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God Bless America?

A week after 9/11 I wrote an article for a writing class.  My self-proclaimed “pagan” instructor did not like my article; it dripped in blood-red ink.  It wasn’t my writing he disliked; it was the subject.

In the aftermath of that horrible attack on America, “God Bless America” signs were everywhere.  You couldn’t turn on the television without hearing someone shouting it.  Every politician that spoke ended their speeches with the interjection.  And I couldn’t help but think, “Why should He bless America?”

The United States keeps moving further and further away from God.  Why should He move closer and closer to us?  Why should He open His benevolent hand to us when we’ve turned our backs on Him?  We’ve cast God out of our government, out of the classroom, out of the public square, but let us be rocked by fear and we cry out to Him to save us.

This was the topic of my article that so repulsed my instructor.  He did, however, begrudgingly give me a good score on the poem I had attached.  As you read this poem, ask yourself the question as well: Why should God bless America?

God Bless America?*

“God bless America!”

            Aloud in the streets we cry.

God bless America?

            I have to wonder, why?

 We’ve cast God out of every place

            By politic’s poison pen,

And torn down from every wall

            Commandments One through Ten.

 From school to work to court

            His Name has been repressed.

Even among His churches

            He’s an oft unwanted guest.

 But now in terror we turn

            And hope to see His face.

God bless America?

            T’would be an act of grace!

And yet God’s grace is sufficient: sufficient to forgive, sufficient to heal, sufficient to bless our country.  And He promises to do it IF we — if His people, the CHURCH —  will turn to Him and remember Him again.  As He promised so long ago,

…if my people,

who are called by my name,

will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,

then will I

hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

 * ©Donna Lewis September 2001
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If the devil can’t make you bad…

When I returned from Israel almost 2 months ago, my summer calendar was relatively clear.  I was so excited.  I was going to take my time, go through all my notes, all my pictures, all my memories, and put together a wonderful scrapbook of one of the greatest times in my life.  SCRATCH!  Within one week of my return, my calendar showed very few unmarked squares for the next 11 weeks!  I’m  just coming up now for a few brief moments of air before going back under. 

There’s an old saying bouncing around in my head right now, leaving behind a dent of conviction with every hit:

If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy!

Bad or busy:  One is as deadly as the other.  Both  keep us out of in-depth, intimate communion with God; both keep us from being filled with His Presence; both keep us from walking in His transcendent peace; both keep us from being fountains of living water refreshing other sojourners. 

As we drive down the highway of life, lots of things are stuffed into our “cars”: a spouse, children, parents, job, church, hobbies, quiet time, community clubs, service projects, exercise, Bible study, sleep, appointments — the list goes on and on!  And when time gets crunched, as it often does, what gets flung out the window?  Usually the important things; they always seem to get trumped by the urgent things.  Charles Hummel labeled this “the tyranny of the urgent.”  What’s amazing is that the important things are rarely urgent, and the urgent things are rarely important.  Yet the urgent things not only sit in the front seat of our “cars,” they oftentimes grab the wheel, while the important things sit patiently in the back seat. 

So how do you differentiate between the two?  How do you know if something is important or just urgent?  You must learn to look at each activity with an eternal eye.  Do so by asking a few questions: 

  • Will this activity have lasting results? 
  • What will be the effect of not doing it?  
  • Would God prefer I spend my time on this or something else?
  • Will this activity affect others and, if so, how? 
  • Will this action convert into a heavenly treasure or an earthly pile of rust?

I think you get the picture. 

FixThe activities that fill our lists fit into 1 of the 4 categories on the chart at left.  So take a piece of paper and divide it into 4 quadrants and label them like the chart.  Look at each item on your list , determine its importance-to-urgency ratio, and write the activity in the corresponding box.  Then start at the top right, using the following guide as much as possible:
  • Important and urgent — Do it first!
  • Important but not urgent — Delay it — but not for long!
  • Not important but urgent — Delegate it, if you can!
  • Not important and not urgent — Dump it when possible!

