PWOC International Blog

One Nation Under God

May 182012

The 61st National Day of Prayer for our Nation was a time to reflect and ponder the grace of God. Our Founding Fathers recognized that God had enabled them to do the call that was placed upon their life to establish a Nation with freedom of religion and other liberties for the people and by the people. The theme for 2012 was ‘One Nation Under God’ with a scripture focus on Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (NKJV). Upon reading this verse, it is noteworthy to mention the following verse, “The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.”(NKJV)

In the past, there have been many debates and commentary about the United States of America as a nation favored by God. Many debates and discussions will continue on this thought; however scripture supports that God can use any nation for His plans and His purpose. Psalm 47: 2 states “For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth” (NKJV). God is the sovereign creator and ruler over all the earth and all nations are under Him. I believe God has bestowed great favor upon our Nation. There is no other country that compares to the opportunities provided for people of all backgrounds, creed or color.

As a people, we seek His blessings; however, do we seek His counsel? To seek His counsel, we have to seek His heart. To seek His heart, we have to humble ourselves and turn from those things in our life that hinder our relationship with Him. As His people, do we have an understanding of our inheritance with the Lord Jesus Christ ? The infallible word of God has remained through the ages as His law of righteousness and justice. (Psalm 19: 7-11) Along with personal reflection, pray for our governmental leaders, our military and our nation’s citizens. May His grace and mercy continue to be upon our land.

“The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations “, (Psalm 33:11 NKJV).

Rhonda Mixon

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Three Steps to Getting Rid of My Inner Wimp

Bits & Pieces, Life Happens Jesus Answers

May 132012

You have probably heard the phrase, “I need to get in touch with my inner self.” These days, I am trying to get out of touch with one aspect of my inner self…My Inner Wimp.

Here I am, wrapping up one adventure, one phase of my life, and getting ready to fly into a new adventure in Virginia. Times of transition call for faith, flexibility, adventurousness, boldness, and energy. I want to arrive ready to blaze new trails, unpack numerous moving boxes, meet new people, attend to the billion and one details that go with helping kids get settled, and so on and so on. I want to hit the ground with my TACA (Transition and Adjustment to Change Accelerator) armed and ready to fire.

So back to My Inner Wimp.

Where does this girl come from? Why does she pop her unwelcome head up at a second’s notice, right when I am feeling good about things and feeling ready to conquer? She slips silently in the back door of my thoughts and sneakily plants something like, “You won’t be able to…, What will you do without….., You’ve made a mistake…, It’s going to be cold there…, You’re going to spend half your life sitting in traffic…., Kids do drugs there…blah-blah-blah….”

Once My Inner Wimp gets a word in, it’s amazing how my entire seemingly rational thought capability stands at attention, revs its engines and races off with breath-taking speed. It doesn’t seem to matter if I tell My Inner Wimp to shut up and get out. She speaks with an uncanny influence—even though most of what she says is untrue, often ridiculous impressions that are enshrouded in the fog of “what if…”

Last week I decided I was done letting this girl weigh me down with anxious thoughts and the unsettled feelings that change can bring. I borrowed a TACA from one of my Moving Goddess Friends, and fired off several rounds. I blasted that girl right out the front door of my thoughts and slammed the door shut. Feeling sassy and relieved, I went on about my business of getting ready to move.

She snuck back in the bathroom window a few days later.

Slowly, but surely, God is teaching me ways to deal with my Inner Wimp.

Three Steps to Getting Rid of My Inner Wimp:

1. Recognize when My Inner Wimp has slipped into my thoughts.

2. Identify the distortion in what I am thinking—separate fact from fiction—truth from supposition, real from imaginary, logical from irrational, seen from the unseen. You see, My Inner Wimp loves to magnify and over blow one small issue, making it feel all important. This distorted hyper-focus takes my eyes off the big picture and tempts me to think as if God is smaller than He is and the issue is bigger than it is. In many ways, it is an up-side down view of life. It’s kind of like looking at a beautiful painting and obsessing about one blade of grass that didn’t turn out right.

3. Change my focus. Many things are a matter of perception. I need to see clearly–to look at the right thing. I have to purposefully take my focus off what My Inner Wimp says and fix my attention on Christ. Hebrews 12: 2 puts it this way…” fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…”

Have you ever thought about what an amazing gift God-focused perspective is?

