Byrd’s Branch Campground, Elkin, North Carolina
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. ~ Deuteronomy 30:11, 14
Quiet day today. I only have four pictures, and all those are of cows. I do remember that it rained off and on all day with winds gusting to about 25mph.
Guess today’s a good time to introduce another excerpt from my God Moments Journal. Enjoy the bovine pics!
In 2004 I began to feel God telling me to leave Springfield Baptist Church after 18 wonderful years. Once again, as I so often do, I kept blowing it off. But then one day, Blaine mentioned that he had the same calling. We continued to pray about it and before long, we both felt absolutely sure that we were being called to leave the church – with no particular new church in mind and for no particular reason. It was the end of the year and I had already ordered the VBS curriculum for year five. And my friend, Janet Southerland’s mother had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor that would very shortly take her life. I just didn’t feel right leaving Janet before her mother went Home. So we waited. And I continued to line up VBS. The following February, we told both pastors that we had left the church – the previous Sunday was our last and we weren’t coming back. We didn’t want to cause a scene, so we didn’t announce our departure. We just left quietly. One Sunday we were there, the next we weren’t. It was exciting and scary at the same time. We had no idea where we would end up, or what God was calling us to do. But the calling to leave was so strong we couldn’t deny it.
We visited several churches and didn’t feel led to stay at any of them. Not even the one I was anticipating attending, Maranatha. In fact, we went there twice and both experienced a decidedly uncomfortable feeling both times, even though the welcome was sincere and caring. We knew without a doubt that God was telling us this wasn’t the place. Then, one Sunday, we went to The Chapel in Green. I had absolutely no desire to go there, but wasn’t uncomfortable as I had been at Maranatha. I’m a small church girl. I just didn’t like it at all. Blaine, on the other hand, loved it. We ended up finding an ABF that we liked. Again, not our first choice. And after a few months, we were asked to take over the responsibility of Greeters/Attendance Keepers.
Let’s back up just a bit. I had prayed for years for Blaine’s spiritual growth and for him to find peers he could respect that weren’t 80 years old. That prayer was answered at The Chapel. I had been praying and praying about my being unhappy at The Chapel. One day, the Lord just point-blank told me, “It’s not about you. It’s about Blaine.” So I kept my mouth shut after that and opened my eyes and was finally able to witness the wonderful transformation happening to my beloved husband! That in itself was enough to keep me going!
There were other ways that God talked to me during that time of transition. One morning during the worship service, a girl sang a song that spoke directly to me “Painting Pictures of Egypt”. I went out that week and bought the CD “Conversations” by Sarah Groves. Most of the songs on that CD spoke to my heart and I played it over and over and over.
Then there was the time when the ABF started a women’s bible study. I went just to try to get to know some of the other women better. I ended up feeling led to write a letter of encouragement to a young mother who was there. (though once again, there was much arguing over whether or not I would do it!) I felt kinda stupid mailing this letter to a person I only knew by name, but I also knew better than to ignore God. I felt even more stupid when she never said anything about getting it. Weeks went by and no comment or acknowledgement at all. But when she finally did talk to me, it was with tears in her eyes as she told me how helpful it had been and that she kept it by her bed to read over and over for reassurance. That woman was JoLecia Crowe. Jo and I became unlikely friends and “pen pals”. It seems we don’t talk often in person, but we email constantly! Jo is the one who designed and created my “Jesus and Terri” sculpture, which I‘ll talk about later.
Another God-moment was the day I met Janet Sigler. Again, we hadn’t been attending the ABF very long when this woman asked to speak with me out in the hallway. With tears in her eyes, she pressed a piece of paper in my hand and asked if I would pray for her and her marriage. Stunned, I said I would. She had no idea what she was asking! As I said earlier, prayer is my weakest area! (I’m thinking Someone is trying to grow me in this area. Whadaya think?) While, I definitely believe in the power of prayer, I certainly would never consider myself a prayer warrior. Anyway, that ended up becoming another friendship, though at times a difficult one for me. But nevertheless, it’s a friendship formed by God and one I treasure. Because of Janet’s personal history, she can be sensitive and I have to be careful not to hurt her feelings. Something that’s good for me to think about, since usually I’m not very considerate of others’ feelings. It’s not that I don’t care if I hurt them, I just have a pretty thick skin myself, so I tend to think others do too. Most of the time, we get along great and there’s the added fact that she’s a lot of fun to be around! Janet’s got the best laugh I think I’ve ever heard! She shares my love for devouring God’s Word, and the two of us, besides being friends, have shared several God-moments in each of our lives.
The third God-moment was a phone call from Kay Lynn Shetler. Now mind you, this was a couple of years before the Michelle Hixson call you read about earlier. But Kay Lynn called and asked me if I wanted to be an accountability partner with her. I was flabbergasted! Sure, we knew each other from ABF. Brian and Kay Lynn were the Greeters (and by the way, were the ones who recommended us to take over for them) But we didn’t really know each other. I decided to give it a whirl. Mostly because she bothered to call me, but also because I’d never had an accountability partner before and I was curious how that worked. And then there was the obvious God influence! We vowed to tell each other everything – even the bad thoughts we’d had during the week. And the other person was to listen, accept, pray and help if they could. It has been a terrific friendship. One that, when other obligations occasionally prevent us from our weekly meeting, I miss tremendously!
So, back to why we ended up staying at The Chapel despite my misgivings. As I said, God had already pointed out to me that life was not always all about me. And we had accepted the responsibility of greeting and attendance. Though not very willing on my part, once again I yielded to Blaine’s desire. I couldn’t figure out why they would choose us to be the ones responsible for seeing to newcomers to the class, but it was a job that, in my opinion, must be done well. So I did it. Then one day, we were standing in the middle of the classroom during a leadership meeting and I was suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of peace and awareness that this is where God wanted me. I still to this day don’t know why, and I still miss the small church, but I’m at peace in the knowledge that I’m in God’s will.