Yesterday I picked my grandson up from pre-school or as he so fondly calls it— Preachery School due to the fact it is in a church building! As we were driving down the road he asked me, “Why do you always have to look so beautiful when you pick me up from school?” First, I thought, ‘I look beautiful to him?’ But, then it hit me— the Holy Spirit has been working overtime it seems (on me!) trying to help me understand that I need to represent Jesus well. In other words, if I go around slopping around looking grungy, in sweats, hair in disarray, and then the biggest of them all no make-up, then to others (and I never know who might be looking) it makes Jesus appear slovenly. In other words, I don’t represent him well.
All of a sudden I pictured in my “mind’s eye” Jesus lying around looking unkept and sloppy. Then, saying to us as we would pray to him to help fix our lives, “Yeah, what do want?” “Huh?” “Whatever!” “I am just too tired to answer your prayers right now.” And right off the bat I knew that if I really wanted to represent God well that I needed to care about my appearance. If we are Christians then we are the ones who can be Jesus to others. Yes, there are times that (when I am alone) I bum around the apartment in more comfortable clothing, but it really isn’t a lot anymore. And, I try to eat my food just as if I was out in public where many could be giving me “the hairy eyeball.”
By making the effort (to at least appear groomed) I have started to care more about everything…I have become more congruent. And just on the down side; I feel better about myself for at least trying to be better in areas that are hidden from others. I have always heard, “It is what you do when no one is watching that can determine how much God uses you when everyone is watching.” And quite frankly, he sees it all anyway!
Years ago, I worked with a hairdresser and she happened to be taking her lunch when a co-worker came in to announce that her next client was waiting. She replied, “Give me time to freshen my lipstick.” I looked at her kind of quizzically but thought, ‘Yes, I know what you mean.’ When I feel that I at least look the best that I can then I do everything better. The old adage—if you look good, you feel good and if you feel good you do good holds true.
My question to you is this: What is the mirror saying to you about you?
I want to talk a little about having no hope. Many times, in my past, I have literally had no hope. I couldn't see a way out, and things were so dark that darkness was looming all around me. I had no choice but to hope that Christ was real.
What was so amazing is that I discovered that I had believed in the myth of God but, what to my wondering eyes should appear was a living Savior. If you had tried to beat me over the head with Jesus I would have run from you (and I did to several who tried to help me). I was so hardheaded that even a two by four could not have hurt me if you had given me a good whack on the noggin. I look back now and see that that is probably what I had needed the most (ha-ha)!
So, I understand when you feel like you have no hope thinking you are blocked in no matter which way you turn. I am here to tell you that you might have to walk through some things to get to the other side (I know I certainly did) but if you will at least try something, anything different than what you are doing right now Jesus will intervene.
Don't be fooled by the witchcraft of people who say you don't have to work to help yourself or those who say, ‘Wait on the LORD' and he will come through. Well, unless you are willing to do your part then he is not going to just deliver you out of a mess.
But, realize that if you are standing in a place you don't want to be in or don't like or feel you don't deserve then take the advice of someone who has been there—kneel and ask Jesus to help you. Get up, and do your part (by working) and he will come along in his way and bring you hope. It might not be as you think or how you would like for it to be done, but he will come in his way.
Satan has come to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10) and he is doing a pretty good job of it by what I am seeing and hearing. You have the authority over him. Call upon the name of Jesus and allow him to help restore your hope again.
I feel unneeded. I feel lost. I feel confused. I have to have a purpose.
As I have gotten older, I have begun to feel unneeded. It is something very important to me. I need to be needed. At one point in my life, I was the mom that was needed for car rides to and from activities. I was also a mom that was needed to help with homework. I was a mom who washed dirty faces and dried teary eyes. I was a mom who took her daughter for a milkshake every time that a boy, that she cared about, hurt her feelings. I was a mom who read the bedtime stories and tucked my children into bed. Now, I am just a mom.
As I have gotten older, I feel lost. I don't remember like I used to. I can't hear as well as when I was younger. I can't move as fast anymore. I lose my way easier.
