Marilyn's Mussings

Those were the words someone used today to describe her feelings after 9/11. She lived in Manhattan at the time and her family lived in the surrounding area. They had good reason to feel the fragility of life. I felt it too, all the way in Alabama. Life is fragile. Al Marchand was a flight attendant on United Airline Flight 175 when it flew into the World Trade Center south tower on September 11, 2001. Four years earlier he was a policeman and bartender. One night after the bar he worked at closed, someone on the cleaning crew led him to receive Jesus as his Savior. His wife Rebecca also came to know the Lord and told about how Al was a changed man after he believed. He had a passion for sharing his new found faith with others. Al retired from the police force and became a flight attendant thinking the airplane would be a place he could share Jesus. He said to his wife, "What if there is a time when a flight is going down?  What if I am the only one who can share the gospel?...

Since I have been a math teacher for a large portion of my life, I am familiar with the task of trying to determine the thinking trail of the one I teach. This is usually accomplished first by listening, and then by observing intonation, body language and facial expression. When I traded in my chalk for my Bible, I brought that process with me. The Word is infinitely more important than mathematics and I desperately want to know that I am making sense. Last month I went on a mission trip to Kenya where they speak Swahili. You will not be surprised to hear that I do not speak nor understand Swahili. I had an interpreter but was unable to pick up on any of the nuances to which I was accustom to responding. I was frustrated and simply hoped they understood the message. God spoke to me about that frustration Sunday when I witnessed the testimony and baptism of a young deaf Chinese man. Through the course of those few minutes, he communicated with us through the English language, Americ...

Last week I took my mother to the hospital for an outpatient test. While we were waiting, I poured some lotion into my hand and realized I had poured too much. I asked my mother if she wanted some and she said yes. I reached for her hands and rubbed them with the excess lotion on my own. It was a sweet moment. Those 83 year old hands had served her family for many years. My heart warmed as I caressed them. While I was in Kenya, we did a seminar for the ladies. Because of the rustic conditions, there was little opportunity to do any of the feminine activities associated with those type of events in America. What we could do was massage their hands with lotion and polished their nails as they arrived. These ladies were much younger than my mother and even younger than myself, but their hands told of their hard work. I hope it felt good to them. It was nice to see them smile with appreciation and it blessed me to actively "love" the hands that had worked so hard to serve their ...

After our tour in ministry was complete, we went on safari at Masai Mara in beautiful Kenya. As we traveled deep into the national reserve, we saw miles of landscape untouched by man and got close enough to count a lion's teeth. Every new visual experience screamed of the greatness of God. As the hours went by, the clear African sky morphed into a dark yet mockingly beautiful canvas of color. A storm was coming. The chatter in the van slowed as we heard the wind howl and saw the long grass bow gracefully from its touch.  We were not the only ones focused on the effects of the wind. While most of the animals seemed unconcerned with the coming storm, two lions stood tall and motionless, staring intently into the wind which delivered the smell of unsuspecting animals. The lions’ fur rippled across their statuesque bodies. Then without breaking their gaze, the lions crouched low and began to move, ever so slowly. They had spotted a wildebeest and he was alone. ...

For many years, I have taught Bible to women. It was during those years that God directed me to enroll at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and pursue certification in Women's Ministry. I recently finished that certification with the completion of a project entitled Biblical Direction In A Woman's World of Choice. I thoroughly enjoyed researching Biblical Womanhood and was blessed by a group of young moms who traveled with me through the scriptures. We wrestled with some tough issues and reevaluated some life choices that are commonly accepted without question today. We took all questions to the Word of God. God reminded us over and over again that the tremendous love He had for us when He planned for us and created us as women is still as strong as it was then. God who is sovereign knows all, sees all, and can be trusted. His ways are perfect. Little did I know that in only a few months I would have the opportunity to teach some of those same biblical truths to women i...

I woke up at 6:30 AM each morning while I was in Kenya. Monday was no different except that I woke up with Marian on my mind. Marian, a dear friend, was married to Ed who had been diagnosed with cancer a relatively short time earlier. I believed the Holy Spirit brought them to my mind as a call to prayer and responded obediently. However, as the day went on my thoughts were continually brought back to Marian. While on a long bumpy van ride on Monday afternoon, I shared my thoughts with Patty, one of the other team members. I told her about our friendship, about his cancer, about my first morning thoughts, and about how I could not get them off my mind. Then I said to her "I guess he really could even die while I am here in Kenya." A few hours later, we went back to the orphanage. While we were laughing and playing with the children, I got a phone call. Ed had died at 10:30 Sunday night (6:30 Monday morning in Kenya). I felt a strange mixture of both shock and confirmation ...

Sunday was our third day of ministry. The team split into four groups and went to different churches. I had the privilege of teaching Sunday School and sharing in worship at one of those churches. The Sunday School class began with the children singing and reading scripture. Each child praised Jesus before sharing. When the time came for me to teach, my heart was full and I was more than excited to teach about Jesus calming the sea from Mark 4:30-41 . I told the children about the tremendous power of our great big God. I told them that even a tiny bit of faith was enough as long as that faith is in Jesus. I said that when we have Jesus in our life we will still go through hard times but we will not go alone. Jesus will be with us in those hard times just like He was with the disciples on the boat. Then we learned the songs "With Jesus In Your Boat" and "My God is So Big." We sang loud with all the motions. The teacher asked if they had any questions for me and t...

We were in a van going through Nairobi, Kenya when I found out that I would be telling my testimony that night. There was to be an "open air crusade" at Athi River. One of the men on our team would be preaching and another would be singing. It was an evangelistic meeting for a new church in the town so my conversion testimony was appropriate.  In my mind I pictured a small gathering under a tent like covering. I suppose open air to me meant there would be no sides to the covering. . . but there was no covering. It was truly an "open air" meeting. As I look back, it was exactly what it would be in Kenya and our covering was certainly the Holy Spirit. There was a kind of intersection of roads in the town of Athi River. Tall buildings lined one street where people stood on their balconies and roofs but shorter buildings were more numerous. Mothers stood close to their homes with their babies wrapped snugly next to them, and many children played in the street. Occasio...

I love the story in Acts 4 about how the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and then experienced life changing power in their lives. It was so obvious that other people saw it. Acts 4:13 says "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Thirteen ordinary people went to Kenya this summer with courage and direction supplied by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Like Peter and John, we found ourselves unable to not speak about Jesus. (Acts 4:20) No matter how unschooled and ordinary we looked, I pray that  they knew we had been with Jesus! Meet our team! Angela , a mom who looked like the "pied piper" as she imitated animals with the children. John , a grandaddy who opened his arms to a yard full of orphans starved for affection. Mitch and Cheryl , a couple who made so many children happy just by taking their picture....