High Fashion Design~ What’s New For the Well Dressed Woman for Spring 2013

Fashion Police, soft news shows featuring “infotainment” all have the latest on who dresses the best, red carpet fashion. Season changes bring new fashion from N.Y. to Paris. We see new hairstyles, new colors, new trends. They are continually changing so that we can go out and put our money into the fashion/beauty industry.
Granted, for this fun-loving woman, it is creative to see what is “in” and trendy. Though I look back at old pictures of my “big” permed hair from the 80’s or my “paper bag waist” shorts from the 90’s, can’t help wondering ‘what was I thinking?’ Then, I see my sis- in -law helping me in one of those photos at one of my daughter’s birthday parties and she is dressed similarly.
It’s fun stuff, but not the stuff that makes up a life rich with meaning.
Now that I am in my fifties, I definitely see the virtue of my mother’s teaching to stick with “classic” dressing. And, for the most part, try to stay away from the trends as they will be the pieces that get thrown in the “give away” pile one year later.
Much like “classic” timeless pieces in our wardrobe, Colossians speaks of the kind of dressing that we clothe ourselves in as godly woman.
In The Message translation of Colossians, we are instructed to take off the old filthy clothing that we have been dressing in..
“9-11 Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.”
Really? How cool is that? Custom made clothes without the sticker price that cause our tickers from stopping. Ha ha! God is so good.
Reading further, we learn a little bit more of what is “high” fashion in the kingdom of heaven, yet, timeless and classic pieces.
12-14 “So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.”
LOVE! Who would have thunk it?
Now that we have the perfect pieces of clothing, we need makeup to match right? So, let’s look at what the Kingdom woman of God is wearing these days.
Song of Solomon 2:10-14 states
[ The Man ] Get up, my dear friend, fair and beautiful lover—come to me! Look around you: Winter is over; the winter rains are over, gone! Spring flowers are in blossom all over. The whole world’s a choir—and singing! Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet arpeggios. Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed, and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms. Oh, get up, dear friend, my fair and beautiful lover—come to me! Come, my shy and modest dove— leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is soothing and your face is ravishing.

This is a woman who is loved. She is wearing the beauty of a smile. Knowing the love of God, her king.
Isaiah 60: 1-7“Get out of bed, Jerusalem! Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight. God’s bright glory has risen for you. The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness, But God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you. Nations will come to your light, kings to your sunburst brightness. Look up! Look around! Watch as they gather, watch as they approach you: Your sons coming from great distances, your daughters carried by their nannies. When you see them coming you’ll smile—big smiles! Your heart will swell and, yes, burst! All those people returning by sea for the reunion, a rich harvest of exiles gathered in from the nations! And then streams of camel caravans as far as the eye can see, young camels of nomads in Midian and Ephah, Pouring in from the south from Sheba, loaded with gold and frankincense, preaching the praises of God.”
The woman of beauty in these days will wear a smile. She will know the love of her God. This is the kind of beauty which cannot be imitated. Have you ever noticed how a woman’s face transforms when she smiles? When I was a little girl, I used to think my mom was the most beautiful woman on the earth when she smiled at me.
A smile conveys love and acceptance to the receiver. If we buy hundreds of dollars of products for anti wrinkling, glowing, more youthful skin, if we use the most cutting edge cosmetic surgery to tighten our faces with tucks and snips, if we use the most flattering cosmetics, it brings only surface change that wear off.
The glow of a woman that comes from the inside out cannot be compared to any worldly beauty product. This comes only from spending time with the Father.

1 Peter 3:4-6 “Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as “my dear husband.” You’ll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.”
Finally, we are going to put on the “coat” of praise. Isaiah 61:3
“and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

Now that we have our new Spring outfit, one could even say “I don’t need to go shopping!”
We could say that, but, not me.
God also gives us every good and perfect gift from above. So, girlfriend, put on those shopping shoes with me and let’s shop!