As I have gotten older, I feel confused. I don't know what to do at times. I was so sure of myself and knew what to do when problems arose. I didn't have to talk to myself and write things down. I was on top of things.
Four months ago when I lost a dear friend and my children moved away, God taught me something. He taught me that I need to live one day at a time. Don't over analyze things that have not happened yet. Breathe deep. Slow down. Live this day to the fullest. I believe that he helped me through that pain four months ago by putting up a barrior of some kind so that the blow, even though it was deep, didn't scare me. Didn't make me angry. He gave me the motivation to move on. It is so easy to give advice to someone when they are hurting. It is so easy to say, "There is a reason for everything."
I found out a week ago that I have breast cancer. Just those words unnerve me. I feel emotionally fragile right now. So my "one day at a time" teaching has become beneficial. They always say that God knows everything. He is our maker. He knows the beginning to the end. HE wrote the story for goodness sake. So he knew that I needed to learn this four months ago. How could I have known that I was preparing for this?
So now instead of being needed, I am in need. It is funny how things can be reversed in a split second. I feel lost but in yet, found because God is preparing me for this journey. I still feel a bit confused but like he has taught me, it is one day at a time and he is in the driver's seat. For someone that was always in control of every situation, I am feeling a lot of grace and mercy right now.
He has reminded me lately of what I used to be and what I am now. Sometimes rewalking your life through his eyes is very humbling. I can look at people that I meet, without judging, and see my old self. I was so overbearing, so loud and so in control over everything. I made everyone unhappy including myself. I am so opposite of that right now. He has brought me this far. There is no turning back.
God has always been good to me. He will see me through this and every other challenge that may come my way. Like I told my father yesterday, if you don't have faith, you have nothing at all. The world can mess with your emotions. It can make such small things seem so large. But I promise you one thing, God is larger than it all. He is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. As the song goes, "God can do anything but fail." God Bless you all.
It is with great sadness, as we embark upon 2014 that I write to you. I have withdrawn from any blogs, newspaper articles or posts to our webpage since December 4, 2013. I was thrown into a sort of turmoil and depression state that has not been equaled. The reason? The ministry suddenly lost one of its foundational members—Katie Altobellis.
Katie contracted bronchitis in mid-October. Although she continued to work (she was standing on her faith), and seeing different doctors she never fully regained her health. I have known her well over the past seven years and she was anything but sickly. The condition worsened and she contract pneumonia. To make a long story short she ended up at her mother’s home for care and then finally at the emergency room. She was placed ICU and then suddenly, as her mother and brother walked out of room, she was taken home. It was that quick. She did not go to the hospital thinking she was going to die. I cannot describe to you the depths of grief felt from this ministry and what an impact her demise has taken on us all. You see, she was saved under Jesus Without the Junk, taught about the things of God week after week for almost seven years. If no one else showed up at the weekly meetings I could always count on Katie being there. I performed her Eulogy on December 7, 2013.
Faith—The Firm Assurance In The Holy One—is the ability to believe in something that most will never see but yet is what is required of us who call upon the name of Jesus for salvation. Many people sing praises to God for those who have passed through to heaven and yet my heart grieved in the here and now. We do serve a mighty God and yet many try to take what his Word says and twist it into something that is not there. Believe? Yes. Stand on your faith in the midst of storms but do not have such crazy faith that God will not honor. Tithe? Yes, you need to learn about tithing and giving from God’s perspective and the ‘whys’ as to what he means for us by doing so. That money principal is given to us for us…not because God needs our money or a ministry is trying to take something from us. Our Father in heaven is an all-suffering, loving and merciful Father who wants only the best for us all and we have to understand that we cannot jerk his chain for things he knows will be detrimental to us. He also gave us a time to mourn to help heal our souls so grieve…it is okay, but don’t stay stuck there.
Learn who your Father truly is in this upcoming New Year and let Him do what he ‘sees’ needs to be taken care of in your life. He so longs for us all to mature into him so we can be a blessing to someone else. I can tell you from someone ‘just like you’ that there is nothing he won’t do for you. I have walked through years of trials to find out if he was really real and I can tell you firsthand that if you will walk with Christ daily you will get everything that he has for you along your path of life and you will fulfill your destiny.
