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2012 Prayer

"My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make ever effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus." Philippians 3: 10-12

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Uganda do it again Lord!!

Almost a year ago we felt that God wanted us to go back to Uganda. As we began our journey and preparations for prayer and financial support, about two months before the trip, it became evident that it was not the right timing for either of us. We did not have enough support for just one of us to go, let alone both of us and our schedules were not allowing us the opportunity anyway. We notified those who had so faithfully given both financially and prayers and were encouraged by the faith of many of you to set aside the money that was already given to be used on a future mission trip to Uganda for us.

When the next Uganda trip became known, Scott and I began to pray again whether or not this was the trip. It became more and more clear that only one of us would be able to go. Scott would be off for the summer from teaching and we felt that he should go this time. Scott began going to the trainings and preparing for the trip. The last six months have really gone by fast. We kept meaning to update all of you, but got tied up with graduations, moving (that is a whole other God thing), Scott completing his first year of teaching, and so much more that we find ourselves just about ready for the team to leave for Uganda. Not only that, but God revealed just last night that he wants Alicia to go on this trip as well!!

As Alicia was reading her bible this past Saturday morning she felt that she needed to share with the team going to Uganda what the Lord was laying on her heart for each of the team members. After everything was packed and Alicia was waiting to share, there was an announcement that one of the members was not going to be able to make the trip and that they were willing to transfer the ticket over to Alicia!

We ask that you would keep us in your prayers over the next few weeks as we prepare as best we can to walk where God is calling us to walk. There are many details and logistics that need to get taken care of. In addition, while the ticket cost for Alicia has been taken care of, there is still the cost for all of the things that need to be paid for while in Uganda (i.e. lodging, meals, transportation, ministry expenses, translators, etc.). This is where we are stepping out in faith as we only have to raise $1,000 of the $3,300 for the cost of the trip.

We cherish and covet your prayers and support. Please pray for us and our children as we prepare for this trip. Please pray for those who will hear the gospel for the first time (the many people in the village, the children in the schools, the men and women in prison). Please also pray for the individual who is unable to make this trip because of family crisis as it is hard for them to not be going after all of the time and preparation that has been put into the trip. If God is leading you to join us financially, please make your check payable to Tomball Bible Church. You can contact us by phone or e-mail to let us know of your intentions and we will let you know when and where to send the check. Tomball Bible Church will send you a receipt for your tax deductible contributions. If God is leading you to commit to praying for us over the next two weeks, please e-mail us so that we can update you during the trip.

Dear Lord, “Search us, O God, and know our hearts; Try us and know our anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in us, And lead us in the everlasting way” (Psalms 139:23-24). Amen

In Christ,
Scott and Alicia

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Praising God

The Lord laid on my heart this morning as I was praying and reading God's word, the old hymn How Great Thou Art. Since the computer was nearby I looked up on YouTube and listened to Carrie Underwood singing this wonderful hymn. Enjoy it today as you praise God for the Great God that he is. Lift your soul and sing it loud to those you come in contact today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhvaDJTUmrU

Friday, June 18, 2010

Quarreling Against Sound Wisdom

Words can not truly express I guess how I have been feeling lately. I have been reading so many of my fellow believers in Christ journeys the Lord has them on and have felt utterly not qualified or not radical enough in my own walk with the Lord. As I read about others who are trying their best to live each day for the Lord I find myself living each day with my own agenda. Like yesterday...

