Happy Wednesday!

The other evening I asked for prayers for a friend of ours.  Her name is Pastor Susan Rodriguez.  She was our pastor when we were members at St. John Lutheran in Grand Prairie.  She confirmed all three of the kids, taught me to be a Eucharistic minister and was one of my teachers when I attended the Parish Lay Ministry Academy. She also wrote a referral for me to enter Brite Seminary.  She is a very special lady and is in need of our prayers.  Bruce and I went over this morning and paid a pastoral care call on her.  I wore a clergy collar to make this visit as it seemed appropriate for this very special time.  It was a very interesting experience to pay a pastoral care call on one who has given me pastoral care.  

Prayer:  Holy One, help me not to carry yesterday’s burdens. I come before Your throne to receive Your mercy and grace.  Help me to take Your mercy and grace with me and give it away to those I meet who are carrying the burdens of life. Amen.

“But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.”

Philippians 1: 12

A number of years ago I was asked to sing a wedding in Indiana and had to go through O’Hare Airport in Chicago.  I had a carry-on bag, a purse and a laptop computer to carry.  All three of the bags were really heavy and I did not have any luggage with wheels.  O’Hare is a huge airport and I had to get from one end to the other to make my connecting flight.  By the time I got to my connecting flight my shoulders, arms and hands really hurt.

Our lives do not always go as planned. The apostle Paul had some pretty difficult things happen to him that I am sure he didn't plan on.   The tough things we go through in life can burden us down.  We tend to pack all kinds of things into our lives and believe we can carry them until our hands, shoulders, arms and backs cannot hold them any longer.  Some of us are so burdened down that we think we can no longer take another step in this journey we call life. Now if you will look around you will most likely find others carrying around burdens similar to ours.

God never promised us an easy life.  But God also never intended for us to go through this life without help.  So what do we do? We take our baggage, our overloaded baggage, our suitcases and carry-on’s and lay them at the feet of Jesus. 

I do not believe that God causes the difficult things to happen in our lives.  What I do believe is that God can use the difficult situations in which we find ourselves to open up the way for us to share the grace of Christ with others.  I think this is the really great part.  Our burdens weigh us down, but God’s “burden is easy and yoke is light,” because God carries our burdens when we lay them down at the foot of the throne of grace.

 

So friends, it is time to unpack.  It is time to give our burdens and cares to God and empty our suitcases of the stuff we have been carrying around and help someone else to lay down their suitcase and find freedom in Christ from all the pain.

Take joy in the journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. Count your blessings and say your prayers.  Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com     

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.