As we enter into this New Year of possible hopes and dreams let the reality of Christ overtake you in your heart. There is no better place for you to be and no other place that will protect you as well…not even Obama Care can do that!
Though I am not Catholic and some of what he says has been a bit controversial, I like following Pope Francis and am interested to see what he will do next. All the humanitarian things he does lets me know he is a man who seeks to do what is on God’s heart.
Thousands of rare diseases affect many millions of folks every day and of course, there are no cures for many of them. I guess the first time I ever became aware of something I thought was disfiguring and disgusting, was when I read and saw pictures of Joseph Merrick, an Englishman who suffered from skin abnormalities. He was abandoned by his father and stepmother and eventually gained a “manager” who exhibited him across Europe. What a lonely existence not to be accepted by society and have no real friends, due to no fault of his own.
Recently, Pope Francis showed up at St. Peter’s Square. He singled out a man with a rare disease, a genetic nervous system disorder that is not contagious (not that the Pope knew that), that is characterized by tumors who has lived with this disorder since he was 15; he is now 53. Naturally, he has been shunned by society.
Riva met the Pope and was allowed to kiss his hand. Francis then pulled Riva toward him, embraced, kissed and prayed with him! Riva said afterward that this could not have lasted more than a minute and left him speechless. Of course, as with just about everything Francis does this immediately went viral.
I was moved by this display of unselfish self-sacrifice, compassion and love the Pope extended. I then thought, What’s the difference in this and what Jesus did for lepers, the blind men and the raising of the woman’s son in Nain (he touched a dead person’s coffin)?
Some folks know who they are in Christ; some do not. I pose this question to you: Loving Jesus as you do would you have kissed, embraced and loved this man as the Pope did? Think about it as we enter into this Christmas season and let us each reach out with the hands of our Savior.
Years ago, I learned what I considered to be a very valuable lesson. In my mind the holiday season begins with Thanksgiving. For me, it is the prelude to the really big one, Christmas!
When I think of Thanksgiving usually the very first thought that pops into my head is food. I love to eat my sweet potato soufflé (it is like hot fluffy candy!) along with corn pudding. And, of course, the other items on my plate are white turkey meat (no dark for me), mashed potatoes with gravy, hot buttered rolls, sage dressing and my newly acquired taste for jellied cranberry sauce (could be an age thing!). It is a day of dressing up, eating well (of course washing dishes!) and then resting. And all of this in preparation for the really big one!
But as I came to try to understand who Jesus Christ really was a dull nudging began in my stomach right before Thanksgiving and I began to wonder, are there others around me who will not be eating a Thanksgiving dinner this year? The feeling would subside as I would push it out of my mind. But with each subsequent year the nudging became worse. Thanksgiving almost became unbearable to me as I would top off my big meal with a wonderful dessert.
Finally, I began to make some inquiries to do something about helping someone less fortunate than myself just so I could enjoy my dinner. And this year I am going to nudge you. Step up, ask around and find out if anyone needs a little food to eat during this time of year. The Help Center and Joy of a Child Mission Outreach specifically target children and families on Carolina Beach during the holidays. If you would like to help by making a donation you can always do this via our Website and earmark it specifically for either cause. As always, I will personally see that it gets to where it needs to be…every time.
I have learned to be thankful at Thanksgiving (in preparation for the really big one!) but then to give a little and I can tell you (from real life experience) my food goes down a whole lot easier.
Let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Molly Painter. I began a ministry out of my studio apartment in January 2006 which came to be known as Jesus Without The Junk. The ministry has been ‘behind the scenes’ doing mission work on Carolina Beach for the last six years. The recipients have been: The Help Center, Back Pack Buddy Program ($7,000.00-which specifically targets Carolina Beach Elementary school), Back-to-school, Christmas and Easter outreaches to the tune of $ 19,269.38. And now we are embarking upon our largest effort ever for children who come from impoverished conditions by putting together the “Heart of Hope” Run for hunger October 26, 2013 8:00 am.