When I see clearly, I can walk confidently.

As I think about this, the Spirit reminds me of that the righteous will live by faith, not by sight… (Romans 1:17) which includes all the worries that My Inner Wimp tries to glue the eye-balls of my attention to. The following verse is great ammo for blasting out My Inner Wimp:

What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Matthew 6:31-33 The Message

My Inner Wimp may show up, but she is not welcome to stay.

Ginger Harrington

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Celebrate the Compassion of Mothering

Prayer Points

May 122012

Mother’s Day is an acknowledgement of a designated time to honor our Mother. Mothers are vessels of God to be givers of life. None of us arrive in this world without a mother; however, the picture of mothering may take on many different facets. Consider the birth of Moses who was born in a time when Pharaoh of Egypt commanded that ‘sons should be cast in the river’ (Exodus 1:22). Compassion of mothering began for Moses when the midwives feared God more than Pharaoh and refused to follow this directive. Moses’ own mother, Jochebed, hid him for three months and then came to a heart renching place of decision. Compassion for his life ruled as she cast him off the river bank in a constructed basket entrusting her confidence in God to preserve his life. Later discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, scripture notes ‘So she had compassion on him’ (Exodus 2:6) and provided a nurse maid from the Hebrew women. The story continues with the Pharaoh’s daughter providing the name Moses and raising him as her son. The man who was destined to be used by God to lead a nation of people out of bondage was mothered by many with a heart of compassion. This is a beautiful picture of many facets of mothering.

It is certain that Moses’ life was covered by the prayers and compassion of several spiritual mothers along with his own birth mother. God is the giver of life and the spirit of compassion. It is difficult to imagine compassion existing without prayer. As women, we need to recognize this special gifting from God to mother in ways that we may not have considered. Our prayers of compassion can touch the lives of many. Be thankful and reflect upon those women in your life that made an investment in you with their time and compassionate prayers. The ability to be a spiritual mother is achieved only by being in God’s word and developing a strong prayer life. Then purpose to ask God to show you how you can be a ‘Spiritual Mom’ to many. Our destiny is to bless others and to partner with God. May today be a celebration of the compassion of mothering as a gift from God.

‘How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!’ (Matthew 23:37b NKJV)

By Rhonda Mixon

In memoriam (May 4, 2012) of my ‘Aunt Dean’ who was a compassionate spiritual Mother.

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Better is One Day

Praise and Worship

May 112012

Ps. 84:1-2,10

1 How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!
² My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;

10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

I was thinking about this verse as I was preparing for worship and incorporating this song into our set. Most of us are probably familiar with this verse or the song that comes from it. Yes, we sing our hearts out “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere!” But, do we really believe it?

In my flesh, I said, “Really? Really, God? Do I prefer to be in “your house” than anywhere else?” My family recently returned from a trip to Disney. This took 9 years to plan and prepare for just the right time, so we were pretty pumped. It was a great trip – a whirlwind of 4 days through the parks as well as one extra day at Sea World (Thanks to the Military passes they offer!). It was a blast! A few weeks later, my husband and I had an opportunity to take a quick weekend trip to the Gulf shores of Florida and relax on the beach and by the pool – kid free mind you! We ate at fun restaurants and shopped to our hearts content, fried ourselves by the pool in the FL sun. It was great! I wasn’t thinking “Boy, I’d like to be in church right now.” I was in “paradise” for the moment.

My thoughts drifted to this song during that weekend though because I knew it was coming up the following week in our set for worship. And it dawned on me what the Psalmist was truly saying. That even in my best and my worst times, I would much rather know that I have access to “My God” and His presence at any moment of the day, than to go through life not having that assurance of a God who loves me, who offers hope in any and every circumstance. Even if life was always good – there would still be that “God shaped hole inside of us” (as Tiffany Arbuckle of Plumb so eloquently puts it). So, yes, “Better is ONE DAY” in the presence of the Lord, no matter where we are at – a beach, Disney, spending holidays with family, or on our knees for our kids (or our friend’s kids!), sitting next to the bed of a sick loved one, enjoying nature, PCSing to our next duty station. The list goes on.

