The Journey

Note: There is an issue with loading pictures to the blog. I'm working on fixing it and, hopefully, by the next post, we can have pictures again. Cathy

Devotion by Brenda Winker:

Several years ago, I went to a Lay Minister Commissioning Service at a local church. It was a small church with a regular attendance of around 25 people but they were a faithful few. My husband and I attended because two people from our church were being commissioned to co-pastor this little church.

I glanced at the printed Order of Service and the Friendship Choir would be presenting the music. I looked at the choir area and there were only a few people seated there. I noticed one in particular-an elderly lady. As we rose for a congregational hymn, the lady struggled to stand, but she made it. The sweet little old lady I’d noticed was part of the duet that followed the hymn. Once again, she struggled to get up. An older gentleman rose at the same time and walked over to her, escorting her to the microphone. They began to sing “There will be peace in the valley.”  Oh my, that feeble lady had the most beautiful and strong voice. I felt the sweetest spirit come over me as they sang. Their voices blended and all I could think was this must be what angels sound like. I was so deeply moved that tears began to roll down my cheeks and I felt the Holy Spirit fill that sanctuary. I thought to myself, these two saints are such genuine examples of faithful servants of God.

I was blessed by the two ministers that spoke that day. The first one, also an elderly man, spoke on “The Journey” from Deuteronomy 34:1-12. You’ll find this familiar since it was part of our last year’s study. He began by reading Deuteronomy 34:1-4

 “Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which was opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, and all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western Sea, the Negeb and the Plain, that is the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.”

The minister spoke of Moses and how he stood on the mountain top with God and God personally showed him a wonderful sight - The Promised Land. I was so moved. I could not imagine standing on a mountain top with God, our creator, and have Him personally show me where I had faithfully and obediently served Him and brought His people. What joy Moses must have felt. He didn’t enter the Promise Land but what he did get was wonderful face to face encounters with God. Moses stood with the Lord who personally showed him a panoramic view of Canaan. The minister’s point was that it wasn’t so much about Moses’ destination. It was about Moses’ journey with God. Moses had an extremely personal relationship with the Lord that continued to grow throughout the journey. We too can have a personal relationship with the Lord because of Jesus Christ and it will grow stronger in our journey with the Lord.

Then another pastor slowly but surely made his way to the podium and began to speak. It was clear to me as I watched his movements, that he had a serious health condition. This servant of God had had cerebral palsy all his life. But in spite of his poor health I recognized as he spoke that God had gifted him with an incredible ability to preach the Gospel. God equipped.

Moses faced uncertainty and difficulty throughout his journey but God equipped him with everything he needed. Moses was hesitant and faltered at times but he answered God’s call and He faithfully served Him.

God called those faithful servants that participated in that service and He equipped them to serve Him. God always equips us to do what He calls us to do. There have been times I’ve been hesitant and I faltered but God has always been there for me when I accepted His call to service and He equipped me to do His will. It has been in the journey that I recognized God’s hand at work in my life. It was in the journey that I grew to know and love Him more.

God called each of us and we answered yes to the call to serve in CBS this year. Little did we know that it would be in such a new and different way packed full of so much uncertainty. But just as God equipped the feeble elderly lady with the strong, beautiful voice and the minister with cerebral palsy the amazing ability to preach the gospel, God will equip us to faithfully serve Him in this year of uncertainty with a technology that is so unfamiliar to many of us. He will continue to replace any fear or uneasiness that some of us might have with confidence and trust in Him. We can fully rely on God to guide us and He will provide us with all that we need to make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ this really different year.

We are not standing on a mountain top with God showing us a panoramic view of the Promised Land, but we do have His Holy Spirit living in us and His Holy Word that is filled with His promises. Hebrews 13:20-21 tells us

“The God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, will equip us with everything so that we may do his will.”

Brenda Winker

Prayer Chair

Rutherfordton Day Class

09-09-2020

It's time to register for the 2020-2021 Class

Community Bible Study

Rutherfordton Day Class

Rutherford and Surrounding Counties, NC

This is the 45th year for Community Bible Study. 

All classes this year will be studying 

the Gospel of John, the first study held by CBS in 1975.

It's important to register as soon as possible so that the Servant's Team can prepare. There is lots to do and many decisions to make based on the number of participants. If you are registering children, see the Registration Forms tab above.

See the Registration Forms tab in the header above 

to register by mail.

