Author: Marcia Furrow

Happy Birthday, Bobby!

02/14/2014Happy Birthday, , , 13 Comments

Bobby, you were three or four months old, it was the middle of the night, you had just finished nursing, and as I got up from the rocking chair to lay you back in your crib, I caught our reflection in the mirror. There I stood, holding my precious little red-headed sleeping baby boy, and I didn’t want the moment to end.

I asked God to sear that image into my mind so that I could forever recall the joy of holding you, my darling son, in my arms. How gracious of God to answer, “Yes.” But He didn’t stop there; He’s given me many precious moments with you over the past thirty years that have become cherished memories.

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I love to think of you as a baby. What a sweet baby you were. You slept, ate, smiled, and slept some more. Your smile was contagious. You brought joy to everyone. You were such a charmer! And you still are! You lived every moment to the fullest.

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And, you played hard! Whether you were Batman, Robin Hood, a Ninja Turtle, or a Ghost Buster, you were always fighting the bad guys, and you always won. Your personality enabled you to make friends wherever we lived. You pushed yourself and excelled at everything you did, just as you still do.

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Bobby, I loved watching you play baseball at GCHS. I still laugh that we pulled dents out of your car with a plunger. And I was so proud to watch you graduate from the U of I. You never did anything half-hearted.

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And when I wasn’t looking you grew up! God led you to Jenny and you gave her your whole heart. Then God led you to Texas!

My birthday wish for you is that you will continue to follow God, wherever He leads.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” – Isaiah 30:21, NIV

Bobby, you are a man of integrity. Whatever you do, you give it your all. You love wholeheartedly, and you follow God wholeheartedly.

That reminds me of another night that God burned into my memory: August 8, 1995. You couldn’t sleep. When I came into your room, you said, “Mom, if I were to die tonight, would I go to heaven?”

You accepted Jesus as your Savior that night. Then you asked, “Mom, can I be sure?” and we read this verse together:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord – Romans 8:38-39 NIV

Bobby, nothing can separate you from God’s love or mine. In His amazing grace, God knit our family together in a bond of love.

I am so privileged to be your mom!

Happy Birthday my precious son,

I love you,

Mom

Love Is…

02/11/2014Spiritual Walk, , , , , , , , 11 Comments

ValentineTomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and I love it. I always have. I’ve enjoyed it ever since I made my first poster-board Valentine card holder in grade school. I loved being courted by Brian and showered with Valentines in college. And, as a mom, I loved helping Dan and Bob write their names on preschool super-hero Valentines.

Is it a fake holiday? Am I a romantic? Probably “yes” to both. But, I’ve purchased cards and gifts, and I’ll enjoy distributing them. And, I’ll save the ones I receive.

However, the best Valentine I can give to the people I love is to look inward and have a “spiritual EKG”. I need to take a moment and determine if my day to day demonstration of love aligns with God’s definition of love.

In 1 Corinthians 13, God tells us what love should look like:

Love is…

Patient: Love bears with other’s shortcomings, weaknesses, and failures. Love waits for the right moment, it stays calm and perseveres.

Kind: Love is friendly, careful, and meets other’s needs without having to be asked. Love bends over backward to be nice, it is courteous.

Love is not…

Self-seeking: selfishly pursuing what is gratifying to me, or putting my personal desires, focus and needs above others.

Easily angered: becoming intensely displeasured or exasperated without much difficulty; it doesn’t have a short fuse and lean toward a lit match.

Proud: haughty or arrogant, with an exaggerated self-esteem or feeling of superiority.

Love does not…

Envy: discontent with what I have, resenting what another has, wanting what I don’t have.

Boast: focus on my achievements or possessions, lift myself up even at the expense of putting someone else down.

Dishonor others: bring shame or disgrace upon others through disrespect, slander, or maligning their reputation.

Delight in evil: enjoy my own wickedness or find great pleasure when others fall victim to wickedness.

