My friend Renae Brumbaugh asked me to review her first book, Morning Coffee with James. It was an honor and a delight to do so, and I’d like to share my review here before I post one at Amazon.com. You can pre-order her book there for only $10.39.  If you are fortunate enough to have a 7th grader at Cove Junior High this year, you might find out Renae is your child’s English teacher.  Here’s my review:

Morning Coffee with James is a delightful devotional that doesn’t read like a devotional! Since I do like to read my Bible with a cup of coffee, it fit my quiet time perfectly. The appeal of this book is in its format. Renae presents the book of James in five main chapters: What We Have, What We Do, What We Say, What We Feel, and What We Give.  Within those chapters, Renae provides morsels of truth that go so well with that cup of coffee.

The daily scripture is presented as the “first cup of coffee.” After the first cup, the “cream and sugar” is a self-reflection question, followed by an encouraging prayer. Next there’s the “second cup of coffee,” in which Renae teaches through cross references, to be finished to the “last drop,” which is a pithy quotation to finish that morning’s coffee.

Renae has a conversational style that teaches rather than preaches to the reader. And every few chapters she throws in some interesting coffee facts or recipes that are just fun to know.

I’m so glad Renae chose James as her first in this series, as it is such a good book to curl up and get to know. Maybe her next devotional book will be on “He Brews!”

I’ve been supporting Crisis Pregnancy Centers for about 20 years. It took me 15 years to work up the courage to actually volunteer at one. That’s what I’ve heard from fellow volunteers – they were drawn to the work, but it took them a long time to actually do anything about it. And those volunteers were women! If that’s how they feel about the work, can you imagine how much courage it would take for a man to volunteer?

So you can understand my surprise when a gentleman from my church, Carlos Rodriguez, started working at our Crisis Pregnancy Center! I knew him as an usher and deacon, who was forever escorting guests at our church to their various Sunday School classrooms and to the nursery. He and his wife Cathy were also participating in “Experiencing God Together” retreats at churches all over the country. Carlos was also a bereavement specialist at a local funeral home. He really didn’t need any more jewels in his crown, but that wasn’t what Carlos was about. He was about his Father’s work, sharing the gospel in as many venues and with as many people as he could.

He marched to the beat of the drums, and saw God working powerfully at the Crisis Pregnancy Center. Clearly, Carlos wanted to join God where He was at work. He started by teaching our “Dad U” parenting classes at night. Eventually we saw him during the day too, answering phones, and doing any task required. He had a servant’s heart.

Poor Carlos! We used him to do the “honey do” list that most girls hate. For example, he worked up in the attic, tirelessly moving boxes, and sorting donated items. One day, a passerby came in to tell us there was a dead rattle snake on our sidewalk. “CARLOS!”

The really neat thing about working with Carlos at the center was his interaction with the husbands and boyfriends who came in. While I would be counseling with a woman, Carlos would be in the waiting room talking to her boyfriend/husband. “Hello young man!” was the greeting. Then he’d sit down with them and just strike up a conversation. By the end of the meeting, many of the young men had given their lives to Christ even before the woman was done with her session! Amazing. But that’s what Carlos’ life, driven by the Holy Spirit accomplished on a weekly basis.

Did I mention that Carlos had leukemia? He struggled with it for years, but quietly and with dignity. He never complained or felt sorry for himself. He was more concerned with other peoples’ problems. For example, when I had to move my mom to assisted care, he was the one person who always asked me “How’s your mom?” Or when I was sick, Carlos would grab my shoulders and pray for me – without prompting. I started to look at him as my spiritual father at church. I felt I was his special friend. But I found out that many people felt that way. Carlos had a way of making everyone he knew feel like they were the center of his universe.

Carlos was faithful to attend our church’s Wednesday night prayer sessions. When it was time to pray, he was almost always first to pray for everyone. I felt my prayer requests being taken straight to the throne of grace when Carlos prayed.

