Godly Reminders From Shoes

“Hurry up.”  “Grab your shoes.” “We don’t want to be late.” This is what Emma heard as she was racing down the steps. Wait, let’s be honest, she’s 15 - the only place she “races” is to be with a boy. Let’s try that again. She picked up her shoes that had been lying on the steps as she “leisurely” walked past them and headed to the truck. 

It was moving day.  My mom had finally sold her home after months of it being on the market and it was “all hands on deck” to help clear it out for the new owners.   Emma put her shoes on in the truck then complained that they were too tight and were hurting her feet.  These were her band practice shoes and I had just washed the filthy things and told her that maybe they had shrunk in the dryer.  I told her she’d be fine in a little bit after they stretched back out. 

As soon as we got to my mom’s house she took the shoes off and said that she couldn’t stand it any longer.  The shoes were way too tight and her toes couldn’t take it.  She has feet of steel and can walk on rocks and hot pavement like no one I’ve ever seen, but it was rainy and the ramp onto the moving truck was very slippery so she was limited on what she could help with.  She tried her best and was very helpful, but was still not doing as well as she could have, had she had the proper shoes.

When we got home, I told her to just throw those shoes in the trash.  They had holes in the toes and were still quite dirty, despite the fact that I had just washed them.  Later that afternoon when she was packing for a trip, she called me up to her room and pointed to her band shoes in the closet.  We were confused for a second, then quickly realized that those must have been Allie’s shoes that she had picked up from the steps earlier.  Allie has the same shoes but a much smaller foot than Emma so that explained the toe crushing. 

God reminded me that when I overcommit myself to too many things, it is much like Emma trying to squeeze her size 8½ foot into Allie’s size 6½ shoe.  It doesn’t work out very well.  My intentions are good, but I can’t really give it my best. 

God tells us in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as if working for the Lord, not human masters.”  To me, that means, do everything with excellence.  Don’t give a half-hearted effort.  Get in there, do your best, and be proud of what you accomplish.  We want to serve others and do good things for them, but when we say yes to everything and everyone and don’t set boundaries for ourselves, we end up running around, causing all kinds of stress and really not able to fully commit to any one thing.  We need to remember to say “yes” to a few good things and do it with excellence as if working for the Lord and not try to squeeze too many good things into a limited space.

Longing for Heaven

Heavenly Beauty

As I looked out my window at the woods behind my house this morning I marveled over the beautiful colors of the leaves on the trees.  Some of the trees are full and vibrant and beautiful and some have already started to loose their leaves and look bare.  I thought about how quickly those leaves change from beautiful reds, yellows and oranges to dull, brown and dingy before falling off onto the ground.  I tried to block out the weeds, overgrown brush and fallen trees, and concentrate on the beauty instead of the flaws.  But it was difficult.

Isn’t that a great representation of this life? We can be trucking along with everything going well for us, everything running smoothly, then BAM.  Something hits us.  Health problems.  Financial headaches.  A disagreement with a friend.  These things can come out of nowhere and can throw us off our game.  It can remind us that some parts of this life are so beautiful, but some are so tainted by the sin of this world that it is sometimes hard to look past the muck and the mire to see the beauty. 

Jesus said “but take heart, for I have overcome the world”. (John 16:33b)  We can allow our hearts to long for heaven knowing that these worldly afflictions will all be washed away with the Glorious Homecoming of our Savior Jesus.  We can anticipate our eternal future in Heaven knowing that the things that have contaminated this world will have no power over us there.  Beauty will surround us all of our days.

Revelation 21:11

It shone with the Glory Of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

20 Reasons Why I Love My Husband

1. He is a Godly man who loves the Lord, makes his relationship with Christ a priority and leads our family spiritually.
2. He loves me with a love like no other.
3. He is a wonderful, caring, involved father.
4. He is a hard worker, dedicated to his job and to providing well for his family.
5. He makes me laugh.
6. He carries in the groceries and doesn’t let me help.
7. He has a gentle, laid back personality and is easy to love.
8. He is generous.  He is generous with his time and his money and is always willing to help someone in need.
9. He is SO HANDSOME!
10. He is incredibly smart.
11. He looks for ways to love on, care for and serve others.
12. He supports me and my decisions and helps me achieve my goals.
13. He is honest.
14. He is loyal.
15. He loves to spend time with me: kayaking, cycling, hiking, cooking together, playing games, and watching movies are just a few of the things we like to do together.
16. He wants to please me.
17. He is forgiving.
18. He teases me.
19. He builds strong friendships with other men and likes to be with people.
20. He takes care of the yard so I don’t have to (one of my least favorite things in the world to do!

He is the total package and I am one incredibly blessed girl!

Who Told You That? Series - "I Can't Help the Way I Am"

Devotion written for my church's prayer blog

Who Told You That Series

“I Can’t Help the Way I Am”

Philippians 4:9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

So many excuses popped into my head a few years ago when I was presented with going on my first mission trip.  Thoughts such as: “I’m not cut out for that. I don’t have a big, booming personality. I wouldn’t be good at that, I get nervous when I try to talk to strangers. I can’t help the way I am, that is just the way God made me.”  But I had to ask myself “Who told you that? Who told you, you don’t have what it takes?” The truth is that I was so focused on what I thought I couldn’t do, that I wasn’t focused on what God could do. 

