MY HERO

This week has been very out of the ordinary for me personally. I have had to come face to face with the reality that my dad can no longer take care of himself. It's quite the pill to swallow and some of you know exactly what I mean. But, at the same time, it has been an incredible week spiritually speaking.

My dad was an alcoholic most of my growing up life. He gave all of that up in the mid 80's and became a very different man. But in August of 1998, he surrendered his life to Christ and began to grow into one of the godliest men I know. He suddenly had a hunger for the Word like no one I have ever known personally. He read the entire bible through 5 or 6 times the first year he was saved and studied it for hours each day. He devoured every Warren Wiersbe book or CD that I gave him. He became really involved in his church and served it well. I was constantly challenged in my walk with the Lord just by observing him.

He can no longer carry on a lengthy conversation and our days of talking about the Word or all the stories behind the many, many old family pictures that he cherished are gone. But, he is a beautiful picture of what it looks like to finish well. The first half of his life was wasted, spiritually speaking, but boy has he made up for it in the last half. He has pressed on and laid hold of that which matters...Jesus Christ! That was so very evident even yesterday as my step-mom and I went through some of his pictures, notes he had taken while listening to sermons, and observations he had made about specific scriptures in the margins of his bible.

My dad is a living, breathing example of how radically Jesus can change a life! My dad is a picture of what it looks like to finish your race well and my dad is my hero for so many reasons! I thank the Lord for giving him to me as a dad and I look forward to every day that I have left to serve him and love him just as he is!

"Got You Covered!"

My scripture readings have me in Exodus right now and yesterday I read the ten commandments. As you know, the first four are about our love for God and the last 6 deal with our love for others. God has really convicted me about some things and highlighted several strong quotes for me this week, but today He drew a picture for me!

We had a tornado drill at school this morning. I don't know how many of you have worked in a primary school, or have ever taken part in a drill of this sort, but the kids get on their knees and bend over and put their heads on the floor with their arms covering the backs of their heads. Get the picture? Well, along with this position comes the trouble of many children having shirts that ride up their little backs and leave other things exposed. So, as I was busy going down the line pulling shirts down and tucking them in, my eyes filled with tears as the Lord asked me how often I do that for my brothers and sisters in the faith! When someone we know has something "exposed" are we busier trying to help them or call attention to the exposure? Henry Drummond said, "The greatest thing a man can do for his Heavenly Father is to be kind to His other children!"

May the Lord help us to live in harmony with one another, be sympathetic to one another, love one another and be full of compassion! Romans 12:10 says, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves!" Another translation says, "give preference to one another!" You and I both know that left to ourselves, in our flesh, that is not our tendency! Without the Holy Spirit living in us, we cannot love others the way that He has commanded us to love! That love can only come from Him when we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts, all of our souls, and all of our minds!

So, I challenge you (and myself) to spend the rest of the week looking for ways to cover one another's back! Someone once said, "Our sociology reflects our theology!" Let's grace others the way that Jesus has graced us over and over again!

---

A Loyal Soldier of Jesus Christ

This past Wednesday morning Andy, Emilee and I had the privilege of attending a Marine Corp graduation ceremony at Parris Island in South Carolina. I cannot begin to tell you all the emotions that I experienced while there. As we sat in the stands and the recruits began marching onto the field in front of us, the announcer began to congratulate them for all the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual challenges they had faced over the past 12 weeks. As I listened, I found myself thinking, "I want to be a part of something bigger than myself like that...I want to be a part of a group that has overcome many obstacles to wear a uniform like that and have everyone know without a shadow of a doubt that I belong to that group!" Even as I was thinking all of those thoughts, the Lord reminded me that I am already a part of something bigger than myself. I am a part of the army of God and indeed I do have a uniform! He has clearly given us all a uniform in Ephesians where Paul describes each piece of the armor that we are all to wear every day of our lives. We are always in a battle and we have every piece of equipment that we will need to win the fight!

But, the most awesome and promising reminder for me was this....I can't even begin to comprehend how challenging those 12 weeks were. I can't imagine how many times one of those soldiers tripped, fell down, cried out, felt despair, or wanted to turn back. However, as they marched onto the field, and as the announcer was congratulating them, he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, in front of you are 442 success stories!!" That statement sent chills down my spine and has stayed with me all week. He didn't even mention the mistakes, the falls or the struggles! As Christians, we have tripped, fallen down, cried out, and felt despair. However, when we are faithful to Him no matter how tough this boot camp we call life gets, in the end we will be a success story and we will hear Him say, "Well done!"

So, this experience has caused me to ask myself some pretty pointed questions. Am I following the orders of my commanding officer to the degree that those young men and women did? Am I as proud of who I represent as they are? Am I walking out my beliefs and love for the Lord in such a way that there is not a doubt in other's minds WHO I belong to and WHO I represent? This quote that I read yesterday says it so well, "I want to be one of those rare Christians whose very presence incites others to also be better Christians!" (Tozer).

I challenge you to ask yourself the same questions. What an incredible, "in-my-face" reminder of all that Christ has called me to be as part of His kingdom. 2 Timothy 2:1-4 says it this way, "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs - he wants to please his commanding officer!" WOW! May it be said of each of us! That we live only to please our Commanding Officer and one day be counted as a success story!

