April 1st Scripture Memory Verse

Dear girls,
Here April is upon us and we can REALLY see God's beauty all around us! I trust you are enjoying all the newness and lovliness of God's gifts to us! Just relax in God's love and peace this month and enjoy His fresh calming presence as you meditate on His Word!!
Post your name, your memory verse and the translation you are using and share with your friends to join us this month!!

Lovingly in Christ! Kay Howell

March 15th-Scripture Memory

Dear girls,
Spring is upon us with all her signs of new life around us. God has created for us this beautiful season of the year in which to learn more of Him and to grow closer to Him. As we see the budding of the bulbs and flowers let us remember that He wants to fellowship with us through His Word and draw us closer and closer to him. I trust you have a wonderful time with Him as you spend that quality time each day.
Remember to put your name, your memory verse and the translation you are using.

Until next time...God bless!!

Love,

Kay Howell

Balancing Your Life - March 10, 2009

“Lady Heintzelman and the Animal Crackers”

   I already miss Lady Heintzelman.   When I walk down the grocery store aisle with the cookies I can’t look at the little circus boxes of animal crackers and not think about her.  Let me tell you about one of my favorite patients ever.  I first met this beautiful yellow lab in 1998. She was the only 4-legged mouth to feed in the home of Rudy, Janet, Carmen, and Jill Heintzelman.  Rudy was truly surrounded by four beautiful girls but the “baby “ Lady  stole my heart early on.  Janet would bring Lady in for her routine semi-annual visits and after a few years she would always come with a little plastic bag of animal crackers.  I’ll never forget watching Lady “do her trick” for the first time. I was fascinated with her obedience. Let me attempt to explain with words what I wish that each of you could have seen in person. (Maybe it’s time to teach your old dog a new trick!)  By the way, pet owners want me to see their dog or cat’s trick in the exam room and they (the pets) are seldom cooperative. It’s akin to trying to get a three year old to “perform” when you ask.  It just rarely happens. Lady was the exception and her trick has and will always be my favorite trick of all. Janet would have Lady sit and position her head such that the bridge of her nose was perfectly parallel to the floor. She would then ever so gently strategically place an animal cracker just behind her nose. Even the slightest movement on Lady’s part would have made it fall off. It was balanced there only if she remained perfectly still. Lady would just sit there and hold that “statue-like” position until Janet gave her the “O.K.” signal and in a split second, almost faster than light, Lady would somehow flip that little animal cracker off her nose and catch it in her mouth. It sounded like a big fish striking at bait-so fast you couldn’t follow the cracker from her nose to her mouth.  I never tired of watching her do this trick. And of course I wanted to get in on it as well. It took me three or four sessions before I got the hang of it- cracker placement, timing, etc.  Janet brought more than the usual number of crackers when I got in on the fun. I don’t remember exactly when it happened but one day as I was sitting there enjoying Lady’s prompt obedience the spiritual analogy hit me and I realized that one day I’d be writing this pet parable about Lady.  I’m sure I’ve given the surprise of the parable away by now.  Lady and the animal cracker is a perfect lesson in prompt obedience to our Master.  Lady remained perfectly still until her master gave her the “go” then she wavered not but promptly obeyed.  Because her master placed the task strategically all she had to do was obey.  The scriptures we can use are countless as examples. To mind initially comes one of my favorites in Psalms 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.”   Another version says to “Cease striving and know that I am God.”  Lady was as still as she could be. She didn’t have to try and place that cracker on her nose. Her master put the task before her and she was left to be still, be patient, and then promptly obey when the signal was given.  Her timing was crucial to obedience. Slow obedience is of course no obedience.  Let me tell you also about Lady’s eyes while all of this animal cracker placing and waiting was going on. I bet you can guess where they were fixed. Her gaze was of course fixed on her master.  They weren’t glancing to the right or the left; they were focused on the one and only. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:2).  The bottom line in Lady being able to fix her eyes on Janet and being promptly obedient every time she gave a command can be summed up in one word- LOVE.  Lady loved Janet as much as a pet can love a master but first Janet loved Lady as much as a master can love a pet.   “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).  It is so clear in John 14:27 that obedience is the only outward evidence that we really love God. “If you love me you will obey me.”  Lady was surrendered to her master and she loved with all her heart.

