Tag: Answered Prayer

Bekah's Heart, Blessing, Joy

Vacations are for Detours

Rebekah Freed

I come ‘round the last curve in the road.  A smile grows on my face as contentment grows in my soul.   If I wasn’t sure before, I’m now convinced that this impromptu detour down “J-Hill” road was a great idea.

I can’t wait to get down the drive and park the car, quick turning off the radio allowing for the silence this place demands. 

I look around for a rock to carry up. Unsuccessful, but decide the rocks don’t have to be literal, my figurative ones will work just fine for today.

The ascent begins and I ponder… Was it really nearly 10 years ago that I made this climb for the first time?  I also recall some of the “rocks” I laid down here nearly a decade ago… some of the same burdens I’ve come here to lay down again today. 

I pass the crossbar and continue the hike, thankful that the frozen ground makes this journey a little easier than the typical summer day with shifting dirt and sliding rocks.  Near the top, I finally turn around.  The awe-inspiring view steals my breath once again.  

As if there were an automatic recording, the familiar tune and words begin to come out of my mouth…. “Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary…”

I ponder again… how many times have I climbed this hill?  How many times have I sung that song?  How many rocks have I laid here… my sins, my burdens, my hurts, my joys.

I linger for a while but eventually begin the hike down to the car… hearing in my head the instructions that for many years came out of my mouth… “If you turn your feet sideways it makes it easier to get down without slipping.”  (As this thought passes through my head, I also slightly regret not changing into the gym shoes that were in the trunk.)

On my way down I pay specially attention to the names that remain on weather-worn rocks.

Luke.

Kylie.

Trina.

Julius.   I pause a little longer here.   

I wonder… What burdens or pains or hurts or sins might he have left there with his rock only weeks before he left every burden behind forever and went to the place of no more tears. 

Luke.

Anneka.

The names and rocks continue, some more familiar than others.  Each name representing the same thing…  a life changed in this place.  Each rock carries a story… one often known by God alone.   Each rock left there together forms a certain shape reminding… We are free.  Over the last decade, hundreds have made that same climb leaving behind their “junk.” And now, collectively, that “junk” is somehow able to point to our risen Lord.  To God Alone be the Glory!

Thanks God for today… for that spontaneous voice in my head that prompted my journey to 7821 Lyons Creek Road… one of the places in this world that has the label “home” in my heart … a place that gives a little glimpse into what our forever home will be like.

Bekah's Heart, Internship Highlights

‘Tis Good, Lord, To Be Here

Rebekah Freed

Today was a beautiful day.  I’m currently back at school in Nebraska for a Mid-Year Conference with all of the DCE interns from all over the world. These few days back on campus are hard to describe.  Most of us interns have used the word “weird” in that description more times than we probably can count.  It’s this interesting dynamic of loving this place but not really fitting in… at least not in the way we have in the past.  Our roles have shifted, and that’s okay.  In the midst of this awkward, indescribable, mid-way check point, it has been such a blessing to just see God presence everywhere I turn.  Here are just a few examples of where that was found today alone:

  •  A conversation with a beautiful woman with whom I’ve literally had one prior face to face conversation with before, yet somehow our hearts just know each other.  I don’t get it, but was so thankful for our time together this morning and God’s presence there.
  • Chapel.  I miss chapel.  What a wonderful REST was found in the very SIMPLE yet profound proclamation of the Gospel today as it was describe as a song, a melody that can, in a way, be the “background” music to our life.
  • Lunch (at Dragon Palace) with fellow interns, talking about anything and everything and nothing.
  • A chance to share with other DCE students our experiences and where we’ve seen God at work through our internships.
  • Being able to “pick up” friendships where they left off and just get straight to what really matters… to know and be known.  

As corny as it may sound, I really felt like the last verse of a hymn we sang in chapel today encapsulates this trip back to Concordia for me.

’Tis good, Lord, to be here.
Yet we may not remain;
But since Thou bidst us leave the mount,
Come with us to the plain.

It is so wonderful to be able to reflect and see all the many ways God has blessed my life through Concordia… to be able to come back and be overwhelmed in a good way… to realize the number of people through whom God has blessed me and made me who I am.  But now, as good as it is to be here, it’s obvious that this is not where I belong right now… and God comes with me to what’s next.

