Make Me A Sunflower

Make Me A Sunflower

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” Matthew 28:19

Please God, make me a sunflower...🌻

A handful of years ago Jeje asked us, “If you were a flower, what kind of flower would you be?” I responded, “I wish I were a sunflower. I’ve always loved sunflowers; but I confess that I’m more like a rose. I do have thorns that can prick at times.”

I then quietly prayed, “God make me a sunflower”. 🌻

After all, He is in the business of transforming lives.

He’s already done quite a work in my life. Yet, I know He wants me to constantly surrender those “rough edges” for His trimming.

Jesus has brought so much healing and restoration (Isaiah 61). I’m not a perfect product--that will happen in glory with Jesus. I love to look back on each year and see all that He has done and look forward to Him doing even more.

Recently we had a discipleship retreat with Cherie Fresonke. Her book, “Go In Peace,” had brought confirmation--and a great tool--to my burden to help reach other women who are broken, hurt, disappointed, dealing with anxiety or depression, or just want to know what God has purposed for them. Thank You Lord.

As a side note, God brought Cherie to Romania about 5 years ago. Lots of healing has been accomplished through her ministry. The Biblical process in the “Go In Peace” workbook has brought a lot of healing in me and I was excited to share this peace with the ladies who accompanied me to Cherie's home in Bulgaria.

As we drove from her home for a day trip to the capital city of Sofia, we saw fields and fields of glorious sunflowers.

Cherie then shared this word picture with me, relating it to making disciples. I know God wants me to share it with you. 

Did you know the sunflower is the only flower whose seed production is innumerable? The heads of the sunflower become fat and full of seeds. Those seeds can be harvested (or just drop to the ground) and be replanted. Each individual seed then produces a whole new flower. The cycle just keeps going. Isn’t that amazing?

Just like discipleship when it’s done right...

At the end of its production of all those seeds, the sunflower gracefully bows its head (like the ones in my garden) and releases its seed.

Here I am Lord, please make me a sunflower. . 🌻

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” Matthew 28:19

by Coleen Jejeran, CCEA Missionary to Romania

Serve in Anaheim

Serve in Anaheim

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

Lord, I want to serve You.  But, my way. 

God called me to be a missionary. That is my heart's passion. That is my joy. 

I've heard it all before. Serve where planted.  Make our neighborhoods, workplace, and school our mission field. Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Whatever.  What I mean to say is, I am called to be a real missionary.  You know, in other countries.

After many prayers (translation: whining and complaining) God heard my mission prayers. (Haven't you heard, persistent prayers pay off?) He responded by clearly showing me my mission field--Anaheim. 

God must have been distracted when He answered my prayers because He didn't get it quite right.

No God, You called me first to foreign missions, doncha' remember? 
Can't you see how we can serve alongside those already out in the field? We like them.  They like us.  We’d make great teams. Yes?

"Anaheim!"

How about Cuba? How about a short trip to Cuba? 
To Romania? 
How about Ireland?
Mexico? 

"Anaheim!"

Anaheim?

"Anaheim!"

Here in Downtown Anaheim we are surrounded by families who speak little to no English. Four and five-year-olds play in the streets at night, seemingly without adult supervision at times. Families often run out of their welfare funds before the end of the month. This is where the "canned food drives" are distributed.

Kids seem to like our yard.  We never lack little kids wanting to come and play. Surprisingly, many older kids also want to hang here.

OK God, if this is it, the least You can do is give me a supernatural ability to love Anaheim.

God, I complained. These kids want to come more often than I have the ability to watch them. They leave trash everywhere. They use vulgar language and are rude. I find them playing in our yard when we're not home after being asked over and over not to. 

"Teach them rules and boundaries." 

How often Lord? I repeat myself over and over and they don't show any respect. 

"Teach them only as often as I have taught you.

Oh!
Well, it's not the same! 

"It isn't?" 

No, Lord, it's not. Some of these kids are not likable.  

“Do you remember losing your temper with the cable company on the phone the other day?  How about the lady at the store that snapped at you?”

Well . . . I may not have been likable then but wasn't my response justifiable?  Okay! Maybe I’m not always likable.

"I love you, Child." 

God, they want to use the bathroom all the time...they want drinks...they want snacks.  I'm busy. My own kids need me. When was the last time I went out with my husband? And we can't afford to feed them all! 