Last summer I found out that Carlos was struggling with another bout of leukemia, but this time he couldn’t shake it. When I went to visit him in late July, he was already in a coma. When he heard the voices of his loved ones, I could tell he really wanted to come out and talk and pray, but he was too weak. It broke my heart.

A few days later, we drove to Colorado for a family vacation. After visiting Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs, I put in a prayer request there for Carlos. As we walked out of the building, I got the telephone call that Carlos had passed away. I cannot tell you the sense of loss and grief that came with that call. My friend had died and I would not even be at his funeral.

No one can replace Carlos. But I do have the comfort knowing that he’s not riddled with pain anymore, and that we will all meet again on that glorious day. In the meantime, he joins the ranks of the saints who make up the “great cloud of witnesses,” cheering us on to the work God has given us. Until we meet again, sweet Carlos.

As I drove in the funeral procession today and watched the oncoming traffic pull over to the side of the road to let us pass, I wanted to say to each one of them: Do you know who’s in that hearse? Did you know that Buck died Tuesday? Do you know this is S.C. Lee – the one our Junior High is named after?

Then I said out loud, partly to God, partly to myself: “Our world is a little bit worse today because Buck Lee is gone.”

We’ve only lived in this small town for 11 years, so we’re newcomers. The cemetery where they laid Buck to rest today held graves of citizens from 150 years ago. Some of their “kin” still attend our church. I can’t imagine having roots in one place for so long. A lot of them were related to Buck.  His parents were some of the original founders of our church, after all.

At the funeral today people talked about Buck’s lovely wife, Lynette, who died before we got here. Buck loved Lynette deeply, and couldn’t wait to be with her in heaven. I learned that Buck could cook, and people loved his banana pudding, pecan pies, and peach cobbler. Our family never got to sample those things or even visit him in his home.

But we were still blessed, because we worshiped with Buck and his family, even if it was for a short time. Buck drove himself to church well into his 80s. When we dropped off our children at Sunday School, we would see Buck sitting in the hallway, taking roll for the children’s department. That was one of the places he felt most comfortable in his 74 years of church membership. And the children loved him.

He told funny stories, mostly about himself. One story that stuck with me was about when he was the Sunday School Superintendent. He said he put out a suggestion box for people to comment about the quality of the Sunday School department. After several weeks with no responses, he practically begged for suggestions. He said he finally got one scrap of paper in the box, and it said “Get a new Sunday School Superintendent!”

When we sat near Buck in church, I would steal glances at him because I kind of hero-worshiped him. He was so kind to everyone. He had a smile for all reasons, for all seasons, no matter how old or stooped he got. Christ lived in him.

When we visited Buck in the nursing home, he was as interested in our children as their own grandparents. He often said he wanted to steal our twins. It made us all feel special.

Yes, the world is a LOT worse today because S.C. Lee died. See you in heaven, dear Buck.

I love these Verizon network ads, where someone can be just about anywhere in the world and get cell phone coverage. We get the ideas that there is an army of Verizon employees “behind” every cell phone call, eliminating any communication “dead” zones.

As Christians, we have an even bigger army making sure our communication with God is crystal clear. First and foremost, we have Jesus Christ, who is always interceding for us. Then we have a network of angels fighting in the heavenly realms on our behalf. Finally, we have each other, providing prayer cover and support.

Wow! What a network!

Fort Hood is open to the public in certain places, which makes for some great shortcuts to areas of our town. I drive onto the installation daily, and use back roads to take the children to school. Just recently, this sign was erected at both entrances to warn of the dangers of driving on an Army post.

The first time I saw the sign, I thought: Wow! Maybe they’re firing artillery close to these roads! I looked around and drove cautiously for a few days. I knew the dangers before the signs went up. I could see the tank trails for crying out loud! But for some reason, the sign made the danger seem more real to me. As with most warnings, however, now that I’ve traveled safely for a week, I cross my fingers and forge ahead, knowing that nothing terrible could possibly happen to me.

