Am I Approachable?

I have started reading a book by Elizabeth George called "A Woman Who Reflects the Heart of Jesus - 30 Days to Christlike Character". I decided there was a lot to go through in just 30 days and if I really wanted to meditate on each character trait then I would need to take longer. I am going to try to do 30 weeks to Christlike Character.

"Jesus is not some celestial untouchable superstar. He's a person who has lived where we live, faced what we face, and felt what we feel. That's why we can look to Him as a model of Christian behavior." I think it is sometimes hard to remember that Jesus did live on this earth and even though He still had his divine nature he also felt and experienced things as any human does.

It is so easy these days to "talk" to someone if we want to. We can call, text, e-mail, post, tweet and yes, we can still even send letters. Sometimes when we want to talk to someone (like customer service to take care of a problem) we can't reach the person we need. God is not like that. He is available 24/7. As a child of God, I can be in His presence any time I want. I can approach God any time I want. He is never too busy for me.

"He (Jesus) never seemed to allow what was urgent to get in the way of what was important." Elizabeth uses the events of Mark 2:1-5 to demonstrate how Jesus modeled this. This is the time that Jesus was preaching to a packed house and some friends of a paralytic man brought him to the house to be healed. Jesus didn't get mad at the men. He could have told them He was busy and didn't have time for this man. He was preaching to these people and it was "time" for that. He had an urgent message for these people. It wasn't time for Him to heal this man. But, He didn't react that way. He stopped His preaching and healed the man.

When I think about doing what is urgent or what is important, I think about the events of Luke 10-38-42, when Jesus visited Mary and Martha. Martha was busy doing what was urgent - the cooking, cleaning, hostessing. But, Mary chose to do what was important. She chose to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His teaching. I find myself, most days, being more like Martha than Mary. I busy myself with the things that I think are urgent and need to be done, but I tend to neglect the important things - spending time with God, my husband, my kids and others that I can be reaching out to and ministering to.

"From the story of the paralytic and his friends, who made sure he had an opportunity to meet with Jesus, and from numerous other instances in the Gospels, Jesus teaches His followers to be careful not to allow crowds, packed schedules, and busyness to get in the way of people who truly need help. They are what's important. You'll always have something that needs immediate, urgent attention. That's life! But ask God to give you discernment so you don't ignore sincere cries for help. Ask Him, "How would You want me to treat this person?'"

If I am busy with the urgent things then people who are important are not going to find me to be approachable. "To become more like Jesus, purpose and pray to be approachable like He was...and still is to you today and every day." Do not get discouraged by the ones that do approach you and take your time, but do not take your advice. Jesus had this happen many times also. Elizabeth notes about the events in Mark 10:17-22 where the man approaches Jesus and asks how to inherit eternal life. Jesus knew the man valued his money and possessions more than God, but He gave the man the advice knowing the man wouldn't follow Him. There will be people that do this to us, too. We can choose to shy away from being approachable to others, or we can choose to be like Christ and still hold our arms open. "God has gifted and prepared you with the help you can give to so many others who are sincere and desperately need what you have to offer!.........pray for them (the ones that are insincere) and ask God to again give you a heart that seeks to follow Jesus and be approachable. After all, one of the 12 disciples betrayed Jesus and yet Jesus still gave His life and blood as a ransom for those who approach the cross."

Desire For More

I want to know God more. Does that mean I pick up my Bible every day and read it? No. I want to be someone that others thinks of as a prayer warrior. Does that mean I pray for hours a day? No. Does it mean I even think to pray first in all situations? No. I want to be a better wife, mom, pastor's wife, friend, etc.... Does this mean I look in the Bible to know how to do that? No.

When Paul and I were dating we started reading the book of Proverbs together. Each day we would read one chapter and each pick a verse that we liked and tell why. I'll admit, when we started it I liked the reading together, but I didn't always like picking a verse. That meant I had to show how much I didn't know about what it was saying. As we did this, I was surprised at how much it did make sense to me when I really read it. And I enjoyed learning more and growing more. Then when I left in the fall for a year of college at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa, I tried getting into the habit of doing daily devotions. I struggled then and still struggle today with doing devotions. I always have an excuse...I'm not a morning person, I have 4 kids, I homeschool, I have so much to do around the house and church, and on and on I could go. What I have learned is that if I don't make it a priority to be in God's Word then I won't do it.

We had the privilege of being at my parent's church this last Sunday. Their pastor preached through the whole book of John in one message! Paul admitted he wouldn't be able to do it. :-) Pastor White conveyed a “Portrait of God” with one point from each chapter. I have heard a lot of people suggest that the book of John is a good place to start when a new believer wants to read the Bible. I now have a desire to go through each of his points from John and study them out more. I am hoping in this next year to really commit to reading the Bible. Not because I HAVE to, but because I WANT to! I want to learn more about God. I want to grow. I want to be able to say that I am fully trusting in God to get me through whatever I am facing each day. Will you join me this year in diving into God's Word? Will you join me in learning more about Him and trusting Him more? I hope you will. I am going to be working on a reading schedule for the ladies to do together so we can keep each other accountable and grow together. I hope you will consider joining me. 