"I gave you the house with the bathroom, money to buy the snacks, and the car to go purchase the snacks." 

That's not what I want to hear. What I want is for You to supernaturally send me the cute, polite ones. Only send me the sweet and nice ones that are easy to love and serve. Please send them when I have the house cleaned, outside work done, lemons picked for lemonade, cookies baked, and have time to sit with them at the kitchen table to lovingly share of God’s love for them.

"If you love Me, feed My sheep in Anaheim. 
Not just when you have the time.
Not just when you feel like it.
Not just the way you see fit, even if it's just to teach them boundaries." 

"Serving me doesn't mean you should say 'yes' to everything. It means spending time with me to know my heart's desire for these kids--what values I desire to instill in them to be equipped for their future. You'd be amazed what I can do with just a few minutes". 

"In the future, will these kids reflect back and remember the busy, cranky old lady? Or, will they remember the way you gave them a genuine smile and allowed them to play for 10 minutes?" 

"This is not only about them. It's also about you being blessed. It's an opportunity for you to learn wisdom, organizational skills, detect opportunities to love, when to say no or yes. It's an opportunity for you to experience my love as you learn to love the unlovable and needy Anaheim. You see, Child, I can use a donkey to accomplish my work in Anaheim but I want to bless You by you being My vessel in Anaheim." 

"Even the wicked can do good and love when all the circumstances are right. Child, don't just love with Thanksgiving Meals or occasional mission events.  Love them daily when there is an opportunity to do so. These opportunities won't always be there. Don't miss them now." 

I'll take your 'widow's mite’ of 10 minutes and do mighty things if you give with a sincere and humble heart."

"Anaheim!" 

I'm starting to get a vague idea . . . slowly understand . . . begin to recognize that maybe Anaheim is where God wants me serve Him today.

by Susan Chinn

That He May Be Known

That He May Be Known

"May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us...May your ways be known through the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you."
Psalm 67:1-3

Reading this Psalm today, it hit me. This is an Old Testament expression of Jesus' command:

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" Matthew 28:19

We know this as the Great Commission. It's God's purpose for our lives--that he would be glorified--that he would be known as Jehovah God, the only true and living God, the One who saves. 

I have to confess. I shrink back from this command. Lord, I don't have the gift of evangelism. I don't have the courage to approach strangers and ask them--"what decision have you made about Jesus?" I get nervous and tongue-tied. I say it wrong--and my voice quivers. I'm not Billy Graham or Greg Laurie!

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

There were ten other apostles aside from Peter and Paul. There is scant mention of them. Yet, their witness for Jesus was powerful--where they were. Some of them were married and had families (remember Philip had four daughters who prophesied). Some of them hosted believers in their homes. In fact, homes were where the believers gathered. Formal buildings called "churches" were unknown in New Testament days. Believers are the church.

Believers shared the truth and love of God in their every day lives. Today, do we see our homes as Jerusalem? I have to ask myself, "Am I reflecting the love of Jesus to my family in the way I treat them? Do I sacrificially love them or do I selfishly love them? What is my motive? Am I encouraging them or complaining? Do they see Jesus in me?

What about our neighborhoods (Judea)? In this age of preoccupation with social media, do we even know our neighbors? Do we pray for them? They notice us.

Following the death of my husband I moved to Southern California to join households with my adult daughter and family. A month before moving we had an estate sale of the possessions I no longer needed. During that sale a neighbor (someone I only knew by sight) purposefully approached me.

"Thank you for being a good neighbor," he said. 
"I don't know you. How can you say I'm a good neighbor?"
"You always kept your place neat."

That was it? I was a good neighbor because I pulled weeds?

Our actions may be the only 'words' other people hear.

"And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus..." Colossians 3:17

How we treat our families, how we participate in their activities, how we perform in the workplace, how we treat the people who serve us at the market...in a restaurant--all of these are ways we 'tell' people about Jesus. Actions open the door for words to follow. Conversely, words without confirming actions are hypocrisy.

Not many of us are called to be Billy Grahams, but we are called to let the light of Jesus Christ shine in us...every day wherever we go (Samaria and the ends of the earth). Holy Spirit power is our promise to fulfill this calling. 

"May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you. Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world." Psalm 67:2-4

by Marilyn Allison

The Hardest Part

The Hardest Part

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;" Matthew 11:29a

As a Christian, I'm called to be like Jesus.

