AWESOME

When I started teaching in the High School I really struggled with the overuse of the word "awesome" that had become so popular.  It seemed like anything that was exciting had to have that word attached to it. 

I found myself wanting to shout, "ONLY GOD IS AWESOME!" , but I knew the kids would not understand....and I would probably lose my job!

You see, for years I had often used the word AWESOME when I talked to God and praised Him for His great attributes!  When I told/tell God that He is AWESOME I think of that word saying He is awe-inspiring above ANYTHING else in the world.  When I kept hearing that word used for other things it seemed to take away the importance to using it as an attribute to God.

As a young teen my parents took me to places that helped draw me into the awareness of how AWESOME God is.  Those places were in the country of El Salvador, where we lived at the time.  Some of those places were at the top of the volcano El Boqueron, or on top of Cerro Verde where we could look out over to the volcano Izalco, or Lake Coatepeque(the lake filled the crater of a volcano)  Another place that seemed to draw me into His presence and make me aware of His AWESOMENESS is called La Puerta Del Diablo.  What a beautiful, inspiring place with an oxy-moronic name meaning the devil's door!  

Now, while traveling in the USA I have found other places that draw me into that awareness..places like the Grand Canyon or Garden of the Gods (or better yet Glen Eyrie right next door to the Garden of the Gods) or waterfalls way off the beaten path. A trip we once took from Kansas City, Missouri to Bend, Oregon had many places that seemed to draw me into an awareness of how AWESOME God is!

Those are places we don't get to spend a lot of time at.  I have found that if I take the time to bask in God's presence in my own living room...take the time to acknowledge His presence.. I am able to becomes aware of how very AWESOME He is!  

"Ours is the privilege to come into the presence - to invade the privacy - of an awesome God.  Yet we moderns face a danger - the danger of familiarity.  We need to recapture that sense of wonder and majesty about God that is so lost to our world.  How do we do that?  One way is to consider all that the powerful Creator of the world has brought into being for us."  Cecil Murphey

I close with a challenge to anyone reading this to find what you can do in your life to bring your own awareness as to how AWESOME  God is above anything else in your life!

Psalm 68:35O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people Blessed be God!

Lake Coatepeque ~ crater filled with water.  We swam in this lake even though at that time the bottom could not be found!

La Puerta de Diablo

Cerro Verde

El Boqueron (this is inside the crater...we lived on the outside of this volcano!)

What Book(besides the Bible) has changed your life?

I read that question several days ago and have been left pondering about the answer.  There is no way I can come up with ONE book to answer that!  Even as I am typing I am wanting to get up and grab a couple more books!  

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It might seem strange that I would have a novel as one of my books but reading the story of this child who walked so close to his Heavenly Father really touched me.  It was sad to see the things that came into his life that started to distort the perfect relationship he had with God.  It helped me realize why I had an easier time than my peers in recognizing who God is.  I grew up with no TV(well, Dad did rent one when the US first landed on the moon and when President Kennedy got shot) and with a family who faithfully had family devotions on a daily basis.  In my early teens we went to church every day but Saturdays and Mondays(Mom and Dad needed Saturday to prepare for Sunday's services and Monday is the Sabbath for pastors)  The book served the purpose of reminding me to keep my mind pure.

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This book woke me up to what a life of prayer can be like!  It changed my prayer life!

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I knew about spiritual warfare before reading this book but my spiritual walk changed after reading this book.  I am so glad I found my Jesus early in life!  

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Though I walked confidently in my identity in Christ prior to reading this book, it gave me words and understanding of my identity.  It seemed that I became more thrilled in Kingdom Business after gaining these understandings.

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Oh wow!  Such strong truth in this book!  Offense!  It truly is the bait of Satan!  How much of it do we see right in the church?!?!?

I will catch myself feeling offended by someone but then smile and say, "Oh no, you are not getting me on this one!"   It is much easier to release the offense and not resent the one who offended me!

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It has been awhile since I read these books!  I think I need to read each one of these again!

