Another moment of grace has happened. Let's be clear I'm not talking about God's grace this time. I'm talking about the lack of grace, mine. One morning several weeks ago I woke up to a bright day full of sunshine. This day was beyond a shadow of a doubt different from the days I had woken up to during the previous days. During those days the sky had been opened up and dropped copious amounts of rain, so this day was going to be a great day.
I rolled out of bed fixed my hair, dressed in a cute skirt, matching top, my typical high heeled shoes and went to the office. About 10:00 that morning the beautiful sunshine got the best of me and I decided I was going to run down to the local EZ-Mart on the corner of the highway and buy a coke slushy. I ran out the door of the office and jumped in my Expedition. I drove the two blocks to the EZ-Mart and pulled in the parking lot. So excited about finally being able to leave without umbrellas, wear cute clothes and decent shoes again I jumped out of the Expedition to buy the ever-craved slushy. However today my exuberance got the best of me and my feet went faster than my brain was thinking. The rain we had received the days before had caused the parking lot to become very slick because of the oil from the cars. As my feet hit the pavement outside my car they proceeded to slide! I finally managed to catch myself or should I say the pavement finally caught me, laying flat on back in the parking lot of one of the busiest intersections in town in less than a lady-like position. I quickly tried to jump up and pretend like nothing happened except my quickly was certainly not quick enough and I pulled myself up with the running boards.
I was wet, greasy, dirty, bruised, bleeding and completely mortified! By now I only craved the privacy of my car and I climbed right back in and drove home wiping my tears and cleaning my wounds.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Sunday, July 27, 2008
A Back-Breaking Moment
Every family has stories to tell. Most of the stories in my family that involve the "not so bright" moments involve my oldest sister Vicky. I am not being facetious only honest, read her blog. I grew up on stories about my oldest sister getting stuck in the cemetery, driving into log trucks, letting my middle sister nearly bleed to death, and so many more; however there weren't any stories about me. Little did I know today was going to change that forever.
It all started when my dad took a job with the De Queen School System. Each day he drove his big yellow school bus home and parked it at the end of the street. We lived on a dead-end street and the neighborhood was very kind about his doing this. Our house was located on the right hand side of the road and was one of the cutest houses on the block. My parents took great pride in their home and yard. It was always clean and the yard was always manicured. Our little brown brick house was the seemingly perfect place to live. With a long concrete drive-way on the right side of the house it seemed almost perfect. However on the left side of the house leading to a carport the driveway was steep and full of gravel.
One Saturday morning my dad decided he needed to clean his bus out. He pulled the bus up into the steep gravel drive-way as far as he could leaving the back side of the bus about ten or eleven feet from the ground. Being daddy's seven year old little girl I excitingly went outside to help him clean the bus. I am still not sure how it all came about but my wonderful dad gave me the broom and said get after it and inside he went. Talk about child labor. I was so proud that my dad trusted me to clean his big yellow bus. I was going to do the best job ever. I swept all the dirt out from under the seats into the middle isle. The bus was looking so clean. I went to the front of the bus and started walking backwards sweeping the dirt between my legs so it would stay behind me. What happened next made every neighbor that was outside working in their yards come running. I backed right out the back door of the bus and ten feet later landed square on my back. My parents heard me scream from inside the house and came running as did our neighbors. My dad in his infinite wisdom said we are not calling an ambulance.
Tucked away in the shed he had a dolly that rolls underneath cars to allow the mechanic to work. He ran and got the dolly and ever so carefully rolled me over onto it, then carried me in the house where my parents begin to pray. Within just a few minutes I was moving around and acting like nothing had happened. Once again God showed His mercy in my life.
To this day my parents nor my oldest sister has allowed me or anyone else to forget, Nancy backing out of a bus.
It all started when my dad took a job with the De Queen School System. Each day he drove his big yellow school bus home and parked it at the end of the street. We lived on a dead-end street and the neighborhood was very kind about his doing this. Our house was located on the right hand side of the road and was one of the cutest houses on the block. My parents took great pride in their home and yard. It was always clean and the yard was always manicured. Our little brown brick house was the seemingly perfect place to live. With a long concrete drive-way on the right side of the house it seemed almost perfect. However on the left side of the house leading to a carport the driveway was steep and full of gravel.