Yes, it takes time to analyze the eternal significance of your activities, but it’s well worth the effort and you’ll get faster as it becomes a habit.  In the end, some urgent things will still have to be done — or so your boss says!   And quality time with your spouse and children? Almost 100% important and urgent!

If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy?  Well, the truth is the devil can’t really make a believer do anything he/she does not want to do.  We have total power over him. ** We can try to blame him for our badness or our busyness but they’re really the result of our own choices.  So begin today training yourself to focus on the important things in life.  The results are out of this world!

Command them to do go, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age,

so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

1 Timothy 6:18-19

**1 John 4:4

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VBS & Me: Then and Now

vbsFor 20 years, I worked at Vacation Bible School in various capacities: kindergarten helper, 1st grade teacher, VBS director, food committee, but mostly as the 6th grade director/teacher.  I loved that age group!  They were old enough to read, write, and work by themselves.  They were old enough to do fun craft projects.  They were old enough to understand salvation — and many did make professions of faith during VBS week.  Nothing is more exciting than that!

But then we moved away and I no longer got to teach 6th grade VBS.  They were already “taken”; they were already someone else’s kids.  So I had to settle for being the mission story lady.  Not too bad, though; you’d be surprised at what you can teach and craft in 15 minutes.

After 10 years, we returned home and I got my 6th graders back!  And 5th graders came in the deal, too!  Each day, 27 energetic 5th and 6th graders descended upon our room.  Hmmm…

Vacation Bible School seemed a bit different than I remembered.  Vacation it was not!  (I wonder what nut came up with that part of the title?)  Bibles were in short supply.  (Parents, hello?)  And “school“?  Yes, I got schooled!  I learned a lot.  For example:

 

  • The kids are the same as they’ve always been: precious little stinkers.  They’re curious seekers of fun.  They love to laugh and make others laugh, too. The latter, however, can get them in some trouble.  “Johnny, give me the rubber band.”  “Susie, put up the brush.”  “Bottom in chair, Johnny!”  “Kate, where are you going?”  “Johnny, it’s my turn to talk.”  “Stop whispering, Sus– Johnny!”  Every morning for a whole week, you long for Saturday.  Then right in the middle of your lesson, their little eyes light up — they get it!  And all the stress and frustration slowly melts away.  Suddenly, it’s Saturday morning and it’s depressingly quiet.

 

  • The parents, churches, and culture, however, have all changed.  Work-at-home moms are becoming more rare and fewer teachers are willing to help (can you blame them?). Churches seem to have a need for quick and easy; the emphasis is more on fun than on learning.  I guess you could say the “V” has come to outweigh the “S” — and knowledge of the “B” suffers.  And our culture?  The lesson topics included in the teaching materials are a whole lot different than they used to be!

 

  • And me?  Well, in some ways I’ve remained pretty constant: I love the old stories, the old structure, the old pledges — all of them — and I love working hard all week to prepare for Parents’ Night on Friday.  But in other ways, I’ve changed: My patience is much thinner; my heart, much heavier; my mind, not as quick; and my body, well, it aches all over by the end of the day.

 

Maybe it’s time for me to move OUT — I’m just too old!  I’ve passed the 50 mark and all my kids are grown.  I don’t know the language any more; my “hip” has turned into “hips.”  No longer cool, I’m flashing hot.  Instead of “got game,” I’ve got pain — and lots of ’em.  Rather than fast and fun, I’m slow and sleepy.  But then I wonder what Abraham, or Sarah, or Moses, or Noah, or other spiritual ancestors would say if they heard my excuse.  No, I can’t move out just yet.

Maybe it’s time for me to move UP — up to bed babies, that is!  Rocking, changing, singing, changing, loving, changing, playing, changing — now that I could do!  Babies don’t sass back; they just spit up.  They don’t roll their eyes at your stories; they simply roll over and go to sleep.  They’re really just the same as the 6th graders: precious little stinkers — it’s just a different kind of stink.  Bed babies: I could do that.

