On a beautiful fall day five days before her 95th birthday, I buried my grandmother. It was the first day of October and my family and I put on our funeral clothes, and made the trek to Statesville, North Carolina. At a very old Baptist church just a couple of miles from my grandmother’s home, we gathered to share a meal, to receive friends and neighbors, and to say goodbye.
There is a major hurricane approaching the coast of North Carolina. The latest models for Hurricane Matthew have it coming dangerously close to where I live in Wilmington, NC. We’ve pulled out our hurricane preparedness lists and started to prepare. My husband has gassed up the cars, filled some containers with water, and I, along with everyone else, have been to the grocery store. We prepare while hoping and praying that it will not make landfall but instead will turn and go out to sea.
This is a guest post by my friend Dana Hott. Dana has been a faithful Celebrating Weakness reader and we share many things in common. I have been inspired by her decision to “Choose Joy” in the midst of challenging circumstances. I know that her story will encourage you as well. Lisa
Have you ever felt pushed to your limit? For me, the last three years of my life have been difficult…probably the most challenging years I have ever faced. My trial began in March, 2013 when my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. Eight months later my precious father-in-law lost his battle from bladder cancer. As if that weren’t enough trauma in my life, my brother-in law was diagnosed with cancer and only lived for five more months. I hate cancer.
I sat across the table from my spiritual mother, drawing life and comfort from her healing words. I was lonely, confused, scared, and feeling unwanted. My husband and I had recently left our church and church family of nine years. The senior pastor had said from the pulpit that if people left the church because they were frustrated then no church would want them. And we had left because we were frustrated. And I felt unwanted and that no church would want me. I was like a spiritual leper – an outcast – and undesirable.
There are many different reasons that families or individuals leave churches. Sometimes the church does not offer the programs that the family desires for their children. Sometimes the vision or leadership of the church changes. Often, though, in our fallen world, people get hurt or offended. Some leave churches in anger and bitterness, swearing to never step foot inside their doors again. Others leave churches because it hurts too much to stay.
A friend text messaged me recently asking, “How does one leave a church?” I don’t know that there is one right way. I only know how God led our family to leave a church 9 years ago.
This is another guest post by my best friend of 25 years and fellow She Speaks graduate, Nicole Holmes:
My recent wild rumpus was not in Times Square or at Walt Disney World, but at the Urgent Care in Wilmington, North Carolina. My feverish 7-year-old daughter had just finished an antibiotic for strep throat when her fever spiked and she complained of a sore throat. Honestly, I wanted to pretend I didn’t hear her. It was dinnertime, and instead of sitting down for spaghetti and meatballs, we loaded up in the minivan and headed to the doctor’s office. It was our third visit to the doctor for strep throat in three months.
Within 10 minutes of entering the exam room, the diagnosis was clear … strep throat … again. This time, instead of the pink liquid antibiotic, the doctor recommended an injection. The 7-year-old did NOT want a shot. Tears started streaming down her face. She cried so hard, she blew snot bubbles. It was sad.
Then, she stomped her foot and said, “I’m NOT getting a shot.”
The meeting started in one hour, and my volunteers were late. I had asked them to be on time. I had strongly encouraged them to be on time. I had even reminded them to be on time. And now my phone was blowing up with text messages explaining to me why they were late. One was stuck in Walmart. Another was in bad traffic coming across town. Family drama kept one from arriving on time. My blood pressure was ratcheting up along with my frustration.
These volunteers were late to a large event that I had coordinated. I had envisioned that the morning would go one way, but with volunteers dropping like flies, it turned out another way. Since they were late, I ended up taking care of their responsibilities instead of fulfilling my own. All of my perfectly crafted plans for a smooth event flew out the window and I was not happy. I was smiling on the outside, but I was angry on the inside.
Are you nearing the end of your rope? Have you gone through difficulty after difficulty and you are getting worn out? Does your heart and your flesh cry out in weariness? If so, you are perfectly positioned to receive new strength from the Lord.
Today my body is at the end of its rope. I took my daughter up to Raleigh over the weekend to see her boyfriend at N. C. State. Saturday morning I felt a migraine coming on. I took some meds and prayed. Mid-morning we left the hotel and I took her to campus to hang out for a while with her man. As the morning continued, I felt worse and worse…nauseous, weak, and near fainting.
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.…Genesis 32:24-25
Have you ever had a disagreement with God? Many times there are things that God asks us to do and our pride and our flesh rise up in defiance. When I am at the altar on my knees I cry out “Not my will but Yours be done” but later when Gods asks me to do something hard, my flesh says, “Get lost, God.”
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