THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

February 21, 2024

LIFE IN THE FOLD

On February 22, 1981, early on that Sunday morning, my mama transitioned to her eternal home in heaven. That was 41 years ago, when I was 15 years old. Mama was 48 at the time, which seems a bit surreal, considering the fact that she and daddy had five daughters and I was the baby - and I am now 58 years old myself. That fact that I've already lived ten years longer than my mama did makes me realize just how young she was when she passed away.

Mama had cancer for seven long years. She went through four surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. I'm not going to focus on that, but will say this: Through everything she went through, her faith never wavered and she steadfastly stayed committed in her relationship with God.

I remember coming home from school and she would be lying on her bed, on those days when she was hurting or not feeling well enough to sit up. I would go in and lay down beside her and her Bible would always be by her side. I will never forget that.

There's something else that has been on my mind for the past few days that probably made one of the strongest impacts on my life than anything else, when I was growing up. We faithfully attended church together as a family, and I had godly people that influenced me. Each night before bed we would gather in the living room, as a family, and all kneel and have prayer together as a family; which made an impression on me. Jon and I have prayed together nightly since our first night of marriage, because of this. But I want to share what probably made one of the biggest impacts on my life that helped shape my life to what it is today.

My mom was the youngest girl in a family of ten kids - she had two brothers who were younger than her - then two sisters and five brothers who were older. One of those brothers had passed away when I was about 1-1/2 years old. The oldest sister and her family always lived away. My aunt Ruth and Mama had a close sister relationship. The brothers loved my mama!! They had a bond with her, especially the two youngest, and it was obvious that they all deeply loved their sister! I remember many times they'd stopping by during the day to visit her.... or see if she had something to eat....or both (especially Joe and Jay!). Freeman showed up every single time she made homemade donuts. We spent a lot of time visiting her family at one another's homes. And when they came to our house, the brothers would ultimately end up in our kitchen to see if we had any leftovers.

When Mama was going through this battle with cancer, there were nights when the pain was so severe she couldn't sleep. Honestly, my memories may be a little different than my sisters, who were still living at home during those years, but this is what my memories are. Daddy would get up, call my aunt Ruth and her husband to let them know that Mama was in pain and needed prayer. They then would call Mama's brothers and let them know. Now, you may think, "Oh that's sweet! The family would get up out of bed, pray for her for a few minutes, then go back to bed and fall back to sleep. That's great that they would do that!" Most of us would be willing to do that for someone we loved, right?

But what they did went far above and beyond that! In about 20-30 minutes, we would see headlights coming down our dirt road and one by one cars would begin arriving. (I'm sitting here crying as I remember this and am writing!). My aunt and uncles and their spouses would get up out of their comfy beds, get dressed, and drive to our house to pray for my mama! They would gather in her bedroom and overflow out into the living room, and would stay and pray until Mama would say that the pain had eased and she could sleep. It didn't matter to them what time it was... what they had going on the next day... if it was hot or cold outside... they showed up when they got the call that their sister was in pain and needed prayer!

I have to say that that made more of an impact on my young life than anything else I experienced or heard inside of a church building. Why? Because I saw, firsthand, what love looks like and what prayer can accomplish! I saw family members living out those things that they had learned and been taught inside of a church building. Their relationship with God wasn't confined to just Sundays or Wednesday nights or to the inside of a church building, but they faithfully lived it during the week.

My parents and aunts and uncles believed that when they prayed, God heard and answered. And they saw the results when they came together and prayed for Mama's pain to lessen and her to be able to sleep. If they hadn't believe that and hadn't had faith that God heard, then they wouldn't have bothered to get up out of bed, get dressed and drive to our house during the night to pray.

I was deeply impressed by the love that my mom's family had for her. I was deeply impressed by their sacrifice of giving up sleep and driving to our house to pray during the night. And I was impressed by them staying and praying until God answered. Their love, sacrifice, and prayers for my mama, that I was witness to, was life-changing for me and had an incredibly strong impact on my life.

They didn't do it for money - because we didn't have any. They didn't do it for glory or applause, because I doubt that many people knew what they did. Daddy and Mama would simply tell them thank you for coming, before they left to go back home. They did it simply out of love for Mama and their faith in God. And they would tell my parents to be sure and call them anytime that they needed to; and they meant it! And my parents were willing to call and ask, without embarrassment or fear that they may be putting someone out of that perhaps they really didn't mean it or want to come.