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Lord, ’tis truly good to be here… to behold Your beauty… to see You at work in my life and the lives of others… to hear and remember your gospel melody that accompanies my life.  And now, as I prepare to wrap this time here up, may You remind me of your promise to go with me and continue to open my heart and ears to that beautiful melody of Your love.  ‘Tis good Lord, to be Your child.  Thank You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Bekah's Heart, Devotional

A Bold Prayer…

Rebekah Freed

It seems that a couple times a year, I stumble upon this prayer that I once read in a book.   And this morning, as I glanced back through some journals, I read it once again.

 

It’s a bold prayer…

A scary prayer…

A prayer that maybe we don’t really want to pray, because we know God answers prayer…

A beautiful prayer that gets ME out of the way and lets GOD do His work.

 

And so today, I pray for strength, courage, and GRACE to yet again, pray this prayer:

Lord,
Challenge me everyday.
Show up every weakness I have.
Play on my vulnerabilities.
Invest me with responsibilities that I might not handle well and
Put me right in the midst of Your salvation drama.
Amen. Let it be so.

Blessing

Unable To Count That High

Rebekah Freed

The leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and more fills the fridge.

Pies and cookies line the buffet table ready to be eaten as soon as our stomachs can hold another bit of food.

Bodies of friends lay asleep in the living room buried under blankets, pillows, and other remnants of last night’s sleepover.

 

I sit at my kitchen table…

overwhelmed…

in awe…

humbled…

grateful…

 

How gracious is our God!

 

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Awesome God, I can’t help but pause and bring you thanks and praise for this day. 

For a new day to be alive and live in you. 

For an amazing time of worship this morning with Your Family, focusing us as we began this day of giving thanks.

For beautiful friends to spend time with and celebrate with this week. 

For big meals… and small meals… reminders of your provision.

For a house and food and family.

For grace… freedom… life.

For the fact that as I begin to “count my blessings,” even just in today,… I suddenly realize, I can’t count that high!

I give you thanks.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Crossroads, First Trinity, Internship Highlights

Crossroads CONNECT – Fighting Satan’s Lies

Rebekah Freed

Last week at Crossroads CONNECT (First Trinity’s Thursday Night Activity for High School Students) we talked about the lies Satan tells us. 

After playing a game of Jenga we connected the game with our lives.   The lies Satan tells us and the things he tempts us to do don’t seem like such a big deal… kind of like one block removed from the Jenga tower.  But, as Satan tells us lie afte lie after lie, we’re not who we were originally created to be.   And eventually, we’re so broken we crumble to pieces. 

 

 

 

Thankfully we have a God who sent his Son to dwell among us and build us back up the way he originally created us to be.

As part of our discussion last week the high school students identified common lies that Satan tells us or people who are struggling to believe in God, such as:

“You’re not good enough.”
“God could never forgive you for THAT sin!”
“God doesn’t love me.”

Then they wrote down the Truth about that situation, found Bible verses to support the truth, and wrote a prayer they could pray whenever they felt like Satan’s lie was actually real.

I thought I’d share just a few examples of what they came up with.  They really did an awesome job!

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Lie: God is just a thing of the past.
Truth: God is alive and present, with us TODAY!

  • Matthew 28:20 – “I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”
  • Psalm 46:1 – “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

 God, help me know that you are always with me, through everything I see every day.  In Your Name I pray, Amen.

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 Lie: God is causing these bad things to happen in your life.
Truth:  God is good.  We may not understand what is happening in life, but He is good.

  • Genesis 50:20 – “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
  • Psalm 107:1 – “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His loving kindness is everlasting.”

Dear Lord, I don’t understand why bad things happen in life and why I struggle.  Remind me in these hard times of the simple truth that YOU ARE GOOD.   Even when that’s hard for me to believe, help me know it is true.  You can take the things people and Satan intend for harm in my life and make them into something good.  Be with me as I wait to see the good you have in these hard situation in my life right now. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Lie: If you don’t have _______ (a boyfriend, a girlfriend, the newest clothes/ipod, etc.) something is wrong with you.
Truth: God has made you perfect just the way you are.  You are completely whole in Him.

  • Colossians 2:9-10 – “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ…”
  • Genesis 1:31 – “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good….”