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When a routine pregnancy went terribly wrong, our God stepped in and healed me from choriocarcinoma. Choriocarcinoma is a quick-growing form of cancer that occurs in a woman’s uterus (womb). The abnormal cells start in the tissue that would normally become the placenta, the organ that develops during pregnancy to feed the fetus. Three months into the treatment, I was declared cancer free! It has been over ten years and I am still cancer free. God bless!

“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions.” Deuteronomy 32:11

Vertical lightening storm

My two oldest daughters are adults now.
It is amazing to me, that we all survived the training ground called teenhood. Is that a word?
It should be, like “down in the hood” or “can I come to your crib?” Because in some ways, the rigors of raising kids in the world today will make you want to return into your daddy’s lap and stay there for good.
This photo took me back to a memory of one of my daughter’s dates.

On this particular date, I drove Rachel. Her date met her at the theater to see some epic film like Lord of the Rings. I don’t really remember what the movie was, just that it was appropriate for her and her date’s age.
If you have ever been the parent of a teenager, you will recognize the level of anxiety when your child goes  on their first official date. Sam and I were very strict when it came to certain things.
In fact, we minored on the small battles, but stood firm on the major battles like meeting the boy, and introducing him to the whole family. This could be quite a fearsome test that some of the teenage boys either did not want to pass or could not.
One time in particular, Rachel liked a young man who was already working and living by himself. He insisted he did not want to come and “meet the folks”, so that was the end of that.
Fortunately, Rachel, though disappointed, told me she recognized the love in our rules to keep her safe. This was a true blessing.
Back to the date.
So, this epic film is in it’s third hour and I am sitting in the parking lot of the theater waiting for the movie to end.
My first mistake, and please learn from this one, was to wear my pjs. It was late and I was only “planning” on picking Rachel up and bringing her home with me.
I was not prepared for anything but a quick “pick up” and a quick get away. Isn’t that usually when life adds a dash of fun to the mundane?
Well, one bolt of electricity after another flashed  from the sky to hit the ground in front of me. I’m not kidding, close enough to raise the hairs on my arm. Then another bolt hit and another. It seemed I was in the middle of an electrical storm the likes of which I had not experienced before or have since.
I could not get onto my cell phone fast enough to ask Rachel how long she would be. After an interminable wait, she ran out of the theater and  into the car. I turned the key in the ignition and the engine did nothing. My only guess at the time was that the electrical storm must have shorted my battery because the battery was brand new. Just when things could get any worse, they did. A very nice and friendly police officer materialized beside my car door. Life, why do you hate me?  A teenager might say….                                               However, like any mother, I simply pulled on my “mother’s hat” and tightened the belt of my light jacket over my sunny yellow pajamas. And with the remaining shred of dignity I had left,  opened the door, since it was an automatically powered window and not a manual one.
The officer very kindly offered to help me move the car to a safer place where I could wait for a jump start from my husband.                 Oh, the joys of parenting!                                                                                                                                                                                                                               As I look back on that stressful night, the power of the electrical storm grips me in a new way. Just as the scripture in the title of this post suggests, our powerful and mighty God hovers over our young children and teens in ways that we cannot. So, take heart my friend, in the knowledge that as you are letting your young ones go, Holy Spirit is carrying them on His wings.

Safety from the ‘Monster Storm’?

