Tough Pills to Swallow

Hello Chick-A-Dees! 

Recently my keep-my-daughter-healthy mother sent me some multi-vitamins after I had a bout of the flu and a cold in less than a month.  Mothers tend to worry about their children and my mother is no exception.  So, she sent me some mega multi-vitamins in an effort to help build my immune system.  These are no ordinary Flintstone vitamins. Why can't I be a kid again? Anyways... Where to begin in describing these pills?  They are pills that you would give a horse.  No... They are pills that you would feed an elephant.  They are large and in charge pills.  What do I mean by large and in charge?  Well... THESE pills have the ability to make you choke on cue.  They will make you sick to your stomach if you have not consumed the right amount of food beforehand.  My mouth is dry now just thinking about the vitamin.  

You may be thinking that I am over-exaggerating about the difficulty of swallowing these vitamins.  I have always had a pill complex.  When I was in elementary school, Mrs. Tina our school secretary would dissolve Tylenol in a plastic cup for me.  I would rather taste the awful taste of dissolved Tylenol for a brief second, than gag down a pill.  My mother constantly tried to teach me how to swallow pills, but my whole life I have never been too fond of large pills.  I finally got to a point where I could handle Tylenol and other small pills. On the other hand, larger pills have always been a process for me.

 

This is the process I go through each time I take the MVP (Massive Vitamin Pill). Step 1. Open Bottle. Step 2. Fill a LARGE glass of water.  A small glass will not suffice.  Step 3. Take a deep breath. Step 4. Contemplate whether I want to take this pill or not. Step 5. Decide that I need to take the pill.  Step 6.  Think about where to place the pill in my mouth. Options include: In the front of my mouth. If I place the pill in the front, I run the risk of the pill twisting on its way to my throat and choking its way down my throat.  I could place it in the back of my mouth.  This position almost always ensures that I will choke it down as well. A risk I am not willing to take. You would think otherwise, but NO! MVP is best placed in the middle of my mouth.  Step 6. Take a deep breath. Step 7. Relax and don't think about repercussions of swallowing the pill.  Step 8.  Place pill in mouth. Step 9. Swallow.  Step 10.  Drink water to ensure the pill is not stuck in my throat. Phew.  Task Accomplished.

Recently I have had people come to me for advice or to chat about problems they are encountering in their life.  I find it strange when they tell me that they have "Peace From the Lord" about reacting in a certain way to the situation when their reaction or the situation that they are placed in is completely unbiblical.  I think we must be warned in using the phrase "I have a peace from the Lord."  Do you really have a peace? How do you know? I think sometimes our "peace" is how WE want the situation to play out and not how the Lord desires.

Let me clarify here.

A friend walks up to you and says, "I am going to kill my neighbor.  She is loud. She trespasses on my land. She has curly hair and I don't like curly hair. God has given me a peace about this.  He assured me that it was her time to die.  I have a peace.  I am going to murder my neighbor."  Absurd isn't it? You would probably respond with. "God didn't tell you to do that." You would be correct in your response, because the statement your friend made is completely unbiblical.  God is not going to command us or give us a peace to do something that is not in line with His scripture.  Be warned 2 Timothy 4:3-4 says, "For the time is coming when people will endure sound teaching, but have itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths."  I am afraid we might be beginning to have "itching ears".  Our "itching ears" want our Pastors, Sunday School teachers, and friends to tell us that what we are doing is right. Be Warned! 

Make sure the next time you say, "I have a peace from the Lord", that your peace is Biblical and follows scripture. "The end of the matter, all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil." Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Tough pill to swallow huh? Our hearts and thoughts are deceitful. Trust and Obey. There is no other way! Pour yourself into scripture to make sure all of your actions align with scripture, "For the end of the matter, all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."  Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (*Repeated for emphasis)

God's working in Mentor, Ohio. :)

Praise Jesus!!! Ohio was amazing! We had 65 children pray to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior! The week was exhausting, but well worth it. Glenloch (my home church) has been sending a team for 4 years now. I have been able to watch a lot of these kids grow up.