Sometimes we need to be the ones who are willing to go the extra mile and be inconvenienced. But sometimes we need to be the ones who are willing to ask for help and not allow pride to stand in the way of asking others to coming alongside us and pray with us and help. That last one may be the hardest thing to do for many of us! We often don't mind being the givers, but it's hard to graciously be the receivers, at times.

I never told any of my aunts and uncles how much that meant to me or how greatly it impacted my life. They never knew!

Now, I know that those same people, as well as my sisters and I, and people from our church and community all prayed for Mama to be healed of colon cancer. She went into a coma a few days before she passed away. Home healthcare nurses were coming to help with her care and her doctor had been called - and we had been told that she wouldn't awake out of that coma. Family was in and out of the house during that time, and there were moments when we thought she was dying. But then one evening she woke up and said, "I thought you all would be praying for me"; then she began singing, "I need Thee, O I need Thee... every hour I need Thee..."

To my young broken heart, I thought that was a sign that she was going to be healed. I was expecting a miracle to occur!! But then a couple days later she passed away. I was broken and I wrestled with my faith in God. I woke up early the morning of her funeral and there was an internal battle raging within me. I felt as if God had disappointed me and Satan was whispering in my ear to just give up... that God didn't care and didn't love me...that God didn't listen to my prayers... to turn my back on Him. I knew in my heart that was a pivotal moment in my life and my choice would impact the rest of my life. I had slept on the couch that night and above my head was my Bible. I reached up and grabbed it and it fell open to Matthew chapters 6 and 7. I read those chapters and clearly remember my prayer. I told God that I didn't understand why Mama hadn't been healed...I knew that He could have done that...that I was disappointed and hurt and felt let down, my heart was broken.... but I was making the choice that I would serve Him and cling to my faith in Him. I knew that if I held fast and didn't let go, that God had promised me that blessed hope that one day I would see my mama again in Heaven, and at that moment, I needed that hope to hold onto. I am so grateful that I chose wisely that day!

Sometimes God answers our prayers in the way that we expect and want. Sometimes things don't happen as we desire and God doesn't answer as we had hoped. I can't explain all the why's and don't always understand. I do know that He loves us and that never changes, and there are times when we are required to just trust Him! I've heard it put to "simply trust Him". But there are moments when that trust isn't so simple. It requires effort and sacrifice and a conscious choice on our part. Perhaps that's when our faith is put to the test and we have to choose whether or not we are going to continue serving and trusting God and putting our faith in Him; or if we are going to listen to the lies of Satan and turn our back on our faith in Jesus. Or if we're going to try and straddle the fence with a foot on both sides; which never works well.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the Lord. 'And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your thoughts.'"

Sometimes I just have to remember that scripture and know that I will likely never understand or know why things happen as they do, but God knows and I must choose to always trust Him.

I hope you are encouraged by what I shared. Love deeply, be willing to set aside what your flesh may desire and make sacrifices for those you love if/when it's needed, and know the power of prayer! By loving, sacrificing (even when no one else or few people may know), and praying, you never know the impact that you may make on the life of someone!!! You may never know how those actions touched and affected someone, because like me they fail to say thanks, but it may be life-changing for them and bear fruit for future generations!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

We've mentioned it before, but Loretta showed a perfect example: God doesn't want our money. He wants our time, our efforts, and our obedience. (Okay, to run a church requires money; I don't mean to quit giving tithes to a church.) We are to love each other as we love ourselves, and don't hide it.

I Samual 15:22 quotes Samuel as saying, "Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience? Certainly, obedience is better than sacrifice; paying attention is better than the fat of rams."

More than giving money, more than sacrificing property, we should obey God. We should serve one another, and give comfort to each other. We should give our time.

Matthew 22:37-40 quote Jesus: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

ON THE MENEWE:

Quick and Easy Cookies

Mix the cake mix, eggs and oil together; beat until well blended.

You can add in chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or any other extras if desired.

Bake cookies at 350 for 10 minutes.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

When my mom was pregnant with me, my aunt really wanted her to name me Doyaletta. My dad's name as Doyal, and since he only had daughters, there were no sons to name after him. From what I've been told, if they'd had a boy, their plan wasn't to name me after him anyway. I remember hearing my parents saying that Daddy liked the name Carlos Andy and had that picked out, had I been a boy. My parents, thankfully, did not want to name me Doyaletta and passed on that name suggestion.

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Sometimes the most honest prayers we can pray are the ones that sound like:

This is hard. I am tired. Please help. - Ashley Morgan Jackson

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org