I would not want to spend a day without knowing the Lord’s presence in my life. The Word says in Ps. 16 that in His presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. He wants us to enjoy life – with Him involved! I’m thankful for the opportunity to come into His courts, His presence at any given moment because we serve a God that welcomes us and asks us to boldly approach Him. There are many days where my heart and flesh cry out. Even on good days I still need Him. Maybe you have experienced a life without Him and now that you do have a life in Christ, I am willing to bet there is a difference in perspective from BC to AD!

Search the song on Youtube this week sometime and sing with a fresh perspective. We can be in His courts/presence anytime and that, my friends, is something worth singing about!

Kayla Atkins

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Insights from Memorizing

Devotions

May 072012

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Recently I spent an afternoon with a dear friend at her home here in Germany. We had some tea in her second floor apartment, and then decided to go for a walk up her “mountain”. It was quite a steep hill with a clear view of the sunlit valley below. She shared with me how for most of her life it has been extremely difficult for her to memorize scripture, but how she recently had been able to memorize 100 verses, and that in fact she had memorized them as she walked up and down her mountain. “The Lord gave me these! I hadn’t been able to memorize before!” she said. Her words encouraged me and I went home determined to attempt memorization again, and to do it while walking and jogging.

My first reaction was that this is great! I had wanted to be outside and get exercise, but always felt like I wasn’t accomplishing anything with my mind. In other words, my mind would get bored. A quick glance at my little pack of memory verse cards, and I had something to focus on. It was also good to be away from certain mundane but persistent distractions. Memorizing things at home had not worked since my mind was suddenly fascinated by the pattern on the floor or a noise from outside… basically anything could become more fascinating than committing a Bible verse to memory. While walking and running however–more walking at first until I got a few phrases down, since it is hard to read while jogging–I found that moving my feet at a steady pace helped me focus my mind on only the words in front of me.

So I should have been all set right? One of my first verses to tackle this way was the one written above, Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ…” Wait a minute, those are powerful words. Much more powerful when I’m saying them out loud and about myself! I wasn’t able to finish memorizing this verse until I had faced some of my selfish living (unwillingly at first), died to it, and lived by grace. It was a little discouraging to not even be able to remember two sentences for a while, but I couldn’t until I had dealt with my sin.

On a later run/walk I was repeating this verse and made another discovery. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who gave himself for me,” I panted. Did you notice what I left out? The phrase “who loved me” is missing! I came up against another thing that my mind wasn’t believing. He loves me! Boy do I need this reminder as I pant down my path.

Romans 12:1 also made me pause on yet another run. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, to offer you bodies as living sacrifices…” No, wait, I left a part out. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers,in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” Once again I had left out a key part. I am offering myself to a merciful God. More panting and pondering followed that thought.

My conclusion? I need to memorize verses. I need to fill my mind with the truth because if I don’t, it fills up with lies! I shouldn’t be discouraged about how few I can get down pat, because I just need to keep working on them. Always.

Submitted by Taryn Keller

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Sanity in a Three-Ring Binder…Priceless!

Bits & Pieces, Life Happens, Life Happens Jesus Answers

May 062012

“Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established.” Proverbs 16:3

“The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5

Anything that requires planning and organization on my part is definitely a matter for prayer! This is why God gave me a husband and some good friends who are good at this kind of thing. Slowly, but surely, I am learning from their example.

Larissa’s Moving Notebook

One of the things that I love about this gal is her ability to make the ordinary into something special. I knew better than to ask her why she would take the time to make such a lovely cover, cause I already know the answer. “If it looks good, it will motivate me to use it.” Bingo! I like that philosophy, even if I don’t have time or the inclination to do such a thing. Unlike my notebook, her sections are nicely labeled and the sections are well on their way to being full.

Notice the lovely map of Oahu

Here’s a list of Larissa’s tabs:

Orders
Moving Calendar
Checklists
Pets
Housing for New Location
Shipments (including the inventory of her last move and storage inventory)
Car Storage and Transport
Travel Arrangements/Itinerary
Last Things to Do (places, people, and purchases)
Information on New Location
Miscellaneous–gotta have one of those!
Moving Tips

And of course, don’t forget those important documents like passports, power-of-attorney, birth certificates, wills, and shot records. You might not keep these in your notebook, but it is important to have an organized way to hand carry these with you. Accordion files are great for this.

As we were chatting about the whole notebook thing, Larissa shared some of her notebook wisdom with me:

1. You have paperwork all in one place.

2. You can look back to refer to what worked and what didn’t work on the last move. This is key for those of us who seem to make the same mistakes over and over again.