I had the pleasure of rooming with two teenage girls, who now have my heart! I love them dearly! We spent many nights laughing (maybe a little too loud :) ) and talking about God, boys, and our girls at camp. I had the pleasure of being a prayer partner for one of the girls. Her name is Meghan. When Glenloch goes on trips of any kind we always like to have secret prayer partners who leave notes of encouragement and small gifts throughout the week. At the end of the week the prayer partners are revealed. It is a whole bunch of fun. So, Meghan was mine. :) Through the week I really got to know both Meghan and her sweet mother Karen. Karen and I had many conversations through the week about what God was doing in her life and in my life. We bonded. Thursday is the day we generally present the gospel in our camp devotions. Karen had pulled me aside asking me to pray for Meghan. She was not sure if Meghan had ever prayed to receive Christ. Karen and I spent a few moments in prayer for Meghan and ask God to work in her life that day. That afternoon I went to our second camp at an apartment complex and Meghan went with me. I had the opportunity to share the gospel that day in devotion. I want to express to you how much the Holy Spirit worked while I was talking to these children. Our one problem we had at this camp was the inability to be able to keep these kids attention during the camp. As I was talking the kids were still and quiet and attentive. Praise Jesus! All of us on the team were amazed. We had several kids pray to receive Christ. The ones who came to know the Lord were asked to go with the children's pastor of the church we partner with in Ohio, and talk to her more. Meghan came up to me and said, "Bonnie, I prayed that prayer. I just didn't want to go over there with the others." "WHAT!?! Wow! That is wonderful Meghan!" Meghan and I were able to sit down and have some girl-to-girl Jesus talk. It was wonderful! God had answered our prayer!!!

I love to see the face of a new believer, don't you? They always have a smile and a glow that nobody can describe. This week I saw many new believer's faces. I am so blessed.

Another thing I love to see is when a believer begins to really fall in love with their savior and start growing in the knowledge of Him and His word. This week I saw a lot of that too!

I am going to leave you with a couple of my favorite quotes from the week, a video of the week, a few pictures.

Favorite Quotes

"Will you show me the evanga-cube and teach me about Jesus?" Said from one child to another. Precious

"Letme teach you-a chea"

The cheer they taught me.... "My back ache, my bra too tight, my booty shake from tha left to tha right. To tha left. To tha right."

"What is a P.O.D.? haha Pastor of Disaster aka World's best Pastor" Love you Neil!

Bumper sticker read "May you get the God you deserve." Trey (a child with us) responded. "I don't want the God I deserve. We don't deserve him." Wise little boy!

To see how the girls have grown over the years....

Camp 2006

Natalie and Bonnie 2006

Natalie and Bonnie 2007

Natalie and Bonnie 2009

Breana and Natalie the first year.

Breana and Natalie this year. My how they have grown!

My oldest girls this year.  Most of the girls I have had every year!

Here is the video of the week.  FYI the second to last picture is all of the kids who prayed to receive Christ at the apartment camp.  The last picture shows me explaining the Gospel to a girl. She accepted Christ as well! 

Funny Video

Okay Ladies I thought you might enjoy this video! We start young! Love you all! I will update soon about Ohio. :)

First Class to a Puddle Jumper

Running through the airport you can hear the click clap of my flip flops clear across the Atlanta Airport.  People were parting the “waters” for me to run past.  Some faces smiled with a knowing grin, they too had been in my shoes once before.  I think back… How did I get here running through this airport like a scene straight out of the movies? I think back to this morning that was so seemingly normal and quite planned out.  I was to arrive in Akron, Ohio around 2:00pm and have a relaxing wait until the rest of my Georgia group joined me.  An exit away from the airport I received an automated phone call giving me the news that my flight had been delayed and I was rebooked on a later connecting flight to Ohio. I closed my cell phone to end the call and looked at my flexible roommate.  A smile came upon her face and said that is okay lets go to church, you can go with me.  I agreed and was thankful to be able to go to morning worship.  It has been a good while since I have been to church with my roommate Candie, today I saw it as a blessing.  Candie then dropped me off at the airport and hugged me goodbye wishing me a safe trip and a good week. 