Keep a record of wrongs: maintain a list of unjust treatment, collected and preserved, so as not to be forgotten, refuse to forgive, and continue to recall mistakes, errors, hurts, inequalities and injustices.

Love always…

Rejoices with the truth: Love fills the heart with joy, and is ready to celebrate facts, reality, sincerity, fidelity, integrity and honesty. Love celebrates what is right.

Protects: Love guards or keeps from harm. Love never deliberately hurts another but shields them from hurt.

Trusts: Love believes, has faith and confidence in others. Love gives the benefit of the doubt.

Hopes: Love is not wishful thinking, but confidence. Loves look forward with confidence to the fulfillment of God’s Word.

Perseveres: Love persists, it never gives up, ever.

Love never fails: no way, not at all, not ever, on no occasion will love prove deficient or inadequate. Love will always succeed.

God tells us in 1 John 4:16 that He is love. Because God is love, He can define love, and He can command that we love one another in the way that He defines it. Sometimes I love well. Other times, I don’t. God always does.

Is your heart prepared for Valentine’s Day? Are you? Are those you love? Will you be showering those you love with true Godly love this Valentine’s Day?

Taggies, Blankies and Bed-Buddies: It’s a Sleep-Over!

02/07/2014Prayer, Spiritual Walk, , , , 4 Comments

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Jake and Matt are sleeping over tonight! As excited as they are, about 8pm their joy will turn to sorrow, and perhaps a few tears, if their taggies, blankies and bed-buddies aren’t here.

As soon as a sleepover is mentioned, Matty grabs his taggies and stuffs them in his back pack. He’s ready to go if his tags are packed, but he won’t leave home without them. The tags are precious to Matthew.

When Matty wakes up, he looks for his tags. When he gets out of bed, the tags are in his hand. He plays with them. He puts them in his trucks. He shares them – sometimes – for a moment. He carries them every place he goes. We often search for them. He definitely won’t go to sleep without his taggies.

Moses was a bit like that. He wasn’t worried about taggies, blankies and bed-buddies, but he wouldn’t go anywhere without God! When God told Moses to lead the Israelites into the wilderness, Moses said:

“If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here… What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” – Exodus 33:15-16 NIV

Moses knew God must be with them every step of the way. God must lead. God must be present. God was Moses’ security, comfort and protection. God made a difference in Moses’ life and the lives of the Israelites.

Without God’s presence, the Israelites were no different than any other group of travelers in the desert. Only the Israelites had a God who led them, spoke to them, and protected them. Nothing distinguishes our lives from the millions of other lives on the planet if God is not with us. If God isn’t leading us, we are lost. If God isn’t protecting us, we’re doomed.

As a believer, God, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, lives within you and is with you everywhere you go:

“For this is what the high and exalted One says – he who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit.’” – Isaiah 57:15 NIV

Yet, how often are we willing to leave home without a thought of God? How often do we run off to work, school, the grocery, the neighbors, church, or even to Bible study, without asking Him to lead? God is with us, but do we allow His presence to mark us and distinguish us from the world?

Is God your comfort, guide, protection and security? Would you think of getting out of bed without first being comforted by God’s abiding presence? Do you consciously hold on to Him throughout the day? Do you talk about Him? Do you talk with Him? Do you share Him? Do you take Him every place you go? Does your relationship cause others to want to seek God?

One day the boys will give up their taggies, blankies and bed-buddies. Our prayer is that they will always hold tight to the God who loves them.

Snowy, Slushy, Salty Shoes

02/04/2014Gospel, Sharing the Gospel, Spiritual Walk, , , , 4 Comments

I have a frisnowBootsFeb2014aend who is a beautiful, influential, charming, and well-thought of woman. She is godly, respected and many women look up to her.

Recently she and I attended an event on a snowy evening. When we walked into our hostess’ home, our shoes were snowy, slushy and salty. My friend quickly grabbed a roll of paper towels and a trash bag and as each woman arrived she wiped the mess off every shoe.