Mom's LINKS

Florida District NMI Susan Day and Wes Eby, co-presidents Death of Dr. Eunice Bryant It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of one of our beloved LINKS missionaries, Dr. Eunice Bryant, 96, on January 27. Dr. Bryant with daughter, Joyce Collins     Though small in stature, Eunice was a giant in the kingdom of God. She and her late husband, Larry Bryant, served as Nazarene missionaries in Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvadore, and Peru for 29 years. For several years they taught at the Spanish Bible school in San Antonio. But her ministry did not cease with retirement. She earned a doctorate from Nazarene Theological Seminary after the age of 70. She continued teaching short-term classes in our colleges and Bible schools in global mission areas. She had a passion for training young people to preach the message of holiness.    She is survived by her children: Joyce Collins, Marilyn Baker, Mark, David, and Kenneth, as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.      May God bless her memory to the thousands of people who lives have been influenced by this saint with a beautiful and contagious spirit. Messages of condolence to the family may be sent in care of  Marilyn Baker  207 S. Kings Hwy.  Noel, MO 64854-9216 dmbaker67@yahoo.com

This is My Story...for now

Several years ago I was in a car accident.  Because of the accident I made my first visit ever to a chiropractor.  After the twelve visits the insurance paid for he offered to continue caring for me for health care purposes rather than for injury.  I signed up!

After doing a urine analysis, he discovered I am carbohydrate intolerant!  GULP!  Folks, do you know what all we eat that is full of carbs?!?!?!?   I chose to follow the diet to improve my health.   I did pretty well on it with a few exceptions.  Coffee was on the no list...I continued to drink coffee, but did cut back on it.  Drinking my coffee also meant I would break the no dairy rule as well.  I used my 1/2 and 1/2!   Having moved to California, I also ate fruit.  Hey, they have all the tropical fruits I grew up with in Latin America!  I could not give those up!

After a few days of severe pain I changed the date of my appointment.  When he adjusted me he asked, "have you broken your diet this week?"  Startled by his question I asked why.  He explained that once your body is back on a perfect diet it gains back its capacity to tell you when you have eaten something you should not eat.  That is why babies cry so much.  Their bodies are perfected to tell when something has been ingested that should not be.  The more we keep giving our bodies the wrong food the more likely the warning signs just give up and quit telling us.(He worded that better, but I cannot remember his exact explanation!)  I had to confess that I had indeed broken my diet!  My mom was living with us and a dear, dear friend from Mexico had brought over her home made tamales.  Now how could I not eat those!!!  The next day our pastor's wife brought over her delicious sticky buns she is so famous for.  Yep, you guessed it!  I did add those to my diet.

A few weeks later, I had flown home after being gone two weeks.  Gary stayed in California~I was living in California/Missouri two weeks a month in each place.  The weather was bad so I chose not to go grocery shopping until the next morning.  All I had in the house were Brazil nuts.  Since I had not eaten all day, I ate a lot of Brazil nuts.  The next day, while grocery shopping, I had a severe and painful attack in my upper left lung.  I literally could not pull in my air without extreme pain.  I went to the car and called the chiropractor.  I went straight to his office.  As he adjusted me he said, "Did you eat a lot of fat yesterday? "    Goodness!  There was no hiding anything from this man!!!!  

I have to tell you, I actually got angry at this.  If I am good on my diet, but have an occasion to indulge in a goody...I pay heavily for it!  I rebelled!  I told him I could not live like that!  That meant I could not enjoy an occasional treat while on a get-away with my husband!  I could not indulge in the yummies my girlfriends have when we have our yearly, week long trips!  I would no longer enjoy the marvelous treats of the holidays!  Yikes!

I chose to not follow the diet so well!

The doctor warned me that in five years I would be quite unhealthy if I continued eating the carbs.  I decided I could handle it in a moderate way.    I started out well, but little by little it became easy to eat the beans and rice at a Mexican restaurant, it became easier to join my husband with desserts...and maybe even order my own dessert if he didn't!  I enjoy eating all the fruit growing in my yard(figs, dates, guavas, orange, bananas, limes, lemons)  

So, five years later I am facing the challenge of going on The 21 Day Sugar Detox.  Upon reading the book I have discovered it is basically the same diet I was following five years ago.  Why am I going to do this?  It is not for weight loss like everyone else might be doing now at the beginning of 2015.  I am doing it because, yes, five years later I seem to be bothered by most anything I eat.  I seem to be tired most of the time.    I am not totally recognizing me!  The man was right!!!

