Posts made in March, 2012

Devotional Thursday – When You Think You Don’t Matter, Think Again

Posted by Cynthia Howerter on Mar 29, 2012 in Devotional Thursday | 5 comments

Do you ever feel insignificant, that what you say or do never really matters?  Do you sometimes wonder if you’ve ever made a difference in another person’s life?  Me, too.

Several weeks ago, I was at a writers meeting.  The gentleman sitting to my right was a stranger.  After introductions, for some odd reason, I spoke about something that had happened to me during my husband’s unemployment.  An acquaintance had told me, very bluntly, that my husband would never get another good job due to his age and his high level of achievement.  Upon hearing this negative statement, I told the person that they had no idea how powerful my God is or they would know that God is not restrained by a person’s age or achievements.

The gentleman to my right looked stunned.  “Cynthia, you have no idea how much your words just helped me.  I needed to hear what you just said in the worst kind of way.”

I couldn’t have been more surprised.  “Why?” I asked.

“Because I’ve been unemployed for a long time now, and I needed to hear that God is powerful enough to help me, too.”

I then told the gentleman that God did give my husband another good job, albeit months later, his new employer not concerned with my husband’s age but appreciative of his experience.  The man cried.  And I knew from my husband’s unemployment experiences that I was seeing tears of renewed hope.

I had just met this man minutes before and had no knowledge of his personal circumstances.  But God knew this man’s situation and He also knew that my reaction 18 months earlier to hurtful and discouraging words was exactly what this man needed to hear.

Just like Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose,” God took my experience from a difficult situation and used it to strengthen another person in need.

The truth is, you and I will never know how many lives we’ve touched when we live for Christ.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Cynthia Howerter © 2012

Wisdom Wednesday

Posted by Cynthia Howerter on Mar 28, 2012 in Wisdom Wednesday | 1 comment

“A power over a man’s subsistence (the means to support himself) amounts to a power over his will.” -  James Madison, Founding Father and 4th President of the United States.

Please join me in praying daily for our nation.  Pray that Godly leaders at all levels of American government will be elected in the coming elections.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Cynthia Howerter © 2012 

Devotional Thursday – A Husband’s Love

Posted by Cynthia Howerter on Mar 22, 2012 in Devotional Thursday | 16 comments

Do you ever have times when you’re working as hard as you can, wheels are spinning, brain is whirring and you know you are getting nowhere?  That was me last Saturday.  Call me exhausted, burned out, useless.

My husband studied me as we had our early morning coffee.  “Are you okay, Cyn?”

“No,” I told him.  “Nothing’s going right.  I’m tired.  I have no energy.  I feel terrible.”

He looked at me as he swallowed more coffee.  Then he asked how long it would take before I’d be ready to go.

“Go where?” I asked.

“I know what you need.  You need a day up on the Blue Ridge.  Just you and me and God.”

I wasn’t sure I had the energy to take an all-day trip, but my husband prodded me.  Near Charlottesville, we stopped for lunch and I began to feel a little better.

Back in the car, it wasn’t long before we were driving the ridge line of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwestern Virginia.  We’d never been there when the mountains were bare of foliage and I wasn’t so sure our drive would make me feel better with such bleakness surrounding us.

I offered to drive, but my husband said that it was I who most needed to see God’s creation.  How does he know these things?

Without leaves and undergrowth blocking our vision, we saw small mountain streams tumbling over mossy rocks.  We stopped at different lookouts and got out of the car.  The spring blush covered the mountains and twice we heard the wind rustling from the peaks down through the passes on its way to the valley below.  I sat on a rock and closed my eyes.  This is how God speaks to those who will listen and recognize His presence.  I wanted to sit on the rock for a long time, soaking in God.  But, too soon, it was time to get back into our car and travel further down the mountains’ spine.

We saw where wind storms had toppled some trees while others still stood.  The metaphor soothed my heart:  storms will come and try to blow us down, but those who hope in the Lord will be left standing.

Further down the road, the unmistakable black charring of trees and rocks told of a recent fire.  Amidst the devastation, life was peeking out here and there through the ground and on tree branches that were spared.  Life’s fires scorch and burn us, but only God can use those flames to refine us.  I needed to be reminded of this.

Several thousand feet above the valley, we rounded a curve and saw clouds so close we could almost touch them.  I thought of the woman I know who insists there is no God.  Has she never looked at clouds?

“Can you go home now?” my husband asked.

“Are you asking if I want to go home?”

“I’m asking if you can go home.  Are you able to leave here and go home now?”

I understood.  “Yes, I can go home now.”  I smiled at him and he took my hand and kissed it.

Only God could have found such a man for me.

“Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”  1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NIV 1984). 

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Cynthia Howerter © 2012

Photography:  Cynthia Howerter © 2012

Wisdom Wednesday

Posted by Cynthia Howerter on Mar 21, 2012 in Wisdom Wednesday | 2 comments

“Experience has shown that even under the best forms (of government) those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”  – Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father, 3rd President of The United States of America

 TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Cynthia Howerter © 2012

Friday’s Devotional – A Need For Peace

Posted by Cynthia Howerter on Mar 16, 2012 in Friday's Devotional | 3 comments

This morning, lovely rays of sunlight poked through the windows of my bedroom and softly roused me out of a peaceful slumber.  Smiling, I thanked the Lord for the day to come.  And then I heard it.

Incessant pounding intermixed with what sounded like a Native American loudly practicing chants, perhaps ones to chase away evil spirits.  I waited to see if the man who desires to be a performer at the Grand Old Opry was going to chime in, but he must not have arrived yet.  However, the man who whoops and hollers and then releases a schizophrenic laugh has unmistakably begun his shift.

I hung my head as I let the drapes close.  Another day filled with non-stop pounding and singing that shouldn’t even be practiced in a shower.  You see, a new house is being built next to ours.

Nerves fraying before I even get to the kitchen for morning coffee, I reviewed my options.  I can’t leave the house; I work at home.  I could open a window and tell the men to be quiet, but somehow, I think that would encourage the men to practice more diligently.  I could send my husband over and have him tell the men to save the whoops and high notes for their own houses, but he’s out-of-town.  And the truth is, he wouldn’t do it even if he was home.

I swallowed some warmed-up coffee as I came up with the best option.  It should have been my first.  “God,” I prayed, “Thank you that the men have this job.  I know they have to use hammers, but could they sing more quietly today so I can concentrate on my work and not be frazzled?”

I climbed the stairs to my office and as I turned on my computer to begin writing, the Lord began to answer my prayer.  Of course, the pounding is still there, and I’m glad for it because it means the men are earning a living for their families.  But the war whoops and hollering and high notes from an untrained voice are quieter.  Why didn’t I pray yesterday?

“May the Lord of peace give you His peace at all times.  The Lord be with you all.”  2 Thessalonians 3:16.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

 Cynthia Howerter © 2012