Awareness

January was a month of awareness. First, we had Sanctity of Human Life. It always amazes me that as horrible as the Holocaust was with killing over 8 million people, we are still facing a Holocaust! One of unborn babies. Each year in the United States alone, there are over 1 million (1,000,000) babies that have their life ended through abortion. Since 1973 when abortions were made legal due to the ruling of Roe vs. Wade there have been over 56 billion abortions, that is 56,000,000,000. Now do you want to tell me that we do not have a Holocaust going on? Just a side note...abortions do not happen to the unchurched population only, 1 out of 3 people in the church have been affected by abortion.

Secondly, January is also a month that brings awareness to the epidemic of Human Trafficking. There are well over 27 million people...women, men, & children who are enslaved by force and manipulation to do things that are harsh and unthinkable. Most Americans believe this is happening in other countries, not here in the "Land of the Free". THINK AGAIN! Florida is one of the top states  for Human Trafficking.

God's Word, clearly states in Psalms 82:3-4, "Defend the case of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." If I may be so bold, What are you doing to not only bring awareness, but to prevent these tragedies from occurring? As Christians, God has not called us to sit idle. We have been called to action. We cannot sit by every Sunday, get a "feel good" message and think we have done our job! There are many organizations that you can volunteer at whether your passion is to protect the unborn, protect women and children from domestic violence, feeding the homeless, or rescue those who are trapped as slaves. Find your niche', I know you have one!

Spoon Fed

I had dinner with a sweet friend and as always we get on the topic of our kids! We hash out the why's, the what are they thinking, will they ever get it....and then we ask, "where is the manual"? When you bring your new baby home from the hospital, all is well. So you think! They go through a phase of having their days and nights mixed up, then you finally get them to sleep through the night...(please cue the Hallelujah Chorus)! They begin crawling, walking, forming little personalities; life is good. Then one morning you wake up and some teenager with attitude has taken over your child's body! All the while you are exhausted and have the thought, "will we ever make it through this stage"?

We go through their lives, praying for the next stage in hopes it will be easier than the previous. I can honestly remember the day when I thought, "well now; we have made it"! It is that stage when you can go through the drive thru of McDonalds, hand your children their happy meal and keep moving. They are beginning to be self sufficient. O WHAT A HAPPY DAY! I recall this as though it were yesterday, I didn't have to spoon feed them anymore.

As our children have grown, we as parents seem to struggle with letting go. For so long we have wanted them to be self sufficient and as long as it is the "Happy Meal" we are good, but when it comes to them becoming young adults, we want to continue spoon feeding!

Their whole life we have worked on preparing them for adulthood. We taught character through sharing their toys during play dates, faith through Bible stories and life circumstances, learning to pray for others, thanking God for blessing us with food, to care for the less fortunate and a work ethic through chores. They have been given the tools to become productive, God fearing individuals....BUT for some reason we expect perfection when they become young adults. Why? I still haven't perfected it!

When it comes down to it, we as parents must LET GO AND LET GOD! Okay, there I said it! They must feed themselves. I read once in Draw the Circle by Mark Batterson, "When we pray, we relieve ourselves of responsibility. We let go and let God. We take our hands off and put our concerns into  the hands of Almighty God. And trust me, He can handle whatever we put in His hands."(45) In Luke 11, Jesus is teaching His disciples how to pray. He speaks of being persistent and praying with boldness. In verse 8 it says, "I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet BECAUSE OF THE MAN'S BOLDNESS, he will get up and give him as much as he needs." Persistent and bold prayers is what must be done...then LET IT, I mean "THEM" GO! If I were honest, this is SOOO hard for me, I find myself in prayer continually, which isn't that what scripture says...to "pray without ceasing"?

As I reflect on this day of Thanksgiving, I am thankful that God continually guides and teaches me through His scripture. I don't always learn the lesson the first time, but I am thankful for His PERSISTENCE AND BOLDNESS WITH ME!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Being Thankful

I cannot believe it is already Thanksgiving! Turkey, dressing, green beans, corn, greens, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, pecan pie..I feel pleasantly stuffed already! As I sit and reflect on this past year, I am blessed beyond measure. I am so thankful for God's grace and mercy, for salvation! There are those times that I didn't know exactly what God was doing, nor did I like what He was doing, but through it all He remained faithful. Gary and I completed our first year with college students, that in itself was a learning process, AND we survived! I started back to college and a new job all while, still homeschooling our 14 year old...God is faithful! Praying with expectation for 2015.