I awoke early to do a garage sale that got rained out a few weeks ago. It went okay, but not nearly as well as the garage sales in the past have been. In the middle of this garage sale my husband calls and tells me he met a 60 year old lady at Chick-fil-a this morning (he meets with two other guys every Thursday morning) and asked her to come to dinner tonight, but that he would have to check with me to confirm. I was none to happy about this for several reasons. First, I had already taken two different dinners to two different families this week (1 for someone else I didn't know, but he had met and offered us to take her food after her surgery) and we had a family over whose husband had gone through a somewhat similar experience we had with a church. While I was happy to be able to do all of that, it takes time and the burden of responsibility for cooking and cleaning is on me. Also, I am not by nature and extrovert so time around other people exerts more strength than it does for others. I enjoy being around others, but there is a limit and a time I need to refresh. Second, not only did I have a garage sale yesterday, but I had an interview with two ladies scheduled for mid-afternoon and I would not have time to cook. I was already a little discouraged when my husband came to help me pack up and transfer everything to our garage. I was on a tight schedule and needed him to help me. Needless to say I became put out with him.

I went home and got ready for my interview and then left. He said he would call me in a little bit to get the ladies number, but I was not ready to do that and he never called. The interview went great and I called home after it was done. Scott said we would talk about the lady coming over when I got home.

I got home and was tired, hungry (I had only had a bowl of cereal and a bagel and it was 4:00 p.m.) and I had a headache. One thing led to another as we discussed the issue and then I just left to take care of some accounting that needed to be done. He called and left a message for Nell and she finally called and said she could come. Scott prepared a great meal and had promised to clean up afterwords.

Nell came and we had a good visit. She is a single grandmother who works at the hospital's front desk. She brought pictures of her grandchildren and told us she had called a friend from her church and told her she was going over to some people's houses she did not. We ate and had desert and then we said our goodbyes. She is a lonely lady who, like Scott said, just likes to be able to be around people. We took the kids to the pool and then Scott cleaned up the kitchen while I finished reading a book I was reading during the garage sale.

This morning I awoke and sat down to read my bible. I am reading five Psalms a day and one Proverb. Each Proverb corresponds to the calendar date. Therefore, I opened to Proverbs 18:1 where I was tenderly greeted by God's word:

"He who separates himself seeks his own desire, He quarrels against all sound wisdom."


As God's word promises to be,

"living and active and sharper than any two-edge sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart"
Hebrews 4:12

so it did to me this morning!!

I know that in talking with Scott we were suppose to have Nell come over, however, because I was separating myself and seeking my own desires, I was unwilling to listen to sound wisdom from my husband or the Lord. (Come to think of it, I did not even spend time with the Lord yesterday. I wonder if there is a correlation!!)

Lord, once again I come before you asking your forgiveness for seeking my own desires and separating myself from the work you are doing around me. I thank you for your word that pierces me deep to my core even though it hurts my pride and selfish desires so much. I pray that you would continue to judge my thoughts and the intentions of the heart and I pray that you would enable me to be able to have the strength to walk in your way. I can not do it on my own. Even the things you call me to do, I need your help. Help me this day as I look to you. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Perfect Plans versus God's Plans

I have really been struggling over the last week in regards to believing I have missed out on some of the blessings God may have had for me because of my unwillingness to even consider walking with him in some of the opportunities he was placing in my way. For those who do not know, we purchased a house mid-May. We know beyond a shadow of doubt that God orchestrated this and it has been a blessing. However, at the same time, God opened a door for Scott to consider a pastoral position at a church that was not at all close to the house we just purchased. Instead of praying diligently and seeking God's will on my knees, I busied myself with getting the house ready and setting it up. I focused on all the things that we would be able to do now that we had our own house. I harbored selfish joy at seeing the kids playing with their friends and told myself that God would not take my kids off to another place they didn't know and leave behind what they finally had been longing for...friends. I told myself that God would not take me off to another place when I too was finally being able to pour into my own friendships with women.

However, on Sunday night I listened to a sermon that really convicted me. God pressed so hard on my heart the pridefulness I have had over the last month. I have totally turned my back on what God might have been wanting me to walk in and walked in my own ways. He is revealing to me that he alone is supreme and sovereign. No matter what I think is best for me and my family, he knows what is truly best for us. I struggle with not knowing for sure if God wanted us to go to the church that called Scott. I can rest in the fact that Scott did not disengage in what God was doing and he had total peace about staying in Tomball. However, I only wish that I could have had total peace from God in knowing that he wanted us to stay. My prayer is that he would, even after the fact, give me the peace that he wanted to give me during the process.