 Proceeding into the airport, the thought crossed my mind…. “Finally”.  I was going to be on my way in a little less than an hour with one connecting flight; I would only be a tad late.  I arrive at my check in kiosk and pulled out my new handy frequent flyer skymile card.  I pushed the card in the machine so it could quickly find my reservation and I would be on my way.  Card In. doot.doot.doot.doot (machine thinking). Reservation not found. WHAT!?!? The guy this morning promised me I was rescheduled.  I march myself over to the forever long line, which this particular airport never has.  I finally make it to the check in counter and the representative notifies me that my original flight had been cancelled.  I told her that I needed to be in Ohio by tonight and that it did not matter if I went to Cleveland or Akron. And she did this to her computer. ;aieufalkesnf;dshvgaeta nvdsnv sdfnf ;sdtaner sdsodi lksdfjoisdufawen …. Okay you get the point.  I am sure whatever she was typing made complete since.  She looked. Booked. Booked. Booked. Continental. Booked solid. She looked at me and told me that the problem was with my original flight to Atlanta. The Atlanta flight had a mechanical problem, this was throwing off every other flight out.  She told me my best bet was to fly standby on the next leaving flight or fly at midnight tonight. I said okay I would do the standby option.  I proceeded to my gate anticipating a long day ahead.  Indeed it was.

 Stand-by….I do believe is code for you will not get on this plane but I want to give you hope.  I had high hopes because I had flown standby before because my dear cousin Tim has given me buddy passes home.  I generally get on those flights just fine.  I knew from experience that I should ask what number in line I was. The nice man, who became my hero later on, told me that I was number seven in line and he was overbooked by eight.  There was no way I was going to get on this flight.  So guess what he did? A;ljdaklfdf a;lsdfjas;dlkfja asdfjaslfkjas;dfj a;lskdfjsad;fijsad;flkj (typing really fast).  Next thing I know he had me CONFIRMED on a 5:00 flight. He told me to wait to be sure I didn’t get on the flight and then come back to get my ticket.  So I sat with my book in my hand and waited patiently with no such luck.  Thankfully I was confirmed for my next flight. I went back to the desk and my hero printed my ticket. I didn’t even have to tell him my name. J Next thing I know I looked down and I was flying FIRST CLASS! Funny thing, I had just finished telling my roommate this morning that I would like to fly first class just once to experience it.  God knew just what I wanted and he took care of his child. J I was living the life of air luxury. I walked onto my plane and I had a blanket and a pillow awaiting my arrival along with a bottle of water and headphones.  A nice attendant came by and offered me a drink while I waited for the rest of the passengers to load. Ahhh this was nice.  Later in the flight she came back by and brought me a cold coke in a REAL glass, not one of those plastic ones.  My snack consisted of gourmet pretzels that I chose from a basket full of snacks and fruit. 

After relaxing a bit I followed my Aunt Dianne’s advice and asked the attendant about my connection flight.  Let me just say she was sweet as pie but she was not too hopeful on my capabilities of making this next flight.  Our plane was 15 minutes late and my next flight would leave in 30 minutes.  I then knew why the Lord pampered me in first class.  He was preparing me for the run I was about to make to my connection.  Plus I was at the front of the plane and I would get off first.  So my new first class friends cheered me on and said that they believed in me.  I step off the plane and RUN FORREST RUN or more like it was RUN BONNIE RUN. 

People cleared the way for me to make it to the train on the OTHER end of the terminal.  I ran past people on the escalator.  Finally I made it to the train. I picked up the phone out of breath and 10 minutes to spare. I called mom and said pray; in between me gasping for breath she cheered me on.  The next couple of minutes I took to prepare to run for my life.  I took off my earrings. (I don’t know what that had to do with anything).  I strapped my bag on my back and turned to ask the pilot behind me which way to turn when I got off the train.  Okay I had directions in my mind I was ready.  Doors OPEN. RUNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!! Guess what? I was on concourse D1 that just so happened to be the very last gate.  I ran with all my heart, knowing the Lord was going to get me there. After all he had got me thus far. 

I reached my gate out of breath. Uhhhh huuuu uuuhhhhh huuuuu (breathing hard) I was the second to last person to get on the plane.  Everyone else had already boarded. Phew I made it though.  Miracle of all Miracles. I am on the plane.  In fact we are about to land.

I want to leave you with this one last thought. Last night a dear friend of mine gave me a card before I left.  Down at the bottom of the card was the verse Ephesians 3:20 “Now glory be to God, who by His mighty Power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of- infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.”  The card reads… “The Lord knows your thoughts, He hears your prayers, and even now He is answering in ways beyond what you can imagine.”  Today the Lord did just that for me.  Isn’t it funny how the Lord answers prayers in just in time and not moment too soon?  God got me on that plane just in time and not a moment too soon.  God answers our prayers just in time. He might even pamper you to prepare for the run you are about to take.  So ladies allow God to pamper you while you spend time in the word. Then you must RUN LADIES RUN!  Share the good news of Christ. 