Be like Jesus. I take a deep breath. Jesus loved difficult people. He was flat out selfless. He served people he knew would turn on him. Still, he loved. He even loved people he knew would one day drive long stakes into his sinless flesh and smugly taunt him as he died a criminal's death.

Not even his closest friends were able to endure a day of sacrificial prayer for the Savior of their souls. Jesus gave and he gave, but they could never give back what his heart needed. They didn't have the capacity to love their Lord the way he loved them. Jesus' relationships were definitely one-sided. Except one. God the Father. He loved the Son perfectly and provided all the comfort his humanity required, while giving ultimate value to his sufferings.

Jesus might appear to be a doormat. He was no doubt used by the multitudes for what he could do for them--as many walked away, thankless, dusting their filthy shoes off on the ground he created. That hasn't changed.

I squeeze my nails into the palms of my hands. I refuse to be a doormat.

But, lets not be unaware. Jesus set clear boundaries with people. And he still does. His boundaries are grace and truth. Set in such an infallible way, he mercifully bestows upon mankind the choice to be in relationship with him—not the other way around. 

Jesus was never a people pleaser--like me--but a God pleaser and a God lover above everyone else. This commitment hardwired him to love his enemies and enter into a loving relationship with them. 

Be like Jesus. The crux of such a high and holy calling is loving people. Yet its the hardest. Loving people is so painful at times that my soul screams for release. Sometimes I despise the hard command—to love people. Especially people who come against me, who hurt me, who hurt people I love. 

Sound harsh? Are you surprised? Or are you thinking, "Finally someone is telling the truth"?  

Let's just be honest—loving others the way Jesus loves is not natural. Actually, its impossible. And pretending to love people "like Jesus" defiles my soul more than anything. Jesus wasn't pretending when he hung on that cross. My fake love is the greatest insult to his offered salvation. The often practiced fake-it-'til-you-make-it mantra is only a cunning appeal to my self-righteousness. Its insincerity--cloaked in niceties--lies to my heart that hypocrisy will eventually turn into love. Not in my strength, it won't. Only bitterness and resentment will flourish there. 

"Just be like Jesus . . . love like Jesus", I'm told. As I write this, the answer hits me as to why a rebellious urge to resist God's supernatural work in me to love unloveable people moves front and center, aiming to push Jesus out of the way.

Its not because I don't love God, but because I love myself more. Loving difficult people, even praying for my enemies threatens that love. Threatens me. My soul screams, "I can't! I won't!"

Tears stream down my cheeks. In Jesus' presence, I am broken. Because my soul truly longs to love like him. It yearns for more of Christ to love like Christ. And with God's help, I am able to love him and love others—even those who hurt me—a little more today than yesterday.

Because God gives value to suffering. 

I pause at that unexpected notion and I chew on it a while. It tastes like nothing I've ever experienced. 

Father God, thank You for loving me. I am unworthy. My love is prideful and self centered. Please help me to love like Jesus. Please help me to love You. I can't love right without You. Amen.

"Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:3

by Dana Lange

. . . . .

CANCER JOURNEY--BOWL OF LEMONS

CANCER JOURNEY--BOWL OF LEMONS 

Editor's Note: The CCEA Cancer Support Group meets on a semi-regular basis at the home of Marie Hyepock (for information, please contact Marie at mhyepock@gmail.com or see the Cancer Support Group page on the CCEA Women's Website--cceawomen.org). The meeting this month was cancelled due to health issues. By way of encouragement, we are pleased to introduce you to a gifted artist, Crystal Maes. Crystal chose to document her journey from cancer diagnosis to victory in a series of paintings. Please go to her website, www.crystalmaes.com, to see her full message of honesty, truth and hope through this most pronounced of life changes. 

"I have cared for you since you were born. Yes I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime--until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you." Isaiah 46:3b-4

oil on panel, 36 x 36 inches

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I spent a lot of time thinking about what this journey—this detour in my life—meant to me. As an artist I decided to tell my story through painting. I visualized each process of the emotional and physical challenges I encountered. It became obvious to me—life was handing me a big bowl of lemons and it was up to me to determine what I was going to do with it. So I painted it.

 The image on this page is protected under copyright. Crystal Maes, 2018.
Used by permission of the artist, Crystal Maes, 2018