One Saturday morning my dad decided he needed to clean his bus out. He pulled the bus up into the steep gravel drive-way as far as he could leaving the back side of the bus about ten or eleven feet from the ground. Being daddy's seven year old little girl I excitingly went outside to help him clean the bus. I am still not sure how it all came about but my wonderful dad gave me the broom and said get after it and inside he went. Talk about child labor. I was so proud that my dad trusted me to clean his big yellow bus. I was going to do the best job ever. I swept all the dirt out from under the seats into the middle isle. The bus was looking so clean. I went to the front of the bus and started walking backwards sweeping the dirt between my legs so it would stay behind me. What happened next made every neighbor that was outside working in their yards come running. I backed right out the back door of the bus and ten feet later landed square on my back. My parents heard me scream from inside the house and came running as did our neighbors. My dad in his infinite wisdom said we are not calling an ambulance.
Tucked away in the shed he had a dolly that rolls underneath cars to allow the mechanic to work. He ran and got the dolly and ever so carefully rolled me over onto it, then carried me in the house where my parents begin to pray. Within just a few minutes I was moving around and acting like nothing had happened. Once again God showed His mercy in my life.
To this day my parents nor my oldest sister has allowed me or anyone else to forget, Nancy backing out of a bus.
The Healer
When I was around fourteen years old there were times life was not so easy. Although I had many acquaintances in school it did not seem I had any "true" friends. To make things even better God chose to "bless" me with a wonderful rash around my nose. It was a horrible scaly looking rash that at times was so bad kids and adults would appear to be absolutely disgusted by it. My parents, who were and still are, the most wonderful people decided to sacrifice what extra monies we had and took me to a dermatologist. The doctor looked at the rash and diagnosed me with a disorder called seborrheic dermatitis. He said this was something I was going to deal with my entire life that there was no cure only treatments. The doctor prescribed medicine and said to come back in a month.
Leaving the doctors office my parents tried to remain upbeat and tell me everything was going to be alright, but deep-down they were wondering how their baby daughter was going to deal with the fact that this would always be a part of her life. Several weeks passed and there were many days I claimed I was not going to school. The kids were cruel calling me horrible names and laughing, mostly behind my back, but it always got back around.
After several weeks of suffering, mostly mental, my mother begin pushing me to go get prayed for. As I had done many times during the recent weeks, I went to the front for prayer. This nights service was nothing special or so I thought. It was a typical Wednesday night. My dad did as he had done a thousand times before he put a small amount of oil on his finger and anointed my forehead and once again nothing happened. I walked away feeling let-down and as if God did not care. If He cared why did He not just heal me so I did not have to suffer.
Church continued on as usual. When church was over my mother said, "Nancy, your face is clear! There is nothing around your nose!" I ran to the bathroom, with mom close behind, to look in the mirror. It was gone! There was no sign of a rash! That night I quit taking the medicine. Thank you Jesus! The rash has never been back.
During that time I learned who my "true" friends were and I established once again who He was. What an awesome God we serve!
Leaving the doctors office my parents tried to remain upbeat and tell me everything was going to be alright, but deep-down they were wondering how their baby daughter was going to deal with the fact that this would always be a part of her life. Several weeks passed and there were many days I claimed I was not going to school. The kids were cruel calling me horrible names and laughing, mostly behind my back, but it always got back around.
After several weeks of suffering, mostly mental, my mother begin pushing me to go get prayed for. As I had done many times during the recent weeks, I went to the front for prayer. This nights service was nothing special or so I thought. It was a typical Wednesday night. My dad did as he had done a thousand times before he put a small amount of oil on his finger and anointed my forehead and once again nothing happened. I walked away feeling let-down and as if God did not care. If He cared why did He not just heal me so I did not have to suffer.
Church continued on as usual. When church was over my mother said, "Nancy, your face is clear! There is nothing around your nose!" I ran to the bathroom, with mom close behind, to look in the mirror. It was gone! There was no sign of a rash! That night I quit taking the medicine. Thank you Jesus! The rash has never been back.
