Not By My Power or Might

I know I have been sporadic at best ~ lately ~ in posting. Someday ~ maybe ~ I can tell my story ~ so that others who are walking the same path can look at me and see a survivor BY GOD’S GRACE ~ and know that they can survive too.

Today my house goes on the market. It’s uncanny ~ I never expected this house to go on the market. I just kind of figured that I would retire here ~ spend my dying days here ~ but not so. It isn’t what I want but I’m finding out a lot lately that life isn’t about my wants but rather about what I ~ and others ~ need in order to be more like Him ~ the precious refiner’s fire.

This morning I was reading in Zechariah ~ not the easiest of books to read ~ but I came across a verse that has inspired me in the past. In chapter 4 and verse 6b it says Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts. God inspired Zechariah to write this in reference to Zerubbabel leading the people to "get with it" in rebuilding the temple. So I got to thinking this morning about a whole lot of things ~ how I cannot accomplish them ~ how I cannot walk through them ~ how I feel I cannot even survive them ~ and how it is only going to take place by the spirit of the Lord of Hosts. I can muster up the might and power all day long but in the end I will fail. With God all things truly are possible.

Open My Eyes That I May See

Have you ever just wanted God to write you a letter, send you a life road map, contact you by phone ~ maybe even send you a text message notifying you specifically "this is what I want you to do ~ this is where I want you to go ~this is how I want you to do it." At times I would think that would be nothing short of grand.

But God doesn't work that way does He? For if He did it would not be necessary to excercise faith in our lives. And our Christian walk ~ our very existence as a Christian would not be based upon what it should be ~ F-A-I-T-H.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). We have faith that God is God ~ that Jesus really is Jesus ~ that the Holy Spirit is truly with us. We have faith that our Lord is going to keep His promises ~ that He is going to walk each step of our journey with us ~ holding our hand and lifting us up ~ that He is going to come back for us someday ~ that He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords ~ that there truly is victory in Jesus.

Faith ~ a small word that means so much to us. And, so, today I won't be receiving a literal letter or a road map or a text message from God ~ but I do have faith that He will show me through His Word ~ through His Holy Spirit ~ through the guidance of godly men and women ~ "what to do and where to go and how to get there."

Have you ever heard the old hymn Open My Eyes That I May See? How appropriate for a morning such as this ~

Open my eyes that I may see

Glimpses of truth Thou has for me

Place in my hands the wonderful key

That should unclasp and set me free.

Silently now I wait for Thee

Ready my God, Thy will to see

Open my eyes, illumine me

Spirit Divine.

Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law

Psalm 119:18

My Moma ~ Jo Ann Bryant Morrow

Happy Mother's Day Moma! There are so many things I am thankful for about you but the greatest thing of all took place long ago ~ though it seems like just yesterday ~ it was over 38 years ago when I was an awkward 12-year-old.

My church in southern Kentucky was having a revival meeting in the spring of 1971. I had been to church my whole life. My dear mother had seen to that. When I was five years old I walked the church aisle to make a profession of faith because my two older sisters had walked the aisle that day. I remember not wanting to feel left out. I wanted to get "dunked" in the baptistry waters. It was not until 7 years later, at a revival meeting, that my mother made her way to me in the choir loft of that little country church and whispered in my ear "If you died tonight, do you know whether you would go to heaven or not?" (Picture insert ~ my precious mother who cared enough to ask the question.)

I immediately began to cry and made my way out of the choir loft and to the altar that night. I got down on my knees and prayed with the preacher asking God to forgive me of my sins and then asking Jesus to be my Savior. It is as if it just happened yesterday. The elation that I felt that night, and the days to come after, can only be described as wanting to "stand on the rooftop and shout to the world I JUST GOT SAVED." The next day I went to school and I remember how different I felt. My closest friend asked me "What is wrong with you?" I turned around in my chair and said "I got saved last night." That would mark the end of our friendship. Jenny was a wild and free spirit. She did not want anything to do with my new found faith. Surely it was already coming to pass what the scriptures professed in II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. I had become a new creature - the old things were passing away. I was not wanting to do those things that were not Christ-like. I was not wanting to hangout with the ungodly crowd that I had once associated with. And my life has never been the same. This is the single most profound decision I have ever made in my lifetime. It continues to be the happiest day of my life. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? If you died tonight, do you know if you would go to heaven or not?

Thank you, Moma, for this great legacy. And Happy Mother's Day to the best mother ever.

Farewell Georgetown Home School Group

Eleven years ago God called me to step out in faith to begin a home school group in the area where I live. I was, to say the least, terrified. I was currently directing a very successful group in a neighboring county - and frankly I didn’t want to "step out in faith." ~ I was satisfied where I was. But the Lord had really been working on my heart all winter long. I had taken an exodus from an addiction of soap operas that had lasted for 12 long years and my heart was open to do whatever God wanted me to do with my life. Eleven springs ago that was the greatest experience of my life ~ second only to the day I was saved at twelve years of age.

At that time there had been yet another school shooting and God impressed on my heart to begin a program that would help families to home school more easily with the support they would need to be successful. And, so, The Georgetown Home School Group was born.

Monday night I bade farewell to that "step of faith." God had impressed on my heart that it was time ~ time to hand the baton to the next runner. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. But I’m thankful for eleven glorious years of my life ~ thankful that God chose me to direct such an awesome group for so long ~ thankful that the God who called me eleven years ago will call me again to serve Him in some capacity.

I close with a walk down memory lane ~ come along and see some of the greatest home school families of all time.