But if something did happen, wouldn’t people say: “They warned you! Didn’t you see the fine print that said ‘By Order of the Commanding General?’” Or maybe some would say: “I can’t believe that nice family was hit by artillery fire when they were crossing the tank trails on Fort Hood! What an injustice!”

Either way, we’d be hurt, even though we were warned.

Isn’t it like that with our Christian walk? Before we were saved, we lived lives filled with danger, but were supremely unaware. But after salvation, we’ve been given all kinds warnings to keep us out of danger.

We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit speaking directly into our minds and hearts. We have the Word of God telling us of specific dangers. We can’t claim to be unaware. In fact, God speaks to us in military terms about the tactics our adversary, Satan, uses and how to avoid being hit by his artillery.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  ¹³Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.  ¹⁴Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, ¹⁵and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;  ¹⁶in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Again we see a warning about the devil’s tactics in 2 Corinthians 2:11, and are told to see to it “that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”

Will we cross our fingers and forge ahead, thinking: That’s just the Bible – nothing’s going to happen to me? Or are we willing to join David, who said “I delight to do Your will, O my God; your Law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:8)

When trials come, I’m going to avoid shortcuts, heed the warnings and obey the orders of my Commanding General, so I won’t be hit by artillery fire.

Have you ever pulled nursery duty and prayed you could avoid changing a diaper? How come other kids’ poopy diapers smell so much worse than the ones our angels produce? Or have you ever had to clean a public bathroom area to make it nice for the next occupants of a cabin, time-share, or youth camp? Gross. Give me heavy rubber gloves, lots of Lysol, and a clothespin for my nose.

Another difficult ministry for me is food preparation and delivery. For starters, I’m not much of a cook. Then there’s the problem of getting the meal to the person. Sometimes I’ve just wanted to leave the meal on the doorstep, ring the doorbell and run away. The actual ministry part of the meal delivery was difficult for me. I didn’t want to go inside the house and engage with the people, because occasionally the houses were stinky and depressing. Sometimes the people were a bit too needy. A clean escape was always utmost in my mind.

Later, when I got to thinking about my bad attitude in this regard, I started calling it “ministry on a stick.” Like a jailer, I wanted to deliver a meal on the end of a long pole, so I’d never have to touch the person. What kind of ministry is that?

Ministry isn’t always pleasant – but somehow in God’s economy it produces treasure. I think I’ve finally cracked the code. It’s in the book of James. When I first became a Christian, my mentor used to tell me to be thankful for the particularly offensive “opportunities.” She consistently referred me to James, asking me to pay close attention to the first four verses. The passage always struck me as containing non sequitur logic: in other words, an end state that isn’t easily connectable to the premises. See if you agree with me after reading this:

James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

How in the wide world of poopy diapers am I supposed to find joy in trials? What’s so fulfilling and life perfecting about delivering a dinner to someone in a house that smells like propane and sausages? The secret is hidden in the first six words. Go back to verse one and see what James calls himself. Yup – a bond-servant. Here’s what scripture has to say about that:

Exodus 21:5-6 But if the slave plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,” then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

Well, there it is. If I want to be a bond-servant to the Lord Jesus Christ, I willingly place my ear against that doorpost, nail it in, and surrender to His leading, no matter what. My attitude is supposed to be in line with and conformed to the attitude and likeness of Christ. Here are His words on the subject:

Matt 20:25-28 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

While I’m still not the greatest cook or baby changer, I am being transformed through service. I’m starting to consider it joy to serve my Savior and His people, and to face trials along the way. Are you?

My friend, fellow blogger, and walking buddy, Renae Brumbaugh, just published her first book, and it’s available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

It’s a compilation of her devotionals about the book of James, and if it’s anything like her current blog about the life of Jesus, I can’t wait to read it! Click HERE to link to Amazon.