First we began by trying to uncover the real truth of the need on the Island. After meeting with the Director of the Help Center and then speaking with the counselor and social worker of Carolina Beach Elementary School I discovered that the need is not only present but dire. The following is a story that came to my attention quite accidently. This is an excerpt from an article I have written—
I was delivering some posters garnering support for the upcoming “Heart of Hope” Run for Hunger 2013 and a particular individual told me a story—
She said, “I thought of you this morning when I was dropping off my child to Carolina Beach Elementary School. I heard a little girl tell someone that her tummy hurt. She was asked if she had had anything to eat that morning and she replied, “No.” The woman gave her a cupful of Cheez-Its and told her to tell her teacher that she could have them in class.”
The exact phrase that keeps running through my heart, at this time in the history (and this will become history someday), of our community is: “Unity in the Community.” By garnering support for the “Heart of Hope” Run for Hunger 2013 I have listened and heard hearts as they, too, want to reach out to the little children who do not ask to be born into financial constraints. I told a friend, “You know, we can walk for everything else. Why in the world wouldn’t we walk for the basics of life?”
Won’t you be a part of a ‘cause’ that will have lasting benefits for little children who cannot otherwise help themselves? Be a part of a community wide outreach for local children.
Registration is $25.00 and you get a great looking t-shirt designed by the one and only Dara Newberry (my daughter!) Dr. Jimmy Brown (the Pastor of First Baptist Carolina Beach Church), has agreed to sit on the board of the “Heart of Hope” Run which, I believe, adds another dimension to the quality of this effort. And let me thank each and every person who has stepped up to be a Sponsor for what I like to fondly call “The Love Walk.” It has been such a pleasure (no pun intended) to get out on the Island (and beyond) to personally meet individuals who want to help children right in front of our faces.
It roughly takes $6,000 to take care of 18 children throughout the school year with supplemental weekend food. And that figure does not even touch breakfast, dinner, breaks or summer’s. At the end of the school year (2013) there were 12-17 additional children who needed to be added but there was not enough money to go around.
Lastly, why this article? I need your help one last time in ONE final push to reach anyone who does not know of this event on Saturday, October 26, 2013. Call them, go see them or email them and let them know what “Heart of Hope” is all about. I personally cannot reach every person who lives on this Island in the next week and half… but YOU CAN by spreading the word. I realize that most everyone on the Island is now gearing up for wonderful festive events in the ensuing weeks (and I fully understand) but this is a one-time occurrence that will have lasting repercussions for little tummies.
Teams for Run are now available—4 for $50.00 which breaks the cost down to $12.50 a person. Registering over the internet is safe and easy and we have a great looking site designed by a local friend and pastor. I want to close this article with a poem and thank you for taking your precious time to listen to what I needed to tell you. I hope to meet you there!
The Love Walk
“Heart of Hope” came to point the way to children who need help in a mighty way.
Kids don’t ask to have no food or lack or even go without—
Be a part of something BIG -help us stuff their backpacks!
For if we say we love but close our hand – we are telling them we don’t really understand.
If we see the need and don’t help them out, they’ll give up…don’t you see?
Come on ya’ll let’s give them hope, that’s my plea; it’s what we do Carolina Beach! –
Be there bright and early (8 am) where the race begins—3rd and Cape Fear Blvd…meet us at the gazebo, yeah!
Let’s send a message – no child here will go hungry again.
Spread your love come on sign up!
Come run, come walk, come roll or relay.
“Heart of Hope!” “Heart of Hope!” “Heart of Hope!”
Whether you love it or hate it, ObamaCare is the law and last year, the highest court in the land ruled on its constitutionality and it is here to stay, at least for now. I personally do not think it is fair to force someone to purchase healthcare insurance but it does not matter, really; I will obey the law. Obeying the law, however, is something that some in our country are refusing to do.
The hostile and open defiance by some of our elected officials due to their stubborn resistance of this healthcare law, which has resulted in a partial shutdown of the federal government, is undermining our credibility as a democratic nation not only in the minds of the American people but in the minds of foreign countries as well.