God reminded me out of Proverbs 16 this morning about how my plans fit into his. God states: "The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives. Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established...He who gives attention to the word will find good and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord" Proverbs 16:1-3, 20.

Lord, the plans of my heart were and still are my own. Help me to hear the answer of the tongue from you. My ways seemed so right in my own sight. They seemed so perfect, but LORD, you know what was really in my heart. You know what my motives were as I hid behind my "perfect" plans. Lord, I give my life once again over to you. I give my desires, my plans, my children, my husband, over to you. Help me to be attentive to your word as it teaches me to trust in you and not be afraid to follow in your footsteps without fear. Thank you for your "kindness, tolerance, and patience" (Romans 2:4) toward me. I love you Lord. Amen.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Satan learns languages from Rosetta Stone

As I was talking to my mother-in-law, Sharon, earlier today she was telling me about a conversation she had with my daughter, Hannah, the other day as they were out shopping. Sharon said that at one point she told Hannah that she needed to learn Spanish. Hannah told her that she was going to learn Chinese because there were only 500 characters in Chinese and it was one of the hardest languages to learn. Hannah then asked Sharon: "Why did God have to create so many languages anyway? Before Sharon had a chance to respond, Hannah began to teach her about the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). Hannah then said that Satan knows all the languages because he uses Rosetta Stone (an educational program for learning foreign languages)!!! I had to laugh!!!

As I began to think about Hannah's assessment throughout the day I was reminded that Satan does know all the languages and uses them to speak to every individual in their own tongue. Satan studies us and becomes familiar with our weaknesses so that he can kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). I was convicted because I should be studying God's word. The bible clearly states that "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

If Satan can be a good student then I should have such a desire to be an even better student so that I can know and fight back when he comes to my door speaking in my native tongue. Jesus set the example from the beginning when he was in the desert and Satan came to tempt him. (Matthew 4:1-11) What did Jesus use to counter Satan's foreign language fluency? SCRIPTURE!! Jesus had done his homework and we should too!!

Lord, help me to be a better student and become fluent in your word so I will be able to counter Satan when he comes to me trying to speak my language.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

35th Birthday

Well it is finally here. I celebrate my 35th birthday today. I am sitting here in the quiet of the morning listening to the birds and the cars go by as the sun is making its way up through the thick humidity of Tomball, Texas. I laid my head down on the pillow last night as Scott read to me a different perspective about sleep. Did you know there is a godly perspective on sleep? It was interesting and got me thinking. God gave us our sleep as a reminder of our limitations and our dependence on him. For the last few weeks I have been so self-reliant on getting all the things done around our new house that I have been a bear to live with (if you don't believe me just ask my husband and kids). I have recognized this and have truly been praying that I would keep everything in perspective, but it has been extremely hard for me. Last night was a good reminder for me.

In addition, I have been thinking about my life as a Christian. I have been a Christian for 25 years!! That seems so crazy to me. Since I accepted Christ at the age of 8, the majority of my testimony is what God has done in my life through him. As I have been reflecting upon this, I have been asking myself if God has been allowed to do everything he has wanted to through me over the last 25 years. The answer is an obvious NO!! And the reason is mainly because I am prideful and self-reliant!!

My prayer as I head into this birthday and the many more days God allows me on this earth is to "wait for the Lord." This has been a theme over my head for all of my life. I remember as a child, my dad would always tell me, "patience dear." My favorite verse was Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary they shall walk and never faint." On my 27th birthday, the Lord had me read Psalm 27 which from that day forward has been my life passage. All the verses in the entire passage speak to my heart so many times, but it too closes with, "Wait on the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD."

Lord thank you for another day of life. Thank you that you are not finished with me yet. Lord, help me to rest in you and to be dependent upon you. Do away with my pride and self-reliance. May my husband and children see a new wife and mother who demonstrates how walking and depending on you on a daily basis brings joy and peace to those around her. May you receive all the glory and honor from the work that you are doing in my life. I love you Lord. Amen

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

God Is...

