Greetings my brothers and sisters,
This has been a rough couple of weeks for Tom. He has been dealing with health issues and is in a great deal of pain. He has also had an older brother pass away this week. Pastor Tom will be back to preaching as soon as possible. In the meantime please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Your sister in Christ,
Becky
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Yea Though I Walk...
Ok, I should be taken out to the woodshed and lectured till my ears fall off!!! I have not blogged since July; I don't have an excuse but I do have an explanation if I may offer it.
I was hospitalized about four weeks ago. I now see that I have been a "functional" depressive for at least a year, by functional I mean that I was able to pull myself up and deal with most major stuff, but otherwise I was hibernating. During this time my blood sugars were slowing going out of control causing my depression to deepen. The end result was sitting on the side of the bed one night crying and wanting to die. Now let me make this much clear, I was not actively trying to do myself harm, however if someone wanted to set me on fire I would not have argued. My husband Tom was at his wits end with me and loaded me into the car then off to the ER we went. Needless to say the hospital kept me to deal with the depression and diabetes. I was admitted to a mental rehabilitation hospital to keep me safe while dealing with the physical and emotion damage.
Now by this time I was in bad shape physically, very blurry vision, unable to focus and I had this embarrassing habit of falling down with no warning (though I still argue that the universe kept shifting under me, gravity was NOT my friend!). I was obbiously was not doing well mentally, (mental rehab??? Need I say more?) But most importanly to me I was in a very dark place spiritually. Due to the depression I had not attended church services for about two months. I had totally cut myself off from the Body of Christ. I felt that I was so broken and so ashamed that I could not "pull myself up by the bootstraps," (my foot went through the boot!) that God could no longer use me or that I could never fulfill the calling he put on my heart. God however showed me through some very awesome people and a lot of time to read my bible, that I still had a job to do and this is a time of reshaping. I am reminded of the potter in Jeremiah 18; "This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 'Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message.' So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him." My shaping is not yet complete, but my body, mind and spirit are stronger now and ready to continue my journey with Christ.
I am not telling you this story for sympathy. I am sharing this experience because I know I am not unique, I know others are out there right now feeling broken-hearted and lonely and that God does not remember them or love them, but take a look a 1John 4:15-17; "...we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love..." I know that we are watched over tenderly by our heavenly Father, all we have to do is ask him, even in a very quiet voice for help. Have confidence that he will hear and send comfort and help. Sometimes the answer is not an immediate healing, often it is a nudge in the direction of help by others. So if you are reading this and feeling that you are worthless and hopeless call out, to Jesus. After all he understood despair. If you a friend or loved one; is there someone you have not talked to or seen in awhile? Give them a call, you could be an answer to a prayer.
Till we meet again my friends, may God's Peace; his Shalom be with you.
Becky
I was hospitalized about four weeks ago. I now see that I have been a "functional" depressive for at least a year, by functional I mean that I was able to pull myself up and deal with most major stuff, but otherwise I was hibernating. During this time my blood sugars were slowing going out of control causing my depression to deepen. The end result was sitting on the side of the bed one night crying and wanting to die. Now let me make this much clear, I was not actively trying to do myself harm, however if someone wanted to set me on fire I would not have argued. My husband Tom was at his wits end with me and loaded me into the car then off to the ER we went. Needless to say the hospital kept me to deal with the depression and diabetes. I was admitted to a mental rehabilitation hospital to keep me safe while dealing with the physical and emotion damage.
Now by this time I was in bad shape physically, very blurry vision, unable to focus and I had this embarrassing habit of falling down with no warning (though I still argue that the universe kept shifting under me, gravity was NOT my friend!). I was obbiously was not doing well mentally, (mental rehab??? Need I say more?) But most importanly to me I was in a very dark place spiritually. Due to the depression I had not attended church services for about two months. I had totally cut myself off from the Body of Christ. I felt that I was so broken and so ashamed that I could not "pull myself up by the bootstraps," (my foot went through the boot!) that God could no longer use me or that I could never fulfill the calling he put on my heart. God however showed me through some very awesome people and a lot of time to read my bible, that I still had a job to do and this is a time of reshaping. I am reminded of the potter in Jeremiah 18; "This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 'Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message.' So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him." My shaping is not yet complete, but my body, mind and spirit are stronger now and ready to continue my journey with Christ.
