Maiden's Quest Praise Report

We have returned home from Dallas rejoicing in all that the Lord did this past weekend during the MQ retreat! The Lord has once again been faithful to hear and answer the prayers of His people!

Out of the 202 expected registered attendees, all but one came to the retreat! (And we even had a few unexpected guests show up!) This is an incredible percentage, proving once again that the Lord had the very young ladies/mothers hand-picked that HE wanted at the conference. :-) We found this group to be a delightful crowd! They were friendly, grateful, receptive people with whom we experienced an instant rapport.

Everything about the retreat flowed smoothly from start to finish - even with a small fire mishap thrown in the mix! (A bit of toole in one of the centerpieces accidentally caught on fire from a small tea light, but ended up creating more mess than danger.) This smooth flow was truly an answer to prayer from the Lord, especially during the banquet, considering that we had 22 casseroles to thoroughly heat in ovens/warmers spread out throughout the 4-story church building. :) Thankfully, after our arrival in Dallas on Thursday afternoon, my mom took over as banquet coordinator, and with all her past experience, she was the perfect person for over-seeing this massive endeavor! Miraculously, by God's grace and a healthy dose of creativity, everything came together beautifully.

220 white satin chair covers were once again donated for our use from our sweet friends in Baytown. The Riddells hauled these up to Dallas - and oh! did they ever transform an ordinary eating room into an elegant banquet hall! What an extra blessing from the Lord these chair covers were!

God answered so many prayers to make this retreat possible. He gave us all safety on the road, zero technical difficulties, great peace of mind during our speaking times and smooth flow of speech (unlike the last retreat during which I was fighting a constant feeling of scatter-brained thoughts and unconnected sentances), provision of wonderful elective session teachers, and many other countless blessings!

Most importantly, the girls who attended thoroughly enjoyed the retreat and expressed over and over how encouraged they were in their spiritual lives! Many moms in the crowd also took the time to tell us how grateful they were for the event and for the opportunity their daughters had to hear many of the same lessons/principles they've been taught growing up but from a different perspective. They were excited to see their daughters really listening and genuinely engaged during all the messages. This was a real answer to prayer! For many of the girls there, the retreat seemed to give them renewed courage to stand alone in convictions and decisions that are so counter-culture. It was encouraging for them to know they aren't really alone in the pursuit of surrendered Christianity and virtuous womanhood, but that hundreds of other young ladies join them on the quest for God's best all across the city, state, and nation! Amen.

Report on the MQ Retreat

To any of you who prayed for the Maiden's Quest retreat this past weekend, thank you, thank you! The Lord was at work in many hearts and lives - my own especially. He used the whole experience to humble me, strip me of all self-confidence, and teach me to yield my definition of success and perfection to His definitions instead.

There were several glitches throughout the retreat this time such as PowerPoint presentations being messed up, miscommunications, last-minute tasks cropping up right and left, cleaning crews not arriving, being locked out of the building on Saturday morning right up until the time we were supposed to start, etc. Despite these trials, however, the retreat flowed right along and the 120 mothers and daughters seemed to be enjoying it all tremendously.

Many attendees told us how refreshing it was to be hearing messages that were infused with the Word of God and constantly pointing back to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were hungry for this! This was a goal Tara and I had established going into the conference, so to hear such feedback was exhilarating! Jesus truly is the answer to everything! He is the foundation upon which every encouragement, admonishment, and principle should be based...and we so desperately longed for the attention of our audience to be pointed to Him. What a blessing it was to hear testimony of God's answer to this prayer.

An alumni attendee, age 20, who actually ended up serving as a helper behind the scenes during the whole conference rededicated her life to the Lord in wholehearted commitment to Him after hearing the closing message of the retreat (the only session she got to sit in for!).

