WHEN DEATH BECOMES BIRTH BY MAX LUCADO (DELIVERED BY LINDA PEEL)

My father in law Shirley Peel died 8/8/08 at the age of 94. This is the message that I shared at his funeral yesterday.

One Saturday several weeks ago, I was reading a weekly e-mail devotion by Max Lucado entitled "When Death Becomes Birth". If you are not familiar with Max, he is a minister in San Antonio TEXAS as well as a prolific author of Christian books and Bible studies. While I was reading, the phone rang with the news that Shirley's blood pressure was dangerously low and we needed to come to the hospital right away. To me the timing of the phone call and the arrival of that e-mail from Max was a "God Moment".
Shirley did not die that day. He recovered enough to return to Sayre Christian Village and I tucked the devotional away in my memory.

On Friday August 8th Ernie called to tell me that his father had died. Just like that Saturday in July, I thought about God's perfect timing. Shirley's wife Anita was born on August 9th and now, after being apart for almost 20 years, they would be together to celebrate.
Ernie and his sisters have graciously allowed me the privilege of sharing Max Lucado's Devotional as part of the service today.

WHEN DEATH BECOMES BIRTH

Heaven enjoys a maternity ward reaction to funerals. Angels watch body burials the same way grandparents monitor delivery room doors. "He'll be coming through any minute!" They can't wait to see the new arrival. While we are driving hearses and wearing black, the angels are hanging pink and blue streamers and rejoicing. Just as we on earth don't grieve when babies enter the world, the hosts of heaven don't weep when we leave it. Dread of death ends when you know that heaven is your true home.
Max says "In all my air travels I have never seen one passenger weep when the plane landed. Never! No one clings to the armrests and begs 'Don't make me leave. Don't make me leave. Let me stay on and eat more peanuts." We are willing to exit because the plane has no permanent mailing address. Nor does this world.
Phillipians 3:20-21 says : But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.

It is right for us to weep, but there is no need for us to despair. Shirley had pain here but he has none in Heaven. He struggled here but he has no struggles there. You and I might wonder why God took Shirley home but Shirley doesn't. He understands. At this very moment Shirley is at peace in the presence of God.

NUMBERS

10,000
This number comes from the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness".
...blessings all mine with ten thousand beside!...
I have just returned from Beth Moore's LIVING PROOF LIVE weekend in Louisville and if you attended you already know about blessings. How about seeing Beth dance up a storm while singing "take these shackles off so I can dance?" If you did not have the privelege of attending let me tell you that she was praising, teaching, praying, laughing and dancing while wearing RED and BLACK. Way to give a SHOUT OUT to ULCARDSFAN. Thank You BETH.
I was blessed by attending the event with my dear friend Karen and spending time with her laughing, eating, and reminising.
I was blessed by being able to visit with my parents before heading back to Lexington ( and bringing homemade sourdough bread and chocolate chip cookies home with me).
I was blessed to return home to a husband and a daughter who were glad to see me and three dogs who greeted me like I had just returned from a one year absence!
I was blessed by a card that had come in the mail while I was gone from Preacher Kim. I expected the check to reimburse me for the LPL shirt she had asked me to pick up. What I didn't expect was a card on which she had written such sweet thoughts that it brought tears to my eyes and a CD she made called "Tub Tunes". Thank you Kim. I "Love you to the stars and back" too.

398
This is the number of days between the time I ordered my tickets and the actual event.

100
This is the harvest I am expecting-- 100 fold. I am a woman of means and substance and I plan to be competently competent and become like the sower of the seed (GOD'S WORD) in Luke 8:8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.

7
This is the number of Beth's teachings to reach MAXIMUM IMPACT ( 100 fold harvest)
Treasure the wonder.
Protect your heart.
Expect the test.
Dig the roots.
Stop the choke.
Retain the WORD.
Press forth to your 100-fold harvest.

4
This is the number of kinds of hearers of the WORD (LUKE 8: 5-8)
AND the number of KY. SIESTAS that I met at my hotel and in the
Lifeway bookstore at the event (Hey Amy H., Katie, Karen, and Tracie).




2
This is the all too short number of days I got to spend with Beth

1
This is the number for our Almighty, Everlasting, Healer, Redeemer God
who loves us so much that He made the ultimate sacrifice so that we
would be able to spend Eternity with HIM.

LINDA IS OUT OF THIS WORLD

At least that is what my mother says. She thinks she has a perfect daughter (and I know she is talking about me because I am an only child).

