Like the Spring Rain

I am a huge fan of the Christian singer, Steven Curtis Chapman. I have purchased many of his CDs and now love to watch videos that people have posted online using his music. I even had the joy of seeing him live in the Kansas City area at a free concert I attended with my sister several years ago. Even though I have never met Mr. Chapman I know we have something in common. In 2008, the Chapman's young daughter Maria died in a tragic accident. I hurt for the family and wondered how they could ever get past the grief. I did not know then that a year later I would be facing the death of my oldest brother to pancreatic cancer and the loss of my father-in-law several months later.
Grief is hard to understand. Each of us deal with it in a different way. The face of grief changes. Some days it is a punch in the gut that feels like it will never go away. Other days it is a soft ache as you skim an old photo album. It is sleepless nights and hard days. Sometimes you expect it and other times it creeps up to surprise you in a memory so strong it threatens to take your breath away. It is fear when you aren't sure you can go on. It is a smell that reminds us. It is a place that makes us vulnerable and unsure of what to do next. It is a place that you are unsure of going to because the memories there are just too strong. It is personal. It causes you to question. It gives you guilt. It is anger. There is not a right or wrong way to do it. Grief overwhelms. It goes deep and is not something to "get past". It changes you forever.
There is another thing that Mr. Chapman and I have in common. Hope. It didn't make it easier but it has truly helped. In the months following the death of his daughter ideas began forming, words were written down, music began to take shape. The result were songs that have been a balm to my soul over the last year and a half. In his song, Spring is Coming, Chapman describes how his tears of grief were planted in the ground and that it felt as though winter had come". But even with this heavy heart he knows that there is the promise and hope of spring.
The words are not just alluding to the change of seasons but that we who believe Jesus has paid the ultimate sacrifice for us have been given hope. We find these these promises in Lamentations and the Psalms.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

"Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation, he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God, he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people, pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." Psalm 62:5-8


But your winter days can change with God's help. As we move from this season of winter into the coming spring think of these words:

"Let us acknowledge the Lord, let us press on to acknowledge him, As surely as the sun rises he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:3

God promises to stand with us in the pain and suffering of this life if we look to him. He promises to change those dark, winter days of our grief to a more bearable day of warmth. So, my friends, let God help you through these dark days of life. At the end of his song Mr. Chapman has some young children join him.

Out of these ashes, beauty will rise,
Sorrow will be turned to joy,
All we hoped for soon will appear,
Out of the dark clouds, beauty will shine
All of earth and heaven rejoice
Spring is coming soon.

God is there, just as he promised, coming like the spring rain.


If you would like to listen to Steven Curtis Chapman's song Spring is Coming go to http://www.youtube.com/ and enter the title of the song and the artist's name into the search box.

In Control

Do you ever have goals that you have wanted to meet but have fallen short? I have had quite a few of those in my life! For example, I wanted to be writing this blog at least twice a month and also to let you know how I was going to be helping those in my community. Then there is that goal that my husband and I wanted for our 25th anniversary. That trip to Europe-let me just tell you that it's not happening! Or the fact that when we moved to this house when our oldest was in kindergarten we had plans to finish the basement into bedrooms and a family room. That daughter will be turning 21 in a few days and the basement is more like a huge junk room! Now, I could become very legalistic and down on myself and spend hours wondering why some of these goals are not being met. Am I a failure? Why can't I ever do anything right? What are we doing wrong that these goals are never met? This would be a great deal of wasted time though. The fact of the matter is, well, just this-- God's plan happens!

The Bible is filled with stories of people who had thoughts, goals and dreams but the path their life took was probably not the one they had foreseen. For instance, I imagine Noah did not have "being ridiculed for building an enormous boat in backyard" as his number one goal. Or can you imagine that Abraham planned to have his first child late in life? I'm thinking he probably would not have picked to be woken up at night by a squalling baby in his later years! Then there was that guy Sampson. You know the one-muscles and strength beyond compare because of his goal of bench pressing more than any other guy in the gym. Oh, wait-- it was his hair that held the secret of his success not strength training! Finally, there is that sweet teenage girl named Mary. Her goals were probably focused on having a beautiful wedding and starting life with her new husband and then having a baby. Well, that goal didn't work out too well, did it?