Be encouraged for another day, God is so faithful! Here is wishing you and your family a 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Be Blessed

With Lots of Love and Prayers,

Gary & Sherri Ard

2014

Psalms 100:1-5

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his, we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 

ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING AND HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE; GIVE THANKS TO HIM AND PRAISE HIS NAME.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

The Rest of the Story

Psalms 139:13-16 (MSG)
Oh, yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God--you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration--what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all stages of my life were spread out before you. The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.

Recently, I was asked to give a devotion at a bridal shower. I am a preparer with lots of notes, scripture references, examples and so forth. I had been working on this particular devotion for over a week. Like always, I prayed on the way up to the church and was trying to review what I had studied, but for some reason nothing was coming...I started to panic! I prayed again, asking God to give me a clear mind, empty me and fill me with you is what I asked. Sounds simple...well it wasn't!

My drive to the church is approximately 20 minutes, but it seemed like a drive you take with a 5 year old going to Disney World for the first time...IT WAS FOREVER! I continued to pray and rehearse...still nothing. I pulled into the church parking lot and I prayed again, in a begging manner; "GOD PLEASE HELP ME"! One thought kept coming up every time I would finish praying. "Tell her about the story I wrote for her". Are you kidding me! I just used those verses at a baby shower, I couldn't use them again.

I apologized to the group for what might take place, but I knew in my heart of hearts I needed to do what God had commanded me to do. I explained my ride to the church, sitting in the car arguing with God and how the whole devotion had completely changed in a matter of 10 minutes and I wasn't even sure what I was going to say. Let me tell you, I love how God uses this stubborn, broken vessel for His glory!

Psalms 139:13-18

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. 

ALL THE DAYS ORDAINED FOR ME WERE WRITTEN IN YOUR BOOK BEFORE ONE OF THEM CAME TO BE. 

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand, When I awake, I am still with you."

For many of us, our parents started praying for our mates before we were even born. And before conception, God already had our story written. He knew the color of our hair, the color of our eyes, what our personality would be, what our career would be, who our friends would be and yes, he already had that special mate written in our book. BUT, I must say...because of the free will that He has given us, we choose whether or not to step into our story. For many, we have detoured from that precious story, we have added pages that He did not intend on, but because of His mercy and grace, He allows us...even with added pages to step back into the book.

Grace was the bride we were celebrating with on this particular night. I have known Grace forever, and I can still see her running around church in her wrangler's and boots! Although I did not get the opportunity to teach her in youth, I was blessed to watch her grow up loving God with all of her heart. As I viewed from a slight distance, Grace developed and began to live out her own faith. You see she had parents that trusted God with everything...when times were good and when times were bad. They lived their faith out in front of Grace and she took notice!

Even before Grace was conceived, God knew she would go to school for agriculture and that she would meet the man of her dreams...Jacob. God had already written this marriage in Grace's Book, and because of her faithfulness to Him, she stepped right into the pages of the her Cinderella story! I cannot wait to see "The Rest of the Story"!

I know this is long, but would you allow me to provide one more way that God has used this scripture in my life? Recently, I share this same verse with an abortion-minded client. She cried, I cried...she left our center that day as an "intends to carry"client...I rejoiced! A few weeks went by, she did not show up for her next appointment, we tried calling, but because of life choices and situations we were unable to get in contact with her. Prayers were lifted up, she called the center on a Thursday claiming that she needed to go through with an abortion. She stated, "I cannot care for this child. I do not have a place to lay my head, much less this baby." She was told that there were other options, please come into the center so we can discuss them with you and do an ultrasound to confirm that there is a viable pregnancy. She didn't come. Prayers were lifted up, this time through a massive prayer text! It took two weeks, but she called the center wanting to hear the other options, she knew she could not go through with an abortion. Today she is on her way to making an adoption plan! She is not only stepping into the pages of this baby's God story, but for two parents that she doesn't know. When asked what changed her mind, she said one of the things she took from our very first meeting to confirm pregnancy was the verse Psalms 139:16. She stated, "I have marked that verse in the Bible that you guys gave me and I read it every day. It gives me hope and strength when I am having a bad day." In Spring....I hope to bring you "The Rest of the Story"!

What Ground Are You Standing On?

Exodus 3:5

"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."

