For some reason today after my devotions, I found myself reminiscing.  For some reason the Roy Rogers song “Happy Trails” popped into my mind. For many of you reading this you have only heard “old people” talk about Roy Rogers and “Happy Trails” and it means absolutely nothing to you. Then my mind went to Bob Hope’s “Thanks for the Memories.” What is going on? Am I in some time machine? Before you become overly concerned, no, I haven’t “lost it.” All of those past memories caused me to spend time thanking the Lord for the journey. Thirty-two years of ministry has come and gone, and there have been multiple challenges, highs and lows. I wouldn’t want to repeat it, but I can honestly say “Thank you Lord.”

Then my mind turns to my wife, Rodetta, and thirty-two years of marriage. Wow! What a journey. We were both too young to get married, but young love is often blind. We have had many financial struggles, health challenges, multiple surgeries, moving all over the country, both of us cancer survivors, dealing with the expectations (more often than not unrealistic expectations).  But, as I look back it is very clear that God blessed me with a wife, called to the work of ministry, one equipped to stand beside her husband in good times and bad times. So, Rodetta, thanks for traveling beside me all these years.

Now for the real purpose of writing this blog. As I look back over the years I give thanks to God for His faithfulness, but I also see the past journey as preparation for the rest of the journey. I am looking forward to the future as never before. I am convinced that the journey ahead is going to be filled with opportunities beyond anything I can imagine. The “Wow God” moments of the past were all field training for the future.

Thank you Lord for entrusting me with challenges, painful experiences, great people and difficult people. Thank you Lord for the past journey because I know the past was all preparation for the rest of the journey. Thank you Lord for birthing a sense of excitement for the future. I can’t see too far down the road, but because of the sweet memories of the past, I am excited about the rest of the trip.

Life is tough! You’re response to that would be “tell me something I don’t know.” During these uncertain times I find the need to be reminded of some of the basic truths of my standing in Christ. The truth I need today is Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”

The power that is appropriated to me as a child of God is the same power God used to raise Christ from the grave. Ephesians 1:19-20 “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.”  With that in mind, is there any question as to why Paul would declare that the power of God living in us goes beyond anything we can measure or imagine.

How would life change for us if we tapped into God’s power and allowed it to work in us and through us? I don’t think life would be nearly as tough, as a matter of fact, we may start enjoying life in these uncertain times. Just a thought.

As a Pastor’s wife, who can I confide in and know what I say will be kept confidential? Life as a Pastor’s wife is like living in a glass house and the stress can become so overwhelming that if we don’t have a safe place to go, we will either become a fatality in ministry or become cynical and angry.

Care for Pastors is that safe place. As a Pastor’s wife for 30+ years, I know exactly how you feel and we are here to help carry that load of stress. My husband, Ron, and I have been in ministry our entire married life of 32 years. We do not have all the answers, but we can be that safe place to turn in helping carry those day-to-day stresses of ministry life.

I know how it feels to hear people falsely accuse me or my husband of things that all you can do is sit back and pray they will listen to truth and allow God to touch their hearts. Trying to defend ourselves at times only makes things worse. God knows the lies and the truth and He will take care of it. It’s during those times that we have to sit quietly and bite our tongues, that we sure could use a listening ear. However, we can’t go to a church member for that sounding board, so where do we turn?

I know how it feels to constantly be trying to live up to others expectations. We must realize that God is the only one that we need to try to please, and that no matter how hard we try there will always be those that feel like we need to do more.

I want to encourage you to find your place of ministry and not feel guilty about saying “no” to other areas. Allow God to place you in the areas He wants you serving and realize you don’t have to do everything or be everything to everybody.

Please don’t try to carry the stress alone. Allow us to come alongside and encourage you as you serve the Lord and as you are your husband’s help-mate. You are a precious and valuable part of ministry and we don’t want you to feel alone. Please e-mail me at rodetta@careforpastor.org  or call at 352-728-8179.

May God bless you as you serve Him!

Falling into sin is so easy; all we have to do is consistently do what “we” want to do…and who doesn’t want to do that? It’s easy to justify, excuse, and defend what “we” want to do. Then when the bottom falls out and we find ourselves feeling far removed from God and wonder how did I ever get here? And the answer that we don’t want to hear…”we” did what we wanted to do.

Enjoying all that God has for us as His children is so easy, all we have to do is consistently do what “He” wants us to do and who wouldn’t want that? Instead of the bottom falling out we find ourselves standing secure on the Solid Rock and regardless of the circumstances around us we experience the joy of the Lord. Proverbs 22:17 “Apply your heart to my knowledge.”