Another alumni girl came with some serious battles raging in her soul. She has amazing potential to be used mightily by the Lord as a radiant young lady and Satan knows it. He has been fighting her a lot lately. She came to the retreat with a crumbling defense and some painful battle wounds. Throughout the two days, she often came up to me or Tara and either burst into tears under conviction of the Holy Spirit, or peppered us with pointed questions about struggles she was encountering. I am thrilled to report that the Lord did a tremendous work in her heart this weekend, bringing her to a point of brokennes and repentance over various sins in her life and giving her the resolve to live for Him no matter what. One huge step of victory for her is that she committed to telling her parents of a secret sin she's been hiding from them. She eagerly agreed to let me be an accountability partner for her and we made arrangments to talk and pray on the phone together weekly.

One attendee shared with us that for several weeks, she has been planning on joining the Marines in the near future. However, during the retreat, God conivcted her that such a plan was not in line with His design for women (and we never mentioned one thing about women in the military!). She experienced a new appreciation for being made a girl and resolved to cultivate a delight in femininity. She told us that rather than join the Marines, she is excited to begin preparing herself with the skills necessary for being a wife, mother, and homemaker one day.

For a group of 3 sisters whose family is involved with intensive inner city ministry, the retreat provided a weekend of spiritual rest and renewal that they said they were greatly in need of. As we all know, there are times when we get weary in fighting the good fight and constantly pouring out to others. Their love for the Lord and wholehearted commitment to Him was readily evident; it was such a blessing to know that God used this event as a time to raise up their hands and encourage their hearts.

For many girls, the retreat brought them face to face with the truths of God's Word and the choices involved with wholehearted obedience. Our prayer for these maidens and mothers is that the Holy Spirit would continually draw them and woo them away from the watered-down version of Christianity they may be living into the depths of a tight-knit love relationship with Jesus Christ. No sacrifice is too great to make for Him who gave up all for us!

We are so grateful for each of you joining with us as prayer partners in this ministry! Your time spent interceding for us means a great deal. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now, we ask for your prayers once again as we embark upon another conference in 3 weeks up near Dallas. Yes, that's right...I said 3 weeks. :-) There is a huge amount of work to be done wrapping up details from this last conference and attending to the ones pertaining to the next in such a short time. Despite the temptation to become overwhelmed with it all, we are resting in the fact that God is our rock and He will not fail us. We are excited about all He has in store!

He is Risen!

The day dawned dark and heavy
On that first day of the week,
The mourners were bewildered,
Overwhelmed, and torn by grief.

All their hopes had come to nothing,
All their dreams were crushed and gone.
They had thought He was the promised King.
How could they have been so wrong?

So many questions pierced their souls
As they neared the tomb that day.
But their grief soon turned to wonder
When they heard the angel say

He is risen!He is not dead
He is risen just as He said.
Death could not keep Him,
Tell all who seek Him,
He is risen! He is not here!

In a world that's dark and heavy
There are people who still seek,
Their hearts are still bewildered,
Confused, and torn by grief.

All their hopes have come to nothing,
All their dreams are crushed and gone.
They have not met the risen Lord,
And they wonder what's gone wrong.

So many questions pierce their souls
And they search to find the truth.
Will you lead them to the empty tomb?
Will you share with them the news?

He is risen!He is not dead
He is risen just as He said.
Death could not keep Him,
Tell all who seek Him,
He is risen from the dead!

Lyrics by Brigette Shevy
Copyright 2007 The Wilds
Found on www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog

Jesus' Death Painted Anew

~ The face that Moses had begged to see - was forbidden to see - was slapped bloody (Exodus 33:19-20). The thorns that God has sent to curse the earth's rebellion now twisted around His own brow...

"On your back with you!" One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier's heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner's wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier's life minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds the molecules together? Only by the Son do "all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17). The Victim wills that the soldier live on - He grants the warriors continued existence. The man swings.

As the man swings, the Son recalls how He and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human forearm - the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless - the nerves perform exquisitely. "Up you go!" They lift the cross. God is on display in His underwear and can scarcely breathe.

But these pains are a mere warm-up to His other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during this day, and unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around His nose, but His heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon His spotless being - the living excrement from our souls. The apple of His Father's eye turns brown with rot.
His Father! He must face His Father like this!

