Lookin’ to the Hills
Posted: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Filed under: 2k6 | Tags: Jesus, missionary, Northside Missional Community, prayer, Richmond, scripture, Southern Barton Heights, Urban 1 Comment
Psalms 121
1. I lift up my eyes up to the hills – where does my help come from?
2. My help comes from the Lord.
The kids were attending church with me on a regular basis. More and more kids became part of my life. We had sleepovers, watched football games, pick-up street games, etc. The youth group had officially started at Commonwealth…with Sunday night gatherings, retreats and lock-ins. Neighbors were starting to call the house “Miss Marti’s House”….and it has stuck.
A women’s small group from my church was meeting at my house several times a month. I was still regularly meeting with the Lord through reading and studying the Word and prayer….or at least I started off that way.
Not all was great. I was accepted…by most, but not all. In some cases, it was clear that I was not welcomed, as a professional white single woman. The adults didn’t trust me. Many didn’t understand why I moved in and why I was letting the kids run in and out of the house. Some didn’t understand WHY in the world would the kids WANT to hang out. It wasn’t me…it was the “God in Me”… the LOVE and PEACE they felt when they were in my home. In the presence of the Lord.
Side note: When I was younger, I used to DREAM of having a houseful of kids….and that we would have the “cool house” where all the kids would want to hang out. What little did I know…that God would bring that dream true! What I didn’t expect was that the kids wouldn’t be mine nor…would they be black!
My success at work and my sphere of influence had increased. I often wondered why God called me to work among some of the wealthiest, and live among what some would call the ‘least of these’. There was diversity in skin color, but also in education and socioeconomic status. My two worlds were as divergent as you could get. I began to wonder what God was up to. At what point would these 2 paths cross?
Challenges were not just in the community, but they also came at work, where I faced an employee relations situation alleging that I created a hostile work environment based on race…because I talked about my kids. It was unfounded.
As I reflect on this situation, I realize that Satan will go ALL out, when you ‘sell out’ totally to the Lord. Satan will only mess with those who he sees as a threat…..because they are in the will of God. This was simply a distraction.
I also have come to realize….in retrospect…that I must not have been reading and praying like I had done previously. Let’s just say that my journals are a bit light. But…I finally figured it out…
I knew where to go. I went to the Lord. My help….my strength….it cometh from the Lord.
Reflections from Tuesday’s earlier post…
Posted: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 Filed under: 2k10 | Tags: Jesus, mission, Northside Missional Community, prayer, Urban Comments Off on Reflections from Tuesday’s earlier post…Additional reflections from today’s post….
I was rereading what I wrote earlier this morning…and looking at the picture of the candles. Note that there isn’t just one candle there. There are like 5 of them. 1 candle brings light into darkness, but…how much more light comes from the 5? 5 times the light?
It’s important that we gather together….to bring light into darkness. To come along side those who are following God’s will in these type situations. I am sooo thankful to my friends and family who shined in the darkness with me during these early days….and today!
If you know someone who is taking chances, making sacrifices, etc. in the name of Jesus…remember to support them…with your PRAYERS, with your finances (if there is a need), with your presence. It means the WORLD!!! There were times that it got really lonely…and tiring…and scary.
Sometimes…
it still does.
ps. Thanks to my friend and wedding photographer, Rebekah O’Dell. This pic was from my wedding!!! Love you, Rebekah!!!
Forgive Me…
Posted: Monday, February 22, 2010 Filed under: 2k5 and before | Tags: Commonwealth Chapel, cross, Jesus, mission, obedience, prayer, Richmond, scripture 2 Comments
Deuteronomy 8
6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
I went on to work on that 2nd day of praying in Jesus name over my singleness. Within just a couple of hours…my phone rang. A colleague of mine, Steve, called to ask me if I wouldn’t mind hanging out with a friend of his, Kevin. Kevin just happened to be coming to town from the West Coast. Steve and his wife had plans that had them tied up on Friday night, that would leave Kevin alone for the evening. So, he wanted me to go to dinner with him so that he wouldn’t have to hang out in the hotel by himself. Needless to say…I stopped and literally looked at the phone…and said, ‘did God just answer my prayer in a matter of hours?’ Why is it that I, and maybe you to, find it surprising that God answers our prayers? Shouldn’t we expect the answer to our prayers?