I think I have told you before that I used to have a huge problem with trying to forsee the future and plan it down to the last detail. I did this to try to gain control of the situation but it never worked out very well. The fact is that I will never be in complete control of my future because God is! He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11,

" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.' "

God knows already what his plans are for us. He made these plans even before we were born! Carve out some quiet time for yourself and read Psalm 139. You won't be disappointed! We can rest in the assurance given by the psalmist that God is in control. He loves us so much that our plan was made even before time began. He knows us inside and out! Though the waves of life crash around us and threaten to drown us, God is there with his plan! We may not always understand it or agree with it. We may question the methods. We may want to run the opposite direction! However, let me put your mind at ease. God's way is always the best way!

The Least of These

Happy 2011, friends! Today I was so happy to be cleaning my house! What? I see that look of astonishment! I know you don't quite believe me but it is true! Here is my reason. I want to yell it in the valleys! I want to sing it from the mountain tops! I want everyone to know that I am so thankful today. On this day five years ago I was recovering from cancer surgery headed towards the unknown of radiation and chemotherapy. The months seemed to drag before me as I contemplated my road ahead. But this month I had my last follow-up CT scan. It was clear, gloriously clear!!!!! In the words of the Psalmist I want to declare: " I will not die but live and will proclaim what the Lord has done." Psalm 118:17 Friends, I want to praise our Lord for what he has done for me!

But now let me say this. I know there are those who are not feeling my joy of the day. Over the last few months a friend and I have been talking about the number of people out there who are really hurting. The thing is we have not been talking about a third world country or a storm ravaged neighborhood. We are talking about the people who live right here in our own town or county or ones that are close. There are broken marriages, widows in despair, young children being sexually abused, parents being laid off when the rent is not paid and the cupboards are bare. There is the father in prison. The new mother caring for a child when she is just a child herself. There are people in pain from the treatments they get. A trip to the hospital that causes a scare. There are those that depression and anxiety threaten to overcome. My list could go on and on.

For those of you who are seeing these things I give you this challenge for the new year. Read these words spoken by Jesus in Matthew 25:34-40.

"Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply,
'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' "

Spend some time pondering those words and then I ask you to pray about what God would have you do to make a difference in the lives of others. Take a look at your time and decide what you deem as "necessary" in your life. Could it be possible that these activities are not really that important after all? I will be writing in my blog later about what I feel God has led me to be doing. I would love for you to keep me updated on how God is using you to make a difference in the life of another so feel free to leave a comment!

Finally, there may be some of you who are reading this who feel you are one of those who are hurting. Let me give you some words of truth. Jesus loves you! No matter who you are, what you have done or where you are. He can make a difference in your life. If you already know Jesus be patient with him as he works through these difficulties to do amazing things in your life. Get into his Word and let him reassure and teach you! Remember he is not a genie who grants three wishes but rather a Savior who wants what is best for us. If you don't know Jesus there are two websites that can give you more information about God's son: http://www.klove.com/ and http://www.proverbs31.org/. Both websites offer great support, help and prayer. Or contact me at my e-mail address: cpreut@hotmail.com . I will be praying that God will be blessing you over and over this new year.

Are You Ready?

When you read my title for this post you might instantly want to finish it with "For Some Football?". For many of us, this iconic song signaled the beginning of fall and the exciting season of that hard hitting game to be seen on a Monday night! That is until some executives somewhere decided it should be Sunday or Thursday or any other day that was not the Monday we were used to! However, now the Monday games are back on and all seems right with the world again! Unfortunately, the world is not all right or back to normal because of something as simple as a tv executive decision. My title for this post actually comes from a statement my husband made last night that got me thinking a lot. We were discussing the impending death of one of the members of our community and Mark made the statement, "I hope he was ready." This was not a judgmental statement but rather just an observation that this was an unexpected happening and that none of us knows for sure when death will greet us. It made me stop and think "Am I ready?"

