Are you Growing or Just Going?

In the mind spinning and hectic pace of our lives, there are times when we need to jump off the six lane highway. Retreat means something negative when you are in a war. But when your enemy is time pressure, “retreat” is a positive term of refreshment and rest. Praise God for retreats with other Christians, but an extra hurrah goes for retreats with Christian women.

This weekend I sojourned to such a place. A special retreat for writers of Christian media happens each year in October in a private cabin in the North Carolina Mountains. Many of the women have been coming for all six of the retreats thus far. As a result we’ve melded into a sisterhood of Christian writers. We keep in touch throughout the year by email or blogging. Our accomplishments in publications and our lives’ highs and lows are celebrated and prayed over. We’re family.

During the retreat we had the blessings of a live-in chef extraordinaire, and a loving hostess who provided extra toiletries and accommodated for any special needs. The paramount blessing was being cocooned inside the grandeur of God’s creation. What is it about these Appalachian Mountains that puts our hearts and lives into perspective? Is the air clearer, the sky bluer, the birds more joyful in song? Whatever it is, life is at a pace of ease allowing our minds to unlock secrets and satisfy the thirsting soul for drops of love from Heaven.

This past weekend we have shared from our hearts and souls through our writing, our reading, our devotions and all the great meal conversations. I had one of the best roommates ever. It seems we have lived very similar lives and experienced much of the same heartaches within a half century. Our friendship reached a higher level and now we have promised to be accountable to each other within a small critique group birthed out of our retreat. “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our joys and griefs to share…”

Can you find a time in your own life where you can retreat for several days without your own biological family? I think this is critical for your soul and spirit to grow immeasurably. It broadens your network of friends in Christ. It opens your heart to the trials and dreams of others. Lastly, it spreads a sense of awe about God and his ability to give you such wonderful gifts in this life. Makes me want to shout—Hallelujah! I see a glimpse of heaven here on earth.

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen." NIV, 2 Peter 3: 18

Inching My Way into Christian Writing

Who would have thought when I was diagnosed with two chronic and incurable diseases about 10 years ago I could have an article published on coping with them? Who would have thought that very article would reach millions both nationally and internationally? God is good. God is faithful. And God is sometimes very surprising!

This past weekend I attended yet another Writing Workshop to hone my skills as a Christian writer and blogger. Even though doing these activities wipes my energy level out for at least two days, and I "make like a rock"; it is what is needed to keep me writing and telling others about life with Christ. For who can bear the thought of life without the hope He alone can offer? (John 3:16-17)

I am reminded so many times of the scripture song from a monk years ago about Mathew Chapter 11, verses 28 to 29. We must take up Christ's yoke, for it is easy and His burden is light. What a conundrum! When we, as Christians, are under the worst of circumstances and trials, Jesus says: take up my yoke, my burden, don't worry my little child.

I have already gotten an email from a fellow vertically ill (FMS) woman in Myrtle Beach--the very location where we were having our Writers' Workshop. She felt that God wanted her to email me although nothing about my faith was allowed in the article. Divine providence? I checked my email after I returned to the Upstate. If I can point her to this blog site for comfort and assurance, to her Savior, Jesus Christ, and to the Almighty Father who reigns supreme, my spiritual heartbeats will target those of God.

When was the last time you really spent time praising God? He lives within the praises of His people. Praise Him now for both the good and the difficult things in your life. He needs to know you are aware of His acts in all aspects of your life. There are no coincidences, only Divine Appointments. He's waiting for your appointment with Him right now.

Blessings from and to all the "vertically ill" everywhere,

Dr. Linda B. Greer

"Living Single with FMS: Advice from a Ten Year Veteran", Fibromyalgia Network e-newsletter, August, 2009

Heartbeat of a Summer Time Slacker

What is it about summer that makes us change our routines--even our daily quiet time with God? I feel pulled in a multitude of directions during this season. There's more yard work to be done, more dust coming in from the constant swing and bang of the dogie door, and more friends and family I want to see.

Of course, if you garden, then there are hoses to set and reset, higher water bills to pay, and huge mosquito bites to treat, too. If West Nile Virus doesn't kill me, then God, who I seem to have swept away with the porch dust, may strike me dead.

How can I recapture my need to need Him? Perhaps I haven't totally lost touch with God, just changed the way I sense and worship Him.

After all, curled on a porch sofa and listening to His rain and thunder during a storm is a form of quiet worship and thanksgiving. Mowing the grass and trimming the hedges He's allowed to grow, reminds me of the spiritual pruning we all need in our walk of faith. Observing daily in my bird baths, feathered creatures who relish the water and preen themselves, is a picture of the cleansing forgiveness we each need daily to clean our souls.

Surprise! God is all around me this summer, linking life forms and growth to my spiritual heartbeats--and all this time I thought I had lost Him. Our recent family gathering in celebration of Independence Day evoked thoughts of lives sacrificed for a strong moral compass in a new land in North America over 225 years ago. It was a reminder of how much our freedom to worship collectively has cost our countrymen--past, present and future.

I was host to a special boy for Independence Day. His father bravely walked his African family away from Christian persecution in Liberia to live for many years in refugee camps in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Then one day, God answered this father's prayers for passage to the United States of America. Winston is living proof of God at work to liberate persecuted Christians in our world.

Where will God pop up in your summer time plans? He's possibly just a heartbeat away if you open up your eyes and ears.

Independence vs. Dependence Day

Our country was founded on the belief that God has endowed us with some unalienable rights. We know these well from our Declaration of Independence. However, the writers of this grand and old document never intended our independence to be declared against God, but rather against an unjust British government.

Our need for God as Christians is as ever-present as our need to breathe oxygen. It reminds me of the old hymn I Need Thee Every Hour because we can never be whole and righteous here on earth. Our soul's cry is ever-constant to have Christ's blood covering of grace and forgiveness to protect us from an unjust enemy.

I recently finished reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This book should light a fire under any coach potato Christian who accepts God's tremendous love but rarely returns it. I am particularly convicted of the need to love two sets of callous and unapproachable neighbors. As God would have it, they are unchurched and flabby at best in their spiritual walk with God as far as I can discern.

How can I love thee? Let me count the ways:

• Pray daily for my attitude and for their full salvation and discipleship in Christ.


• Promote love with random acts of kindness anonymously.


• Compliment them with sincerity of heart when possible.


• Thank them for keeping up their front yards (even if their back yards are a mess).


• Keep being friendly toward their pets and/or children.


• Invite them to church after our friendship is established.


• Give them cards and gifts at Christmas and Easter and expect nothing in return.


• Find out when they have birthdays and send a Christian greeting card.


• Above all else, let their meanness toward you not invoke a spirit of revenge or bitterness (that's your human sin nature crying out--so tell it to be quiet in Jesus' name).

Perhaps you have a similar situation in your neighborhood. Just remember, Jesus encountered no true welcome as the Messiah in his own home town, and neither should we expect to be liked by everyone. Be grateful for the neighbors who do believe in Jesus and are kind to you, but don't forget to love those who despise you. They need your love more than anyone.

Have a wonderful Independence Day and say a prayer for all those who have fought to keep our country free. Ask the Father to humble you into loving in new, outstanding, and courageous ways, as Francis Chan would say.

This Is Not the Life I Planned!

How many times in your life have you breached a veritable Waterloo spiritually and said under your breath, "God, this is not the way my life was supposed to be." If you are a believer in Christ you've heard the platitude, "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose."(Roms. 8:28)

I declare--He has tested that scripture in my life more times than I wish to count. Right now my struggle is with my one remaining nuclear family member, my daughter D. She lives north of Atlanta and is the mother of my only grandson, A., who just turned 4 years old in mid-May. (He gets his blue eyes and blond hair from me, of course.)

Now school is out, and as I wait in the grocery lines, or other stores, I strike up conversations with folks. Invariably someone is bragging about their grand kids being with them for a few weeks this summer. My reply is always, "You're so lucky. I hardly get to see my grandson." One gentlemen said he had been keeping his grand kids since they were age one. He looked about 75 years old and had a big grin on his face. (Envious green crept across mine.)

Quite frankly, I am at the point of tears in being denied access for even a long weekend with my grandson. I pray God will soften my daughter's concrete core. She is 24, and I blurted out just yesterday on the phone, "You know, I'm not going to live forever. I want to see my grandson." D. delivered the usual vague, noncommittal reply, "We'll see." Hmmm.....

Understand, the paternal grandparents see A. every week and sometimes he stays for entire weeks when he is too sick for daycare or D. goes on a trip. To take this kind of unequal treatment any way but personally would be ludicrous. When D. is asked why, she clams up and just says, "You're crazy." What kind of answer is that?

Didn't see him for Easter or get a card. Didn't see him on Mother's Day or get a card. Didn't see him for his birthday or get an invitation down. As a sole parent due to "premature" death of my husband, by all rights I should at least get acknowledged for Father's Day; but "we'll see."

Everyone told me that grand parenting would be the best part of my life. I sure wish it would start. I'm irritated at being excluded from most of the fun and changes the first few years in A's life. In a few more years I am going to be into another decade--one that is definitely not middle-aged. When the grandson gets old enough to drive, I may be in a nursing home for God's sake!

Pray for me,

Lonely in Spartanburg

Let's Not Weary of Doing Good

That is a pretty tall order from the book of Galations (6:9) if you suffer from a chronic pain condition such as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, or Rheumatoid Arthritis. Since today (5/12) is National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, it’s appropriate to examine believers who suffer each and every day of their lives. The apostle, Paul, entreats all of us to never weary of doing good. So how do you follow his commandment when you’re in pain constantly?

If there is one thing that saps your energy and motivation more than constant body-wide pain, I don’t know about it. It’s a dangerously self-absorbing condition, too. You begin to think, “How can I minister to others when I can barely take care of myself?”

How would you answer God if He asked you about your weariness in doing good? Would you say, “Lord, you understand why I am mostly home bound, don’t go on mission trips, or attend church regularly”? Would you say, “Until you heal me, Lord, I can’t be of use to the Kingdom of God”? Would you say, “I’ll just wait until the medical profession comes up with a cure before I become your good and faithful servant”?

All of these responses leave out the most extravagant gift of service you can give to any person—prayer! No matter where you are or in what condition or circumstances, a believer’s spiritual heartbeats can always turn his/her heart toward prayer.

I recently saw on a church marquee these words, “If you are having trouble standing, fall to your knees.” How often we excuse our absence from God’s good works by omitting prayer. As Americans we are somehow conditioned to think delivering a meal, manual labor, or a trip to needy believers is required. Our heavenly Father is much more pleased with personal communion than any work we might do.

Stop today and think about praying for your neighbors, your church members, your church pastors and staff, your city officials, your state governing body and their assistants, and your national leaders and Cabinet members. Nothing great in the history of God and man was ever accomplished without the fervent prayer of at least one believer. In many instances, whole bodies of believers were asked to fast and pray.

List now from memory some of the extravagant and seemingly impossible prayers recorded in the Bible that resulted in God’s power being displayed. Remember, even a feeble and frightened person can pray.

Meditate on Christ’s prayer of anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane as he sweat drops of blood from the strain of knowing his torture and death were near at hand. In Christ’s most painful, last moments on the cross, He was still talking with His Father in heaven. Yes, it is a tall order to simultaneously suffer and supplicate for others.

The Ultimate Lily Pad

Throughout our secular, pre-Christian lives, we leapfrog from one person to the next searching for a safe arm to lean upon. When we realize that no one is trustworthy totally, we begin to search for the real truth. When we find that truth in God’s word and our Living Savior, we surrender to the one place where all our trust can snuggly reside. Jesus is the “ultimate lily pad”.

A person said to me recently, "You need to smile more." It was the mirror image of a joyless Christian he saw. I knew it was the devil's second best kill thrill subtracting joy from my life, so I have decided to smile frequently just to spite Satan's efforts. My soul is secured for eternity with Christ, but my joy will forever be the manifestation of this fact. My spiritual heartbeats of joy must orchestrate the tempo of my life to be a better witness and to glorify God.

"Victoy in Jesus, my Savior forever" was not written by a pouty-faced wet blanket, so why do we allow the devil to rob us of our joy? One way is allowing circumstances to be our focus instead of our position within the body of Christ as one of His beloved. Another way is to associate constantly with people who have lost their own Christian joy. Lastly, receding from church, declining fellowhip with like-minded followers of Christ, and eliminating prayer can also bring a halt to our joy.

The human heart can be fooled into thinking death might be better than life, since no more trials and tears need to be born. Even as I see my own life framed by the deaths of so many immediate family members, I see the fallacy of this thinking. If God hasn't chosen to remove me from this world, then His will is for my life to continue and to be of service glorifying Him. We don't decide on death unless we have despaired and turned our back on God in a moment of weakness--a moment the devil relished.

Most of us know of someone, in a moment of weakness, who despaired and turned his/her back on God and His power to revive. We know those who have believed that suicide was a way to escape the tears and turbulence of this life. Long before this person died, the devil was leaking his acid of self-hate into the believer's weakest point of armor. It was killing the believer's joy, the devil's second-best coup to denigrate the name of Christ.

The lily pad is a great image of our position to God and Satan in this life. It lays atop the water, floating and facing toward heaven. It blooms in its appointed season. If it is dragged under by some weight, it dies in dark waters. It goes dormant without the warmth of the sun. So it is with believers--we balance delicately between heaven and earth, attached to the murky waters of life and sometimes tangled up by the weight of difficult circumstances. When we allow the Son to shine into our souls, we blossom and become something beautiful for God and others to see.

My challenge for you is to be aware of joyfulness versus joylessness. Decide which kind of Christian you wish to be for your Savior. Smile toward heaven and others or frown into the darkness of this world--it's your choice.

Here's smiling at you!
L. B. Greer