“New” has so many contentions and layers of meaning. So many times in our pursuit for something new we discard that which is very precious and foundational to life, like God’s principles and precepts. In doing so, the “new” no matter how shining and lustrous it may be will not provide what we are looking for…it may make all kinds of wonderful promises only to leave us discouraged and disillusioned. “Meaningless, meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 1:2

God understands our desire for “new.” He created us with those pursuits and promised to fulfill those desires when sought His way. Psalms 40:3 “He put a new song in my mouth a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” God has something “new” for us every day!

Let the Word speak for itself – James 3:13-18 “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

What wisdom are you pursuing? Heavenly wisdom or earthly wisdom.

Who hasn’t at some time in their life been caught up in a war of words? It happens so quickly, it may be with a total stranger. Words fly, tempers flare and you both walk away thankful that you will never see each other again, only to find yourself sitting beside each other in church. How funny. You don’t see the humor in it, sorry.

Disagreement with other Christians or family members can be absolutely devastating. Paul gives us a pattern that deserves our attention.

II Timothy 2:14 “Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.”

II Timothy 2:16 “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.”

II Timothy 2:23-26 “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

There will always be disagreements, but as followers of Christ we should commit to disagree in an agreeable matter. Life would be much more agreeable if we would do this.

Decisions, decisions, is there ever an end? The answer is yes. Death ends all decisions, the final play has been called, the curtain is dropped, no more this or that and decisions made or unmade are no more. Eternity has set in. But until then, you and I are faced with multiple decisions on a daily basis.

Each decision, great or small, has a profound influence on our future. Of course the greatest decision, the one with eternal consequences is the decision to receive Christ as Savior.

But what about all the other decisions of life, should I, shouldn’t I? What is the right decision? What will happen if…it goes on and on it’s enough to…..

May I refer you to the absolutely perfect source for decision making? James 1:5-8 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”

For years my simple prayer in making decisions has been “Lord keep me close enough to you that you will not allow me to make a wrong choice or decision.” After asking in faith for wisdom, that prayer continues to be the filter of all my decisions. It makes decisions so much easier.

I cleaned out my office desk this week. It was way past time for this. I must confess that I tend to be somewhat of a pack-rat. I keep old shoe-strings because one never knows when he may need to tie something up and need a shoe-string. Now that I think about it, I can’t remember ever using an old shoe-string for anything. Now I need to get rid of all those strings, which will call for a thorough garage cleaning. Oh my, what have I started?

Now, back to the point, I cleaned my desk out and found mounds of stuff. There were out-dated snacks, financial statements from two years ago, reports, research, and notes that I have no idea how or why they found their way to my desk drawer and scrap paper that I vaguely remember putting there because it’s much too valuable to just throw away.

My point is this, far too often I allow what happened to my desk to take place in my heart. I unconsciously allow stuff to pile up, a hurt here, an injury there, a harsh word, a lingering thought, anger held much too long. The expiration date was yesterday. It is here that seeds of bitterness find fertile ground to root themselves in and before we know it there absolutely no room for calm, order, peace, joy of having a clean heart (Read Psalm 51). Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Heart cleaning is something I am spiritually committed to doing regularly. I have too much to lose by allowing unnecessary stuff to clutter my heart. The “stuff” I mentioned is sin that must be confessed and forsaken and treated like we would treat garbage.

After cleaning out my desk, I looked at the overflowing trash can and the clean drawers and a smile of satisfaction came across my face “this feels good, I can’t believe I allowed all this to pile up.” Those feelings can’t begin to compare to what we experience when we have a “heart cleaning.”

Give it a try. You might be very surprised at what you find tucked away in your heart.

Today I find myself reflecting, remembering some of the events that have transpired over the past several years of my life. Pruning seems to be the most accurate description. If you know anything about pruning, you know that it is ugly, painful and must be done with the greatest of care so that the vine does not suffer irreparable damage. Therefore, pruning must be executed by a master gardener.

I am so thankful that the Master Gardener loves me enough to spend time pruning me. The pruning has been extremely painful at times, but I am thankful that He trusted me with the pain. The pruning has been ugly because the Master cut away some branches that I felt were very important, if not essential to me. But who am I to question the pruning of the Master, who knows what needs to be removed. After all, He is constantly working all things for my good.

Time passes, wounds heal, new growth comes, fruit follows and opportunities have opened that I never thought possible. None of which would have taken place had the Master not subjected me to the pruning process. Wow God!

Yes, pruning is painful and ugly but I chose to submit to the process knowing with absolute certainty that the Master is working it all for my good. I am learning as I go through the seasons of life that pruning is necessary and natural for continued fruit-bearing. I’m not sure what the next season will look like, but I am excited about its potential even if it means undergoing pruning.