A picture of a cyclone heading for the statue of liberty has been circulating the web even as the blasts of the hurricane Sandy in the East Coast die down.
Reports of lost homes, damage from 50 – 70 mile per hour winds spread over the countryside.
Many people have not gotten their electricity restored, and the re-building has commenced .
As we pray for our brothers and sisters in this side of the world, my thoughts have turned to our Creator who controls all things on the earth.
Perhaps the Lord in His mercy allowed the forces of nature to help stir us up to cry out for Him in this hour of need for godly men in leadership for our country again?
Could it be that the cries of the people for mercy in the tempests surrounding us this weekend help move the direction of this nation as we bow our hearts to Him?
We have been praying that God will turn the hearts of His people back to Him.
Simply put, God’s people, the nation of Israel turned to false gods, just as this nation has done.
We have turned to the gods of money~ “vote for me and I will give you a job!”. Comfort and convenience~ a baby is too much work, let’s just “take” care of it with an abortion. We have come to worship the athlete and celebrity instead of the King of the Universe.
As much as I am so grateful for God’s hand of mercy on many who were “unscathed” from this storm, many were not so fortunate.
Yet, I have to wonder if this hurricane is a blessing in disguise from God, his mercy to return back to Him?
How many of us turned to God in this hour as we heard the shrieking winds, the twenty foot tree that just missed crushing our homes and everything in them?
It certainly is a wake up call to see just how fragile we are in light of the forces that encompass us. Is God trying to tell us something? Is He opening our eyes to what lies beneath the surface of “life as usual?”
I have a feeling, that we have no idea what lies ahead for us, if we do not continue to cry out to God and vote for a man who represents God’s law, not man’s law.
If we dishonor God, He cannot “tarry” with us.
Our heavenly Father, whether you believe in Him or not, believes in you.
Yet, He cannot be near sin.
God is holy. He is righteous. He is the rescuer of the oppressed and the helpless.
We, on the other hand, full of evil, allow the enemy to control us with lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes. We are drawn to things that we crave, often sinful things, if we want to be honest and truthful.
Some of our desires are not bad ones, necessarily. A good job to provide for our family, a healthy, safe life. We long to be loved by others and live long productive lives. We want to make a mark in this world for good not evil.
God allowed His chosen people, the nation of Israel to be overtaken by their enemies. Because when they turned their back on Him in rebellion He gave them what they wanted.
When we see evil in our world, we want to point a finger at God and blame Him for neglect, for depriving us from His love. When in fact, it is simply that we choose our own dark desires over the desires of the One who truly cares for us.
This election, what will you choose? Life or death?

“I feel peace in this place…”

I was taking this picture when “Totty” called out to my friend and I.
We were taking a moment to enjoy some time outside the charming B&B we were staying in this last Friday evening.

Totty was walking by with her boyfriend and we said hello. She walked up the stairs and said something like, “what are you doing in this place?”

My friend looked at me to see if I would respond, “we are a group of ladies on a retreat.”

Totty asked, “what denomination are you?”

It took several seconds for me to reply that we were all in different churches but shared a relationship with Jesus.

“Do you believe in Jesus?” My friend asked her.

“Totty” a tall blonde woman dressed in a t shirt and flip flops, smiled sweetly, “yes.”

She told us what drew her. “There is a peace in this place.”

I want to cry right now, thinking about the possibility of this particular person walking by the hotel just at the moment my girlfriend and I were preparing to go inside for the night.

After some more conversation, we asked if Totty would like to come inside with us for some cake.

Totty beamed. She turned to her boyfriend to ask if he wanted to join us. He graciously declined.

Ladies in the cozy Great Room were delighted to see her.

Something told my friend to ask Totty if she would like prayer.

“I need deliverance.”

As powerful a time we had this past weekend, encouraging one another, walking on the beach, sharing the word, I will never forget Totty.

God bless you my new friend,our prayers will always be with you.

Psalm 27:4 “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

 

Reaching out arms of mercy with God’s wisdom and knowledge

He has anointed us to bring the good news to the broken hearted and set the captives free!

Have you ever felt the pull of the Holy Spirit to reach out and touch someone who has repeatedly rejected you? Have you been swamped with personal problems that never seem to get resolved and feel like God is calling you to help someone else despite your own pain?

This morning, it seemed as though I was going to God with familiar issues I have been putting before Him off and on for the last twenty years.
These problems are serious, and re-visit my life in what seems like a regular and systematic way. We all experience ongoing problems, trials like this at some point in our lives. We are tested and pressured on every side by life’s circumstances, old memories, fresh “cuts” by people in our lives. Sometimes, from the very people who we love the most.