I am not telling you this story for sympathy. I am sharing this experience because I know I am not unique, I know others are out there right now feeling broken-hearted and lonely and that God does not remember them or love them, but take a look a 1John 4:15-17; "...we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love..." I know that we are watched over tenderly by our heavenly Father, all we have to do is ask him, even in a very quiet voice for help. Have confidence that he will hear and send comfort and help. Sometimes the answer is not an immediate healing, often it is a nudge in the direction of help by others. So if you are reading this and feeling that you are worthless and hopeless call out, to Jesus. After all he understood despair. If you a friend or loved one; is there someone you have not talked to or seen in awhile? Give them a call, you could be an answer to a prayer.
Till we meet again my friends, may God's Peace; his Shalom be with you.
Becky
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
My Blog
Wow, haven’t posted since March! I am ashamed. However, life has been crazy the last few months. Have been dealing with school, tried to double up on some classes to be able to walk in commencement in May. Found out the hard way that some people are sprinters and some are marathoners. I resemble the tortoise more than the hare. I had to slow down and will have to wait until next May to walk, no real biggie, I would rather take my time and do it right. Have been working on my degree since spring of 2007, it has been a long run. But, I would encourage anyone who has started their education, whether it is college or maybe you were not able to finish high school, DON’T GIVE UP! My mother left school at 14, got married had her first child at 17, was divorced and remarried by 24. She had a hard life, but she went back and got her G.E.D. at 50, she died at 54. I miss my Mom, and she is one of the inspirations that keep me going toward finishing my schooling. Wheeewww didn’t mean to get so morbid. My goal was to give myself a little pep talk while hopefully encouraging someone else who may need it.
Back to my original thought; what has been going on since March. If you have wandered over to Tom’s blog you probably know that we have transferred membership to Brookside UMC, here in Wichita. Since then I have become worship leader for Sunday services, have preached one message (hope to do more), and am heading up a special outreach team to our local community, Planeview. I was drawn to this church because of the location. I see this community in a much different light than most. Often people who know where Planeview is look at its exterior and not at the people. I see a community that is ripe and ready for the harvest. Folks who are searching for something better rather than someplace better. See a lot of the friends I have made live here not because of circumstances, but by choice. Some are second or third generation residents of this community. Planeview is home. So, along with Pastor Cynthia, Brookside continues to minister to this “flock.” We are currently doing a community outreach family fun night, “Thursday Nite Alive,” we are sharing a short devotion and prayer along with a simple hot dog meal, the highlight being ministry performances by local volunteers. My friend Joe is the cook, he is one cool guy, a real huggie bear of a man, and he may be gruff on the outside but loves his community and loves to cook those hot dogs. I have made other friends as well, a second congregation shares our physical church, Vida En Cristo is a Spanish speaking congregation. We will be blending both congregations in August. My friend Isidro is on the team that is coordinating these events. He suffered a stroke last week, he is recovering, please keep him in your prayers. I will be introducing you to other people who are welcoming me into their lives at a later date.
I will close for now, blessing to all who read this and share my journey. I may not know who all of you are, but you are in my prayers.
Becky
Wow, haven’t posted since March! I am ashamed. However, life has been crazy the last few months. Have been dealing with school, tried to double up on some classes to be able to walk in commencement in May. Found out the hard way that some people are sprinters and some are marathoners. I resemble the tortoise more than the hare. I had to slow down and will have to wait until next May to walk, no real biggie, I would rather take my time and do it right. Have been working on my degree since spring of 2007, it has been a long run. But, I would encourage anyone who has started their education, whether it is college or maybe you were not able to finish high school, DON’T GIVE UP! My mother left school at 14, got married had her first child at 17, was divorced and remarried by 24. She had a hard life, but she went back and got her G.E.D. at 50, she died at 54. I miss my Mom, and she is one of the inspirations that keep me going toward finishing my schooling. Wheeewww didn’t mean to get so morbid. My goal was to give myself a little pep talk while hopefully encouraging someone else who may need it.