Jesus, it’s hard for me to look around and see everyone around me that has ______ (a boy/girlfriend, the newest clothes/ipod, etc.).  Help me to see that you are more than enough for me… that you have made me perfect and whole just the way I am and that I can find who I am in You.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

31 Days of Hope

Hope {Day 20} – Long Term Hope

Rebekah Freed

This morning, as I read in Luke, I came upon this story:

On a Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years.  She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.  When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”  Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

 

The story goes on, as typical for these kinds of stories, with the synagogue rulers indignant and ticked off that Jesus would heal on the Sabbath.  And then, of course, Jesus rebukes them basically saying, “you care more for your animals than you do for the needs of a person.”

Two main things caught my attention with this passage.  First of all, it was a Sabbath and Jesus always seemed to be doing things that the Pharisees didn’t like on the Sabbath.  But more, so this phrase caught my eye… and my heart:

 

EIGHTEEN YEARS.

This woman, had probably lost all hope of being healed.  Seriously, eighteen years… that’s a long time.  And going back to the other thing that caught my attention… this was a Sabbath… even if this woman knew who Jesus was and had any hope that maybe healing could be provided, she probably would have never thought that healing would come today of all days… it was a Sabbath.  I imagine, any hope that was there, was very small.  Yet, I do believe there was hope.

If there was no hope, then why was this woman who had suffered from an evil spirit for so long even AT the synagogue that day?  In my opinion, she had long-term hope.  Maybe, JUST MAYBE, SOMEDAY I will be healed. 

As I think about this story, I think about people I know and love and care about who have been suffering for a long time.  Whether the struggle is physical, spiritual, or emotional, as each day passes without relief, hope slowly fades.  “It’s already been so long,”  their minds protest.  “How could healing EVER come now?” 

Yet, God doesn’t call us to understand.. he calls us to trust him.  Our healing may not come today.  Our healing may not come tomorrow or next year, or even in this life time.  But even if it doesn’t, we continue to ask God to give us what we need to remain faithful and trust.  We ask God to help us to come into his presence, like this woman did, time and time again, knowing that in your time and in your way, you will call us forward and say, “My son… My daughter… you are set free from your infirmity.” 

God, please give us hope for today… and tomorrow…. and the next day… and the next day… and the next day… until THAT day:

 

“Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching head.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Rev. 7:16-17)

Bekah's Heart, Devotional, Uncategorized

Joyfullyblessed … And rejoicing today!

Rebekah Freed

Have you ever found yourself staring at a situation in life wondering how you’d ever get through it?  The mountain is just too big to climb.  The burden is too much to bear.  The weight is just too heavy.  It is just IMPOSSIBLE to overcome.

Now, have you ever gotten through one of those situations and looked back on it.  Have you ever stood at the top of that mountain, realizing that somehow you actually have overcome?

4 years ago I was a college freshmen, not even a month into the crazy college experience.  I enjoyed life with my new friends and was excited about the adventures that lay ahead. 

4 years ago today, I was also involved in a car accident that changed a lot of things in life.  The naivety of youth … of thinking “it’ll never happen to me,” was stripped away as my friend and I were pulled from a twisted piece of metal with the Jaws of Life, surprising some that we made it out alive. 

At times .  I wondered when the images of the collision would stop playing on repeat in my mind, but eventually they did.   Then, I wondered if a day would pass that I wouldn’t think of the accident and it’s impact on my life…. and the life of my friend… yet that day, and many more since, came.  But SURELY I would NEVER ride, let alone drive, in car again without thinking of that horrible day, right?  Wrong. Most days now it doesn’t even cross my mind.

So, I stop today and remember that day, September 21, 2006… but not with the same confusing emotions that surrounded that event and the time that followed…  no, I remember it today and rejoice!

I rejoice in the fact that I’m still alive.

I rejoice that broken friendships have been healed.

I rejoice in an overcoming Savior that helps me overcome.

As I think about this, and the many things we face which seem “IMPOSSIBLE” to overcome, I’m reminded of a verse from one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 77.  The first part of the Psalm basically outlines how it seems as if God just isn’t listening and there’s no way out of the situation.  Then, suddenly the Psalmist switches focus…

10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
       the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
       yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

12 I will meditate on all your works
       and consider all your mighty deeds.

13 Your ways, O God, are holy.
       What god is so great as our God?

Even in the midst of things that seem “impossible” to overcome it often, it helps to look back and realize where we’ve seen God already at work… in His Word and in our own lives.  As we meditate on His works and consider His mighty deeds, it gives us hope to continue on and climb the mountain in front of us.