Yet even as tempting as that proposal sounds, there’s still something missing.  What is it?  Oh, yes, it’s my heart!  The 6th graders stole it years ago and have not returned it yet.  I guess I’d better give them another year.  And who knows?  One day I might look those 6th graders in the eyes and say something like Caleb said to Joshua:

…So, [boys and girls], here I am today, 85 years old!

I am still as strong today as the day [God] sent me out;

I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then…

the Lord helping me…

Joshua 14:10-12

Only 35 years to go!  But, first, I need a nap!

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Cold Stone Sally

Last week I flew to Buffalo, New York, to do some training at our West Valley operation.  Thanks to some wonderful people who stayed after class to help us clean up, my coworker Michelle and I finished with lots of daylight left and, thus, decided to drive up to see Niagra Falls.  Before we left town, I had a marvelous suggestion: let’s stop by Cold Stone Creamery and get some ice cream to eat along the way.  That’s where we met “Cold Stone Sally” and the fun began…

“May I help you?” Sally asked, as she walked right on past us, never even looking at us or stopping to hear our answer.  For 3-4 minutes, we stared at the ice creams, engaged in some small talk, and grew increasingly hungry. 

Another woman walked around the corner from a connecting sandwich shoppe and stopped when she saw us. “Sally!  Get over here!  You have customers.”

“Aw, they’re just deciding what they want.  Do you know yet?”

I was the first to step up to the counter.  “Yes, I’d like chocolate ice cream in a small waffle cup and a small cup of coffee.”

“You want anything mixed in?”

“No.  The ice cream looks so good, I think I want it all by itself.”  Sally turned, put my ice cream in a waffle cup, and poured my coffee.  After ringing up the charges, she gave me my change and I dropped it into the tip jar. 

Next was Michelle’s order — and that’s where the fun began.  Looking up at the ice cream menu, Michelle said, “I think I’d like to try the Chocolate Peanut Butter Delight,” which was described on the board as “chocolate ice cream with peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and nougat.”

“What size?” Cold Stone Sally asked.

“What sizes do you have?”

“Like-it, love-it, gotta-have-it.”

“What sizes are those?”

With a “duh” sigh, Sally replied, “Small, medium, and large.”

“No, no,” Michelle said.  “I mean, how large are each of those servings?

“Oh.  Like-it is just a scoop; love-it is baseball size; gotta-have-it is softball size.”

“Okay, give me a love-it, a baseball size.”

“What flavor of ice cream do you want?” Cold Stone asked.

Michelle looked a little puzzled.  She pointed up to the sign and said, “I guess I want chocolate ice cream.”

“Do you want anything mixed in it?”

Michelle’s patience was wearing a little thin.  Again she pointed to the sign and said, “I guess I want peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and nougat.”

“Oh, you should have ordered a Chocolate Peanut Butter Delight.”

“I did!” Michelle retorted.

“Oh, didn’t hear ‘ya.”  After backing everything out of the register and re-entering the correct order, she asked, “Anything else?”

“Yes, a Diet Coke.”

Sally walked over to the cooler, opened the door, then turned and asked, “Diet or regular?”

“A diet Diet Coke.”  Michelle was clearly getting frustrated.

After paying Sally, Michelle was given back some change.  She stared at it long and hard; finally she dropped it into the tip jar.

As Sally turned to make the delight, Michelle said, “Oh, and I need it in a cone, please.  I’m driving.”

A few minutes later, Cold Stone Sally said, “Here’s your order, ma’am.”  We turned to see her hoist over the counter the most gigantic ice cream cone we had ever seen — practically a megaphone filled with several softballs of ice cream!  Michelle took the ice cream from Sally — in 2 hands! — and turned to look at me.  I barely made it outside before I cracked up laughing. 

As I walked toward the car, I heard Michelle exclaim, “Oh, my word!  Oh, my word!”  I turned and asked what was wrong.  Her voice went shrill, “Look at this; just look at this!”  I walked back and looked at her Chocolate Peanut Butter Delight (which, remember, was chocolate ice cream with peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and nougat) to see that Cold Stone Sally had mixed chocolate ice cream with broken up Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, large blobs of smooth peanut butter, and lots of chocolate syrup!  It was NOTHING like what Michelle had ordered!  After just a few forced bites, Michelle threw the whole thing away!