Back to my original thought; what has been going on since March. If you have wandered over to Tom’s blog you probably know that we have transferred membership to Brookside UMC, here in Wichita. Since then I have become worship leader for Sunday services, have preached one message (hope to do more), and am heading up a special outreach team to our local community, Planeview. I was drawn to this church because of the location. I see this community in a much different light than most. Often people who know where Planeview is look at its exterior and not at the people. I see a community that is ripe and ready for the harvest. Folks who are searching for something better rather than someplace better. See a lot of the friends I have made live here not because of circumstances, but by choice. Some are second or third generation residents of this community. Planeview is home. So, along with Pastor Cynthia, Brookside continues to minister to this “flock.” We are currently doing a community outreach family fun night, “Thursday Nite Alive,” we are sharing a short devotion and prayer along with a simple hot dog meal, the highlight being ministry performances by local volunteers. My friend Joe is the cook, he is one cool guy, a real huggie bear of a man, and he may be gruff on the outside but loves his community and loves to cook those hot dogs. I have made other friends as well, a second congregation shares our physical church, Vida En Cristo is a Spanish speaking congregation. We will be blending both congregations in August. My friend Isidro is on the team that is coordinating these events. He suffered a stroke last week, he is recovering, please keep him in your prayers. I will be introducing you to other people who are welcoming me into their lives at a later date.
I will close for now, blessing to all who read this and share my journey. I may not know who all of you are, but you are in my prayers.
Becky
Monday, March 30, 2009
Greetings all,
I have been feeling very overwhelmed lately, as you all know I am a student and will Commence in May. But to do that I have had to double up on classes (needed a few elective credits to meet graduation requirements), anyway I can certainly tell I’m not 20 anymore! This testing my mediocre time management skills to the max. I know God will somehow get me through this, with God “nothing is impossible,” just hope I am still standing at the end.
I have been feeling very overwhelmed lately, as you all know I am a student and will Commence in May. But to do that I have had to double up on classes (needed a few elective credits to meet graduation requirements), anyway I can certainly tell I’m not 20 anymore! This testing my mediocre time management skills to the max. I know God will somehow get me through this, with God “nothing is impossible,” just hope I am still standing at the end.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
March 8, 2009
Hi, my name is Becky, and this is the first time I have started a blog. Tom tells me to just talk about myself, not an easy thing for me to do, but here goes. I am finishing up a degree in Christian Ministry, and then I hope to go to be a Licensed Local Pastor with the United Methodist Church. That is sort of the end of the story, one that started a very long time ago with God tugging at my heart to tell everyone I knew and some I didn’t about Him and His Kingdom. Long and short, I hope to enter full-time ministry soon.
Please let me switch gears, stop talking about me and tell you what I hope the website will do for people. Let me start by posing a question: What is a church? For some it is a group of believers meeting together; for others there has to be a physical building with stained glass. I tend to ascribe to the former rather than the latter. Church is less building and more people. The house church movement can attest to this. My personal feeling is that even if we are not physically together we can encourage one another, a good example: Paul’s letters, written to teach, correct and build up the church of Christ. That is what I hope this site will do. I would also like it to interactive, with conversing back and forth. God has used man’s creativity to promote His Kingdom, it is my hope he will use G.L.O.V.E. well.
Please let me switch gears, stop talking about me and tell you what I hope the website will do for people. Let me start by posing a question: What is a church? For some it is a group of believers meeting together; for others there has to be a physical building with stained glass. I tend to ascribe to the former rather than the latter. Church is less building and more people. The house church movement can attest to this. My personal feeling is that even if we are not physically together we can encourage one another, a good example: Paul’s letters, written to teach, correct and build up the church of Christ. That is what I hope this site will do. I would also like it to interactive, with conversing back and forth. God has used man’s creativity to promote His Kingdom, it is my hope he will use G.L.O.V.E. well.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wake up and smell the roses
Good morning to our own bouncin bubbly Becky;
You know we all love you, but then how could we not? Jesus chose you so you're a legacy and get in all the good places like Paradise.
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