In the past, God would, through the scripture, show me to leave my cares with Him and go to bless that person. This is key to forgiveness for me. Once I  bless a person, the enemy could not come in and accuse me again.
As the old hymn goes “shut the door and leave the devil outside.”

As I approached the throne room, it seemed as though God would not hear my cries because the issues weighing on me are ones that I have left at the foot of the cross. You know, surrendered to Him completely.
This time, I asked for His wisdom and knowledge on the subject.
As I presented the burdens, I was filled with anger at the outrage of the injustice and immediately asked Him to take away the anger. I asked for Him to help the people who are struggling.

Then, He did something new. God broke my heart with the things that break His.
Instantaneously, I saw in my imagination, a little girl on a school bus, cutting her own wrists with a broken pencil. When she exited the bus, she threw herself on the field ripping at her own hair. The children on the bus relayed her story of rejection and laughed.
Then, I saw the woman whose body is ravaged by disease, holding on to her last shred of strength to be healed so she could continue to live for her family.

And, I sobbed. This is the heart of God our Father. His heart weeps for the outcast and the broken hearted. He cries for us when we suffer. He broke my heart with what breaks His.
When there is no one to reach out to His people, how He must grieve.
Suddenly, my problems seemed so petty.

May we, as His beloved, become so sensitive to the hurting and lost in this world, we  will be available to share His love. May He give us the eyes to see them and reach out with arms of mercy, understanding and wisdom from above. May we be the children of His heart and continue the work He began through Jesus. And, may we do even greater things then even Jesus did.
Lord God, help us to be your arms in this world. Please help us to leave our burdens with you, pick up the cross and follow you into the byways and the highways where you want us to be. You have anointed us and appointed us with a job today. Let us see your hand move for the hurting and the lost around us. Let us see your miracles around us today.
We love you Lord!

One mom’s attempt to make sense from brutal attack on her son, sometimes it just takes one voice to make a difference.

The Driscoll family experienced every family’s nightmare when football teammates turned on her son because of his mother’s nationality. On the team bus, he was bullied and physically beaten as Mims stood by helplessly looking for an adult to intercede.
In the interest of taking a stand with the Driscoll family, in a few days,  I will be posting an interview with Mims. Please pray for this family at this time. Wisdom dictates their future decisions in the process of restoration. Thank you!

Like salt on a wound…

After the molar pregnancy the doctors gave us the “all clear” to try again.
God blessed us with a third daughter, Rebecca <3