Before I boarded my 6:00 a.m. flight the next morning, I took out some notes for a speaking engagement the next morning.  I sat down, buckled up, and leaned my head back, which I always do for take-off.  As I sat there with my eyes closed, the vision of Michelle holding that awful ice cream concoction came back to my mind and I got so tickled I could barely contain my laughter.  When the plane finally leveled off, I opened my eyes and looked down at my scribbled notes.  Across the top of the page, I had written, “SERVING GOD.”

“Oh, Father, forgive me!” I silently prayed.   “I’m a Cold Stone Sally!”

  • How often have I prayed, “Father, may I help You?” yet never stop to listen to what He says, never open my eyes to see where He’s working in order to join Him?
  • How often have I missed an opportunity to serve God, only to reply, “Oh, I didn’t hear ‘ya”?
  • How often do I handle the like-it-sized jobs God gives me?  Simple, easy, within my skill set — no problem.  Done.  Pat myself on the back.  However, how often has God given me a love-it or a gotta-have-it-sized work — a bigger mission with a lot of stuff involved in it — and I balked, or ignored it, or asked Him to send someone else?
  • And how often have I done what I wanted to do — mixed up my own recipe of service?  Then held it up to the Lord and said, “Here you go, Lord.  Hope you like it.  Please bless it for me.”

Can you relate?  What is God calling you to do?  How are you serving Him?  What is the quality of your service to God?   What’s keeping you from doing what God tells you to do and doing it exactly the way He says to do it?

Are there any Cold Stone Sally’s out there?

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Israel, my Beloved!

What a trip!  My head is reeling — I’m on information overload!P5010123

I’ve had so many friends and family members ask me to tell them about my trip, but I’m having a hard time doing so.  More than just going to amazing places, more than just seeing amazing things, more than just hearing amazing teaching, my trip to Israel was a spiritual experience that can’t adequately be explained — and, in some ways, more personal than I care to share.

How can  mere words express the thrill of…

…walking along the shores of Galilee where Jesus performed miracles and healings?  

…looking down on the plains of Megiddo, where armies will gather for the final war?P5040322

…staring in amazement at the vast, barren Judean wilderness, wondering how Jesus survived 40 days?

…going up, up, up to Jerusalem and seeing its ancient walls for the first time?  

…walking where my dear Savior, Jesus Christ, walked — over the Mount of Olives, up the southern steps, down Cardo Street, beside the Pool of Bethsaida…?

…retracing Christ’s steps and attempting to imagine the agony He endured as He prayed in Gethsemane, stood silent at Caiaphas’s house and in his dungeon, testified to truth before Pilate at the Roman Praetorium, carried His cross up the Via Dolorosa, and crucified at Skull Hill — agony He endured for me?P5070553

…shouting “Hallelujah!” when walking into the Garden Tomb and seeing it empty? (!!)

…continuing to weep over and pray for my dear friend Ronnie (my Jewish guide) and the rest of the unbelieving Jews?

The list could go on and on.  How can I put all this into words that another can fully understand and experience with me?  It’s impossible.  All I know is that I’ll never read the Bible the same way again.  I’ll never teach the same way again.  I’ll never pray the same way again.  Indeed, I will never be the same again. 

I may have left Israel, but Israel will never leave me.  A part of me remains in the land and I long to return.  As for me, Israel is no longer just a country; she is Israel, my beloved!

 

(For your own Israel experience, I highly recommend this Israel Study Tour by Precept Ministries International.  For more information, see www.precept.org.)

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Out to Lunch

Friends,

I will be in Israel from April 27 until May 13 on Precept Ministries’ Study Tour — a dream come true for me!  Since I will not have access to a computer, I wanted to get a couple of articles posted and ready to post but, alas, I am running out of time.  I’ve been ill a couple of days this week and, thus, I’m having to cut some things from my to do list, this being one of them.  I’ll make up for it when I get back; I’m sure there’ll be LOTS to write about!