It would be a blessing to Renae if you pre-ordered her book!  She’s a fellow Copperas Cov-ite, and a pastor’s wife.  See her blog in my blogroll to the right.

Two weeks ago on Saturday, I was entering the home stretch of an incredibly hard mom-week.  The typical mom-weeks usually start the moment dad leaves town on a business trip. This time, it started the moment dad left the continent on a business trip!

In the week leading up to this particular Saturday, one of the kids got really sick, requiring several doctor and hospital visits. His sick-storm passed the day before he was to represent his junior high at the Central Texas History Day competition in Austin. We patched him up just in time for the event.

We got up at 6:00 Saturday morning and were setting up the exhibit in Austin two hours later. After a long day in the big city, we were finally headed home as the sun was setting.

The problem was I had no idea how to get home. I programmed my onboard GPS and listened to the turn-by-turn directions. For some reason, I was re-routed for traffic conditions, and ended up on a new toll road I knew nothing about. What’s worse, my GPS knew nothing about it either, and kept telling me to take turns that don’t exist. It was dark, and I had no idea where I was.  

So I did what was natural for me to do when I’m scared and panicked. I started yelling at the closest target. In this case, it was the GPS lady. I told her what an idiot she was. Then I got off the toll road, pulled over and asked for help.   After getting the help I needed and getting back in the car, a particularly annoying woman walked by. I thought a bad thought, and almost said it out loud, but stopped myself.

I said to the kids “I almost said a bad word back there.” They started laughing and said “Mom, you owe us like 28 dollars, because you’ve been saying lots of bad words!” (In our family we have to pay the swearword jar $1 per bad word uttered)  I was incredulous. I knew I’d said a couple of foul things, but 28 of them? Even though I knew they were exaggerating, I was disappointed with myself for the bad example I’d set.

The next morning I apologized to the kids for the things I’d said when I was scared and angry. Then I gave them lecture and spiritual lesson number 6,952, which I entitled “default settings.”

Default settings, I explained, are the behaviors we revert to naturally when we’re tired, stressed, anxious, panicked, or just plain angry. For me, 30 years of cultivating rough edges in my life made foul language my default setting in this instance. For others, a default setting could be looking for love in the wrong places.  Some might revert to using drugs or alcohol.

Default settings can be good, however. Right now, I’m typing a Word document in Times New Roman, font size 12, which is the default setting for my computer. I just sat down and started typing — no thought required. These programmed settings make life easier, and make operating our many appliances, vehicles and other contraptions effortless.

As Christians, we have been given an entirely new nature. Our old is gone. But we still live in our flesh-encased bodies. My mind has a lot of default settings that I programmed into it for many years before I became a Christian. But I have the power to adjust those settings.  I can make living for God in all areas of my life more and more effortless with each setting I choose to change.

By using God’s Word as the owner’s manual for our lives, we can change our default settings!

Proverbs 6:6-8 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

God loves ants. He mentions them in His Word in several places as wise creatures. He even asks us to observe them and learn from them. For the life of me, I never knew why God loved ants until recently.

The Texas state insect is the Monarch Butterfly! Can you believe that? I’m here to tell you fire ants got short-shrift for the insect title.

When we first moved to Texas, we were baptized by fire ants! When our three toddlers played in the backyard, one would inevitably start screaming and hopping around after stepping in an ant hill.  I’ve pinched little ants to death trying to get them to remove their pincers from baby flesh. The telltale two-pincer mark on chubby baby toes – soon to be followed by a pustule – never made me very fond of the critters.

In fact, I became a professional ant hit-woman. I learned that AMDRO is the best weapon, and I’ve sprinkled it gleefully and judiciously around many anthills.

So, whod’ve thunk I would come to love ants? What’s more, the three kids love ants too. Okay, we don’t love fire ants, but Harvester Ants are cool!