3. With each move you can build on good information and eventually work your way up to Moving Goddess status–a little-known-but-elite corps of military wives who have moving down to both an art and a science.

4. Here’s a good one: Being able to find information and paperwork when you need it saves marital squabbling over misplaced documents. Ohh…not good. Moving is stressful enough without stressing where the furniture inventory or the hotel reservation numbers are.

5. You are prepared to share great information with others–another fine trait of the Moving Goddess. If you can’t be one, it sure is handy to know one!

6. Sanity in a three-ring binder…priceless.

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Our Connection With Christ

Prayer Points

May 042012

You know the saying “running around like a chicken with its head cut off?” When a chicken loses its head it does run around frantically, then simply collapses. It can be looked upon as like a prayerless Christian. We were born to stay connected to the Lord through prayer. Without His headship, our frantic efforts to look effective will drop lifelessly to the ground. Prayer is connecting our body with the Head of Jesus Christ. You can’t persevere in great things for God until you connect with Him in prayer. Philippians 2:5 says,” Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” He will give us his mind if we diligently press in to his presence in prayer. That way there is no longer you, but Christ in you who is praying.

When you have the mind of Christ you don’t have to strive to hear his voice-it just flows. If you feel like you have a blockage you may identify with Job who said, “if only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling” (Job 23:3).

Nothing prevents us from finding him and dwelling in his presence more that a stronghold of unbelief. Many of the people Moses led out of Egypt did not enter into the promised Land because they had a spirit of unbelief Hebrew 3:19 says, “Because of their unbelief they were not able to enter His rest.” When we pick and choose which parts of the Bible we will believe, we give the spirit of unbelief an opportunity to create a stronghold that destroys our ability to have intimacy. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to create a hunger in us for more of God-then get ready to be satisfied. Ask Him to guide your time in prayer; for the Lord has promised that he will. For he says, “But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” John 14:26.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you fall more in love with Jesus; he will not disappoint you.

Blessings my friends,

Jane Ahl

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Drawing Near To God

regional review

May 012012

I’m a team player. I like to talk with people. I like to watch people. I like to study with people. I like to work and play with people. I find it easy to build a leadership team. I love serving with others who are passionate about Jesus and working towards a common God-given; Holy-Spirit led goal.

Its ironic God has yet to reveal the leadership team for PWOC Japan. It is NOT taking shape as quickly as *I* think it should.

As this season of leadership and family life has gotten busier I’ve repeatedly found myself remembering John Wesley’s words, “I’m too busy not to pray!” I’m stretching in new ways involving prayer, solitude, rest and silently being with Him. It goes AGAINST my natural personality – but it’s God. My “duty” now is to wait, to pray, to abide and watch for Him to move to reveal His team

In a recent conversation with God I shared it would be much easier to wait if He just added a prayer coordinator to our team in the near future. I long to pray with a team of ladies passionate for Jesus and PWOC Japan. I was clearly reminded JESUS IS PRAYING for me, for the things which concern me. This hit me in such a personal way it seemed to be a totally new revelation….and yet I know that Hebrews 7:25 says Jesus is “able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” As I’ve gone against my natural grain to “organize, plan, recruit” and simply draw near to Him, Jesus is praying for me, for PWOC Japan, for my family, for those things that are dear to my heart. I picture Jesus saying, “Father, she’s seeking your face again, will you pour out your grace in these situations?”

Ladies, be encouraged. As you draw near to God, Jesus is praying for you. Stop and think about it.

De’Etta Goecker (President PWOC Japan)

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The Wedding Cake (part 2)

Devotions

Apr 302012

To recap the events in part 1; Charity had made a wedding cake as a gift to the bride and groom and had wonderful plans on how to decorate it, only to discover that her decorating job had been given to someone else instead. Now for the rest of the story….

I felt so much grief in being unable to fully give the gift I desired to give. He showed me how much more we must grieve Him when we don’t fully receive His perfect and holy gift!

I thought to myself, “Wow God, thank you for showing me that.” Even though I desired to share what He had just revealed to me, my heart still felt disappointed–and a bit angry. Then God gently said, “Charity, it isn’t about you and this is their wedding and their choice. Why are you angry? Is it because you cannot have photos of the finished cakes, thus making the possibility of starting a business look more bleak? Who is that about? You or Me?”