I rejoiced with those who said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.

That is where the tribes go up…to praise the name of the LORD…

There the thrones for judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May those who love you be secure.

May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”

For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say,

“Peace be within you.”

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,

I will seek your prosperity.

(Psalm 122)

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Living Up for Christ: A Personal Testimony

“…you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.”

(Psalm 61:5)

 What a blessing to grow up in a strong Christian household, where my father and my older sister modeled Christ for me.  At the ripe old age of 8, I knew who Jesus was and what He had done for me, and I loved Him.  I accepted His sacrifice for my sins and asked Him to save me.  And He did.question mark

 Because He died for me, I wanted to live for Him. I wanted to be like my sister and be a living testimony to others.  But I kept messing up, causing feelings of self-doubt and unworthiness to plague me.  Thus, at every revival or youth trip, I walked the aisle and rededicated myself to Christ with the promise of doing better.  But, alas, I couldn’t do it.  Mistake followed mistake followed mistake…

 Just after I turned 15, I attended a youth retreat to Mt. Nebo, Arkansas.  There God revealed to me the nexus of my problem: I was saved but not surrendered. I still thought of Christianity as a religion not a relationship, and I was trying to live by a set of do’s and don’ts instead of by the Spirit. 

 So on August 21, 1974, I stopped living for Christ; instead, I started learning how to let Christ live through me. I stopped wanting to do good for God and started wanting to know God.  What a difference!  Since that time, I’ve been perfect!  No, not really.  I still mess up — quite a lot actually — but rather than pursuing perfection, I’m pursuing a Person and my perfection rests in Him.

 God is not only my Savior and my Lord, He’s also my friend – and what a friend He is! 

When I fall, He catches me. 

When I sin, He chastens me.

When I feel anxious, He calms me.

When I’m hurt, He comforts me. 

He never fails me,

never disappoints me,

never ignores me. 

He’s my protector and my provider,

my strength and my song,

my love and my joy. 

Oh, how I love Him!exclamation mark

 And that’s what I try to pass on through Live Up! Ministries. I want help Christians know this mighty God of ours, to grow in their relationship with His precious Son, and to learn to walk in the power of His Spirit. I want to encourage “question mark Christians” to stop walking around with eyes downcast, heads hanging, and hearts burdened and to start looking up, living up, and being exclamation marks for God!

“Only let us LIVE UP to what we have already attained [in Christ].”

Philippians 3:16 (emphasis mine)

 

Only let us LIVE UP to what we have already attained [in Christ Jesus].

Philippians 3:16

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Has anyone seen God lately?

It’s amazing to me how you can take a Bible study several times and it’s like a new study each time.  That’s the way Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby has been for me.  I first took the study about 15 years ago.  Since then, I’ve taught it twice and am now taking it again. 

One morning I was doing my homework and read something that really struck me.

What our world often witnesses today is a devoted, committed Christian or church serving God.  But they are not seeing God.  They don’t see anything happening that can be explained only in terms of God’s activity.  Why?  Because we are not attempting anything that only God can do. (page 143)

Ouch!  The truth of that paragraph cut me all the way down to the quick!  No one was seeing God through me because I wasn’t attempting anything God-sized.  I’d been doing a lot of little good things for God, but I wasn’t asking Him to do anything God-sized through me.  (I walked around for days with a spiritual black eye from that one-two-truth punch!)Note pad - small

After I apologized to God for hiding Him from others, I asked, “Lord, what would You like to do through me?”  Almost immediately, God gave me a list of 5 Impossible Things.  I hurriedly wrote each item down, looked at the list, and exclaimed, “You must be kidding!  There’s no way! Well, that’s what I get for asking!” 