So, for 21 days, I plan to follow the plan and hope that it improves my health.  After that I am going to have to be so much more careful than I have been!  

Coincidence? I Think Not!

I am thinking about the afternoon of sixteen years ago.  I was working as a teacher at a preschool.  It was naptime for the little ones.  I looked out to the parking lot and was delighted to see a police friend of mine I had not seen for several years.

It turned out that he was off duty that day.  He was out in his back yard playing ball with his kids when they asked him what all the sirens were for.  He called in to the police station to find out they could use his help at a very serious accident on 291 in Lee's Summit.

He went to help and soon realized that the young man killed on his bicycle was my son.  He left the scene and came straight to my work to tell me about it.

It turned out that that same day the Police Chaplain was not available to come with him.  He asked if I would need the chaplain who was off duty.  I, of course, had my own pastor but had requested he be sent to my husband's work to give him the news.  It turned out that the chaplain not on duty was a very dear friend of ours and I knew he lived just a few blocks from my work!  He came immediately!

Today as I am recalling that horrible day sixteen years ago I am also recalling My God!  He takes care of all the intricate details.  Two people, off duty,  available to take care of me in the throes of the worst news I had ever had to deal with!!!  I would not have wanted any other policeman other than my friend to give me that news.  The chaplain was very much involved in our life and I could not have wanted things to be any different than for him to come and be with me while our pastor went to take care of Gary. (Thank-you Mike Buettner!) 

Some people may call it coincidence, but I know, that I know, that I know, my Heavenly Father was a part of all the details.  It has been sixteen years, but I still feel His Comfort in the throes of tough emotions.  I can look back at just this little part of the puzzle and realize He is a God of details and shows His Love in the most amazing ways.

I still miss Bryan very much.  I still have my times of wishing I could be a part of his life as a husband and dad.  He loved children!  I still wish he could be a part of our holidays.  I still do not like January 28!  However, I do have a lot to be grateful for and know we will all rejoice in an eternity planned for each of us....Bryan just got an earlier start than the rest of us!

I miss you Bryan Michael Collins!

Merry Christmas 2013

I Am Incapable of Hating

It has been a very long time since I last posted on my blog.  Recently I was sharing a story in my life that I feel really should be blogged.

Many years ago I took scripture and starting praying the scripture for my life.

Ephesians 3:14-19 says:

“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.  Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

I began pleading with God to give me an understanding of how wide, long, high and deep is His love for us.  “HE ANSWERED THAT PRAYER!”

I must confess that the feelings I experienced were almost too much for me in a physical sense.  My heart overflowed with love for strangers!  I would see people walking on the street and ask God if they met Jesus yet.  I would find myself crying for their souls.  I would cry for the men picking up my trash and pray that they would come to know Jesus as their personal savior.  I even prayed for Saddam Hussein, asking the Lord to give him a Damascus Road experience!

There were times after this experience that I would find myself disgusted with certain people.  Jesus was faithful to that answer to prayer He had given me.  He would remind me, “Joyce, for her/him I died!”  I would remain disgusted with the situation but feel His Love towards that individual.  It made me dwell on praying for them rather than hating them!

A few years after this experience, I was in the middle of a confrontation with my teenage son.  He had caused trouble at school and I had to take off work to pick him up and take him home.  In our confrontation he made the accusation, “You hate me!” My response to him was, “Fortunately for you Buddy, I am incapable of hating!”  A rather strange response but a true statement!

While he was still grumbling at me I went into Praise mood!  I was amazed as I realized the truth of that statement!  I started an inward conversation with God!  “Oh Father, it has been years since I have experienced hate!”

I was so excited with that realization.  He had delivered me from hate.  I had been free from that emotion for so long I had not realized how freeing it had been!

GOD IS SO GOOD!

I just want to thank Him today for this great gift He has given to His children.  I pray that if you are reading this story, you too will seek this great gift from our great Father!