Psalm 68: 19-20
“Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. God is to us a God of deliverances; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.”

I could not keep from having theses verses stand out to me in my daily reading this morning. I do not at all want to take the verses out of context since God is speaking of himself in relation to what he has done on Mount Sinai for the Israelites in relation to their enemies. But these verses not only speak to the Israelites and their experience at Mount Sinai, but they also speak to us today as the same character of God that was revealed in the Old Testament is also revealed in the New Testament.

God does daily bear my burden and he himself says so in Matthew 11:28-30. Christ states: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” The Lord knows I have been weary and heavy-laden with self-imposed work for myself. He knows that I needed to be reminded today that he is with me and he is the one who can give me rest both physically, but more importantly spiritually. He is the one who enabled me to wake up earlier this morning just so that I could meet with him before my household arose.

But that is not all these verses spoke to me. God is the God of my salvation. I have been studying in Romans with my ladies bible study class on Sunday mornings and God clearly lays out the gospel message and to what it contains in Romans 1:3-4. Paul writes that he is “set apart for the gospel (verse1) and it is a gospel that pertains to “His [God’s] Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.” God is my salvation because he sent his one and only son-Jesus Christ (John 3:16) who was fully God and because Jesus was born of the flesh as a descendant of David which made him fully man at the same time. Whereas I do not fully comprehend how Christ is fully God and fully Man, Jesus is!!

Not only that, but God is my God of deliverances (Psalm 68:20) through the power of the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4). It is only because Christ died and ROSE from the dead that enables him to have the power to escape death and to enable others to do the same. I believe the Lord laid this on my heart this morning as I was thinking of my sister’s friend’s little seven-year old boy who is going through chemotherapy because of cancer which was confirmed as a Stage 3 Wilms tumor. Their story is one that has brought glory and honor to the Lord as well as minister to many around them. In my own family, my children have seen the power of prayer for a little boy that they have only played with a couple of times and barely remember it. However, they have been able to see the special impact their prayers are having for Little Joe and his family. My prayer this morning is for Little Joe and his family to remember that God is a God of salvation as well as a God of deliverances. Escapes from death belong to the Lord. May the power of God be shed upon Little Joe and may God daily bear the burden that this little boy is bearing. Lord, I ask that Little Joe and his family not become weary, but will lay their burden at your feet and that you will over shadow them with your rest. In Jesus Name, Amen. (If you want more information and updates about how to pray for Little Joe, please visit http://kevinandlizturner.blogspot.com)

Monday, June 7, 2010

Building a House in Vain

Today I woke up with good intentions to spend some “quality time” with the Lord. However, I did not get the opportunity the way I expected to. The kids got up early (or rather I got a later start than I wanted to) and one thing led to another and I was unable to express in writing what has been on my heart.

It has been a really long time since I have had the opportunity to sit down and reflect on what the Lord has been doing in my life. Everything from my graduation, buying and moving into a house, and Scott considering taking a job as a pastor has had me overwhelmed and busy. In fact, it has kept me so busy that I have not spent much quality time in the word or with my friend Jesus Christ. Over the last few weeks as we have been busy painting and moving things into our house, I have been filled with an urgency to get everything situated and have ignored God’s desire to get my spiritual life situated!! What a wake-up call I had through God’s word. Part of my reading included Psalm 127:

“Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward, like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.”

This passage hit me hard, as I have been “building my house in vain.” I have gotten up early and stayed up late trying to get the house “just right.” I have focused so hard on the house and have been so stressed about getting it all done, that I have sacrificed the real gift the Lord has given to my—my family!! Lord, help me to not labor in vain, but to allow you to give to me even in my sleep. Help me to cherish the special gift of my children. Help me to spend quality time with them today so that they will know how special they are to you and to me. In Jesus Name, Amen.