Bitter-Sweet Day

Disclaimer: Sorry, I don't like the way the text looks on this post, but it is too late to mess with it. :-)

For those of you that know me, you know that I am NOT an early riser. Paul was up between 5 and 5:30 so he could go hunting. The kids were awake before 6. I'm sure none of that surprises you, but It may surprise you to know how I started my morning. Before I got out of bed I read Psalm 107. I wanted to read some verses about giving thanks. I got out of bed a little after 6 and by 6:50 I was showered, dressed and even had make-up on. I decided instead of laying in bed blaming Paul for waking the kids up, and making myself start out grumpy, I was going to be “rejoice always”.

I was in the kitchen before 7 and started mixing up pancakes. We had pancakes, oatmeal and sausage. After all, this was a special day....Levi was turning 3 today!

While I was getting breakfast ready I found out that my Grandma was not doing well and all the kids had been called. We have known this was coming, but it was still hard to get the news. Then all day I kept waiting for “the call”.

We went ahead and started school and were actually having a good morning. The kids were working good (maybe one a little slower than I would have liked, but that's for another time). We were getting a lot done.

Paul and his dad came in from hunting around 10 because it was raining and windy. They figured the deer weren't moving anyway. His dad decided the weather wasn't going to get any better and they wouldn't be going back out so he left. He was right...about a half hour later it turned into snow and it accumulated pretty quick and stayed windy. We worked on school until lunch. After lunch we finished up some school with Michael and he even chose to do more...Science.

Paul told me he would make supper and I could relax until supper time. About that time my mom sent me a text saying they had just left the nursing home and that Grandma was still hanging on, but her breathing was shallow and pulse was slow. A little bit later we got “the call”. From the timing I'm guessing she died just after my parents left.

So, it has been a bitter-sweet day. It was sweet knowing my baby was turning 3 today, but hard to get the news that my Grandma had left this Earth. Some family members have posted some pictures on Facebook this evening of Grandma. Some were of her and Grandpa from when they were younger. It is hard knowing I will never see her again here, but it is wonderful knowing she is seeing Jesus face to face tonight and is with Grandpa again. Grandma Hirtzel was the last of my grandparents. I am so thankful I had a long time with all of my grandparents. And I am thankful that they all knew Jesus as their personal Savior and I know I will see them once again.

As one uncle on Facebook posted “I thank God for every remembrance of you” Phil. 1:3

Give Thanks

I saw someone post on Facebook that today was November 1^st so it starts the “Thankful Month”. During the month of November a lot of people try to share something they are thankful for every day. I have been reading things lately that have encouraged me to be conscious of things that God has given me and give thanks for them. According to Biblegateway.com there are 52 places where the phrase “give thanks” is used (NKJV). The first reference listed is I Thessalonians 5:18.....IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS...

It doesn't say to give thanks when we want to or only when things are going good for us. It says to give thanks IN EVERYTHING. In every situation we should give thanks. Just as when we say wedding vows we say “in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer...” we should give thanks in good times and bad, whether we're sick or healthy, and whether we're rich or poor.

The verse doesn't stop there either. It doesn't just tell us what we are supposed to do. It also tells us why we are to do it...FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS FOR YOU. We are not to give thanks just because it's something someone says we should do or because Thanksgiving is coming up...we are to give thanks because it is a command. We are commanded to give thanks in everything we are doing and in any situation we are in.

Now, I know this is easier said than done. You are talking to the pro of only giving thanks when it is convenient or when things are going good. Why should I give thanks when the kids are disobeying, being crabby or are sick? Why should I give thanks when my husband isn't helping me in the way I think he should or isn't home when I think he should be? Why should I give thanks when I don't feel like it, when I'm having a bad day, or I don't feel good? Why? Because God said I need to!

Some of you may be sick right now or have a loved one going through a sickness and you are wondering when it is going to get better. Some of you may be in the “poorer” state right now and you may be wondering where the money is going to come from to pay the bills this month. Some you may be just be having some bad days and you're wondering how to make them better. GIVE THANKS! Give thanks to God for the things you have, for the time you have been on this earth, for the housing and clothes and food you have. No matter how hard things seem I think we can all find at least one thing to be thankful for each day. And not just during November, the “Thankful Month”, but all year long.  

Helping a friend in need

Recently some friends of ours (a fellow pastor and wife) were sharing with us that because of some financial changes and other things that SSI was saying that they had been "overpaid" for medical expenses for their son. SSI was expecting them to pay back $11,000!!! Immediately I started wondering how Paul and I could help. How could we come up with $11,000 to help our friends out. A comment was made that if 1,000 people donated $10 it would be close. Well, I couldn't let that thought go.....so when I was able to talk to my friend again I mentioned that I would love to set up a fundraiser web site for them if they needed it done. At the time they were still trying to appeal the decision so we waited to find out what happened. After trying many times and at different levels the appeals were not going in their favor. So, I got the privilege of setting up a fundraiser web site. I tried to research to make sure we used the best one and then asked them to put it in writing exactly what had been going on (so I wouldn't get the information messed up). I received the information and some pictures yesterday in  my e-mail so today I was able to get the fundraiser started. It went online this afternoon around 3:30 and tonight when I looked at it there was already $475!!! God is so good and I know He will provide through all of our friends and maybe even some strangers. If you are interested in giving....even just $10.....please click on the button on the right....Hathcock Fundraiser. And thank you for your prayers, consideration and donations! 