During that time I learned who my "true" friends were and I established once again who He was. What an awesome God we serve!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Don't Mess With God's Child
One afternoon several years ago I was blessed to have a job located about a block from my house. Due to the nature of the job I very seldom left for lunch however this particular day I decided to run home and grab a bite to eat. As I pulled into the drive-way I noticed water coming out from under the garage door. Of course curiosity set in and I flung the door open expecting the worst. Little did I know my perception of "worst" was getting ready to change drastically. Upon scanning the garage quickly to find where the water was coming from I noticed something out of sorts in the corner, something that should not be there. As I looked closer I realized there was a man in the garage! A man that was not supposed to be there! As he hunkered down in the corner a strange boldness came over me. I demanded he get up, as he stood I said "Who are you and what are you doing in my house"? By this time he had walked and was standing toe to toe with me. My mind was saying run but my feet were glued to the floor. With what seemed to be the only courage I had left I did the craziest of things, I grabbed both of his arms and dug my fingernails into his flesh. I could see the expression on his face in that instance and he quickly realized he was dealing with an insane woman. As blood begin to run down the back of his arms I told him "Get out of my house"! I turned him loose and he took off walking down the driveway as if he belonged there. Anger completely washed over me, the audacity of him to just saunter off as if nothing was amiss. I dug my cell phone out and dialed 911. When the intruder saw me with the phone he took off running. For fear of loosing him I did the only thing a crazy woman would do, I chased him! As I was running I gave the 911 operator a second by second account of where he was headed. After crossing a main through-fare in our city and running a total of three blocks local law enforcement tackled the intruder.
As they brought him back to the house for identification purposes, and to file the report, the intruder was afraid to even look at me. I realized the boldness I had exerted in order to capture the man who was in my territory. Some might say that fight or flight came into play and fight was my emotion, however I say that God stepped in and placed a protective shield around me and allowed this "crazy woman" to stand firm.
As they brought him back to the house for identification purposes, and to file the report, the intruder was afraid to even look at me. I realized the boldness I had exerted in order to capture the man who was in my territory. Some might say that fight or flight came into play and fight was my emotion, however I say that God stepped in and placed a protective shield around me and allowed this "crazy woman" to stand firm.
Who Bathes In The Road
After having had several car accidents my parents helped me get, once again, another car. I was so very proud of my new Mitsubishi Galant. It got excellent gas mileage, drove like a dream and it had never been wrecked! At the time I got this car I was working in Mena, AR at the hospital and had an hour commute each direction to work. To say the least I did not spend a whole lot of time at home, but the majority of my non-working moments were spent on the road. This day in particular I was more tired than usual having gotten in from church late the night before. I woke up as normal, got dressed, fixed my hair and left for another blessed day on the job. On the way to work there was one section of the road that I never felt comfortable traveling through. Highway 71 North is not known for it's safe driving conditions and today was no exception. Approximately three miles south of Grannis, AR there is a stretch of three-lane highway. Whoever designed this section of the road could not have been in their right mind. With a solid rock wall on the right side, two lanes of traffic, a double yellow line, the opposing lane of traffic then a very steep drop off and to top it all off it is full of curves; there was no room for error on this highway. This Thursday morning there happened to be a pick-up truck in front of me with what appeared to be a large bath-tub in the truck bed. As we started up the hill I noticed the bath-tub begin sliding out of the truck. With a rock wall on the left and a Peterbilt eighteen wheeler barreling down the hill on the right, there was no where to turn. Every thought imaginable would be flashing through a normal persons head. I don't know but maybe the powerful name of JESUS, or oh my God I am going to have a wreck, not me! I was seasoned at wrecking at this point and I thought "I am getting ready to take a bath"! Isn't it funny how different people respond to different situations. I hit the bathtub and once again tore up my car. I continued onto work and called my parents, this was before cell phones, and told them the story. They asked if I was OK and they were once again thanking God for keeping his protecting hand on my life.
