We're continuing our Sunday morning series for a few more weeks. We've extended our quarter into most of June because we've sold our church building and in just a few weeks will be a church without a "home building". Steve and the other staff will be moving the offices to a two story rented house in Pitman. We're still waiting to here where we will be meeting weekly. Our new building will not be finished until March!
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I really am thankful for the extra time we'll have to extend this series of lessons. This venue of women telling their spiritual journey stories "as they look in the rearview mirror of their lives" is very eye-opening and inspiring. Lori talked about JESUS: THE ONE WHO GIVES ME WORDS TO LIVE BY...
Each week, I leave so inspired! This week was no different! It doesn't take listening to Lori's story long to know that she is a truth seeker! From the time she was a young girl, she wanted to know and understand spiritual things. Lori told about going to church with her siblings as a child. Although their parents did not attend church anywhere, they sent the kids to "learn about morals". They told them that could make their own decisions about whether or not they would keep going once they turned 13.
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At an early age Lori began to have anxiety about many things including death. By the age of 10 she had already developed a panic disorder. Even though she did not want to, her mother sent her to church camp that summer. For the first time in a long time, she felt a sense of peace that week when she "asked Jesus into her heart".
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The panic disorder continued and she learned to avoid her triggers... one of which was church.... heaven, hell, death.... she had to quit going to church... Lori said that the next decade or so she continued to believe in God but He was not everything to her. As a young adult, she began to feel resentment that she had to fight these inner battles. She began to question, "Is God really even there?"
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Time after time God showed that He was good. She got a job as a waitress and a co-worker would bring her Bible and read it on break. She invited Lori to church to hear a guest speaker. Lori's response was, "I don't do church!" Her friend said that was okay because she had some of the speaker's tapes that Lori could listen to entitled DOES GOD EXIST?
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After listening to those power lessons on tape, Lori said, "Then, I knew for sure that there was a God, but how could I go back to church with my anxiety disorder and her new bad habit of drinking alcohol?"
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One night she stayed out all night, showed up at her friend's house at 7:30 a.m. for a short period of time. She went home to get some sleep, but had trouble. She knew her life was falling apart. She needed help for her panic disorder... she headed for her mom's house. Her mom got her into a doctor right away. Lori said, "Who knew that one pill could help?" Once she could think clearly, she was able to focus on positive life changes. Her next step was to buy a Bible... "You know... one of those black ones with gold letters...".
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Lori took her new Bible home and decided that she had to find the answer to a gnawing question. Did praying Jesus into her heart make her a christian? What about all those verses she had heard about that talked about baptism? She looked up the words baptize and baptism in the index and read all the associated scriptures listed. Reading those verses on her own convinced her that she needed to be baptized.
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She could not find a church who would baptize her, so she called her waitress friend and asked her if she could go to church on Sunday with her. She was very curious to see if someone else understood the scriptures on baptism like she did. It just so happened that her friend's church was having another guest speaker that week named Owen Olbright. A big part of his sermon was ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM.... After Lori heard the sermon, it validated that the Bible can be read and understood by anyone.
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That day another young woman had made her decision to be baptized. Lori got so excited when she learned this that she tapped the lady in front of her on the shoulder and asked her, "How can I do this, too?"
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Once she was baptized and knew that she was now indeed a christian, she learned that much of the New Testament are letters written by the apostles who had been with Jesus. She found them to be practical and useful for guiding her life. Lori is now passionate about how practical the Bible is and that JESUS IS THE ONE WHO HAS GIVEN HER WORDS TO LIVE BY!!!! Lori is now married with 3 children. She is passng on THE GREATEST GIFT to her family.
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Many of us who were in Lori's class on Sunday, enjoyed spending our Memorial Day together at the Walker's home. There was food, fellowship, music, swimming, horseshoes, and lots of fun. I am so thankful for my church family!!!
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This last picture was taken yesterday afternoon as one lone guitarist, Brian, was still hanging in there. My hubby decided to join him and seranaded me. It was a great ending to an awesome picnic!
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"The greatest gift a mother can give is a life lived for Jesus and the greatest gift a father can give is the knowledge of the LORD.... Pass it on to your children! He's the gift that keeps on giving... the greatest gift is a life lived for Jesus...."
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