What changed us is we’ve gotten to know about 45 of them over the past year.  The kids received a Discovery Kids Ant Gel Habitat for Christmas. It came with space-age gel in a see-through Lucite container. Who knew you could buy a test tube of Harvester Ants for $5 and have them shipped to your home?

All we had to do was make four starter tunnels with a poker, and dump in our ants. That was the beginning of ant-love for us. The kit came with a little round spyglass-type magnifier we could put right up next to an ant and watch it work. We could look at his little painted-on eyes, his hairy legs, and his pincers in amazement. We were smitten. It was better than TV or a video game to watch our new pets make a home for themselves.

Within 4-5 days, those ants had tunneled an entire colony through the gel. (They not only tunneled into the stuff, but they ate it too). They were tireless, and seemed to have a system of who labored and who slept. When one of them died, they would carefully disassemble him and move him to the pile they were accumulating on the top layer.

We’ve had two of these habitats, and observed the same thing happen both times. Initially, the ants were really motivated to create their home and work hard to get everything done. But after about 10 days, they’d start to run down. They would mostly sleep in little clusters of friends, rarely building or moving around the system anymore. It was like they knew there was no more to do and nowhere else to explore. They lost heart.

It would make us so sad. We wanted to tell them they were wonderful creatures and that we loved and admired them. But they had no idea that we were out there watching, (except for being jiggled and jostled) and they certainly couldn’t understand our pep-talks.

We only found one way to encourage them. When they were all down in their tunnels, we’d take the top off the habitat, and blow into it like a big wind from God’s nostrils. That would wake them up! It was pandemonium as they would all run to the top to see where the fresh air came from. Then when they realized nothing new was happening, they’d go back to their depressed state.

Both times this happened within the ant worlds we provided, we decided we had to let our pets go. We loved them so much we couldn’t be puppet masters anymore; taking away their freedom to live in the real world. We sprinkled them into our yard and watched them take their first tentative steps to freedom, soon to abandon the habitat altogether. What a great feeling to give them a new chance at life!

Go to the ant! Consider its ways and be wise.

God loves ants.  But He loves us more! He watches over us so tenderly and provides for us so abundantly.  He has counted the very hairs on our heads, and lavished His love on us. He gave us His Son, the crown of creation, to save us from our hopeless state. He even made  His Holy Spirit available to us for the fresh breath of life daily.

But we complain about our habitat. We blame God for the mess we’ve made of our freedom. And we get depressed and give up hope. God regards our trials with great compassion. We need to look up, reach up, acknowledge His ways, and love Him back.

Bob contacted me through this blog, after reading a post about my mom. Please see his page  here.  Here’s what I learned over the past couple of years:

First, I’m so sorry that you’ve received this diagnosis. I know it’s a blow, and you are probably still reeling from the information. Have you found the yahoo discussion board about this? http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/cbgd_support/

Here’s a website with some case histories: http://www.tornadodesign.com/cbgd/

Before I go to the practical things, I’d have to say the first thing I would get in order for you and your loved ones is your spiritual life. I know that’s preachy, but while your mind is sound, repent (if needed) and put your trust in Jesus Christ. Then your eternal destiny is sealed and you can face this with peace and hope. I’m mentioning this first, because in my reality, this is the most important decision you will ever make. If you want to know more about this as time goes on, feel free to ask me.

Here’s the rest:

I asked my mom your question tonight to see if she had any insights. She said she wished she had followed her physical therapy routine and not blown it off. She also wished she’d been diagnosed right away like you, instead of being treated for Parkinson’s for 2 years without any effect.

I wish she had been more physically fit, and skinnier. When you can’t move, you don’t want to weigh so much that it takes two people to help you. My mother was heavy to begin with, so her immobility has packed on about another 40 pounds. It’s made me want to stay skinny for my loved ones so they can lift me, if needed. Also, most health aides are women, and have difficulty with overweight folks. I noticed on your blog that you are fit, so that’s a great thing.