   On a Monday in October of 2008 Rudy brought Lady in because she was just not herself. I could tell immediately by her breathing that something was wrong. That day there would be no animal cracker tricks to be played. After a series of testing the terrible diagnosis of lung cancer was made.  Saying goodbye to Lady was incredibly tough for the Heintzelman family and  their vet.  She had fought the good fight but it was time for her to hear them say what a good and faithful pet she had been for over ten years.  Lady Heintzelman has taught me a lot about waiting on my Master’s timing; keeping my eyes fixed on Him; and  then promptly obeying when He speaks.   My prayer is that  you’ve gleaned some spiritual principles from her story as well.  I know  I’ll never look at an animal cracker the same way again.

 

                                                                                   Ann Allen Salter

                                                                                   December 7, 2008

Balancing Your Life - March 4, 2009

“A Heavenly Bath”: My Westin Experience

   A lot of families gave their children Wii’s or IPod’s for Christmas this year but the Salter boys got tickets to the 75^th Sugar Bowl to see the Crimson Tide of Alabama  play the utes of Utah.  My husband, Rusty, is an incredible organizer and trip planner. Nothing is ever left to chance.  He had planned for us a quick and rather inexpensive trip when it comes to going to New Orleans.  Our plans were to leave at 7:00 sharp on Friday morning, check into the Hilton Riverside by lunch, tour the French quarter, meet friends for dinner at 3:45 at the ‘Gumbo Shop’, leave from there to the game (this is where I go back to the hotel as any good Auburn fan doesn’t want to spend money watching Alabama) and then depart on Saturday after eating beignets at the Café Du Monde followed by a tour of Tulane.  The schedule was set and discussed and we pulled out of 1707 Wentworth Drive at 7:08 (not too bad).  We walked into the lobby of the Hilton just on schedule but then the plan took an unexpected turn. It seems as if the Hilton had greatly overbooked and there was no room in the inn for the Salter’s. It was like an episode from ‘Seinfeld’.  They obviously didn’t have a problem taking the reservation but it was the holding of the reservation that had failed.  Sort of like hearing the Word but not doing it. The boys and I were of course imitating Jerry Seinfeld, “Anybody can just take the reservation but it’s the holding of the reservation that matters.”  God used it for our good.  We ended up in a free room down the street at another hotel so that is how this story about my Westin experience began.