After a rousing debate on my facebook wall today, I got to thinking about the whole controversy of abortion from the perspective of a woman who has experienced it.
Certainly, there is no judgement here, as my pregnancies were planned, finances were secure and Sam and I anticipated each birth with a wonder and excitement. I never faced the need for an abortion like some women do.
However, I did have a molar pregnancy in 1996. Interesting fact that I was at that time volunteering as a counselor for the local crisis pregnancy organization where I live.
My mind was strongly made up against any procedure that would endanger a fetus or unborn child.
When Sam and I learned we were pregnant with our third child, It was six years after our second born daughter. We were excited to learn that I was already about four months pregnant when we went to the ob/ gyn. We were trying hard to have another child and I would get extremely excited when I missed a period or was late. This happened often as I was not very regular.
I remember thinking how good it was that I was almost four months along because then there was less of a chance of any miscarriages.
I was considered high risk because on my last pregnancy I went in to labor at 28 weeks and was put on bed rest.
Our ob/gyn scheduled us for a routine visit with a perinatologist to get a more advanced ultrasound to see how the baby was developing.
After viewing the ultrasound, the doctor told us that there was no viable fetus. He said that there was “just a bunch of tissue”.
We went home and grieved. Unfortunately, we had told our two little girls that we were expecting another baby, so they were excited to see us back from the doctors.
I remember Sam and I grieving that night, somewhat in shock from the news that at four months, we no longer had a pregnancy. My belly was swollen and I had symptoms of pregnancy.
My mind went back and forth from sorrow to unbelief. Because I was preparing to be a crisis pregnancy counselor, I had heard that sometimes women were told that their developing fetuses were just “tissue” and not a living unborn baby.
That night, I dreamt of a baby sized coffin.
To this day, I remember that baby and have a deep sorrow from the miscarriage.
I needed desperately to see the ultrasound, so that I would have peace that the doctors were somehow wrong.
In fact, I was so insistent, that the perinatologist I was seeing took offense to my lack of faith in his ultrasound machine and/or his expertise. He was mechanistic in his response to my distress.
He eventually acquiesced to my requests, but, I was left with a bad taste for “specialists’. His words to me were “I’m not going to get into a debate with you about when life first begins”.
It was more then fine with me.
I just needed to know that I was not aborting a live fetus.
So, he grudgingly showed me the ultrasound which clearly showed no presence of a baby.
I was told that the tissue in my uterus had softened to the point of endangering my life if they accidentally scraped it and caused bleeding that could not be stopped after a D and E. So, it was a pretty serious operation.
We decided we will see our baby in heaven one day.
After taking a six month break from counseling and just taking care to fully grieve from the loss, I returned to my clients at the center.
One of the first woman I interviewed after miscarrying was in for post traumatic stress from having an abortion.
Very few people realize what damage is done to a woman when she aborts her child.
This particular woman was on public assistance due to lack of being able to focus on a job from the mental anguish she suffered.
We sat across from each other in the counseling room, and I will never forget what she said.
“It’s such a comfort to know that you understand what I have been through.”
Truly, God comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:4)

Never Too Old For Miracles ~ by Sharon Dewire

Never Too Old For A Miracle!

My father turned 90 years old nearly one year ago. He also celebrated his 65th wedding anniversary with my mother a few weeks later. His 90 years comprised mostly of being a hard working dairy farmer and bus driver. The children and parents adored their bus driver, “Johnnie”.

The farm and homestead stood on a hill overlooking a creek, pasture and mountainside where the “men” would go hunting and fishing on a yearly basis. It was within this context and setting I was abundantly blessed to be born and raised. I have so many memories of waking in the summer mornings excited to find what my father would be doing that particular day, in hopes to tag along.

My father spent the majority of sunny summer days driving back and forth from one field to another, loading and unloading wagons. He also had the job of raking the hay on hot days so that it would dry for baling in a few days. The tractors were always open to all the elements.

He wore a baseball cap and short sleeve cotton, button-down shirt of some sort and his long pants and work boots. His fair skin would gradually turn from white to almost black by the time summer was over.

I never thought much of his sun exposure until the early 80′s when there was growing concern about skin cancer. But, as the years went on and the warnings became more prevalent, I rationalized he was fine because his arms were the only exposed area.

He began to see a dermatologist on a regular basis to have moles on his skin frozen and removed. It had become evident his time under the direct sun damaged his skin. One spot in particular, required the doctor to surgically remove it in his office. It was cancerous and there was discussion of possibly using chemo or radiation to prevent it from growing back again.

However, when the biopsy came back, we discovered it was squamous cell carcinoma and that type of cancer doesn’t respond to radiation.

His doctors continued to watch for any re-growth each time he visited. Unfortunately, it did grow back two more times. Each time it returned, it grew deeper and required more invasive removal. The last time it was removed in the doctor’s office, the staff became alarmed at how deep it had grown and the removal became a near emergency. My father was bleeding profusely and they nearly took him to the emergency room because the dermatologist didn’t realize how bad it was this time. My father came home with several stitches in his head and was crying from the pain and recounting the terrible in-office procedure which the doctor attempted in an inadequate setting.

