New Braunfels Bible Church Women's Ministry

Yes, the time of year approaches when many families will pile into their car, stuffed to the brim, and head off on a family vacation. This is, for sure, a time for making memories—of one sort or another. If we want happy memories, we need prayer, planning, patience, and a whole lot of grace.

There are many variables such as the age of your children, the distance you will travel, your budget, the size and condition of your vehicle, and your family’s different temperaments.

Some of us tend to like detailed plans, others not so much. Regardless, early reservations at popular spots during peak seasons are important. One advantage to lesser known destinations is smaller crowds. An advantage of down-to-the-wire reservations is that bargains are often available. If you experience an unforeseen delay, and you will be late for check-in, be sure to call to guarantee your reservation with a credit card. If you are staying with family or friends, call them right away with any changes in your ETA.

Depending...

Our daughter Evie teaches at an elementary school east of Dallas. This school has had its share of challenges, but interestingly the Lord has gathered a good number of Christians to teach and work in administration there. They have done a good job of meeting various challenges. This past Tuesday this school lay in the path of the largest of many tornados that ripped through north Texas. This was a God-sized challenge, and He—no surprise—met it well.

School had just been dismissed, and Evie and her friends were preparing to leave when they received the tornado warning. They quickly decided that they were safer there than on the road. They gathered in the library along with a number of students. Then the principal opened the back door of the school and saw the huge tornado close by coming straight at them. He flew toward the library yelling and frantically ushering everyone to a safe windowless room next to the library. One mother ran into the school barefoot just before the tornado arrived. Her car was tossed...

No, this isn’t about Goldilocks. It’s about the strong protective instincts of Mama Bear, and about ours as her human counterpart. These instincts are natural, God-given, and necessary when your cub is very young. The rub, however, is that it is also necessary to gradually let go and let your cub fend for himself, which is scary in today’s world. It is challenging to decide just when to protect and when to back off.

A safe environment is essential to your young child, especially once he or she becomes mobile. Your pediatrician will probably talk to you about childproofing your home. I suggest that you also talk to your parents about chemicals under the sink and pills within the reach of a young one. Pills, purses, coins and small objects will continue to present a potential hazard for quite a while. Water safety is another serious matter. Never leave your little one in the bathtub alone. Pools and ponds require extreme caution.

Then there is the child that climbs. Thank the Lord if yours doesn’t....

If you have ever researched the history of Valentine’s Day, you have to scratch your head. How did we ever get from remembering Christian martyrs to cupids and hearts, chocolates and roses? Well, never mind. Roses are lovely, but I did tell my husband the first time he brought me a big bunch that I could be quite happy with one or two in a bud vase. Roses are expensive and more so just before Valentine’s Day. I got two this year. Chocolates are very nice, too, but again not too many…for other reasons.

It is very nice to be remembered with treats and to receive loving words on this day, but older women are supposed to encourage younger women to love their husbands every day. (Titus 2:4) What an awesome assignment! Without God’s Word, I would not attempt it. My husband and I were newlyweds when we started walking with the Lord. I have often wondered what a foolish mess I might have made of our marriage without His principles. His ways are so opposite to the world’s that they may seem extreme to us. But no...

We had a chaotic, crazy Christmas this year. Our house was full of family, and at times family of family. Our grandchildren range in age from 18-months to five years. I am still finding objects out of place on a high shelf, where a parent put them after rescuing them.

One memory we cherish is that of Pippa, age 2-and-a-half, opening gifts. Everyone’s gifts. She would deliver them to the intended recipient, but she still thought it was her job to unwrap the gift for them. If a gift was for her, her eyes would light up, and hugging it, she would exclaim, “For me? Oh my!” It was delightful, even after several repetitions.

When I sat in our communion service this past Sunday, and heard an elder read the words, “This is my body which is broken for you,” (I Cor 11:24) Pippa’s words came to mind. “For me?” Broken for me? “Oh my!” I swallowed some tears. Somehow God’s indescribable gift was especially personal to me at that moment.

Do you suppose that when Jesus endured the cross for the joy set...

The Apostle Paul wrote from prison, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every circumstance, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”  (Philippians 4:12-13)

Many in this country are currently facing serious financial need for the first time.  Some are angry.  They want to blame someone.  They haven’t learned Paul’s secret.  Have we?  It’s definitely a challenge.

We’re rather spoiled.  At least some of us are.  My husband and I have faced some lean times, but we have never experienced the kind of poverty that much of the world knows.  We’re now living in the realm of plenty rather than need.  God’s Word warns us that spiritually this is a more dangerous place. 

It’s good for us to remember that in those lean times the Lord faithfully provided.  Friends prayed and gave.  One couple told us when they gave us very large financial...

It’s very interesting to me that in God’s word, there are no perfect families.  There are a few men  that have nothing recorded to their discredit.  That’s not to say they were without sin.  That is only true of Jesus.  But some, like Joseph and Daniel, trusted the Lord and honored Him through thick and thin.

But families, no way.  Every family has a skeleton or two.  So does ours.  In fact when our younger daughter had an assignment to make a family tree for a sociology class in college, she used a double layer of poster-board and made doors that opened, some revealing a skeleton.  She got an “A.”  She and her sister both used to play my-family-is-weirder-than-your-family with college friends, and they usually won.

But both our girls called home as college freshmen to tell us how thankful they were for us, for our immediate family.  With the Lord’s help, we have been able to break the mold.  We have a great marriage and a close relationship with our girls.  They are very close also.

Some...

If you are involved in a church, a small group or a Bible study, you never know when the Lord may put it on someone’s heart to pray for you.  Most likely it will be at a time when you really need it.

Yvette, a young mom, was struggling with postpartum depression.  She would only rouse herself to change and feed her baby.  The laundry and dishes were piling up, but she could not face them.  She had been involved in a large Bible study before her baby came.

One day the assistant director of this study whose name was JoAnn was ironing.  She asked the Lord, “Who needs some prayer?”  Yvette popped before her eyes.  She didn’t really know her, but she knew her Lord did, so as she ironed she held this young mom up before the Lord.  Later she was moved to call her.  The young mom was so blessed and encouraged.  She shared that at the time JoAnn started praying for her, she found the energy to get up and start dealing with the laundry.

The young mom above was pediatrician.  She had things together...

Some of us seem to lack the gene for order and tidiness.  It doesn’t come naturally for us to pick up, put away, stack in tidy piles, or close cupboard doors and drawers.  We may have an abundance of creativity and fun ideas, but some of these result in more mess.

This can easily reach the point of chaos.  It becomes difficult to find things.  We forget an important date–because the date book was buried. That’s why the operative phrase in our house is always, “Oh, it’s under...”  The thought of friends dropping in, not to mention one’s mother-in-law, nearly brings on an anxiety attack. 

But “God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.”  I Corinthians 14:33  Yes, I confess that I yanked this verse out of context, but it’s true and applicable here.  I have experienced the connection between peace and order in our home.

I struggle with order, but I long ago decided that it’s a desirable and worthy goal.  I bought The Messie Manual, a book of tips for confirmed but repentant “messies.”  I applied...