After reflecting on the list for a while and realizing that these 5 Impossible Things could only be done by a powerful God through a willing soul, I made one more request, “Please, Lord, open my spiritual eyes. Far too often I have asked for something and then gone about my day, forgetting what I had asked, blind to Your movement upon the request.  So please, Lord, keep these 5 Impossible Things fresh on my heart so that when You begin to move, I’ll see it and move with You; so that when You begin to supply what is needed, I’ll see it and use it for Your purpose; so that when You open the door of opportunity, I’ll see it and step right on through.”

My friend, let me tell you something: God did those 5 Impossible Things — and He did them in less than one month!  I even faltered on the 5th item, the biggest challenge, but you know what?  He did it for me!  Amazing!

I’d love to tell you what those things were but other people are involved and I need to respect their privacy.  Did they see God?  I have no idea, but I sure did.  And seeing Him move so clearly has given me a renewed sense of strength, a refreshed taste of faith, a restored heart of devotion.  Now, whenever I approach a hill that seems too high to climb or a valley that seems too low to cross, I’ll just remember those 5 Impossible Things and the All-Things-Are-Possible God who did them.  At the top of my spiritual lungs, I’ll sing with the Psalmist:

I will remember the deeds of the LORD;

yes, I will remenmber your miracles of long ago.

I will meditate on all your works

and consider all your mighty deeds.

Your ways, O God, are holy.

What god is so great as our God?

Psalm 77:11-13

Has anyone seen God lately — through you? 

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She’s in the Army Now

I said goodbye to my baby girl last night.  Albany’s in the Army now.

As I think back over the last 20-1/2 years, I can’t help but smile.  What a trip!  Not all roses, but not all thorns either.  We had our ups and our downs, our hugs and our spats, our laughs and our tears.  Sweetness was followed by rebellion, which was always followed by sweetness again.  The thing I’ve always loved about Albany — even admired about her — is her uniqueness.  She doesn’t just march to a different drummer; she’s got her own band and writes her own music!  She’s adopted my mother’s viewpoint: “I am who I am and if you don’t like it, then that’s your problem not mine.”  Her uniqueness has been costly — in friends, in rejections, in hurt feelings, in self-esteem — but rather than break her, it seems to have made her stronger.  She’s in the Army now.

I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with Albany.  As I lay in bed that night, I put my hands on my belly, looked up to heaven, and silently prayed, “Lord, please let this baby be a girl.  I’m not sure I can handle a girl, but I’d love to try.”  My husband and 2 sons wanted a little girl so badly that I used to say I wanted another boy, just to temper their desires and to avoid disappointment if it were another boy.  But, oh, how I wanted a daughter.  And what a daughter I got!  I wanted to buy her Barbie dolls; she preferred Ninja turtles.  I enrolled her in ballet class with her friends; she preferred hunting with her brothers.  I spent a lot of money on pretty little dresses, bonnets, and bows; she tore them off as soon as possible and put on jeans and a ball cap.  I dreamed womanly dreams for her; she dreamed of being a mechanic.  She’s in the Army now.

Many questioned Albany’s decision to enter the military.  Many tried their best to talk her out of going.  Many have been surprised by her resolve.  Not me.  Since the first day she talked to me about it, I’ve known deep in my heart that this day would come.  “I need to find out who I am and to find some confidence in myself,” she explained.  “I want something hard, something that will test and prove me.  And I need something that I cannot quit; I’ve quit everything I’ve ever started.”  Albany tried college but hated it.  She preferred work — hard work.  I’ve never known anyone quite like her, anyone who has such a love for hard labor and a disdain for the cushy jobs.  She’s in the Army now.

On March 24, Albany raised her right hand and took her oath: “I, Albany Ann Lewis, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies…”  As I watched Albany turn from a citizen into a soldier, I saw my “little blonde bomber” turn into a beautiful woman. I battled a lump in my throat and silently prayed for strength to let her go without tears — she can handle a lot of things but not tears!  One last hug, and she was gone.  After rain delays, bus delays, and over 36 hours of waiting, Albany finally reached Fort Leonard Wood (Missouri) last night about 11:00 p.m.  She made one quick call before getting off the bus, knowing she’d have to give up her cell phone in just a matter of minutes.  In a low, hushed voice she said, “Just calling to let you know I’m fine.  We’re here. I’ll call you later. I love you.”  Click.  She’s in the Army now.