It was nearly 6 months since the horrible experience when my mother and I noticed an area above his eyebrow was starting to protrude. We managed to get an appointment for 3 months later. By that time, my father’s eye was nearly shut and the growth from above his eyebrow had become large and had grown down into his eyelid. Every time we looked at him, we felt helpless and desperate. It was a train running full speed ahead and we couldn’t do anything to stop it. As it grew, my father got headaches and no over-the-counter medication would give him complete relief. The choice had become clear- my 81 year old father would need surgery to remove the cancer and lose an eye in the process.

The agony of waiting for the day of his surgery and hearing him cry from pain as the cancer spread into more of his orbital region was more than we could bear. We started crying out to God for relief from the pain, but it just continued. Word spread to our church, relatives and members of other congregations as well. By the time his surgery day arrived, we were covered in prayer all over the United States and even overseas! Such a tremendous buoy of strength came from the prayers on our behalf.

I still remember the day of surgery as they prepped him and each surgeon came in to discuss briefly what they’d be doing. We all knew he would come out looking entirely different than when he entered.  He survived the  six hour surgery. After briefly seeing him and letting him know we were there, we went to the hospitals’ hotel and continued with communication with everyone.

He learned to adapt slowly to the loss of an eye. His depth perception was affected. He was never able to accurately gauge the distance of a step without misjudging and having some mishaps and occasional falls. But through it all, he survived. We were told they wouldn’t be able to give him a fake eye because the area they removed was much too large. So my mother ordered a new pair of glasses with one lens opaque so people couldn’t see the open socket area easily. Needless to say, to this day, he still gets many stares (especially from children) upon seeing the “man with one eye.” Children always ask what happened and their parents usually blush and ask forgiveness for their child’s curiosity.

So let’s speed ahead to my father’s 90th year of living.  As a result of my father suffering multiple mini-strokes, my parents now live in an assisted living facility close to me. We were slowly adapting to the new move and felt like my father was well enough to bring him over to our home for a 4th of July picnic. My mother requested I examine his brow because she thought cancer was returning in the exact place the other had appeared. As we were saying goodbye, I lifted my father’s baseball cap to take a close look. I just couldn’t believe what I saw. There was a large protrusion where the cancer had been removed. Instantly, I was re-living all we had gone through with the other cancer and felt my knees buckle beneath me.

I cried out to God to have mercy on him. After all he survived, did God find it necessary to end his life in such a painful, blinding, disfiguring way?! I’m not afraid to admit I asked him “why?” Despondency quickly settled in.

I had such heaviness in my spirit and was expressing my dreadful fears to my 17 year- old daughter. She responded by challenging me to pray for a miracle. I told her, “Oh honey, I know this is just the way it’s going to be for Grandpa. But if you feel so strongly about this, go ahead and pray for him. I just do not believe it will happen. Sorry.”

I missed his next doctor’s appointment and was frustrated when I called my mother. I waited patiently to hear what he said about the large protruding areas. She didn’t mention it and I finally asked her. She said she didn’t know anything else and said they were on their way back home. What?!!!! I asked her again about the spots and she said the doctor didn’t say anything about them!

When I drove to see my father, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The large spot above his eyebrow was GONE and the other spot inside his eye region was also gone! If one spot had disappeared, I would have questioned whether the cancer was real, but to have both areas gone as if they never existed, was an outright MIRACLE ! It truly blew me away!! The faith of my daughter and her wonderful prayers came to fruition!

I no longer need to fear the pain, suffering, and horrific disfigurement and witness the loss or blindness my father would endure.  Praise God!

One evening I was tucking him in bed after a visit.  When I leaned over to kiss him, his eyes welled with tears. I asked if something was wrong. He said, “No, I just want you to know I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. You’re the best daughter I could ever ask for.” I told him how much I adore him and how precious he is to me. He continued fighting the tears. After a hug, he said, “Isn’t it good to know how much I love you-just in case I don’t wake up one morning?  Then you’ll have the memory of me telling you this.”

Can miracles still happen to 90 year- olds? Yes, they can!  I praise God for His miracles and the faith of my 17 year old daughter! All glory to God!