Can you imagine going for a walk and coming up on a bush that is on fire, yet it is not burning up?   You step a little closer to investigate and from the bush God calls out to you. Reading Exodus 3, my first thought was how cool would that be to have God speak in an audible voice...HOLY COW, or as my mission buddies would say, "VACA SANTAS"! Not only does God speak, but He spoke through a bush that was on fire! Here is God telling Moses to stop in his tracks, take those nasty shoes off because you are getting ready to get up front and personal with the Almighty God. Good night, I believe this is where God want's us to be, so close that we are standing on holy ground. Taking our shoes off, removing our worries, halting our plans for the day just so we can embrace the One True Living God.

This "holy ground" is not a special piece of land, but a special moment in the presence of God. I am so overwhelmed right now, to think that God would bring me to this very place. I know for me there are days when my quiet time is out of ritual. It happens just so I can put a checkmark by that "task" on my to do list. As I am writing this another verse came to mind and it is found in Matthew 6:6 (MSG), "Here is what I want you to do; Find a quiet secluded place so you won't be tempted to role play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God and you will begin to sense His grace."

Where is your worship? Do you experience the presence of "I AM WHO I AM"? (vs14)

One More Year; Then She Drives

Psalms 46:5

"God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day."

We are BIG on birthdays! Gary and I have always tried to make our kids feel special on their day of birth. Well, it is Jenny Beth's special day, maybe I should say month! She turns 14, September 22nd and it never really dawned on me how old she was getting until she said in an excited voice, "I can drive next year"! What?! Although I do not carry her on my hip physically, mentally I still do. Where in the world did the time go? I can still see her laying on the floor with that curly hair all amiss, her feet propped on the tv stand watching Barney.

She is my artist, my reader, my child when she has had enough of stupid...she let's you know! Jenny is fun loving, she loves hugs and she always tells me, "have I told you how much I love you" or "have I told you lately that you are beautiful"? I know, I know...she melts your heart! Mine too!

I look at her and I am in awe of her character. She is very mindful of others and their feelings, she is an encourager. You see Jenny Beth has a heart for others. It is funny how God uses your children to teach you or remind you of a quality that He wants you to work on. Matthew 22:39, "And the second is like it; 'Love your neighbor as yourself'." 

Happy Birthday

to my 

Brown-Eyed

Girl!

The King is Enthralled

Psalms 45:11

 "The King is enthralled by your beauty"

 Enthrall, to hold the attention of as if by a spell (http://www.merriam-webster.com). Good night, I love this word! God is enthralled with us! Mesmerized, we have His full attention, He is consumed with you, with me! Isn't that a beautiful concept? Can we truly wrap our mind around that? 

As I sat with a client, Psalms 45:11 kept running through my mind. This young 18 year old cannot see how beautiful she is. She does not know that the God of creation, the God who called her by name before she was born (Isaiah 49:1) is completely and utterly enthralled with her. As I listened, she is just one of many who are downtrodden because of a life full of mistakes. She doesn't know that life should and could be different. Feeling trapped, uneducated, being unwed, without a job and expecting a baby, she is overwhelmed. She has never heard the creation story, of Jonah and the Whale, Zacchaeus...the wee little man, the story of Esther or that Jesus loves her so much that He was a willing sacrifice....just for her. 

Recently, God directed me to First Coast Women's Services. FCWS is a faith based pregnancy crisis center and I, of all people get the privilege of working there. I am humbled! I get to share Jesus with girls that have no hope...I share the HOPE that I have, JESUS! Never in a 100 years would I have placed myself in this ministry, but here again scripture does NOT return void. Psalms 139:16, "Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." My story has already been written, can you believe it...a story about me! God can use broken vessels after all... for He is the potter and I am the clay! Let's just say there is a lot of molding going on.

Having worked with youth for over 10 years, I have experienced many girls who do not realize their potential through Jesus Christ. They cannot fathom anyone, much less God being enthralled with them. Song of Solomon 4:7, "All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you." Not only youth, but adults as well get "hung up" on their past sins, past mistakes and regrets. BUT friend, I am here to tell you that in Isaiah 43:18-19, God says, "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Satan wants nothing more than to defeat, for "he is like a roaring lion, roaming to and fro seeking whom he may devour". We have to claim God's Word as truth, but we must share His truth as well. Be intentional today. I know there is someone who needs to know that God is ENTHRALLED with them.

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely. He loves  every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken." 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

FCWS is looking for volunteers to love on these girls. We even have a Men's Ministry! If you would like information, please feel free to contact First Coast Women's Center at (904) 259-2585 or visit our website http://www.fcws.org.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.