God is so faithful to uncover my sin, while still allowing my feelings to teach me a new lesson about how we as believers can grieve Him. He helped change my attitude so that I happily desired to do my best on the promised cakes and deliver them with a smile! God does not withhold anything good from those who ask. He gives to us so graciously even when we don’t deserve it. What a good example He is in showing us to not be bitter or unforgiving, but to lovingly give whenever we can.

Here is a verse He continued to show me during this week of my cake trial and lesson. “…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

He doesn’t give up on us even if we may refuse Him at times. He promises to finish! We must remember our humanity and inability to see the big picture. Just because we may reject His help and blessings it does not thwart or ruin His plan. Yes, we will pay the consequences and miss out, but He has a perfect plan and is so much bigger than us and our mistakes.

To finish my story, the wedding day arrived and I can joyfully say that I brought the cakes with gladness, excited about the gift I could give. While setting it up, I was surprised to be asked to decorate it with the items her sister had bought. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?! None of this had to happen but God chose to teach me a lesson and changed my heart and in turn blessed me! What is God teaching you today, this week, this year? He has begun a good work in you, and is not finished yet!

Submitted by Charity Stadler

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PCS Anyone?

Bits & Pieces

Apr 292012

Organizing For The Move

Ginger Harrington

In general, there are several schools of thought on how to handle the physical details of moving. The first, and most effective-sanity-keeping method is called the We like it ORGANIZED way. On the other end of the spectrum is the Just throw it in a box and sort it out on the other end way. I generally fall into the Meant to be organized, maybe next time way. This is the lament of the good-intentioned and the ever-hopeful. On the extreme-almost-at-the North-Pole end are the Moving Nazi’s, that drive themselves and everyone around them over and beyond what is sane or reasonable in their obsessive need for control in a live-by-faith situation. I call it this because once those movers take off with your stuff, you are living by faith, like it or not. There are many other methods of handling moves, but these are enough for today.

I have friends who are big proponents of THE MOVING NOTEBOOK, and have had their notebooks filled for months now. Not wanting to be left behind, I bought myself a nice neon green notebook in hopes that some of their organizational gifting might rub off on me. Does that make me organized for this move? Apparently not, because someone saw my notebook and helpfully suggested that I should label the different sections. They even kindly offered the use of her label maker. Well, I was going to get to that…eventually.

Organized or not, moving can seem like a full time job. (Because it is!) Particularly international moves.

Today this is where I am in the process. I have been to the Smooth Move Workshop, so I am now prepared with lots of information filling up my brain, mixing freely in the grey matter. I have been to the “My Move” website and created a personalized calendar with all of the items I learned about in the workshop, plus a few bits and pieces that I know just because I have moved a lot. I am well on my way to making it into the We like it ORGANIZED moving methodology!

So now the next four months of my life are planned out with tasks to do, information to find, and arrangements to make. Yea–are we having fun yet? I have reminders to contact the veterinarian and schedule packers, as well as a scheduled day to begin cleaning out and sorting through stuff. (Can I go somewhere else that day?) After completing my personalized calendar of slavery to the move, I printed out the task list, conveniently arranged by date (very organized).

Life does not stop just because you are moving!

Nothing slows down so I can get that five-page single-spaced task list done. The family still has to eat and they generally prefer to wear clean clothes. There are still multiple daily rounds of the Mommy Taxi, homework, projects, and band concerts don’t slow down just because you are moving.

As with so many things in life, steadily moving forward eventually gets us where we are going. I love the African proverb that asks, “How do you eat an elephant?” One bite at a time…particularly for those of us who are directionally challenged in multi –tasking. So I will keep chewing my way through each task, asking God for grace and energy to do all that needs to be done. When I start to feel overwhelmed, anxious that I will never get it all done, I will remind myself that the Lord is my helper:

Don’t panic. I’m with you.
There’s no need to fear for I’m your God.
I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you.
I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.

Isaiah 41:10

The Message

Hmm…what happens if I lose my Moving Notebook?

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Older Entries

PWOC International Blog

One Nation Under God

Three Steps to Getting Rid of My Inner Wimp

Celebrate the Compassion of Mothering

Better is One Day

Insights from Memorizing

Sanity in a Three-Ring Binder…Priceless!

Our Connection With Christ

Drawing Near To God

The Wedding Cake (part 2)

PCS Anyone?

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