I would also say if you need to repair relationships, do it now.

Perhaps you can voice record your thoughts to your loved ones or make a video while you can still speak clearly. Perhaps make a video for each person. Let them know the real you before your words come out strangely. For instance, when my mom wants to say “yes,” she says “no.” One time she said she had to go to the “garage,” instead of the bathroom. Sometimes it’s comical, but it’s extremely frustrating to her. Maybe take kids to places you valued in your childhood, so they can really know you.

The administrative things I did with my mom are:

A living will with a DNR order (learn about the DNR and see what you desire). My mom doesn’t want feeding tubes or heroic measures to bring her back to life. But then again, she’s lived her life and is 84. You are young, so you may approach it differently.

Give someone a General Power of Attorney to act on your behalf in all things (make it as broad as possible if you have someone you trust).

Give someone a Medical Power of Attorney to make all your decisions (you may have to specify what those things are after a certain point).

Do these while you can still move and sign things. My mother could not do this 2 years after diagnosis (4-5 years into the disease). We had to wheel her into the notary public offices several times — very difficult — she had to sign with an “X”.

If you have money in mutual funds or such, assign an agent as a Transfer on Death person on each account. Make sure that person is a joint authority on your checking account too, and has access to all internet accounts. This also allows your heirs to avoid probate. But hiring a good lawyer for an hour or so to go through this stuff might not be a bad idea.

I did it all on the internet through Legal Zoom for a will, the living will, and through Google search found state-specific powers of attorney.

Don’t fight your caretakers when they say it’s time for you to get help. For instance, if needed, just wear the Depends. No one will know, and you will help yourselves and your helpers. You may suffer from diarrhea for a time, and then terrible constipation. Find out now what laxatives work for you. My mom takes Miralax (lots of it).

My mother fought me tooth and nail about getting someone to bathe her (it humiliated her). But she was falling so much, she was dangerous in the bathroom, and her bad arms couldn’t reach to clean the unmentionables. After she finally gave in, she said “I wish I’d done this a long time ago.” Health aides are wonderful at what they do.

My mom still fights about wearing the clothes that help her helpers. She wants to maintain her former life, which is difficult for those of us taking care of her. We found plates, cups, and utensils that are good for the unrelenting grip. The plates have curved sides so she doesn’t push food off the plate. She won’t use the curved utensils, but again, it would help her helpers if she did. I found this to be a helpful website: http://www.wrightstuff.biz/index.html

Have your loved ones look into local Hospice providers ahead of time. I know that sounds dire, but I had no idea how much Hospice could do. When your doctor thinks you are in the last year of life, he/she can sign the hospice order. This has allowed my mom to get everything we need within 24 hours of request. All this wonderful equipment came in — stuff Medicare wouldn’t pay for before. My mom went into a funk when she heard “Hospice,” but then realized the word had no power over her destination or how fast/slow she gets there.

Don’t be afraid to take an antidepressant for depression or anxiety. This is very common, and these drugs can help immensely.

Check out message boards and medical journals about every quarter. They are learning more and more, and some drugs are available now that weren’t before. The yahoo group has been invaluable to me.

This is a lot to take in — and I hope I haven’t overwhelmed you. It will happen slowly. My mom has enjoyed these years, even through the pain sometimes. She is very independent, and understands what is going on. She is able to interact and joke; play games and watch TV. If she knew how to use a computer, she would have. She can still feed herself and brush her teeth. Quality of life is in the eye of the beholder, and we can’t judge for another what “quality” means.

I know all this is years off for you, but these are the things I’ve been doing. I hope it doesn’t scare you, but informs you. I had a big neurological problem two years ago, and am slowly recovering; but I found myself overwhelmed and scared to the point of panic sometimes. You are not alone. Others can and will walk this road with you. God will never leave you or forsake you if you put your trust in Him. I will subscribe to your blog and communicate with you along the way if that’s okay. I’ll also pray for you daily.

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