To register online, sign in to Fisher to find a Register button 

on the top right of the opening page. It's an easy process with simple directions to follow. After you register this way, Pam Hutchins will send you an email that asks if you want to pay by check or credit card. Again, follow the simple directions to complete your registration. You will receive a second 

email that confirms your registration.

If you have any problems or questions about the process, 

call Pam Hutchins at 828-287-7828. 

See you in September!

God, Our Rescuer

A Knight in

Shining Armor

Who doesn’t love a good story of rescue and redemption?  Happily-ever-afters are the best.  We long for them, don’t we? Too often our real-life story is filled with lots of missteps, mistakes and missed opportunities.  Often, we find ourselves a long way from a picture-perfect finish.  We are flawed, sinful people and we live in a world broken by sin with other flawed and sinful people.  That means lots of messy, problem filled lives.  How can we possibly make it thru? 



Many folks do a lot of pretending.  Pretending they are perfect.  “Everything is fine.  No problems in my life…my family…my marriage.”   Sounds great, but not a pain free way to live because all that pretend perfection is exhausting and pretty hard to keep up.  Sooner or later, that house of cards will fall, no matter how good you are at balancing.  Humans just are not perfect and pretend perfection is not satisfying.



Some people try to go thru the mess of life by numbing themselves with drugs, alcohol, excessive shopping, sex, destructive relationships or a host of other distractions, trying everything in an attempt to get some peace or relief. Most of us do a combination.  We vacillate between pretending we are living perfect, pain-free lives or we cave to the pressures of life and seek solace in the world’s bandaids.  None will ever lead to a happily ever after.  All you get is bigger problems on top of the problems you are trying to escape. Neither option is a real solution. 



The only solution is a real relationship with God; a genuine, honest relationship with the one who knows everything about you and loves you anyway.  God, who loves messy, flawed, sinful humans so much He died for us.  God doesn’t want a bunch of pretenders. Instead, He wants us to be willing to share our insufficiency with the world so He can be our sufficiency.  When we are honest about our need for Him, He shows himself faithful to us in every way.  A world full of hurting pretenders needs to see the real you: warts, scars and all with Jesus shining in and thru you, despite your imperfections and problems.  When we pretend and hide, we show our lack of faith in Him. 



We need to accept who we are in Christ.  He made us.  He defines who we are.  When we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives, we become part of God’s family.  We are daughters and sons of the Almighty God.  We aren’t perfect but He accepts us and loves us despite our flaws because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.  We need to believe what God says about us and be brave enough to show the world our real selves so we can share the love of Jesus with a world full of flawed people who need to know Him too. We need to accept that our identity comes from God and He really does love us.  That’s how we get a happy ending that’s really a happy beginning. 



From: Follow the Cloud by John Stickl:



In Jesus:

·         You are already loved—which means you have nothing to fear.

·         You are already forgiven—which means you have no debt to pay.

·         You are already his masterpiece—which means you are valuable.

·         You are already free—which means nothing can hold you back.

·         You are already accepted—which means you have nothing to prove.

·         You are already his beloved son or daughter—which means you are alive!

The roar from heaven says, “You’re mine.  You belong to me. And only I get to say who you are.”

Mighty warrior, it’s time to become who you already are.





Karen Long-Moore, Senior Leader

CBS Rutherfordton Day Class



Originally Presented to the Leadership 9/18/19

News from Community Bible Study

More men, women and children are studying the Bible

 in Rutherford County, NC.

The 2019 - 2020 Community Bible Study Day Class started off with a bang on Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 

with 200 women (and men in the Agape Class) and 57 children.

 Our study this year is called:

"From the Red Sea to the Jordan River"

and moves us through Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.

There is room for more people so invite your friends to join us. They can find a registration form to print out and complete by clicking the Registration Tab on this blog and then bringing it with them to class, or mailing it, along with $35.00, to Pam Hutchins, 207 Squirrel Den Rd, Rutherfordton, NC  28139.

-- OR --

Click here: communitybiblestudy.org and register online.

2019-2020 Rutherfordton Day Class 

Servants Team

News from Community Bible Study

Great News! 

Community Bible Study is growing!

More women in Rutherford County are studying the Word.

Now is the time to register for the 2018 – 2019 Class so the Leadership Team has time to provide Core Leaders and Children’s Leaders. We will be studying the Book of Acts.