Politicians have always disagreed but this level of dysfunctional attitude and behavior could have serious and long lasting effects on this nation. Countries that once looked to us as a nation leading by example must now be shaking their heads and looking at us with downcast eyes, perhaps even rethinking their attitudes of what democracy means.
Do these politicians think about the jeopardy and vulnerability they leave its citizens in? How will the loss of hundreds of thousands of furloughed civilians who work for the Defense Department impact our national security? This government has a responsibility to keep its people safe.
These politicians can pit themselves against each other but this impasse must stop. I do not think it is the will of the people to have this dispute continue. If this was any other country and folks were resisting and refusing to carry out the government’s laws, these would people would be called no less than rebels and insurgents and either be arrested or put to death. (Thank God we are still a civil nation.)
This behavior by our House is unacceptable and it is time to get back to business and our time needs to be better spent with trying to solve the real issues of this world.
Let us never cease to pray for wisdom for our nation’s leader and those around him in power.
According to the Washington Post, only 63% of those in the US who are able to work have a job. That means that approximately 11 million Americans are officially unemployed and with economic growth remaining stubbornly sluggish, no telling when things will turn around and how long it will take. A disturbing disclosure in Forbes magazine reveals that in 35 states welfare pays more than a minimum wage job. That knowledge makes me wonder where the incentive is for folks to look for work. The consequences of unemployment can be devastating and sometimes enduring. Unemployment not only effects families but communities…unemployment hits people where it hurts the most; in their pocketbooks and in their hope.
I live in North Carolina and news about a recent story that came out of our capital city of Raleigh made me ashamed to call myself a North Carolinian.
Reportedly, Wake County has no place for the poor and homeless to go to on the weekend to get a meal. Therefore, Love Wins Ministries, along with the cooperation of other churches, have furnished coffee and a breakfast sandwich to the downtrodden on a sidewalk near a park for around the last 6 years. But then came the morning of August 24th. On that day, they were told that because of a particular ordinance, if they passed out food to the hungry they would go to jail. Naturally, this incident received national attention.
There are actually a number of states that have adopted ordinances and laws to “punish” the homeless, to include Florida, Oregon and Penn. Columbia, S.C. has approved a plan where those found sleeping outdoors are forced to go to a shelter on the outskirts of town or be arrested. NY Mayor Bloomberg outlawed food donations to the hungry because the city was unable to assess the nutritional value and fat content of the food. Out of sight does not mean out of mind because the homeless and hungry are going nowhere.
Won’t you join us October 26, 2013 @ 8:00 am: heartofhoperun.com—The children and families of Carolina Beach need your help.
It seems the United States loves meddling in others’ affairs. Whatever the worldwide problem is, we just cannot help but butt in and try to be the hero of the story. Must we always puff our chest out and try and prove to other countries that we are the biggest and baddest of them all? We cannot be the conscious of the entire planet, nor can be always be its moral compass.
I say, “Thank the Lord for the freedoms He gives us.” However, we cannot always jump into others’ affairs and not expect negative repercussions. We have been blessed exponentially and this country has a deep heart for those that have been persecuted and is a champion of human rights, but when things do not go our way, we cannot challenge the world to do things our way and say, “or else.”
We are a country governed by constitutional morality but our ideas and expectations cannot be thrust onto others; America cannot always save the day. I think the world desperately needs countries to be leaders regarding human rights issues but the United States does not always need to take a hard-wired approach and believe a first line of defense is to do battle with war mongering countries when atrocities happen. Democracy and our way of doing things can be a hard pill to swallow by others.
Recently, John Kerry called the United State a “global policeman.” But I wonder why every war should belong to us. Our security is at stake when we get involved in others’ wars and I think that we should be definitely clear that our military action and presence in another country is warranted.
What is at stake for this country if we take action against another with full understanding that other nations have vowed to “leave well enough alone?” This country never tries to turn a blind eye to inhumanity but sometimes we have to understand that our presence in some situations can do us and others more harm than good.
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