A DAILY DELIVERANCE

Our pastor pointed out a scripture Sunday from the Amplified Bible that is powerful. Romans 5:10 says, "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin's dominion ) through His (resurrection) life." The message of that verse holds such hope!! Your salvation is a daily deliverance from sin's dominion! What are you struggling with right now? Are you saved? Well, here is awesome news! Your salvation is working in you a daily deliverance from that struggle! The love that caused Christ to die is the same love that sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and guide us every day. The power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that saved you and is available to you in your daily life! Just think, you have a reserve of power to call on each day, for help to meet every challenge you have.

God uses the strangest things to illustrate principles to me. The other day I was outside and the polaris kept getting stuck on the ladder and I kept going over and moving it off and into the pool. After several times I was frustrated and on the way to it, I said to Emilee exactly what the Holy Spirit was saying to me. "There is a whole pool out there and you just want to keep getting stuck on the ladder. It's the same with us when we just keep returning to that same sin, or that same struggle when God has given us so much freedom on the other side." WOW! Isn't it true? Why do we do that? He tells us right there in Romans that He has already done everything it takes to be delivered on a daily basis from sin's dominion. He also promises us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that, "No temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin, no matter how it comes or where it leads) has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man. But God is faithful (to His Word and to His compassionate nature), and He (can be trusted) not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will (always) also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently." (AMPLIFIED) What a word!

I am praying this over you today! You can know that you do not have to fall into the traps that satan has set for you! He will and He HAS ALREADY planned a way out for you, a landing place (don't you just love that?) Picture yourself in a plane (a situation or a struggle) with no place to land and just at the moment that you think you are going to crash and your end has come, you see a landing place! WOW! I love that picture. I will leave you with this wonderful promise: "The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress and my DELIVERER; my God is my Rock, in Whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation"....He is your DAILY DELIVERER!!

I love you and I am praying for you!

Wendy

I JUST WANT TO BE WHERE YOU ARE!

Our cat had 4 kittens on Memorial Day! I could go all into how much Andy DOES NOT like cats, or how tired I am of taking care of one more thing!, but I am focusing on the positive in order to illustrate a point! :) We have been keeping them upstairs in a big closet area until the owners come for them. Bella, the mother is getting rather tired of being a mother and is ready for her freedom! I guess we can all relate to that at times....anyway, the other day the door was left open accidentally and I looked up to see 4 of the cutest faces all up and down the staircase! They had found their freedom from the confining closet. They were all timidly making their way down the stairs to explore all of this newfound freedom. Just about the time the last one reached the floor, Bella decided to come back in to check on them. As she ran past them, each one of them turned and dashed back up the stairs behind her right back into the closet that they were earlier so anxious to leave.

As I watched them follow her back, the Lord brought Exodus 33:15 to my mind. "Lord, if Your presence doesn't go with us, do not send us up from here." As badly as they wanted out of that closet, as inviting as that "whole new world" looked to them, they ultimately just wanted to be where Bella was! That is my prayer for each of us today, "Lord, may we just want to be where You are! May we want nothing more than to dwell daily in Your presence. Lord, we don't want to worship You from afar, we just want to be where You are!" AMEN!

The greatest part of that passage in Exodus 33 is that the Lord speaks and His response to Moses is, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest!" What a promise when our heart's cry is Him! He will not only be there, but there will be rest and I believe that's something we are all in much need of!

Rest in Him!

I love you,

Wendy

THE GOODNESS OF OUR GOD!

Hello friends! It's been a while and I have missed you! This entry will be more of a blog than a devotional, but I must tell you just how good our God is in my life and I would love to hear how good He is in yours as well!

First of all, what a privilege it was to be able to be a part of the making of Sherwood's 4th film, Courageous. We watched God do one amazing thing after another on a daily, no hourly, basis!! He showed up and showed out in ways that we never would have dreamed. It will be hitting theaters some time early next year and I ask you to pray that it hits the target of the hearts of dads all across America and the world! May it be one of the most powerful tools that we have seen to date to bring the men of this world to their knees to God!

The week after the movie was wrapped, I had the awesome opportunity to go with our youth to Student Life camp in Orange Beach, Ala. WOW!! David Platt is the most Spirit-filled 31 year old I have ever seen or heard! His new book "Radical" just hit the shelves and I dare you to read it AND live it out!! What a challenge for us all! I am praying that as we head into another new school year, our youth do not forget thehead-on collision they had with God in that place!

Well, as incredible as all of that was, I must say, the highlight of my summer was witnessing the marriage of our oldest son Jason! He and Meagan had the most beautiful, God-centered wedding! What a surreal experience to sit there and watch everything that you have prayed for 24 years come to pass!! I literally had flashbacks of his childhood and all the things we prayed over him during the entire ceremony! All praise and glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for every good thing about Jason McLeod!! Our awesome God gets all the credit!! Now the prayers are for everything about their marriage to glorify God and point others to Him! The best thing about it was that I gained another daughter without all the morning sickness, dirty diapers and those awkward teenage years!! But, just like you, I wouldn't trade not one of those minutes with my others because as we all know time goes by WAY too fast!

Thank you for letting me share part of my summer with you and please let us know how God's goodness is showing itself in your life as well! Please know that I pray for you continually and I love you!!

Wendy