Registration Forms are available on the Registration Forms tab of this blog. Click on the one you need (Adult or Children) and print it out. Fill in the information and mail the form and your $35.00 registration fee to:

Pam Hutchins

207 Squirrel Den Rd.

Rutherfordton, NC  28139

Children’s Forms may be handled the same way; however, The Children/Youth Coordinator will determine if there is room in the class for your child. The registration fee for children is $10.00.

See you on September 12, 2018 at 9:30 a.m. 

at Second Baptist Church,

191 Green Street, Rutherfordton, NC 

Do What God Tells You to Do

A few months ago, I visited the replica of Noah’s Ark The Ark was the length of one and a half football fields. The internal volume of the Ark was the equivalent of 569 train boxcars. Walking the Ark, from top and bottom, is like walking a football field nine times.

It took an incredible amount of faith to build the Ark. Who builds a boat in the desert? Who hammers away for 120 years on something they may never need? Who banks their entire future on something that has never happened before? Noah’s act of obedience literally changed the world. And obedience will change our world, too.  

DO WHAT GOD TELLS YOU TO DO

Noah built the Ark because God commanded it. Day after day, he hammered and sawed as his act of obedience. With each daily act of obedience, he glorified God. The Bible tells us, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17

DO WHAT GOD TELLS YOU TO DO

Noah did everything just as God commanded him. He walked with God, a step-by-step process. We are afraid of doing what we have never done because it’s unfamiliar territory. So, we leave the new

2 Corinthians 5:7

gifts unclaimed, the new authority, new anointing, and new dreams and visions God wants to give us. We want a money-back guarantee before we take a leap of faith, but that eliminates faith from the equation. We are called to “walk by faith and not by sight.” II Corinthians 5:7

“What is the favor of God?” It’s God doing for you what you cannot do for yourself. It opens doors of opportunity. It turns opposition into support. The Bible says, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52

Instead of being content with the level of favor you enjoy today, ask God for an increase. How do we find favor? Obedience! It begins by surrendering your life to Christ. “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11

Favor s not limited to the spiritual realm. In Noah’s life, God’s favor translated into ingenious inventions. It doesn’t matter what you do, God wants to help you do it well. He will bless you beyond your ability and your resources.  As long as you need man’s approval, God is limited in what He can do through you. Faith is the willingness to look foolish. That’s why faith and humility go hand in hand.

Noah looked foolish building an Ark on dry land.

Sarah looked foolish believing she would conceive a baby at ninety years of age.

David and Goliath

Moses looked foolish asking Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.

David looked foolish attacking Goliath with a slingshot.

The results speak for themselves. Noah stayed afloat during the flood. Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Moses delivered Israel out of Egypt. David defeated Goliath. Faith is acting as if God has already answered our prayers, even if it takes 120 years.

Success is not just about getting where God wants you to go, it’s about who you become in the process.

DO WHAT GOD TELLS YOU TO DO

Victoria Logan

Originally presented to the Leadership Council

11/8/17

CBS – Rutherfordton Day Class

Words and Water

A Refreshing Glass

of Ice Water

What a difference our words can make, for good or for bad, and that led me to think about how water can be an analogy to words. Words can be, like water, either a blessing or a curse. When you are hot, tired and thirsty, a cool glass of water can truly be a blessing that cools and refreshes. It’s essential to life and it can be harnessed for work to provide power for operating grist mills and hydroelectric power plants.

Too much water, too fast, can be destructive and contaminated water, deadly. We are in the middle of this historically bad Atlantic hurricane season and have seen hurricanes named Harvey, Irma and Maria. They have brought death, sorrow, destruction, and despair to many people. The storm surge is often as dangerous as the wind and pressure canges.

Like water, our words can be harnessed for good or they can be a

destructive force. A friend recently told me how a meaningful friendship had been torn apart with words. That relationship looks to be permanently broken. I could hear the heartache in my friend’s voice as she shared her pain.

This week’s Bible study is titled, “Warning and Judgement.”* Scripture is a resource God provides to warn us of various spiritual dangers and avoid common pitfalls. Like a good parent, God tries to prepare us ahead of time for what we can expect in life.

A warning verse from James 1:26 (ESV) says,

“those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.”

Later in James 3:10 (NIV) we’re warned,

“Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.”

I expect that we have all said things we shouldn’t and been convicted to seek repentance and forgiveness.

Our words reveal our inner selves, even when we don’t mean for them to. Jesus speaks in Matthew 12:34b (NIV),

“For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

This is why we are encouraged to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable, anything that is excellent or praiseworthy. When we choose to focus on growing closer to God and making his priorities our own, our attitudes and words will show it.

