

When I married Cecil, I became a passenger. Until then, I had always been the driver. Now I sat on the right hand-side of the car. To tell you the truth, Sweet Cecil’s driving sometimes scared the waddin’ out of me. He was a very observant man always exclaiming, “Oh, look over there,” or “Did you see that?” He had a penchant for driving toward whatever he was looking at, while I chewed my nails down to the knuckle.

I was the gal who had never been afraid of anything. I had traveled the world alone getting myself into this and out of that without a great deal of help from anyone, except God, of course.

I well remember my first trip to India.

I arrived in Calcutta at 5:00 a.m. with a connecting flight to Bangalore at 8:00 a.m. However that flight was delayed until 5:00 in the afternoon. What would I do? I was saddled with a great deal of paraphernalia, which I dared not take my eyes off of. It could disappear in a flash. It was finally arranged that I would rent a room upstairs, where I could rest a few hours.

Lying in that humble little cot feeling alone and a little bit sorry for myself, I whined, “God, nobody in the world knows where I am right now.”

God answered, “I do.” With that reassurance, I fell asleep and awoke refreshed ready for my continuing flight.

That’s the way I handled things. That’s the kind of gal I was.

Now, every time Cecil was three minutes late arriving home, I was sure that something catastrophic had happened to him. That kind of fear was new to me. I kept reminding myself that I was no longer alone. But then I had never been alone, had I?

“Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,” is a song written by Frank Churchhill in 1933 for the Disney film “The Three Little Pigs.”

The wolf was the villain who terrorized The Three Little Pigs and blew down their houses. His big eyes and big teeth and treatment of grandmother also brought great fear to Little Red Riding Hood. Truth is there is a BIG BAD WOLF around every corner, if we are so inclined to entertain him.

Instead of expending our energies trying to defeat the wolf at our door, we are better served by leaning upon the infallible Word of God.

In Psalm 56:3, King David said, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”

Again, in Psalm 27:1, he says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

The Word of God totally defeats the wolf. He has not one word to say in his own defense, but must turn tail and flee.

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy saying in chapter 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

If I understand this passage, it simply means that I have been given the ability to understand what fear really is, and I have been given the power of God to overcome it.

For according to 1 John 4:18, “…perfect love, (God’s love,which has been given to me,) casts out all fear…”

REMEMBER, tears, sorrow, fear may endure for the night, but JOY, SUNSHINE comes in the morning.

BECOMING REAL

Cecil had some books he had read nine million times. However, he loved them so much that he wanted to share them with me, so we often read together. I shared with him my favorites from childhood: “The Pokey Little Puppy,” “A Child’s Garden of Verses,” and “The Velveteen Rabbit.”

One Sunday afternoon, when we laid down for our nap, I took “The Velveteen Rabbit” to bed with us and read it to Cecil. It is a story about a beautiful plush toy rabbit that is fiercely loved by a child until most of its hair is rubbed off, its eyes are missing, it is loose in the joints, and very, very shabby. Somehow, over time, the child’s fierce love made that little rabbit real.

I couldn’t help but compare myself to the shabby little rabbit. Here I am a new bride at the age of seventy-seven. My hair has thinned, I have had cataract surgery, and my joints don’t always cooperate, but I do work very hard so as not to appear shabby. I told Cecil, like the child and the rabbit, his love had made me real. His love added a new dimension to my life that I had never known before. My short comings didn’t seem to matter anymore.

The little rabbit said, “When you are real, shabbiness doesn’t matter, and you can’t be ugly, except to those who don’t understand.” I like that!

I learned something else from this little book. Becoming real doesn’t happen all at once. YOU BECOME! It takes a long time. “That’s why,” the little rabbit said, “it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.”

Someone has coined the phrase, “The intimate stranger,” simply meaning that I know a lot of people that I do not know at all. I sit near the same people at church every Sunday. We shake hands and smile.

“How are you,” I ask. “Did you have a good week?”

“Oh, I’m fine, and you?”

“Yes, yes, I am well.”

If someone asks me, “Do you know Susie Brown?”

I answer, “Oh, yes, I sit beside her at church every Sunday. But do I really know her? Do I know what she loves? Do I know her hopes and dreams? Do I know the problems that she has faced this week? I do not really know Susie, because she keeps all those things to herself, and I have never bothered to draw her out.

Being transparent is a risky business. Being real makes us vulnerable to all kinds of hurts and disappointments and disillusionment.

Many people live in masquerade all their life never daring to allow a look into the depth of their soul. The mask is securely attached keeping our true identity a secret to everyone but God. Sometimes we even believe that we have Him fooled.