Lessons from mowing

If you read my article a while ago you will remember that I learned from mowing that I can't do things on my own. Well, yesterday I was mowing again and realized there are lots of lessons to learn from mowing. First, the neighbor can finish mowing his whole yard before I'm done with the back yard. In my defense, he does have a smaller yard and was using a rider while I was using a push mower. Second, when you have a dog that you don't clean up after, you need to watch out for the fresh “bombs”! Third, dogs (at least ours) are very trusting (or dumb). She would lay down in the yard a couple feet away from the mower. Fourth, my mowing pattern is sporadic, but organized. And the last thing I learned yesterday is I don't mow straight! I also don't cut straight with scissors and probably don't drive straight! Well, with the crooked mowing it got me to thinking about the paths mentioned in the Bible. I was first thinking about the crooked and straight paths that are talked about in the book of Proverbs. But, then I thought more about the narrow path that is talked about in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” As I was mowing I was thinking about how my path was a little curvy. It wasn't real bad, but it wasn't straight. I thought about how my path of life hasn't always been straight and I haven't always chosen to go down the narrow path. I chose to follow Christ at the age of 8, but there have been times when my life hasnt' shown that. I am not perfect (I know that shocks many of you!). I have been redeemed by the One who is perfect, but He still gives me the freedom to make choices. I don't always make the right one. When you read these verses in Matthew it tells us that the broad bath leads to destruction. It goes on to say to watch out for the false prophets that “dress in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves”. These are the people that will lead us down those broad paths and to destruction.

Now as I go down the narrow path I realize my path isn't always completely 

straight. Like my mowing (cutting with scissors or driving) there are a few curves to my path. I can go days making right choices all day long, but then there are days that I let a bad attitude, wrong thoughts, or other sins into my life. That's when my path curves...I get off track just a little. Those are the times I have to turn to God and ask for forgiveness so that I can get back on the straight and narrow path. 

View of Sin

     I love when I sit down to look something up in the Scripture of how many places God points it out to me. It's like going on a reading journey! But, it does make it hard to just write one page of thoughts. I started out looking up the Scriptures my husband listed for the daily devotion today...Matthew 24:45-51 and Titus 2:11-14. Both passages were talking about how we should be living as we wait for Christ's return. So, then that got me to thinking about conversations we have had lately about sin and how we view sin. Then I start looking at the Scriptures that are listed in the notes in my Bible for those passages and then think of passages I know and look those up and then one thing leads to another and I have all these thoughts going.

     One verse that I have liked since Paul and I were dating is I Corinthians 6:9-11... “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” I started looking at the context of these verses and then ended up going back to I Corinthians 5. As I was reading through chapter 5 and looking at the notes in my Bible I noticed that verse 11 notes said that “Eating together is a key part of fellowship and closeness with others. The Corinthians were not to have fellowship with those who claimed to be Christians but whose lives were dominated by sin.” Later in the notes for 6:9 it says “Tragically, Christians sometimes deceive themselves into thinking that God does not require them to live righteously.” So, Paul then makes a list of people that will not inherit the kingdom of God because they are not living righteously. Paul is talking to Christians here who should be living righteously, but instead they are living like the world. But, Paul tells us “such were some of you”. I love that phrase because it is really saying “and such were you, Pauletta”. BUT, you have been WASHED (spiritually cleansed), SANCTIFIED (set apart as God's people), and JUSTIFIED (declared righteous by God because of Christ's work on the cross)!! All of these things are in past tense. They have already been done! Paul pointed this verse out to me when we were dating to remind me that even though during a season of my life I had chosen not to live righteously that God had done these things for me. I have the choice to live righteously for Him or to live as the world would live.

     I have heard before “When you go _______________ or do _________________ (you fill in the blank), you need to pretend Jesus is right there with you in person. Would that be somewhere or something He would want to be involved in?” As a Christian God is with me at all times so I need to think about what I'm doing and where I'm going and if it would bring glory to Him.

     I Peter 1:13-19 says “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” We are to live our lives holy because our God is holy.

     I pray that if you are reading this and you have not accepted the free gift of salvation that God has offered us through His Son, then I hope you will do that today. If you are not living righteously I pray you will make the decision today to make things right with God and choose to live in a way that will glorify God. I also pray that if you know someone that is not living in a righteous way that you will pray for them. When they are ready I pray they will come to you to keep them accountable and help them along their way.

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

I Corinthians 6:20