As the weeks went by, the car was repaired and life returned to normal my mother made the mistake of telling me, "Dad and I did not believe you hit a bathtub. We drove to Grannis and looked around where you had the wreck to see if you were telling the truth". Amazingly enough there happened to be a bathtub laying on the side of the road and it had been run over.
"Jesus Never Fails"
As the weeks went by, the car was repaired and life returned to normal my mother made the mistake of telling me, "Dad and I did not believe you hit a bathtub. We drove to Grannis and looked around where you had the wreck to see if you were telling the truth". Amazingly enough there happened to be a bathtub laying on the side of the road and it had been run over.
"Jesus Never Fails"
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Angels Among Us
Recently our local assembly begin fasting and praying for revival. As the days went by I prayed for God to send me to someone hungry for Him. Someone that was searching for more in their lives. While praying this prayer my expectations were for God to send me to the drug addict, alcoholic, homeless individual or even someone I was comfortable speaking with. Instead, God with His great sense of humor laid a couples name on my heart. Amazingly enough this was not exactly a couple I wanted to witness to. We had attended high school together and although acquaintances we were never friends, coming from completely different social backgrounds. As luck would have it these two people eventually married and began raising a family in De Queen. I was appalled at the fact that God would even ask me to go knock on their door. Not being overly spiritual I decided that it was wishful thinking on my part for God to speak to me and completely ignored His request. As time progressed the prayer and fasting continued and I felt once again I needed to witness to this family and once again I put it on back burner thinking the feeling and gnawing at my heart would eventually disappear.
One Saturday afternoon my pastor, his family and myself went to Burger King for lunch and to discuss who we were going to visit and invite to church. We were sitting at our table enjoying a juicy burger and I begin to relate what I had been feeling about inviting this couple to church. I told my pastor I was not going to go knock on their door because they were probably not going to be receptive to God's word. My pastor kept advising me I really needed to speak with this couple.
As we sat there enjoying our food a black gentlemen came in and set down at the table next to the door. As he sat there he did not eat or drink he simply read his bible...in Burger King. Of course being the curious person I am, I directed much of my attention his direction and was envious of the fact that he was bold enough to walk into Burger King and simply read his bible.
As we were leaving I carried my tray to the trash and spoke to the gentlemen reading his bible. He stated he was from out of town and had come to De Queen to give a word from the Lord. Of course this piqued my curiosity even more. I very politely told him we hoped he enjoyed his stay in town and of course invited him to church should he still be in De Queen on Sunday. The gentlemen turned and looked at me square in the eye and quoted the scripture that "...pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. I was completely dumbfounded that this complete stranger would have the audacity to imply that I was prideful. I bid him a good day and walked out to the car.
On my way out the door it hit me like a ton of bricks what had just transpired. I told my pastor what had happened, we turned around to look at the gentleman and he had completely disappeared. There is only one parking lot and we were in it. One door for entering and exiting and we were standing at it. Needless to say I swallowed my pride and invited that couple to church. They have yet to attend, but little did I know that when I invited them I told them our church was praying for them. The lady begin to cry and said, "Thank you, we have been going through such a difficult time. Thank you for praying."
I believe there are angels among us, messengers sent from heaven to confirm to us the magnificent power of God.
One Saturday afternoon my pastor, his family and myself went to Burger King for lunch and to discuss who we were going to visit and invite to church. We were sitting at our table enjoying a juicy burger and I begin to relate what I had been feeling about inviting this couple to church. I told my pastor I was not going to go knock on their door because they were probably not going to be receptive to God's word. My pastor kept advising me I really needed to speak with this couple.
As we sat there enjoying our food a black gentlemen came in and set down at the table next to the door. As he sat there he did not eat or drink he simply read his bible...in Burger King. Of course being the curious person I am, I directed much of my attention his direction and was envious of the fact that he was bold enough to walk into Burger King and simply read his bible.
As we were leaving I carried my tray to the trash and spoke to the gentlemen reading his bible. He stated he was from out of town and had come to De Queen to give a word from the Lord. Of course this piqued my curiosity even more. I very politely told him we hoped he enjoyed his stay in town and of course invited him to church should he still be in De Queen on Sunday. The gentlemen turned and looked at me square in the eye and quoted the scripture that "...pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. I was completely dumbfounded that this complete stranger would have the audacity to imply that I was prideful. I bid him a good day and walked out to the car.