It was a child’s fierce love that made that little velveteen rabbit real. Just so, it is love, the love of our Father God that makes us real. Can you imagine a stronger, fiercer love than that demonstrated by God, when He sent His only Son, Jesus?

According to Ephesians 2:1, when you turn from your sins and trust in Christ as your Savior, you finally, for the first time, begin to live. He makes you alive. He makes you real. He’s the only one who can do that.

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

This morning, as I opened my Bible to read, I wondered, “What in the world would I do without God?” He has been my life since childhood, and I am still in the process of “becoming real.”

It takes a lifetime. I sometimes see older couples, who have been together for so long that they can read each other’s mind, they can finish the other’s sentence, and they actually look alike. That’s what happens when you walk with Jesus. You become more and more like Him, more and more real. For the “realest” you can ever be is to be like Jesus.

Ephesians 4:22-24 says that we must put off the old life and put on the new. I like the way “The Message” says it.

“…everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.”

This world needs to see a real you. Remember when you are real shabbiness doesn’t matter.

THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW

FINDERS KEEPERS – LOSERS WEEPERS

“Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers” is an old English adage sometimes used by children. It is a child’s way of saying, “You lost it, I found it, and I’m going to keep it, so you’re out of luck.”

Several years ago, Cecil, his wife Peggy and I, along with several other friends, played games together on Friday night. I like to win, but I really didn’t mind losing, as long as I didn’t lose to Cecil. For some reason I hated it when he won.

Isn’t love amazing? After we married, we often played games in the evening. I found myself holding back cards to avoid winning. It wasn’t fun to beat him anymore. We laughed at our silliness when I learned that Cecil had been doing the very same thing.

I am an avid fan of the Food Network. I especially enjoy “Chopped” and the other competitive shows. Each evening I schedule my dinner around “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy.” I love pitting myself against the contestants just to see how much I know.

Imagine my surprise when, after our marriage, Cecil refused to watch those programs with me. When I asked why, he said, “Someone always loses. I feel sorry for those who lose.”

Old hard-hearted me, I laughed. Hugging him close, I said, “Honey child, that’s life. Someone always wins and someone always loses.”

Losing is difficult, I grant you. I have always shied away from the Stock Market. Had I been a little braver, I might be a millionaire by now – a neurotic, nail biting millionaire. I did have a little chunk in the market at just the right time, when everything went bust. After I lost all the interest I had gained plus part of the original principle, I closed out that account and spent the money. I don’t like to lose.

Our culture tends to label everybody and everything a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. I wonder how that one winner and the thousands of losers in the Boston Marathon feel about that.

I can’t imagine even one of those runners, after running more than 26 miles, thinking of himself as a loser. To run the race well, to cross the finish line is to succeed. If I understand correctly, only a hand full of runners actually hopes to win. The goal of every other contestant is simply to finish the race.

To run the race well, to cross the finish line is to succeed. If I understand correctly, only a hand full of runners actually hopes to win. The goal of every other contestant is simply to finish the race.

No one wants to be labeled a loser! BUT! Let me tell you, “There are no losers in the family of God.” If you belong to Jesus, if you love Him and are trying your best to follow and serve Him, you are not a loser.

We are prone to look at ourselves through the eyes of others. “If he thinks I’m a loser, I must be a loser.” Carried to extremes, that thought will destroy you. We judge ourselves by what we see on television, by the latest fads and fashions and the current philosophy of this world. No wonder we feel like losers. Remember that’s all a bunch of paint and cardboard and bright lights. There’s nothing real about it.

This life is a race – a long stretch like the marathon. But there is no competition. True believers are all going to win!

You may be running like the wind today passing the whole pack. Tomorrow, because of people and circumstances, you may barely limp along. Will you ever cross the finish line?

The writer of Ecclesiastes 9:11 said, “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.” Life happens!

This doesn’t mean that you can use circumstances as an excuse to do less than your best. Stay in the race giving God all that you have. Don’t be sidelined by anything.

Hebrews 12:1, “…let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

Again, the Apostle Paul says, in 1 Corinthians, that we must run in such a way as to obtain the prize.

In ancient Greece, Olympians were crowned with Laurel wreaths. I don’t know what my crown will be made of, but 2 Timothy 4:8 says, “…there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord will give to…all who have loved His appearing.” Peter talks about a Crown of Glory and John speaks of a Crown of Life.

One day I will wear a crown, but the real prize will be the joy of spending eternity with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We all will obtain that prize.

The world judges us by our looks, our education, our wealth, but God judges by two things only: OBEDIENCE AND FAITHFULNESS. Do what He says and stay on course. The finish line is just ahead.

If you are limping today, remember, THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW!