Regenerated Heart with MORNA

I am excited to share that a secular magazine has just arrived in my mail and I have an article in it!? Can I believe it?!  No! But there it is!

www.balancemagazine.com  pages 72-73 (current issue - Spring 2009)

In the past several months I have felt the urge to pursue getting a college education.  Giggle.  I am 56+ years old and a degree seemed sooooooo far away! Since my IBM 360 Computer programming course of 38 years ago (basically as archaic as that computer), I concluded I would have to start at square one: the very beginning.  But I’m too old for such an endeavor, I told myself! Nevertheless, I still felt a strong sense that I needed to get a degree.  So I prayed.  Researched my options. Asked questions. Prayed some more.  Then the building blocks started to come together one tiny piece at a time. Thus my journey began as December 31, 2008 I enrolled in a college program to earn my B.A. in Communications.  Today, April 29, 2009, I am three classes away from earning my B.A. in Communications! I can hardly believe it.  Yes, I have had my tush sitting a lot and my nose in the books more than I thought possible and my computer keys hot with actively typing essays, but I have literally inhaled and digested every course and enjoyed the process immensely!!

My most recent assignments included reading Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard/Phil Hodges and Failing Forward by John Maxwell. WOW what incredible resources! I highly encourage reading them. I personally believe every ministry leader should take their team through these books as a study and hold one another accountable to their teachings, especially Lead Like Jesus.

One of my courses required memorizing between 25-30 verses before the final exam.  As I carried my index cards everywhere I went to try to absorb the words of wisdom, I thought to myself why is it I have to be going to school to earn something in order to be motivated to do such activities? Why doesn’t my heart just naturally want to do this kind of work “just cuz?”  I guess, the key word in that question is the word “work” - huh? Rarely do we work at something just because it’s there to do. We lack the motivation to do work unless there is compensation and/or reward, right?

I remember a teaching one time long ago that stated that when our Lord mentions the words “good works” that it can literally mean “works done in secret.” 

No audience? No public reward? No “atta boys?” Not necessarily here.

Heaven, yes.

And isn’t that where it’s all at? We are heaven bound and will spend a whole lot more time there than we will on planet earth so isn’t that WHERE we want the compensation, rewards, and ”atta boys?”

I believe Heaven will be the ultimate in degrees - don’t you agree? 

Let’s press on together…

“Morna is truly an awesome advocate of the Lord. Her intensity in testimony is I’m sure a blessing to so many people on her journey to respresenting the Lord. The armor of God around her through her own path truly shows God’s truth and strength. Her insight is so amazing.”

“You are a fabulous gift! I appreciate the sharing of your testimony and scriptures and tools we can use in our lives in various seasons. Thanks for blessing me.”

“I enjoy your enthusiasm for the Lord. I thought you were very professional in your presentation. I can tell you were well prepared and you did a good job teaching us how to have faith.”

“Morna is an incredibly gifted speaker - she is an inspiration.”

“Morna, I am in awe of you! What an inspiration you are. You are such a warm, caring, loving person and it all comes out immediately upon meeting you and hearing you speak….you touched my heart in a big way.”

His big brown eyes looked up at me. The tiny, fluffy form begged to be rescued. Abandoned, by the side of the road, the puppy let out a little whimper as if asking for help. My walk on the county road was an escape from the realities of a pressured lifestyle, and now here I stood facing another bleeding heart-case. I gently scooped the little fur ball into my arms and noticed his broken right front leg.

The bone was set. He followed me everywhere. Being quite the sight didn’t curtail his puppy-ness. Due to the nature of the break, a sling was necessary for several weeks. He and I seemed to adapt easily to his three-legged walk as if it were natural.

Weeks later, carefully unmasking the pampered limb, I looked at my little friend - thinking his boundless energy would take over and he would delight in his new found freedom and stability. Not the case. He just laid there. Big brown eyes. Whimper. After much coaxing, and him refusing to budge, I glanced over at the sling in the garbage can. I thought, “This is ridiculous!”

Picking the sling up, his ears perked up. He raised his head as if to say, “I need that.”

I left the vet that day with a puppy, in a sling, determined to be three-legged for the rest of his life.

How many of us human beings do the same thing? We’ve all been hurt, disappointed, and/or abandoned in varying degrees. How many of us are staying there? We use drugs, drink, and denial to sling our wounded hearts and live that way til the day we die.

Everything in me says, “This is wrong!” 

Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” In other words, get rid of the sling and walk as you were desiged by the Creator to walk! Sometimes I wonder: do I really want genuine freedom bad enough? Or is it just easier to limp along using my sling?

Lovingly written…

     After spending ten glorious days in Hawaii, complements of our children - Don and I have been relishing in the precious memories God allowed us to have while basking in the beauty of His creation and the gift of our 34 years together as a married couple.  On our drive home from Seattle we realized we did not know how desperately we NEEDED a rest, until AFTERWARDS.  My mind went automatically to Scripture talking about Sabbath rest - a command for our benefit. God designed, from Creation, the human body, soul, and spirit to have times of rest.  Would we not do well to obey this command?

     Part of the dynamic of being able to rest was the fact that our daughters were managing our home, while our son was managing the finances of our trip.  There was a huge trust “factor” there that allowed Don and me the privilege of resting…with no added worries.  Is that not how the Lord wants us to live each day - trusting HIM to manage all the circumstances we find ourselves in?  Trusting is resting, is it not?

     Coming home to piles of mail, emails, bills, and phone messages could easily erode the benefit of having a blessed rest if we allowed it to.  Don and I have committed to trying to ‘relive’ those restful moments by committing to weekly date nights and having quiet moments looking through our picture album.  We want to relish in His blessing of resting in the Palm of His Hand.  We are hoping these moments may be good reminders for us…

     Rest for our refreshment…

         Rest for our rejuvenation…

              Rest for our refinement…

                   Trusting Him enough to rest…

“…wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”  Psalm 51:7b

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD.  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”  Isaiah 1:18a

As we sit here in Spokane, WA under a very thick (24″ and climbing!) blanket of pure, white snow it brings to mind the phrase, ‘covers a multitude of sins!’  The beauty of it is this is so true!  What lies underneath is out of sight and out of mind - at least temporarily.  The nagging weeds, lose boards on the deck, and dead car no longer seem to haunt our ‘to do’ list.  But with the never ending snow fall there are replacement items on that list - namely: shoveling, and more shoveling.

So it is with the Redeeming Blood of the Lamb - a multitude of sins covered (permanently!) so that we undeserving humans will radiate the glistening sparkle of pure, white, unscathed snow.  The things of the past are no longer to weigh us down with ‘doing’, but with the new life we are given the power in ‘being.’  Our new assignment:  To glorify the One who loves us more than life itself…Whose blood made us clean….forever.

As you look out your window - gaze into His purity falling from Heaven’s gates to remind us of the access we have to His Holy Power to be all that He wants us to be. 

“Blessed is the man who listens to me,

watching daily at my doors,

waiting at my doorway. 

For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.” 

Proverbs 8:34-35

May His Holy Presence fill you today as you listen, watch and wait….

“The chapter titled, ‘I Hate Him’ impacted me heavily.  It may be odd to think about this, but I had to forgive the mother and victim in my case.  There was so much verbal and physical abuse toward me before I offended that it has hindered my progress in therapy and in my walk with the Lord. Bitterness is so ugly.  And it effects every part of our lives.  I didn’t even recognize it as bitterness until I read Regenerated Heart.  I realized I couldn’t completely repent of my own crime until I forgave the wrongs that had been done to me.  That may be hard to swallow for some, but it was crippling for me.  I wrote in my journal a letter of forgiveness and apology.  I didn’t realize the burden I was bearing until it was unloaded.  Praise God for all the ways He provides deliverance and peace to His people!!” – an inmate

“BIG THANK YOU a million times over for sending me your book and DVD.  I was encouraged, enlightened, exhorted, and greatly blessed.  I plan to read it again. There is a lot of treasures in it that one cannot fully grasp just by reading it once.  It is a great work of art that displays the Mighty One throughout the pages of the book. Thank you for being obedient, transparent and courageous in sharing your life story.  Your life definitely reveals: the bigger the problem, the greater the miracle that God has for those who put their trust in Him.”

“Thank you so much for writing Regenerated Heart.  I found it intimately engaging and though I had thought of myself as having ‘arrived’ – I sheepishly admit to you that in the midst of reading your story parts of my own story were ‘uncovered.’  I pushed the thoughts away for a few days until the Lord inadvertently brought someone from my past back into my life.  I was met face-to-face with my heart screaming out in pain that I had buried for years.  As a broken heap on the floor the Lord prompted me to pick up your book and work through my bitterness and lack of forgiveness that I had never dealt with before.  I wrote with trembling hands the offenses and my commitment to forgive and allow God to do His work in the situation.  As I laid everything at the foot of the Cross I came away a new person as I have witnessed the cleansing Blood of Jesus taking my burdens far far away.  To God be the glory!”

With a deceptive pious attitude, I asked myself, “Why am I here?   These people are vile and I am surrounded by them. God, get me out of here!  I don’t belong here!!”  I begged, “Lord, I’ve always been a goody two shoes and here I sit in the Spokane County Jail waiting room. I‘m surrounded by the stench of old smoke, left over drugs and putrid alcohol. The women are lustfully dressed, the men gawking, and the children unmanageable. I don’t belong here.”

The guard at the check-in desk muttered some remark – not caring if anyone heard him. Never making eye contact, he mumbled a name louder this time – announcing someone’s time to visit. A pleasure-seeking woman sauntered up to the desk, showing her wares, and walked through the metal detector only to have its loud buzzer catch everyone’s attention. Enjoying the noticing glances, she made her way back through the detector to take off a myriad of chain bracelets, necklaces, piercings and hoop earrings.

My stomach turned nauseous. “Why am I here?  This isn’t fair.” And yet, here I sit. Here I remain waiting my turn for my name to be mumbled. My love for my incarcerated son keeps me in my place.

An hour goes by as I try to be patient. My surroundings are tugging at my emotions. Not only do I not want to be here, I do not want to see the pain that surrounds me.  A couple in the corner having a fight; an old woman obviously living on the streets going through her grocery bag one more time; a young lady with rings in her nose, ears, tongue and eyebrows, looking so sad, so dark, so lost – oh, so despondent. A filthy man, unshaven, slovenly dressed, not really caring about anything grunted curse words in his impatience. It is a world I did not know existed before September 25, 2001.

As I sat there I mentally talked to the Lord. I argued with Him as I tried to convince Him that this was all a bad dream and I didn’t think He was very funny. My sick stomach, my swollen tear-filled eyes, and the lump in my throat were reminders this was reality. I begged God to reveal Himself, because right now all I could see was the evidence of a sin sick world. And it turned my stomach. I was repulsed by it. I wanted to throw up. All I could do was endure being in the midst of it. As my emotions mounted up, I caught myself screaming in my mind: “Why Lord?  Why my precious family?  Why??”

The Lord softly answers. . .

“What do you think it was like for Me to come from Heaven’s gates to lowly earth?”

A simple, quiet question. That’s how my Lord is. Never pushy, only penetratingly truthful.

“What do you think it was like for Me to come from the splendor of perfect Paradise to a dirty, repulsive world?  Walk in my sandals for a moment.”

Humility filled my entire being as my floodgates opened wide. I was embarrassed by my pride, disgusted with my piety, and sickened I had questioned my Lord. My brokenness became shattered into even smaller pieces as I realized the magnitude of what my Lord had done for me…..oh wretch that I am.  He came from Paradise to perversion - all for the sake of love.

For the King of kings and Lord of lords to humble Himself to come to earth as a helpless baby and to walk amongst a sin sick people who had no clue. How did it make Him feel as He heard our cursing, read our eyes, saw our hearts and watched our backs turn away from Him? As the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, are we brought to our knees in utter ADORATION - cherishing His outstretched arms? Everlasting arms longing to hold us, guard us, empower us and free us.  Oh, come… let us…adore Him.

-Excerpt from Regenerated Heart

A - admire

D - die for and defend

O - open your heart

R - rejoice and radiate

E - engergized!!