We have been talking about regular spoken words, regular language…but John1:1 (NIV) tells us, somewhat cryptically,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Here, he’s talking about Jesus. Jesus as the Word, who was also God, and who spoke creation into existence. Now that’s a powerful word! We can begin to see that as we are being transformed by scripture and the Holy Spirit at work in us, we can tap into that power. When we invite others to Bible study, or share words of the Gospel message, or we uplift and encourage others, when we speak words of confession and repentance, when we ask God to help us deal with our anger and selfishness in ways that are pleasing to Him, then we are using our words in ways that are a blessing to us and that bring glory to God.

May it be so in each of our lives this week.

Camille Wheeler

Originally presented to Leadership Council

9/27/17

CBS - Rutherfordton Day Class

* Return to Jerusalem, Lesson 3

Our Godly Character

Flight to Los Angeles

This summer, Mary Jane Downs and I, and three others, went on a mission trip to Los Angeles to do street evangelism, prayer walking and praying for the entertainment industry. We’d had a fruitful week and felt like we accomplished everything we understood we were supposed to, and more.

On Friday night we returned to the hotel after a long day and just as we were pulling into the parking lot, we received a text from the airline saying our flight for the next morning had been cancelled. We all went to our rooms to pack and get ready to leave the next day just as we had planned to do.

During the night, Sam our team leader, texted back and forth with the airline to no avail. The flight was back on, then off again, delayed 20 minutes, back on time, delayed 30 minutes. That was how it stood as we woke up that morning.

Woman Asleep

As I was spending some time in prayer before I got up to dress, the Lord told me, “This is your opportunity to show your Godly character.” I laid there and thought about that for a few minutes. What did I have within me that could be considered Godly character? Then He brought to mind, Gal. 5:22-23, the Fruit of the Spirit.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

               gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

I shared this challenge with the other team members.

Waiting in the Airport

By the time we arrived at the airport the flight had changed again. It was back on regular time, then cancelled again and then on again, but without us. Sam talked to three different airline employees, going higher up the chain of command each time, while the rest of us sat across the lobby praying. The spiritual warfare was intense. He finally came away with two choices: leave on the same flight the next day (but they wouldn’t help us find a hotel to stay in or help get us there and back or pay for the extra meals we’d need. Option two was to stay in the airport and leave on a flight that night, changing in Chicago instead of Denver. Twelve hours in the airport is a long time but we got the distinct feeling that God was keeping us from harm.

Something like this doesn’t happen every day, but other things happen that might test our Godly character. Many times since then I have heard that wee small voice reminding me “this is an opportunity to show your Godly character.”

The Israelites had many opportunities to show their Godly character in our study this

The Temple Destroyed

week. They often failed. How about you?  Has He given you those opportunities, too? How are you doing with that challenge?

There are some of God’s character traits that we cannot, as humans, show. His omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence and His position in the Trinity. Being sovereign, immutable and rendering judgement are reserved for Him. But He has allowed us to take on other character traits to make us better people and make the world a better place.

I am closing with Galatians 5:22-24 from The Message.

^22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

^23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

Cathy Biggerstaff

Originally Presented to the Leaders Council

CBS – Rutherfordton Day Class

10/4/17

Amazing God

Mt. Rainier

As many of you know, I was born and raised in the state of Washington. I grew up in the city of Port Orchard, across Puget Sound from Seattle. Even prettier than the Puget Sound, are the mountain ranges that surround the state. Mt. Baker, Mt. Adams, Mt Hood, (which is in Oregon but can be seen from Washington and is in the same Cascade Range), and Mt. Rainier, my favorite mountain. Many Washingtonians still call it, "Mr. Majestic."

Today, I would like to tell you about a mountain that changed all our lives: Mount St. Helen's, when she blew her top! There was lots of fear about the unknown future, and fifty-seven precious lives were lost. So powerful was the force of unwanted, sulfurous ash, that it circled the globe twice!  That experience is something our family will never forget. 

Mount St. Helens

 Life for our family was full of unexpected events as well, some positive and others negative. A positive experience for me, was accepting Jesus Christ as my personal Savior on April 30th,1 972.  In these 45 years, we have experienced marriages, divorces, loss of a son, wayward children and grandchildren, financial ups and downs and health issues.  Yet through it all, God has been faithful.  I can still say, "Amazing God, you're still amazing me."