Truly, the days and months that followed my accident 4 years ago, were difficult.  Yet, I stand here today and can truly REJOICE in the faithfulness of our God … and overcoming Savior who leads us through life… but the joys and the challenges!

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!

Blessing

Joyfullyblessed … by the “Little” things

Rebekah Freed

While I was in Africa, I was amazed over and over again at how God works even in the littlest things.  When I stopped to think about it, I realized that God wasn’t DOING more in Africa, but my eyes were just open to it because of the new situation.  Upon my arrival back to America (and for the 2 months since then), my prayer has remained that God would keep my eyes open to the amazing work he does each day that I would have passed by or counted as coincidence in the past.

 

I admit that sometimes it’s easy to dwell on what we DON’T see him at work in, but below are some of the “little things” that have blessed me recently.  I guess they’re not really “little”… they’re “God-sized”!  And I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by them… He’s “simply” answering prayers. 🙂

  • Homegrown fruit and vegetables from congregation members
  • Seeing the youth excited to share their experiences at NYG with the congregation 2 Sundays ago and the Women’s Bible Class this past Monday.
  • A package from my sister
  • Volleyball on Wednesday nights – an opportunity to meet new people and exercise all at the same time while having fun. 🙂
  • Getting to have lunch with my teammates each day
  • A congregation member commenting that they were praying for me the whole time I was presenting at the VBS reunion on Sunday
  • A classmate from school who has texted me every week for at least the past month asking how he can be praying for me and the things going on at my church
  • Numerous phone calls, texts, e-mails and notes from friends/family with encouraging words… often at the “perfect” time.
  • Moments of Laughter – like Addie imitating Sailor Jack saying “You’ve got to be kidding” or simply sharing joy with a friend
  • Just “happening” to read the PERFECT verse in the Bible at the PERFECT time

AND SO MUCH MORE!

 

God… open our eyes to see YOU… even in the “little” things. Amen!

 

And now I turn the question back to you, my beloved blog readers… what “little things” has God blessed YOU with/through recently?

Bekah's Heart, Music

Joyfullyblessed… to simply be His child

Rebekah Freed

So, I always appreciate when people are real with me, so here I am, being “real” with the world. 

 

It finally happened.  All the events, emotions, and adventures of the past few months of my life just hit me like one of those giant wrecking balls taking down a house.  I knew it would happen at some point, but just didn’t know when.  Maybe that’s not quite the best analogy because that makes it sound like a really bad thing, but it’s not at all! 

 

Sure, I’ve been dealing with the various emotions throughout the process of graduation, living in Africa for a month, moving to New York and everything in between, but I think tonight everything just hit at all at the same time… and out of nowhere…. yet, in God’s perfect timing. 

 

All the joy of God’s many blessings, the sorrow of loved ones dying, the excitement of a new job at a wonderful church with beautiful people, the loneliness found in missing familiar relationships, being overwhelmed with responsibilities, anticipating (and experiencing) new adventures, my heart being touched by conversations and relationships, my soul being attacked by the Evil One, the freedom in letting go, the anticipation, yet uncertainty of the future, the peace in just living for today in God’s presence  … it’s just a lot to process and like I said… for a few moments tonight, I was down for the count.

 

BUT down, I think, is where I needed to go.  I needed to sort through all the “stuff” in order to understand the deep peace in coming back to the beautiful simplistic truth, that I AM GOD’S DAUGHTER… AND HE LOVES ME! 

 

Below is a song by Moses Hogan that we sang almost every year in one of the choirs I was in.  I think it describes that simple truth of being God’s child and hope illustrates the peace that has now covered my heart in words I don’t have of my own.

 

“I may not be all that You are.

I may not be a shining star.

But what I am, I thank the Lord, for making me His child!

Thank You Lord, for hearing every prayer.

Thank You Lord, for just being there.

Thank You Lord.

Thank You Lord, for I am not worthy of Your love.

“I may not be all that You are.

I may not be a shining star.

But what I am, I thank the Lord, for making me His child!”

 

 

I truly am JOYFULLYBLESSED to simply be God’s daughter…beautiful and loved.