"Look at the birds..."

Hey Gals!

I bet you wouldn't believe this about me but I've become quiet the bird watcher over the last month! Every morning I jump out of bed and head for the bathroom window where I look to see if these little guys are outside. Today I rushed for my camera so I could share them with you! Aren't they amazing? Unfortunately- you know who is not the best photographer- because the pictures are a bit hazy (I think that's because I was taking them through my bathroom window). When I see them I immediately want to break out into song--and I wonder if you could guess which one? It goes like this- "Feed the birds, toppins', toppins'". Yes- I know- I'm so weird sometimes! But for those of you who know me--your not a bit surprised!

Brenda Colonnell- my fellow bird watcher- told me that I should enjoy these darlings while I can because they will migrate soon. I was so bumbed! She also told me that the males are the bright yellow and the females have more of a yellow green tint to their feathers. If you look you will see that I may just have 2 love birds on my hands! The one to the left, I believe, would be the female & the one to the right is the male. And for those of you who may not be bird watchers these little song birds are called Finches and they are from the Fringillidae family. (Are you impressed or what?)

I have also been trying to get a picture of my alarm clock for you as well- but he is so much quicker than I am. Yes, Woody Woodpecker wakes me up every morning banging on the outside brick at my house (and directly below my bedroom window). Every spring and summer this little man shows up and works so hard- but to no avail. I've been wanting to have a talk with him- I feel so bad for him cause his intelligence obviously rates right up there with mine- honestly he's getting nowhere pecking on the brick especially when there is wood to be had! I can so relate with him though- sometimes I can spend all day pecking away at something and get absolutely nowhere! Oh well....

You know- all this bird watching gets me to thinking. (You knew it would!) Maybe you will recall Jesus words from Matthew 6? In case you can't recall allow me to refresh your memory a bit:

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matt. 6:26).

I'll leave it to you today to read the rest of the story (Matt. 6:25-34). The verses speak of worry but I just love the way Jesus speaks of how values us!

Enough for today. I'm purposefully keeping things short today in hopes you will go read these verses in Matthew for yourself!

Love to all,

Lori

P.s. Let me know if you are a fellow bird watcher! And, if you have pictures- do share~

When God Is Silent

Hello ladies,
I'm wondering today if ever you have experienced silence in your walk with God? If you have then you are not alone. Sometimes the answers to our heartfelt prayers just don't come. I've been thinking a lot about this subject of silence and I thought I would share a short writing from a Milligan student which was published in 'The Phoenix' this year. The writer's name is Ben Foote. I don't know Ben personally but I loved what he had to say. It is rather long- but the answer to this quandary of silence I believe comes in his last paragraph- so read on, Dear One!

On Silence

by Ben Foote

Some people say he is everywhere. Well, I haven't been everywhere. I know for sure he is in the mountains. At least during the morning when the smoky mist is cradling the peaks and the sun is bouncing through their tiny beads of water, ricocheting warmth into the valleys. I know he is in my father. The man is getting older, but with each gray hair that surfaces, another step towards wisdom is reached. I know that he is in music- Aaron Copland, to be precise. I am pretty sure that he is in puppies. Regardless, I think it's terrifying that he might be everywhere.

I am young, but I have heard whispers from him. It is a strange experience. You don't realize you've heard him until he is already gone, but it hurts your ears anyway. He smells like burning leaves, which is a good thing. The first time I heard him, I had locked myself in the laundry room. I was huddled in the corner, trying to listen for him. I crouched there mumbling on and on to him, but I might have been talking to myself- I'm not sure. Eventually though, the brick in my stomach dissolved, the fear and trembling disappeared, and I was able to stand up. That's when I knew I must have heard him.

The second time I heard him, I was on a hiking trip with my father. We decided to stop on a bald and enjoy the view of the sweeping Blue Ridge range. I wrote in my journal and listened to a blue bird in a nearby tree as it chirped away. The mountains looked like a freeze frame of the ocean in the middle of a raging storm. The rolling hills careened and tilted sporadically, eventually vaporizing into my vanishing point. Any minute I thought the frame was going to jump back into motion and with a deafening roar, the mountains were going to roll over me on that tiny bald, and I was going to drown in all that soil and leaf and green. Then it did. And that's when I knew I must have heard him again.

It has been almost two years since I last heard his voice. If feels longer. People say that silence is necessary during a conversation, so maybe he and I are just having a very long discussion.

Sometimes I lie awake in bed until four or five in the morning. I invent people and situations in my mind. I give them a setting and I make them happy. Then I give them a conflict and I make them confused. Then I fall asleep and by the time I wake up, I have forgotten their conflict, therefore I don't invent any solutions. I wonder if they are still out there looking for resolve. Sometimes I wonder if he invented me and then fell asleep. Is there a trick to waking him up? I can be a quiet person. I like being alone every now and then, but who struts around not talking to their friends for years at a time?