Starting in Community Bible Study five years ago, I have learned many things:

1)    It is very easy to just drift along if you are not solidly anchored in God.

2)    Another year I learned you can fall into complacency, and not even realize it.

3)    Last year I adopted the word "balance" for I realized I didn’t have that in my life. 

I can't wait to see what God shows me as I study Return to Jerusalem this year.

This past summer, my husband Bill and I revisited Mt. Rainier and Mount St. Helen's. What a sight to behold!  The verses in Psalms 121: 1 & 2, are so fitting:

"I lift my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the Lord, the Creator of Heaven and Earth."

Take a minute to listen to the Triumphant Quartet's song, "Amazing God” on You Tube to round out this devotion.

Linda McDaniel

This devotion originally presented to Leaders Council

Community Bible Study – Rutherfordton Day Class

10/11/17

Facing the Facts

Tennis Player

My nearly 100-year-old mother-in-law and I have been watching the US Open. Mom played tennis until she was 80, and enjoys watching it on television. Friday night Rafa Nadal, our favorite, lost the first set. It looked as if there was little hope for him. After the match Nadal was asked how he turned things around. He answered that he saw that his plan to keep attacking del Potro’s backhand just wasn’t working, and knew he had to do something. In other words, he had to face the facts that if he continued as he was going he would lose. Nadal changed tactics and came out the winner.

What does one do though if you’re in a situation, and you face the facts that there’s nothing you can do? You’ve looked the problem square in the face, haven’t buried your head in the sand, but there is no plan that will work. For instance, you face a chronic illness

Chronic Illness

where the doctor says, “we’ve run out of options;” you have financial problems that are too great to overcome; your adult child is in trouble but you have no control over him? In other words, it’s hopeless, nothing will work, it’s just an impossible situation.

Let’s look for a minute at Romans 4:18-21 (NIV). Abraham was given a promise from God in Genesis 12. He promised Abraham a land, a people (nation) and to bless others through him. Abraham believed God.

“Without weakening in his faith, he faced the facts…” God had promised him a son so a nation could come from him. He checked his body and faced the fact that he couldn’t father a child. He was almost 100 years old! Then he looked across the table and saw

Abraham and Sarah

Sarah. She had been infertile for decades…no hope there.” Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but (instead) was strengthened in his faith, and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” 

I thought on that portion of the verse, ’did not waver through unbelief’, and questioned God. “But Lord,” I said, “he gave in to Sarah’s quick-fix idea to get a son through Hagar? Then later through fear Abraham told King Abimelech that Sarah was his sister which almost had a tragic result. Isn’t that wavering?” God said he didn’t waiver in his faith. He was human, and made mistakes. He fell prey to fear and to pride like we tend to in the heat of trials. But God says, “he didn’t waver through unbelief”!

 In Abraham’s response to this terrible testing of his faith there is something that spoke to me most. It was that Abraham faced the facts. He didn’t gloss over them and he didn’t ignore the facts. NO! Father Abraham faced the hopelessness of his body and Sarah’s body, and instead of stopping there and giving up, he looked at his

Abraham and Issac

God, my God, your God. He remembered who had called him out of Ur to a new land and how God cared for him. He relived in his mind that awe-filled evening when God passed between the heifer, goat, ram and birds a smoking firepot and blazing torch, and spoke his promise again to him.  And through Abraham’s belief God strengthened his faith, and persuaded him that He is a promise keeping God… and He is.

Ladies, take courage today, and face the facts of your hopeless situations. Call them just what they are. Don’t side step the problem, or try to put a good face on them. Face the fact that your situation is hopeless-- impossible. Don’t waver in your faith—tears are fine, getting angry with God is fine, having a donut when you’re so tired of carrying the heavy load is fine. Face the facts that you aren’t enough, and let God have the whole mess. God will strengthen your faith.  He will get the glory when he steps in and changes things, and fulfills every single word of his good promise to you. The fact is God wants and will get the glory when we believe him, and we will forever be singing his praises.  Amen

Susan Hamlin

Originally Presented to the Leaders Council

9-13-17

Return to Me

Karen Long-Moore

Core Group Leader

Return to me. 

God calls to us just as he called the Israelites home to Him from Babylon. We, like them, have turned to idols of our own making. We have let other things get in the way of our relationship with God. We have misplaced priorities and have lapsed into sin. 