After being in shock (and scared to death!!!) for a few days, I finally gave in to Steve…and to God. I picked up Kevin at the hotel (another funny…but long story…). Because I hadn’t gotten to go home yet, I asked Kevin if he minded if we stopped by my house so that I could freshen up. We walked into my house, where I had a wall of crosses on the left inside the front door (so they wouldn’t be missed). The wall of crosses started as a small collection representing each member of my family. I understand that it is a Latin American tradition. It has now grown to a wall of about 40 crosses of different sizes and materials. Kevin was captivated by it. I could tell that this was a God moment, as Kevin was literally drawn to the wall and proceeded to take them in. I said a quick silent prayer and left Kevin alone…with God and the crosses, and went upstairs to change and freshen up.
Kevin later described his moment as ‘holy’ and ‘warm’. We had a great conversation about the wall, its meaning, and its impact. He shared his favorite with me…and how it reminded him of Peter or one of the other disciples crafting it while sitting on a hill listening to the word of Jesus. He then shared his ‘life scripture’ with me….Deuteronomy 8. Kevin owns his own company…where times have been good and bad. But, regardless of the time, God is always faithful. These are notes from my journal… “God is bringing you into a good land where you will lack nothing. Praise the Lord for the good land. Do not forget the Lord or stop following His commandments. Do not become proud. Remember the Lord who provided this, gave you the ability to do this – produce wealth . Remember the Lord, your God, or face destruction.”
I meditated on this Word every day for the next week or so when I received a sizable amount of money that I was not expecting. I was totally shocked! What was I going to do with this money? I wanted a fence. I wanted a shed. I wanted a new car. (almost NEEDED a new car). But, I knew I needed to be sacrificial with the money.
After giving money to some needs in my family, I also wrote Rob (remember Rob….my pastor at the new church?) to let him know that I was going to be giving a ‘chunk of change’ to my church. Didn’t care what it went to, as I trusted him and our board, but I just felt led that day at that exact moment to let him know..as it was about a month later. I felt like there was more to the story. God was up to something! Because I was overwhelmed with the need to e-mail Robby on that Thursday even though it was his day off.
Rob e-mailed the next day following a church planning meeting. Later, at Starbucks, Rob shared that there had been a struggle between a list of projects/ministries they felt we were being led to do in 2006 and the budget…the fine line between faith and using the common sense that God gave us. God has used me (and Kevin…and Steve…and the provider of the money) to send a message to our church leadership….not that my money would solve the problem because it wasn’t THAT much!!!…but, to let them know that God would provide and to walk in faith.
When you take God seriously in your life…as a living sacrifice…He will use you. Hold on!!! Praise the Lord! As my friend Marcus taught me…”Hold my rope while I shout!”-Shirley Ceasar. My encouragement to you….when you take God seriously and read and meditate on the Word, expect God to use you….and be obedient to that which he asks – be ready! I often wonder…did these moments happen in the past? Did I miss them? How many God-moments had I missed in my life? How many times had I ignored what He asked me to do? What would have happened if at any point one of us didn’t do what He asked us to do?
Lord…forgive me for the many God-moments I have missed and for the many times that I haven’t been obedient!
Friends, co-workers, strangers, etc…forgive me…for not always being obedient to what God has asked me to do.
I pray that He will give me another chance to be obedient again…for each time I have missed. And I pray…that I don’t miss them again.
The Chair
Posted: Sunday, February 21, 2010 Filed under: 2k5 and before, Louis and Me! | Tags: Jesus, Lent, mission, missionary, Northside Missional Community, prayer, Richmond, Southern Barton Heights, Urban Comments Off on The Chair
Psalms 119
1. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Hold on? What does ‘hold on’ mean in your spiritual life? For your safety….hold on means…reading the Bible, praying, and surrounding yourself with people who are going to love, support and hold you accountable. I knew I was going to need to ‘hold on’ when the neighborhood kids descended on my new home the FIRST weekend that I moved in.
Anthony (who quickly elevated me to ‘white mama’ status) was the first kid I met. From the middle of the intersection……at my ELEVATED CORNER LOT…Anthony and some of his friends (all boys!) were riding their bikes. Anthony’s first words were ’Howdy Neighbor! Welcome to the Neighborhood!’ Then….he wanted to know if I had any kids that could come out and play. He looked completely dejected when I told him that I didn’t. But, the disappointment didn’t last long, when I shared with him that I could make a ‘mean’ cookie! When the kids came a’ knockin’ 30 minutes later, I was forced into baking some that night. It was awesome! Since that time, many of the neighborhood kids hang at “Miss Marti’s House” causing me to ‘hold on’ more than ever before! You will hear much more about Miss Marti’s Kids in future posts. They all totally ROCK!!!