But I want people to say Linda is OUT OF THIS WORLD for another reason. Here is how scripture addresses this:

• Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2
• What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Matthew 16:26
• Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives... John14:27
• In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33
• How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. 1John 3: 1

My online sisters and I are working hard to lay down our wordly IDOLS so that we may look more like our Heavenly Father. We want people to see us and say " You are OUT OF THIS WORLD".

Prayer, Does it make any difference?

This is actually the title of a book by Phillip Yancy but I wonder what you believe about prayer.

Do you feel like you are just giving your "wish list" to an unapproachable God somewhere "out there" who will grant your wishes if :a) you are good enough b) He feels like it c) He isn't listening so there is no point in praying ?

Or do you know the wonderful privilege we have to "approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" Hebrews 4:16

Yancy says that we think about prayer in the wrong direction ." We start downstream with our own concerns and bring them to God. We inform God, as if God did not already know. We plead with God, as if hoping to change God's mind and overcome divine reluctance. Instead, we should start upstream where the flow begins. When we shift direction, we realize that God already cares about our concerns more than we do. Grace, like water, descends to the lowest part. Streams of mercy flow. We begin with God, who bears primary responsibility for what happens on earth, and ask what part we can play in God's work on earth."

"Prayer is the act of seeing reality from God's point of view"

"To pray is to walk in the full light of God, and to say simply, without holding back, 'I am human, and You are God'"

Don't worry. I am not going to quote the entire book, but I do recommend reading it.

Now to some things I have learned about prayer:

Prayer is an on going conversation, not a five minute "here is what I need /want God and here is the way I want you to do it"

Praying for others, even those you may have never met in person , creates an unexplainable and everlasting bond with the one you are praying for and the ones you are praying with.

Relationships need time and communication to deepen. We can't experience the fullness of God if we only spend 5 minutes "talking" to Him before our head hits the pillow each night.

Prayer, Does it make any difference? ABSOLUTELY

MIGHTY TO SAVE

We were in Louisville Saturday and I heard a song on their Christian Radio station by a group I was unfamiliar with (Laura's Story, I think). Coming back Sunday I heard the same song. Today the words have been playing in my head, and occasionally coming out my mouth (at work no less).

The song was not really familiar to me. It was a modern praise song I think. I have always attended churches with traditional music programs (hymns, anthems,)and I would not want it any other way. This is my worship music. It ties me to past generations and feeds me spiritually.

I love to listen to contemporary Christian music on the radio, on CDS and at concerts. It just is not my worship style at church.

I can hear some of you saying ( or at least the 2 of you that read my BLOG) WHERE is she going with this!

When something is repeated over and over it is most likely God's voice. Many of you know these words much better than I but here is what spoke to me:

Savior He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

I have been praying for people who are in DESPERATE situations; divorce, health problems, struggles with belief
I think God was letting me know that He hears our cries.
HE CAN MOVE THE MOUNTAINS.

OUR GOD IS MIGHTY TO SAVE.

Hold fast to these promises.

Happy Birthday Mama

Today is my mother's birthday. I am blessed to have two wonderful parents. For most of my life I thought this was the norm, everyone's experience. But I have found out that some people don't even LIKE their parents.

Happy Birthday Mama. I thank God everyday for you.

Love, LINDA

Sheryl, This One's for YOU

For those of you reading this who may not know me let me tell you a little about my computing skills. I took typing in 1970 and what you call(correctly I might add) the monitor, I refer to it as my computer. That said, I never intended to really BLOG. I just wanted somewhere to record a miracle that my family experienced. Since that start in OCT. I have posted exactly 3 more times. Today my friend Sheryl said that if I was going to have a blog,I needed to post so Sheryl, THIS ONE's FOR YOU.

I have never "met" Sheryl but I know a lot about her and I want to share some of the things I have learned.

1. She is a faithful lover of GOD. In the midst of some very difficult circumstances she continues to pray and trust God.

2. She is a gifted writer and communicator. She has touched many of us in the online community with her encouraging and honest words.

3. She thinks I am funny; OLD but funny.

4.She is a prayer warrior. Although Sheryl herself is experiencing some hard things in her life, she is always lifing others up to the throne of God. I am deeply grateful to her for this.

5.She can facilitate a CHAT room like nobody's business. She keeps the discussion moving and includes EVERYONE.

6. She thinks I am funny.

7. She did not like one of my favorite books THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES and she is working hard to get me to give up watching the YOUNG and The RESTLESS .

8. She loves her children .

Now you know a little bit about my new friend Sheryl and I can say that I have posted 4 times!!!!