Writing this has been difficult; I can barely see the screen.  As tears roll down my cheeks, memories are flooding my mind. Sweet memories — good, bad, and hilarious.  But the sweetest of all is the memory of an answered prayer uttered in the darkness of night over 20 years ago.  And I know He’s hearing my prayer today for that same daughter.  He has calmed my heart, whispering to me in that Albany - 2 years oldstill, small voice: Albany may be in the Army now but she belongs to Me forever.  Trust Me.  And I do.  God trusted me to watch after her for 20-1/2 years.  It’s His watch now and I can trust Him. 

She’s in the Army now — but she’ll always be my little blonde bomber!

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Even Men!

YOU-nique: Embracing God’s Design for You kicked off at our church this fall with a women’s retreat.  We took a “30,000 foot view” of the book’s topics; then we split up into small accountability groups for the 6-week study.  I made a promise to visit each class on their first night and commend the participants for taking the journey into YOU-niqueness.  I wasn’t prepared for what I saw as I entered the Wednesday evening 5:30 group.  There among all the women sat one, solitary, lonely man!  I was so surprised that I stutter-stepped as I entered the room.

“Clifford?  Did you not realize there would be only women here?  Do we need to find you some brave men to form your own group?”

“No, I didn’t realize it was only for women.  But I promised my wife that I’d go through this study with her and I’m going to keep my word.”  And so he did.  But that wasn’t the end…

We culminated our adventure wth a YOU-nique Celebration Tea in which all the groups joined together to worship God and to share what we had learned about our individual, unique designs.**  And, you guessed it — in walked Cliff!  His wife Rose walked in, rolled her eyes, and said, “I tried to talk him into not coming, but –” 

“I told her ‘No!'” Cliff interrupted.  “I always finish what I start.  Besides, I’ve never had hot tea before; thought I’d give it a try.”  With a sly grin, he sat down at a back table.  And may I tell you he enjoyed every minute of it!  But that wasn’t the end…

The next day was Sunday.  Cliff and I are in the same Sunday School class.  As the class was fellowshipping around coffee and snacks, Cliff called from across the room, “Donna, these guys want me to give up my man-card!”

“Clifford,” I answered, “you needn’t worry about those boys.  You are the only real man here!”  He turned and gave the guys an I-told-you-so grin.  But still that wasn’t the end…

Cliff felt that other men would benefit from learning about their God-given design.  So this past winter, he led a group of men through YOU-nique — or “MAN-ique,” as they preferred to call it!  In lieu of a celebration tea, they culminated their study with a B-Y-O-Steak Celebration! 

KnightYOU-nique is a non-gender specific study.  It’s for men and women, ages 16 and up.  Men, however, are not groupers or retreaters like women are, so it took one special man — a man-ique man! — to take the challenge.  Cliff went where no man has ever gone before and now there are 7 real men in Sunday School! 

So how about it, all you male readers? Are you a real man, not afraid to look into God’s mirror and discover your God-given design?  Come on, I dare you: Join the few, the proud, the MAN-nique!

PS:  Here’s a few of the men’s comments:

  • “From a man’s point of view, it’s good that men can open up with each other, find out how we are made and where we can grow with a true purpose because of our God-given makeup.”
  • “I’m very glad to learn that I do not have to stand on a street corner and preach!  I have a different set of gifts! I really got a lot out of men actually sharing their hearts, fears, and failures and supporting each other.”
  • “This program helped me understand my spiritual gift.  I struggled for many years with this.” I came to the realization that God never stops using me. I just have to have the faith to realize he will give me the words and actions needed to [serve] according to His will.”
  • “This is an awesome Bible study — a fresh new perspective on why we are who we are. I learned a lot about myself and how God wants to use me.”

 

**A separate YOU-nique Companion Guide (for Women) is available with all the directions and teaching notes needed to host a retreat and a celebration event.