Those of us having our shoes wiped clean felt somewhat uncomfortable. In our eyes, the work of wiping shoes seemed far beneath this woman.  While it was difficult to accept her service, it was sweet to witness her servant’s heart. My friend embodied Jesus’ charge to believers:

“Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.’” – Mark 9:35 NIV

Jesus didn’t just teach this truth, He lived it. Our Lord Jesus Christ, stepped out of heaven, leaving the glory of God, the place where He is continually worshiped and adored as God, and lived in a human body to serve others even unto death.

Jesus did this. Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, the One who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty, humbled himself and became the servant of all.

“…made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness… he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” – Philippians 2:7-8

Jesus’ attitude was selfless obedience. He put human beings above Himself, and He put obedience to the Father above all. Jesus, God the Son, did not consider His equality with God the Father as something that He had to grasp with a tight fist. Jesus set His equality aside for you and for me. He died to cleanse and save us.

We can’t clean ourselves up; we can’t remove the muck and the mud of sin’s filth from our hearts. Our self effort is like trying to wipe our slushy shoes off with a dirty rag: we simply spread the filth around. We need the Servant to wash us clean.

When we accept Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, our hearts are washed clean by His blood. The blood of Jesus wipes the sin away and secures God’s forgiveness. He never holds our sins against us again. The stain of sin is permanently removed.

Christ’s cleansing assures our salvation.

We are clean, but we live in a dirty world. And, sometimes we track the filth of the world into our lives, our homes and our ministries. It’s difficult to serve God and His people when our hearts are dirtied up with selfishness, and pride.

Thankfully, Jesus’ blood continues to cleanse, and removes the mess of selfishness and pride when it is confessed.

Is there a place of service that you’ve dismissed because you thought it was beneath you? Maybe it seemed like wiping slushy shoes? Would you reconsider as you take into account Jesus’ attitude toward serving you?

Living In the Present Tense

01/31/2014contentment, Death Grief and Mourning, Gospel, Sharing the Gospel, , , , , , , , 21 Comments

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Dad would’ve loved this record-breaking winter. Not that he enjoyed the cold and snow, but he was always up for a challenge.

He would have gone out every day just to prove he could. Level 3 snow emergency – ha! That wouldn’t keep him parked. -40° wind chill – ha! That just meant putting on the lined jacket.

Then he’d call to tell me about the brutal cold, the deep snow, how many cars he’d seen in the ditch, how much he slid around, and how well he handled the icy slick roads. And if he fell on the ice, he’d tell me about that, too.

That was the “old normal”… knowing dad would be pushing the limit, and waiting for the phone to ring in the evening so he could tell all about it.

The “new normal” is talking about dad in the past tense. The “new normal” is not getting a call from him. The “new normal” is realizing the finality of death.

That may be our new normal, but it surely isn’t dad’s!

What is dad’s “new normal”? Can it even be called “normal”? Is there anything “normal” about being in the visible presence of Jesus every moment? Of continual praise? Of ceaseless joy? Of pure love? Of a sinless existence? Can we begin to imagine? I don’t think so…

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

What do we know about heaven? We know it’s real. We know that Jesus is there. We know that those who trust in Him will be with Him in heaven when they leave their physical bodies.

“…as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” – 2 Corinthians 5:8 NIV

“I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” – Philippians 1:23 NIV

We know that we will recognize each other. We know we don’t become angels. We know we remain ourselves.

Can we be sure that we will go to heaven? Yes! The glorious truth is that when we trust our salvation entirely to Jesus and the work He accomplished on the cross, our eternity is secure.

Trusting Jesus means we recognize that it is not about how good we are, but about how bad we are. We must admit that there is nothing good in us. Nothing. Not 80%, not 50%, not 10%, but 0%. We ask Jesus to save us from the sin that enslaves us 100%. We ask Him to enter into our person and live His life through us. We surrender to Him, and then we are saved. From that moment on, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. It is God who saves us, secures our salvation, and brings us to heaven.

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy…” – Jude 24, NIV

Dad would’ve loved this winter… but I’m sure it can’t touch how much he loves the Springtime of eternity!

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