This life can turn on a dime. You can be on the mountaintop and in the blink of an eye the whole world can change. I'm sure all of you can insert your own example here but here are some of my own. Death of my grandfather of an unexpected heart attack. Life changed forever. Death of a former student soon after his college graduation. Life changed forever. Death of a former student twenty minutes after speaking to her. Life changed forever. Death of my brother from pancreatic cancer. Life changed forever. The truth is this. In this fallen world death is going to come. For all of us. It doesn't matter who you are, where you live, or what you have done in your life. All of us will face this moment eventually and for some sooner than we think. This whole idea of death used to make me shudder. It made me want to change the subject. It made me want to run for my life the other direction. It made me bitter. It made me scream "Unfair!" It scared me.

Then I started to learn something from God that was very valuable.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

I believe this statement with all my heart. For this reason I am ready. I no longer fear death. In fact the idea of living with God and his Son forever and seeing those who believed, that have gone before me is an exciting one. But don't get me wrong. I am not saying that death is easy. I am not saying that those who are left behind don't mourn and suffer. I am not saying that we don't miss those who have died. I am not saying that all my questions about this life and death are answered. What I can say is that each of us can be ready. It is not about who is good or bad. It is not about meeting an agenda of rules or expectations. It is not about understanding everything that goes on in this world. It is not even about you. It is about what God did for us because of his love for us. It is about believing what God says is true. It is about faith. It doesn't rely on logical proof or material evidence. So my question is this. Are you ready?

Walk By Faith

I'm not sure that anyone has noticed but it has been almost two months since my last blog. You see, I began to think as the world does. I wanted to feel important. I wanted to be recognized. I wanted others to respond to my posts. I wanted to feel like I was making a difference. You'll see that there was a lot of me wanting to take the credit for what I was writing here. I had to take some time off and think about what this blog is about-His Glory, not Cherrie's glory. Plus, I had to admit I was a little disappointed. I had felt God tugging at my heart to write these blogs for quite a while and I had expected something dramatic to happen if I answered yes. Perhaps someone would be touched by my blogs and come back to the Lord. Perhaps a person would be brought to faith. Maybe someone would react in a different way than they normally do. Maybe others would read the blogs and feel they could go on with life as they relied on Jesus, not on themselves.

I began to feel like my blog was not that important. So over the past two months I have been thinking and listening to God. This is what I have discovered. First of all, this blog is not about me. If I can't make it God's then I don't want to blog or at least not under the name of "His Glory". Secondly, it is not up to me to make things happen. God is the one that will open hearts and change people-not me! He might do it dramatically or he might do it quietly. I may never know the way he uses the words I write here. What it amounts to is that I will do what he asks and he will take care of the rest. One of my favorite songs is "Walk by Faith" by Jeremy Camp.
These words remind me I need to walk by faith and not by sight.

"Well, I will walk by faith
Even when I cannot see
Well, because this broken road
Prepares your will for me.

Help me to win my endless fears
You've been so faithful for all of my years
With one breath You make me new
Your grace covers all I do."

God also reminds me in his Word that whatever I write in his name will not go forth without results. He tells us this in Isaiah, chapter five, verses eight through eleven.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire."

So, I will continue to say yes and write for His Glory and He will accomplish what is needed and I will walk by faith. Thanks be to God!

Looking In

Several weeks ago I was reading about a man who was wanted by the authorities. He had grown up in the Middle East and was part of some suspect activities. It was known that he had many different names and based on what the authorities knew about his heritage and religion he was probably medium height, thin, darker skin and curly, dark hair. His name in his native language was difficult to pronounce and unfamiliar looking. From the reports it was apparent that this man had both supporters but also lots of non-supporters. Even those perhaps that would put out big money to have this man brought into custody or even put to death. From the description it sounded like somebody who many would think might qualify for the now famous "no-fly" list.

Soon after I had read about this man I read a story in my Bible about David. In this story God has sent Samuel to annoint a new king. The Lord sends Samuel to Jesse who brings out his sons for Samuel to look at. Now these sons were fine specimens for the title of king and after the first son came forth Samuel was sure God would have him annointed. But God said, "Do not not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7) David, the shepherd boy, was to become the new king.