As part of moving into the house where I had so much more room, I wanted a chair…a space….dedicated to reading the Word and spending quiet time with the Lord. I moved in mid-August and had that space by mid September. As I began to take my quiet time with the Lord more and more seriously, the Lord was revealing more and more to me…about Him…and about me. I spent every morning in that chair…sometimes it was just a minute or 2, sometimes it was 30! Regardless, I knew it had to become a discipline…a habit. Not just a ‘crash course’ to prepare for my Tuesday Night Bible study.
In December of 2005, I was reading John. It’s awesome how God works. We got an early snow. I went outside to start the car…’to let it warm up’ and was too lazy to go back upstairs to ‘the chair’. So, I sat downstairs and flipped through another Bible to find where I left off and read John… where Jesus speaks about praying in His name. The next day…I am pulled to that same verse again. For the first time…I prayed about my singleness in Jesus name. I told the Lord…”just throw me a bone…give me a sign. If you plan on me getting married one day…just throw me a bone. Let me know you haven’t forgotten about me.”
My friend Riste said….after hearing the rest of this short story… “imagine what He would have done if you had asked for the man…instead of the bone?!??!?”
our house…is a very very very fine house…
Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010 Filed under: 2k5 and before | Tags: Commonwealth Chapel, Jesus, Lent, marriage, mission, Northside Missional Community, prayer, Richmond, Southern Barton Heights, Urban 2 Comments
…as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.
Joshua 25:14
So…we walked the few blocks to the address… This is what I found! THE house…God’s House…the color, the existing neighborhood, the floor plan…and the bonus GWP (gift with purchase). It wasn’t just a corner lot….but an ELEVATED corner lot. (For those of you who live in the city…or on a corner…you know how desirable it is to have an ELEVATED corner lot!!!) Needless to say, God wasn’t messing around! I put the down payment on the house that very day! The Lord had gotten my attention.
There were sooo many details that led to this moment. I have so many people to thank! Specifically…Marc…wow….what would I have done without him!?!? He was a new co-worker that I had prayed into my life that year…and he would go with me at all times of day and night into the neighborhood…encouraging me and praying with and for me! Reminding me…that God has my back…that I COULD in fact do this. That I was being called. I thank God for friends who encourage and pray!!!
Time went by quickly, but it seemed like it was forever. God was on the move…that is for sure. During the time between putting the contract on the house and moving in…I changed churches. For close to a year, God had been preparing me for a move that I didn’t know I was going to make. I had been fully involved in a large church in the West End of Richmond, although I had lived in the city of Richmond, not in suburbia for years. I had been feeling a bit restless. Looking back at it, God prepared me mentally and spiritually for this change. Slowly, the Lord pulled me out of most of my volunteer responsibilities. By the time that Rob Rhoden made the announcement that he was moving to Commonwealth Chapel (an inner-city church) as the pastor, I was ready to go. There was really nothing to hold me back. No transition of anything. It was amazing!
For the first time, I walked into church that first day, and Sister Chappell greeted me at the door. I felt right at home! You see, my grandmother (Mom’s mom) was one of the founding members of Bethel Assembly of God, now known as Commonwealth Chapel. My grandmother died when I was just 2 years old. Sister Chappell remembered “Holzbach”, as people called my grandmother back then. On a side note, Mom was baptized in water and the Holy Spirit as a child in that building. Mom and Dad and my Uncle and his wife all got married at Bethel. Mom and Dad celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2007. It was like coming home.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!! More on this later….but 51+ years later, I also got married in that church. But, I am getting ahead of myself!
I found 2 homes the year of 2005. My church home….and my new home. I remember sitting on the front porch with Justin – one of my youth kids (then, college kid…now college grad…about to get married!!!!) that I had shared life with for several years. Wondering why I wasn’t more excited about moving into the new house…why it didn’t seem more surreal. He wisely responded, “Because it’s right. God wanted you here.” God brought me to Commonwealth Chapel and to Southern Barton Heights. Why? I wasn’t sure….but, I would soon find out.
I always considered my house…God’s house…not mine. It’s amazing what will happen when you not only dedicate your life…but your house, your job, your whatever to the Lord. He will use it! Be sure that your seat belts are buckled and your lap trays are in the upright position. Keep your hands and arms inside the ride.
In other words….Hold on! You are in for the ride of your life.
Miss Marti's House 