We all have different personality traits.  If we didn’t, it would be one big, boring world.  Each of us are better at certain things than others, and each of us have some challenges that we have to work through.  We can choose to stay “stuck” in those challenges, or we can choose to overcome them being obedient to God and let Him work through us. 

God calls us to learn, receive, hear and see Him, and put our experiences into practice then He promises His peace will be with us.  He also tells us in Mark 16:15 to go into the world and proclaim the gospel to all creation. If He calls us to go on a mission trip, minister to a neighbor, preach the gospel, or any number of other things, He will equip us with what it takes to carry out that mission.  He knows our personalities and our challenges, but He also knows His power and that through Him, we can overcome our feelings of “I’m not good enough and I can’t help the way I am.”

Father, Help us to not live with the mentality that “we can’t help the way we are” because the truth is we can observe the things you say and do and imitate you becoming more and more like you.  Please mold and transform us into your image and help us to be obedient to all you call us to do.

Devotion written by Ruth Wittenbrook

Share - Devotion. All In Series

9/30/13 - Share

All In Series

“[And he was] proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” Acts 28:31

Even though I haven’t seen or talked to her in years, I fondly recall my neighbor, Mrs. Boggs who loved God so much that she shared Him with everyone she encountered.  She started “The Good News Club” in her backyard for kids in our neighborhood to come and hear stories about the goodness of God.  My friends and I would look forward to hearing the Bible stories and seeing her display them on her flannel graph board each week while we munched on cookies and drank her sweet lemonade.  She had such an infectious love for the Bible and the stories it contained of beautiful life change that it made me want to know more.

When you are “All In”, completely sold out for Jesus, you can’t hide what you have.  You want to share it with others so that they too can feel the love of the Savior.  So that they too can have that inexplicable joy and peace that only comes from knowing the One that breathes life into our souls and meaning into our beings.

Sharing doesn’t have to be hard.  It shouldn’t be a task that needs to be checked off our to-do list.  It should just be part of who we are and what we do.  At West Ridge we use the acronym B-L-E-S-S to help us focus on others. First you should Begin with prayer.  Ask God to show you who He wants you to invest in. You won’t have to go looking for them when you pray for that. God will show you someone that you know in your community, someone in your sphere of influence.  Then, Listen to them.  Find out what is going on in their life and what needs they have that you can pray about for them.  Third, Eat with them.  Invite them over to share a meal with you.  Really begin to learn about them.  Fourth, Serve them. Serving others allows us to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to show them concrete examples of love.   And finally, Share with them.  Tell them about your own story and how Jesus made you new and changed your life. 

I am a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come- 2 Corinthians 5:17.  I want to tell people about this.  God has changed me from the inside out and I want others to know about how He can do the same for them.  I want to let my light shine for Jesus in order to draw others to Him.

Lord Jesus, thank you for the people in my life who have shared with me about You and your Love.   Thank you for using them to teach me about You and the new life you offer.   Help me to share that with others that I know and help me to constantly be pointing people back to you and your goodness.

Devotion written by Ruth Wittenbrook

Compassion Sunday

This is a devotion that I wrote for my church's prayer blog.  

Our writing team is assigned to their week's devo, sometimes months in advance.  6 weeks ago when I chose to write for Compassion Sunday, I didn't realize that as part of my new job, I would be responsible for helping with the event.  I love to see how God works and brings all things together like this.  

For Compassion Sunday today, we heard a powerful message by Paul Richardson, then a time afterwards to sponsor a child through Compassion International.  408 children were sponsored today.  Essentially 408 lives were potentially saved today.  What an awesome morning!

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18

A few years ago our church set up tables with information to sponsor a child from Compassion International. We really felt led to help but financially things were tight for our family.  However, one treat we did enjoy was going out to dinner once a week.  We decided to give up one dinner out a month in order to sponsor a child.  As a family, we went over and looked at all the sweet children’s faces on the brochures. One little girl from Burkina Faso, Africa stood out to us, so we picked her.  Partly because her name was Valentine (our girls are such the little romantics and they loved her name) and partly because she was close in age to our youngest daughter and we knew that would be fun.  We were so excited and couldn’t wait to write to her then eagerly waited for her to write back.  In one of her letters she asked us “How can I pray for your family?”  Wow!  I was blown away.  I realized then that sometimes when we help someone we receive a bigger blessing than the one we give.

The Bible contains many scriptures about helping the poor and needy. It isn’t a suggestion; it is a commandment.  God doesn’t say if you have extra money or if you feel led, He simply says ‘feed the poor”. Matthew 25:31-46 tells us about the Final Judgment and how God will separate the righteous from the unrighteous.  He says: 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’  When we serve and care for others, ultimately, we are serving and caring for Christ.

Our love for Christ is what motivates us to love and serve others.  It is at the core of everything that we do. When we sponsor a child, we are giving them more than just food or an education or a chance to change their lives, we are giving them Hope.  Hope that only comes from God.

Lord Jesus, Thank you for loving us and providing for all of our needs. I pray that our love for you will be so great it will motivate us to help others and share your Hope with a world that desperately needs it.

Devotion written by: Ruth Wittenbrook