Pictures are Worth A Thousand Words!

God is AHHH- MAY- sing! 

Here are a few pictures from our Beach Retreat

(with added commentary) :) 

We stopped along the way for lunch and finished with a reading of Psalm 46.

Ms. Dot had us sandwiches complete with place mats! 

Just a quick pose for the camera on our "driving" break.

Ms. Dot directed us to the most amazing general store I have ever seen! 

Complete with veggies, candy, snacks, candy, boiled peanuts, candy, hardwood floors, candy.

Did I mention there was candy?

Ms. Dot purchasing some veggies for her sister and our weekend allotment of nutrition!

Every chance I could get I posed with Ms. Renee's beach hat! LOVE IT!

MUAH! Must show Ms. Beth how much I love her in the BEACH HAT!

Ms. Carol hanging around the house. Probably laughing at how goofy we all are!

Oh Beth! Must you be frustrated with the paparazzi all around? :) 

Sweet Ms. Lannie!

We made sure Ms. Joyce could breath after her dance session. :) Notice the two in the background watching the dance video on my camera. 

We started Saturday Morning with Psalm 139! 

God's Intimate Knowledge of His People. 1-6

God's Knowledge is Encompassing.7-16

God's Knowledge is Precious. 17-18

God's Knowledge searches out our HEARTS.19-24

Ms. Renee blessed ALL the ladies with Pedicures! 

Who goes on a Ladies Retreat without a little shopping? Not GSBC ladies!

Dot's family invited us over for a cook-out. It was delicious.  The amazing thing about this picture is if you notice in the background at the table where I am sitting, I am talking to Ms. Hazel about the Gospel Message! She is hearing me talk about how Jesus bridged the gap for us to be able to "dwell" with a most HOLY GOD. Notice me holding her hand and Dot's brother in- law holding her other hand. In this picture I represent sin; he represents God; and she represents Jesus bridging that gap! We will finish this story later on in the pictures.

Surprise Bonnie! This just turned into a Happy Birthday Party!

Mrs. Hazel continued below...

God is WONDERFUL! This is Hazel receiving Christ as Lord and SAVIOR at 75!!!

Come on my new sister lets go REJOICE!

The Ladies greeting our new sister!

Pastor of the church talking to Hazel.

Hanging out on Mrs. Hazel's porch, that Dot's family built to begin to share Jesus with her! 

She can't quit smiling!

The best reason for the ladies to go to the beach!! Thank you Lord for sending us so that we may be there to welcome and rejoice with our new sister in Christ! 

*Update: Hazel began to tell her friend who was not a believer what had happened in her life.  They both talked to Bren (Dot's Sister).  The friend said "I want what you and Hazel have got."  Sooo... they have formed a new believers Bible study for these ladies on Monday nights and this past Monday Hazel's friend accepted Christ as Lord!  Praise THE LORD!!!

Reflection of Denise

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that this blog post finds you well.  This morning I awoke to find out that a dear woman I know had gone be with the Lord early this morning. Denise has battled cancer for a few years now. Denise was quite a special lady to me and many many others.  She was known in our town for loving the Lord and serving him.  She was my very first Sunday School teacher.  I am so grateful for the seed she planted in my life.  Thinking back she was probably one of the first ladies to share the gospel message with me.  I still remember one Sunday she gave the class band-aids with the message attached, "God heals the brokenhearted".  I kept the band-aid for many years.  I imagine that the band-aid might still be in my room at home with my parents.  

Reflecting on her life of service makes me think on the many people who have poured into my life so that I may be where I am today.  I am so thankful that God has placed these people in my life.  Here are just a few....Denise Burson, Randy and Donna Meacham, Keith and Ginger Cornelius, Jim and Kim Martin, Peggy Banks, Terry and Marcia Harper, Bryan and Luanne Owensby, Pastor Chandler, Pastor Neil and Tracy Awbrey, Al and Judy Awbrey and all of my family.  My list could go on forever.  I am sure yours could too! I praise God for all of these faithful servants who poured into my life and shared Christ with me. I love Jesus more because of them.  

My question for you is this: Who are they in your life?  Who shared Christ with you?  Take a moment today and thank God for these people.  Spend a few moments today and lift them up in prayer.

Beach Retreat: What do I bring?

Press the Play Button and Enjoy!