Life in a Bag...

 Thanks goes to my dear friend Linda for suggesting this!
Every Tuesday morning at our Ladies Bible Study we do

Life in a Bag

before we begin our discussion of the lesson.  The week before I ask three ladies to volunteer.  The following week each lady brings a bag with 5 things (often they put more than that, as it is so hard to choose what to include) in the bag. They are to tell who they are and then as they show the things they brought tell something about their life. The last thing they are to tell is what God is doing in their life right now. These times have been deep and the sharing heart felt. I learned how one of our ladies traveled from her home in Africa to several other countries before coming to American. She spoke of the faithfulness of God through all the moves. I heard another lady tell of how her heart is still hurting from the death of her sister last summer and I knew how I should pray for her. I learned that one of the ladies has had many heartaches in her life. As she finished she held up a picture that said, 'Rejoice Always' and told us that is what God was teaching her. Another lady shared of all the fun things she has done with her grandchildren. We all smiled as we heard about her teaching her grandchildren to roller blade. We had no idea she knew how to do that. We have cried and we have laughed. Each lady is a gift from God and their lives reflect the love of the Lord. I believe this, as well as our discussion time, is bonding us together! Let me know if you try this with a group you are a part of!

Where He leads me...

On Sept. 15^th I received a phone call that broke my heart. Our precious friend’s 37 yr. old daughter died from an epileptic seizure. The next few days were spent trying to figure out the best time to go to MN to be with our friends.  It was decided that waiting for a couple weeks would be better than coming right away.  Reservations were made and I was all set to be gone from Friday to Tuesday morning.  I am not the best flyer and much prayer is prayed when I do fly.  I asked the Lord to give me a smooth flight and that it would be nice if I sat by a woman (I had a middle seat). While waiting to board the plane I sat down by a lady reading a Randy Alcorn book I had read.  As she and I talked she told me how she had had these reservations for a long time and this week decided to change the dates she would go to MN. But she forgot to do this and two days ago her sister called to tell her that her father had passed away.  So because she had the ticket she was prepared to go.  As I listened to her story I thought again how God directs our steps.

1Thessalonians 3:11 Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you...

I boarded the plane and when I got to my seat I saw that I was sitting between two women.  Thank you Lord!  The one by the window greeted me and we quickly began visiting.  She was a Christian, her parents had been missionaries in Hawaii (where I once lived) and half way through the flight I found out she attends my daughter's church.  When she found out where I was going and why, she shared about her mother's sorrow and how she coped when her baby sister died.  How interesting that I was once again gfiven an opportunity to share about grief.  As I was walking off the plane I was filled with thankfulness to the Lord.  My visit with our friends was so sweet and I prayed that the words spoken or not spoken were just what they needed.

2Corintians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who 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.

I loved my time with them. I know that the Lord will continue to comfort their hurting hearts and meet their needs.  After many hugs and tears my visit with my friends was over and I was boarding a plane home. Again I prayed about the trip and who I would sit with.  This time, as before, I was sitting beside a lady.  Our conversation began with talking about Mexican food and how she prepared it. As we talked I also learned that her mother had passed away three years ago and she seemed to be handling it OK but her sister wasn’t.  I was able to share and suggest some things from my own experience that could help her sister.  As we began to land she said she sure hoped that her next flight would be safe and that she would sit by a lady. Without a thought, I began to pray out loud for her, her next flight and then for her sister.  I was surprised but happy for my boldness. As I finished she said, “in the name of Jesus”.  I told her I hoped she did not mind me praying.  She didn’t. I smiled inside remembering times I had heard others tell about their times on planes, praying or witnessing to people and was glad this time I was the one experiencing it. I am thankful for this trip and the time I had with my sweet friends.

Elaine