My life right now is very different from how I imagined it when I was in high school. I imagined traveling the states, living in a barely operable fifteen-passenger van with my buddies, self-booking shows and playing songs I've written for two or three people a night. In slow motion, I could see the venue's stagnant cloud of cigarette smoke mystically billowing away from the microphone with each syllable I released. Instead, my life turned out better. I fell in love. Even greater, that same person fell in love with me. I guess that has to be proof he is still speaking.

However, it still seems a bit ludicrous. Two years of silence? I guess he is trying to teach me something. Maybe silence, in a round-about way, is supposed to equal affirmation. Even though I don't hear him, I believe there is something being silent. I guess the only reason I am upset about this is because I truly believe he is real. If he was just another one of my late-night characters, I could simply invent a resolution and move on. But I can't. And that is enough to hold on to until the the sound comes back again.

I hope you see why I loved what Ben had to say so much. I loved his honesty. But mostly I loved his resolve. In the moments where God seems silent- praise him for there is something being silent-- that something is our All Powerful God.

Believing God,

Lori

New Life...

Hello ladies,

Okay- I've been looking for every excuse in the world to share this picture with you! I've yet to find one other than just to boast in the Lord for the privilege of being able to join Him in ministry. Just so you know the picture is of me and Haylie Logan Yates at the Johnson City Medical Center the day after she was born. New life- is there anything more precious outside of a New Life in Christ?

One of the most wonderful parts of being your Women's Minister is the privilege of just simply sharing life together. This picture represents to me that very thing. Many times the picture we share together isn't of a joyous occasion like the birth of a new baby. There are times when part of sharing life together means that I also get to hold the hand of women who are walking through dark valleys. Sometimes the picture is of confusion and unrest. The pictures we share together are changing all the time. But I must say most all the momments or pictures we share are unique glimpses into the heart of God. A God who designed it so that His children would do life together- loving, serving and encouraging one another.

Just so you know I truly consider it an honor to share both the times of joy and the times of suffering with you. What a humbling blessing it is to know that for such a time as this I am allowed to serve you. God is so good!


Lori

Serving

Hello gals!



I want to say way to go to you ladies you have made posts thus far! I so knew you could do it!! So, keep it up! I'm praying that our blog will become a good daily habit in your life! Mostly I'm praying it encourages you and from time to time maybe even cause you to pause and do some internal reflection!



For today I want to say how proud I am of each small group thus far. Everyone has taken the challenge of stepping up and out of the box to do a little 'Goodness Does' this summer! Way to go ladies! I will be letting everyone in on each groups service project soon. For today I would like to share with you a bit from a book I'm currently reading. I am choosing not to give you the name of it because I believe it is going to be a part of our fall together and I don't want to spoil it for anyone! But this section has to do with service and I thought it was a good analogy. So here goes:



"I used to be driven by my fear of God. I also used to work hard to prove that I was committed to God. Now I have tremendous fear and awe of God, but that doesn't motivate me. Now I work hard to serve God, but it isn't to prove my devotion. Now I think I'm actually in love. Maybe that sounds corny to you, but I can't think of a more appropriate way to say it."



"If a guy were dating my daughter but didn't want to spend the gas money to pick her up or refused to buy her dinner because it cost too much, I would question whether he were really in love with her. In the same way, I question whether many American churchgoers are really in love with God because they are so hesitant to do anything for Him."



"People who are obsessed with Jesus do not consider service a burden. Obsessed people take joy in loving God by loving His people." (Matt. 13:44; John 15:8).



I'm wondering if that hit you as hard as it did me? I believe the author of this book is really on to something. What is your thoughts?



Love to all,

Lori

One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from a man named Thomas Merton. Just to give you a little bit of a back ground- Thomas Merton lived from 1915-1968. At the age of 26 Merton converted to Roman Catholicism and became a monk where he entered the Abbey of Gethsemani and spent 27 years there. During Merton's life he wrote over sixty books.

Just so you know- I've yet to read any of his writings. But some years ago I came across a quote from one of his books (and I'm not even sure which one!). I was so stunned by what he had to say- I practically had to read it over and over again- and I still do. I was so mesmerized by the thought behind the words that I copied the quote to the front of my Bible. I still read it often. I read it this morning and I wanted to share it with you. Let me just give you a heads up-don't read it too fast and don't read it just one time. It's one of those things we just need to stew on for awhile. Here goes:

"God utters me like a word containing a partial thought of himself. A word will never be able to comprehend the voice that utters it. But if I am true to the concept that God utters in me, if I am true to the thought in him I was meant to embody, I shall be full of his actuality and find him everywhere in myself and find myself nowhere. I shall be lost in him."