   Fast forward to game time at 7:00 pm.   The three Salter boys were in the Superdome and I was having a Jerry Clower moment in my loose fitting pj’s propped up in the comfortable down-feathered king size bed in Westin Room 2030. Away from the crowds of the French Quarter and the 75,000 fans clad in red and black and white hounds tooth ‘I didn’t want anybody messin with the deal I got.’ My quieted mind ended up thinking ahead to January 10^th, the date set for the next Firebranded Ministry ladies function.  I was sure that I had received the message I was to teach that upcoming Saturday- “Will You Abort the Word in ’09?”  It had already been written in my heart and in story form and I knew there was no going back.  Never underestimate the enemy’s ability to try to snatch truth from you-especially if you are planning on delivering it to another.  The father of all lies will throw them out there more plentiful than Mardi Gras beads in the French Quarter.  Our job is not to receive the lies but to stand firm and fight with the Word. Well I failed the test and ended up with a few strands of those beads around my neck.  As harmless as it seemed I began to doubt if I was to share one part of the message, simply put that the Word and the Spirit are inseparable and must be restored in their fullness for the church to manifest the glory of God and for us individually to fulfill the destiny and purpose of our lives.  I had heard and have shared before that there is a silent divorce in most churches today. As with a divorce some of the children go with the mom and some with the dad.  Some churches have focused on the Word with negligence on the fullness of the Spirit and some have so focused on the Spirit to the negligence of the power and authority of every verse of the Word. Man has forever been trying to dissect the Trinity only taking what pleases him or lines up with traditions or his denomination.  It’s time for the remarriage of the Word and the Spirit. It’s time to restore balance and the fullness of Christ as He intended and died for His church to have. The enemy’s job is to snatch the fullness of the Spirit or the Word  or get one or the other way out of balance. The Word without the Spirit you’ll dry up. The Spirit without the Word you’ll blow up.  The Spirit with the Word you’ll grow up.  So back to the Westin Room 2030. You see I chose to doubt that I was to share what I just briefly shared with you.  The primary message was about aborting the Word. I spoke on flowing with the Spirit the time before.  I’m sure they can connect the dots I told myself. … I’m sure that you will tell them Lord. Do I really need to stand up there and say what is  happening in the great majority of the churches in our nation?  Lord, you know many of the ladies coming are part of these churches. .. Isn’t it amazing the dialog we can actually have with the holy sovereign God of this universe as if He really needs a news scoop about any of His children or His bride.  He ever so gently took me back to my life verse from 1997 which I have tried to ignore until a few months ago. “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them or I will terrify you before them” (Jeremiah 1:17). What a gentle verse to have for life. Thanks Lord. Now for the love test. “If you love me you’ll obey me” (John 14:15).  Of course I’ll share what you’ve put in me…I really don’t want to find out what being terrified before them feels like. ……….. Fast forward to early the next morning. Our God is so good and speaks ALL the time through ANYTHING. I should have woken up in the Hilton but remember I’m in the free Westin. I woke up and just laid there for a few minutes praising Him for another day, praising Him for the end of another football season (this is more meaningful to my fellow Auburn fans!), praising Him for the Godly man beside me and the two growing young men on the floor (no rollaways which doesn’t seem too important when the room is free and you’re not the one on the floor).  My mind then went to the struggle of the previous night. I was resolved to speak His truths no matter the cost but oh how I needed to “know that I know” that it was the right timing and venue. The seed He gives us must be scattered at the right season into the right soil to grow.  I headed to the bathroom and picked up the hotel’s shampoo. Guess what it said. No, I’m not crazy the bottle didn’t speak like the donkey in the Old Testament. What’s written on it is what I mean.  In black and white (actually in olive green): White Tea Aloe Shampoo-‘RESTORE BALANCE’.  Thank you Lord.  Restoring balance is it. You knew I needed that confirmation after my struggle with the Word and the Spirit truth. It gets better. I got in the shower, looked up and saw two separate but joined Water-Pik showerheads. The utes from Utah may have been familiar with this fancy shower setup but this gal from Alabama was impressed.  Both shower heads were large and connected by a small pipe coming from a larger pipe. Talk about a shower. Complete coverage. Fullness. The analogy is obvious - The Word and The Spirit from The Father.  As if I needed more confirmation after the shampoo bottle and the double showerheads I reached for a towel and my eye caught a large tag on the side. Guess what was written on it- ‘A Heavenly Bath’. I certainly had a Mandisa ‘God Speaking’ song moment-“He’ll do and He’ll use whatever He wants to.”  I’m sure He would have gotten through to me at the Hilton in some other way but He chose the Westin bathroom!  He is speaking ALL the time through His Word, someone, or something if we’ll just be still and listen.  I learned a valuable lesson that morning. The enemy will do whatever it takes to steal, kill and destroy what God is putting into you. Refuse  to catch the beads.  Resolve  to stay in the Word; don’t grieve  His Spirit and listen so you can hear and promptly obey His still small voice. He’ll speak to you in the oddest ways if you’ll  just  listen. I’m so thankful for my ‘heavenly bath’  that morning. One night at the Hilton in New Orleans: $200.00. One night and shower at the Westin: Priceless.                                                                                                    Ann Allen Salter