I love this story about David. Mostly, I love what it says about the way God looks at us. So many times we judge others based on what they look like. Perhaps we look at the clothes they wear. Maybe we think they look a little scruffy based on their cleanliness. Perhaps we look at their skin color. Or we listen to the language they are speaking. We see their name somewhere and struggle to say it and think it is strange. We become suspicious of something as simple as a food that they are eating. We struggle when they move into our neighborhoods. We decide for ourselves who they must be based on who their parents are or were. We decide they aren't good enough for our children to play with or be in school with. We question whether they should be in our country. We question their intentions without really knowing them. We become paranoid and look for the bad in them. We fear them without any real knowledge of who they are. We don't look at their heart.

Now I want to return to that man who was wanted. One of his names he goes by is this: Yeshua Ha-Mashiach. We know him better as Jesus. What did you think about as you read my description? What would you have thought of him then? Would you have known him if he walked by you today? Or would he have been dismissed at first look? I think there is a real danger of forming opinions based on these outward appearances or by what others tell us about a certain person. We should love our neighbors as God loves us. By looking on the inside.

Wisdom's Call

"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." James 1:5


There I was with 500 of my closest friends in the stadium at the University of Kansas. We were practicing for our graduation ceremony that would take place later that night. It was here! A culmination of my search for wisdom! I was on cloud nine. My friends and I had just completed our high school education. We had spent two weeks in a flurry of activities ranging from finals to senior fun. We were at the top of the world! I knew EVERYTHING!! Plus, I made sure my parents knew that I knew everything. That summer was filled with adventure. I turned eighteen and had my first "real" job at a local fast food restaurant. My friends and I spent warm, humid nights making memories. I was filled with so much wisdom I could hardly contain it.

Then my freshman year at the university began. I began early rehearsals for the KU Marching Band. I had been in band in high school. This would be a breeze. Then I went to my first practice. After seeing the first show plotted on paper and being called a freshman several times I started to sweat and it had nothing to do with the August humidity. I felt my wisdom slip a notch. Then came fee payment day. With 20,000 of my closest friends I got in line to pay my fees. When I finally got to the front of the line I was informed I was in the wrong line. Back to the end of a very long, long line. I felt my wisdom taking a slide. Finally, the first day of classes arrived. I was dressed in the fashion of the day. My backpack was full. I was ready to ride to campus with my brother who was a sophomore that year. We were off! After parking in the lower lot we started the walk up the hill that the university was built on. After navigating my way through the hot, humid day I was exhausted. My brother and I met at our designated spot and I asked him, "How do you do this every day? All this walking back and forth to classes carrying all these books??" He looked at me kind of funny, glanced at my full backpack and asked, "ALL of your books?" As I nodded he started laughing. The rest of my wisdom pooled around my sweaty feet! I knew nothing.

I don't know about you, my friends, but I have discovered that the more I think I know the less I actually do know. In my time with God this week he has been bringing me to a lot of scripture about the same topic. As I have gone from one passage to another I have felt God's insistence that I learn about HIS wisdom. There are many days in my life that I make decisions without much thought to him. I find myself scrambling for time and not taking the time to listen to him or ask for his help. Things go well and I find myself on that cloud nine of yesteryear. I am doing life and doing it all by myself!! Then something happens. My life starts slipping just a bit and before I know it things are spinning out of control and I find myself in a pool of my own wisdom.

What would have happened if I had just asked my brother about what I would need that first day of college?? He had been there. He knew just what I needed and would have shared the information with me. It would have saved me the pain of an aching back and sore feet. Thinking back on this situation I think about how much God wants us to turn to him and ask for his wisdom. How much pain and heartache would we be saved?? Jesus has been in every situation that we will encounter. He has been there!! So let's turn to him and ask him for wisdom in our everyday lives. I encourage you to read Wisdom's Call in Proverbs, Chapter 8. You will be glad you did!!