God has given us so much, and we have loved it all so much, that we have let it come first. Good gifts that have good purposes have

 James 4:8

been elevated to idols in our lives. Left to ourselves, we can easily become consumed with selfishness and forget to put Him first. We spin in circles, going nowhere.

God knows us and knows we need His guidance and help. We need Him! He pursues us. He never forgets us even when we forget Him. He is always faithful to forgive. He calls us to come to Him. When we take that first step toward Him, He runs to meet us. 

How sweet it is to be back in our familiar routine at CBS; to open the scriptures next to our workbook and dig in to the Word of God. As we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. We were made for Him. 

We are home.

Originally presented to Leadership Counsel

Rutherfordton CBS – Day Class  9/20/17

Changes

Cheryl Waddingham

Core Leader

          With life comes change.  With change comes fear, insecurity, sorrow, stress.  So what do you do? Hibernate?  Take no risks for fear of failing? Change will happen in your life.  It is not a matter of “if,” but “when.”  Let me share a little about the changes that have taken place in my life.

          In 1988, my husband, an administrator for a community college in Iowa, lost his job unexpectedly.  It was a time when jobs were hard to find, especially in the dead of winter in this small rural community. It became frustrating but, after months of applications and interviews, he got a job! Little did we know it would take us all the way to NC! 

          The move was a difficult one for my family.  Not only did we have to sell our dream house, we had to get rid of things we wanted. I was losing a job that I dearly loved. We had an exchange student living with us who had to return to Spain following his graduation and a former exchange student wanting to return to the area for one more visit before we left the community she called “home”.  We also had to find a place for our daughter to live while she waited to leave for college that fall. Our son was about to become a freshman in high school. Making the move even more difficult was knowing that my father-in-law only had months to live. Through many tears, much prayer and lots of adjustments, we made the move, and life was good again, thanks to our faith and assurance that God would see us through.

          In 2015, my faith was tested more than it ever had been.  A son’s divorce, the loss of my husband of 50 years, the loss of two very close friends (one on the day of my husband’s funeral), the loss of a niece to suicide, and one of the hardest to understand was the betrayal of a very close friend that I had trusted for many years.  My heart was broken and, on many days, I found myself sitting and starring into space, allowing time to pass by on its own.  I began reading self-help books and journaling daily, pouring out all my thoughts and hurts, and anger onto its blank pages.  Most of all, I prayed A LOT, waiting for the “new norm” in my life to take place. I began asking God to show me the direction I needed to go, to help me make wise choices and to use me to glorify His name.  As I searched through scripture, I was reminded in Romans 5:3 that we are to rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

Romans 5:3

          It was at this time that I received a call about being a facilitator for CBS. Even though I felt God telling me to say “yes,” I wondered if it was still too soon to take on such a heavy responsibility. I questioned God’s motives. Why, then, was God telling me to say yes? Why was He moving me in a direction that not only made me accountable to CBS but also to the fifteen women He entrusted in my care?

          I did accept the call.  I must confess, as a new Core Leader this year, I found myself overwhelmed with all there is to know.  God began to open my eyes and I quickly learned that CBS was actually uplifting me in a spiritual renewal of myself!  It is through facilitating others that God has truly worked through me allowing time to heal in ways that I didn’t even know I needed healing.  Studying I and II Corinthians has been a wakeup call.  God has shown me through scripture and our sharing together the things that I needed to hear and learn and to do.  And in doing so, I have been able to shepherd my sheep through my life’s experiences because I have been where many women in CBS are right now.  I truly can relate to their pain and suffering as they share their stories with me. Their love and trust in me has been such a blessing.

Women Studying the Bible Together

          When we stay focused on Christ, nothing else really matters because he will meet our every need as 2 Samuel 22:7 reminds us - “I called to the Lord in my distress.  I called to my God. From His temple, He heard my voice.”

          I am sharing these life experiences with you today as a testimony that no matter how difficult life becomes, God will be there to see you through, if you just put your trust and faith in Him. I look forward to seeing what He has in store for me in the days ahead – a journey of changes to be embraced.  I thank God for the lessons learned through these “opportunities of faith,” knowing that he is in total control.  I don’t always understand why God calls me to do the things he does but I am reminded in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

          Prayer: “Gracious heavenly Father, You are so awesome.  When changes come into our lives, you are always there to comfort us and to pick us up; you listen when there are no words to say; you whisper sweet I love yous in our ears when we need them.  Help us to handle the changes that life gives us by leading us in what is good, true and right so that we can be of help to others, giving you all the honor and glory.  Amen.”