On my way out the door it hit me like a ton of bricks what had just transpired. I told my pastor what had happened, we turned around to look at the gentleman and he had completely disappeared. There is only one parking lot and we were in it. One door for entering and exiting and we were standing at it. Needless to say I swallowed my pride and invited that couple to church. They have yet to attend, but little did I know that when I invited them I told them our church was praying for them. The lady begin to cry and said, "Thank you, we have been going through such a difficult time. Thank you for praying."
I believe there are angels among us, messengers sent from heaven to confirm to us the magnificent power of God.
McDonald's
There is something about the age of twelve with me. My parents and I were attending a rally at Brother Russell Lormands church in Hot Springs, Arkansas one Friday evening. At the corner of the main road and the road leading to the church sets one of the finest restaurants in the world, McDonald's. If you know my mother she is a McDonaldaholic. We could not pass a McDonald's without getting a Diet Coke and using a "clean" restroom. 
This evening in particular was no different we had rushed around from my dad getting off work late and decided to drive the two hours until we reached the McDonald's in Hot Springs to eat. We were having a typical dinner nothing special; hamburgers, french fries and cokes. As chance would have it we were sitting at a table located directly by the ladies bathroom door.
After finishing our meal my mother and I went to the bathroom. Upon entering the bathroom there was a sink to the right of the door and two stalls directly in front of the door. With only one stall being empty at the time I decided to wait. While standing there in the bathroom a well-dressed lady came out of the stall and washed her hands. Of course being twelve I was not much of a conversationalist. After drying her hands the lady turned to me and said "Can I hug you" of course I was quite unsure of how to react, so I said sure. The lady hugged me with both arms, then stood back with her hands on my shoulders and said, "Always live for God, He has great things in store for you and He is going to use you mightily". She turned and walked out of the bathroom. By this time my mother was rushing out of the stall trying to see what was going on. I was less than a little dumbfounded and my mother was shocked. We walked out of the bathroom and set back down at the table with my dad. As we begin telling him the story, his eyes became wide open and a look of wonder came across his face. His words were "No one came out of the bathroom". Isn't God amazing? He will use whoever He can to speak to you. He is not a respecter of age. He can use from the youngest to the oldest as long as we are willing to be vessels for Him.
To this day I don't know that am anything great for God or that I will ever be a great conference speaker, but God has blessed me time and time again and He has used me for His kingdom. I guess the question is, "What is great to God?.
This evening in particular was no different we had rushed around from my dad getting off work late and decided to drive the two hours until we reached the McDonald's in Hot Springs to eat. We were having a typical dinner nothing special; hamburgers, french fries and cokes. As chance would have it we were sitting at a table located directly by the ladies bathroom door.
After finishing our meal my mother and I went to the bathroom. Upon entering the bathroom there was a sink to the right of the door and two stalls directly in front of the door. With only one stall being empty at the time I decided to wait. While standing there in the bathroom a well-dressed lady came out of the stall and washed her hands. Of course being twelve I was not much of a conversationalist. After drying her hands the lady turned to me and said "Can I hug you" of course I was quite unsure of how to react, so I said sure. The lady hugged me with both arms, then stood back with her hands on my shoulders and said, "Always live for God, He has great things in store for you and He is going to use you mightily". She turned and walked out of the bathroom. By this time my mother was rushing out of the stall trying to see what was going on. I was less than a little dumbfounded and my mother was shocked. We walked out of the bathroom and set back down at the table with my dad. As we begin telling him the story, his eyes became wide open and a look of wonder came across his face. His words were "No one came out of the bathroom". Isn't God amazing? He will use whoever He can to speak to you. He is not a respecter of age. He can use from the youngest to the oldest as long as we are willing to be vessels for Him.
To this day I don't know that am anything great for God or that I will ever be a great conference speaker, but God has blessed me time and time again and He has used me for His kingdom. I guess the question is, "What is great to God?.
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