See why I keep reading it? Now- for today I'm asking you to read & ponder this quote and then let me know your thoughts on what it means. There are no right or wrong answers- so don't fear sharing your thoughts!

Looking forward to hearing from you!
Love to all,
Lori

For Good-ness Sake...

Hey gals!
Most of you may recall our lesson from the 'Fruit of the Spirit' where we learned that the Fruit of Goodness is a fruit that takes action. It is a Fruit that DOES!

Sometimes we can grow wearing of doing good. As women we can sometimes feel we've done all the 'Goodness Does' right in the midst of our own home and family. As if keeping up the laundry, cleaning the house, wiping noses and tears from our little angels, paying bills, solving the worlds problems (and by that I mean- solving sibling arguments), driving from one ballgame and practice to the next, cooking, and kicking (oh- I meant feeding) the dog aren't enough! I know the list can be overwhelming- I feel tired just thinking about all the Goodness Does we do in a day! Let me exhort you, like the Apostle Paul would, 'don't grow wearing of doing good'! Because- For Good-ness Sake......Good-ness Does!

With that being said I want to challenge each of you to try out a different kind of doing this summer. I want to invite to join in with myself and other ladies here at Harrison to do a little 'Out of the Box Ministry'. Tomorrow night, (Monday, May 19th), myself and a couple of angelic small group leaders will be cooking dinner for YOU! This dinner is for a group planning session- a planning session to plan out your summer 'Out of the Box Ministry Project'. You see I'm challenging each small group to do 2 service projects during the month of June & July. One project will be for a mission that Harrison supports and the other will be for someone or a ministry within the walls of Harrison.

You may think I termed the summer event 'Out of the Box' because I wanted us to get outside of the box we call 'church'. This is half true. What I really want is for us to get out of our comfort zones where doing is concerned. To put some elbow grease into doing. For many doing comes so natural- and for others doing doesn't come naturally at all. It seems that as Christians we have settled into a laziness where doing is concerned. Partly because we fill our schedules so full that we don't allow time (or take the time) to really go above and beyond the call. We barely have enough time to 'do' for our own families. So- we settle. For some people they have not idea 'what to do' where doing is concerned and are too shy or afraid to just ask. So, again- we settle. I feel sure there are so many reasons (or excuses?) that get in the way of our going above and beyond in doing. But for the most part we are 'doing' less and less for others. And we are setteling for less of a blessing. Sorry to say- but if you give it some time, think about it, and if your honest- you'll probably agree with me.

Can I just ask- why settle? There is 'Blessin' to be had!! So,Let me once again encourage you to come out and join in a little 'Goodness Doing' this summer. Come join in a little 'Gettin' Out of the Box Ministry'. I believe there is a blessing awaiting each of us. Let's not settle in and miss it!

I hope to see you Monday at 6!
Love to all,
Lori

P.S. This post had some real Tennessean Talk in it!!

"For the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22

Hello Ladies and Welcome!

In an attempt to be much more 'Hip-Hop-Happening' than I truly am- I have created the Harrison Christian Church Women's Ministry Blog named 'The W.E.L.L.' The name comes directly from our women's newsletter and was created by yours truly in an attempt to define in someway what I hoped the women of Harrison would begin to experience more and more of through Women's Ministry. Thus came the 'The W.E.L.L.' meaning 'Women Experiencing the Living Lord'. So, hence came our new blogs name.



This blogging stuff is very new to me (again- it's time to catch up to this century). But I am praying this will become a place for you and I to dialogue together and a place to share information etc. As Women's Ministry at Harrison has grown into four small groups instead of one group I am constantly looking for ways to touch base with every lady so this blog is my newest pitiful attempt! Who knows what maybe next! ha!



Let me just say upfront- there will be NO spelling or grammatical condemnation found on this blog! In case you haven't noticed that I not only talk 'Tennessean' I write 'Tennessean' too! So I'm setting myself free from the worry of perfection where grammar and spelling is concerned and so should you!



Lastly, I hope you will enjoy this new format of staying in touch. I pray you will post comments for others to read as well as myself. Feel free to post a prayer request etc. Please keep in mind that any private information should be shared with me directly via email or phone. So please don't post anything you would like kept in confidence on our new blog.



I feel sure there will be all kinds of new information I will have to give you as to how to use our blog- but for now- this is all I know! Which- if you can't tell- is very little! I've gotten this far- and let me just say I'm feeling like a Praise Dance maybe required after publishing this post--and you know I will!



Blessings to you all,

Lori Drain



P.S. When you read this first post- go ahead and post a comment so I know that things are working! Thanks so much!