From heaven the Father now rouses Himself like a lion disturbed, shakes His mane, and roars against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seen the Father look at Him so, never felt even the least of His hot breath. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky. The Son does not recognize these eyes.

"Son of Man! Why have you behaved so? You have cheated, lusted, stolen, gossiped - murdered, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten - fornicated, disobeyed, embezzled, and blasphemed. Oh, the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever so ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled My Name? Have you ever held your razor tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunk - you, who molest young boys, peddle killer drugs, travel in cliques, and mock your parents. Who gave you the boldness to rig elections, foment revolutions, torture animals, and worship demons? Does the list never end! Splitting families, raping virgins, acting smugly, playing the pimp - buying politicians, practicing exhortation, filming pornography, accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves - relishing each morsel and bragging about it all. I hate, loathe these things in you! Disgust for everything about you consumes me! Can you not feel my wrath?"

Of course the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this. But the divine pair have an agreement, and the unthinkable must now take place. Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed.

The Father watches as His heart's treasure, the mirror-image of Himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah's stored rage against humankind from every century explodes in a single direction.

"Father! Father! Why have You forsaken Me?!"
But heaven stops its ears. The Son stares up at the One Who cannot, Who will not, reach down or reply.

The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled Him. The Father rejected the Son Whom He loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished. The Father accepted His sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished. ~

Taken from Boy Meets Girl, by Joshua Harris.

A Medical Perspective of the Crucifixion

When I read the following medical account of my Savior's crucifixion, I can't begin to describe the feelings of grief, pain, and gratefulness that coursed through my entire being. Truly, the love of Jesus is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell...
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“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

The greatest example of one laying down his life for his friends is Christ. We will never be able to fully comprehend the spiritual aspect of Christ’s suffering and shame, but medical studies shed glimpses of light on the physical agony and all the horror that Jesus endured on the cross.
“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners
against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:3).

Sweating Drops of Blood
The physical trauma of Christ begins in Gethsemane with one of the initial aspects of his suffering—the bloody sweat. It is interesting that the physician of the group, St. Luke, is the only one to mention this. He says, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44).

Though very rare, the phenomenon of Hematidrosis, or bloody sweat, is well documented. Under great emotional stress, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can break, thus mixing blood with sweat. This process alone could have produced marked weakness and possible shock.
After the arrest in the middle of the night, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas, the High Priest. A soldier struck Jesus across the face for remaining silent when questioned by Caiaphas. The palace guards then blindfolded Him and mockingly taunted Him to identify them as they each passed by, spat on Him, and struck Him in the face.

The Scourging
In the early morning, Jesus, battered and bruised, dehydrated, and exhausted from a sleepless night, is taken across Jerusalem to the Praetorium of the Fortress Antonia. It was there, in response to the cries of the mob, that Pilate ordered Bar-Abbas released and condemned Jesus to scourging and crucifixion.

Preparations for the scourging are carried out. The prisoner is stripped of His clothing and His hands tied to a post above His head. The Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum in his hand. This is a short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached near the ends of each. The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back, and legs.

At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. The small balls of lead first produce large, deep bruises which are broken open by subsequent blows.
Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally stopped.

Mocked by Soldiers
The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with His own blood. The Roman soldiers see a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be a king. They throw a robe across His shoulders and place a stick in His hand for a scepter. A small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns is pressed into His scalp.

Again there is copious bleeding (the scalp being one of the most vascular areas of the body). After mocking Him and striking Him across the face, the soldiers take the stick from His hand and strike Him across the head, driving the thorns deeper into His scalp. Finally, they tire of their sadistic sport and the robe is torn from His back. This had already become adherent to the clots of blood and serum in the wound, and its removal, just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage, causes excruciating pain—almost as though He were again being whipped, and the wounds again begin to bleed.

The heavy beam of the cross is then tied across His shoulders, and the procession of the condemned Christ, two thieves, and the execution detail, begins its slow journey. The weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced by copious blood loss, is too much. He stumbles and falls. The rough wood of the beam gouges into the lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tries to rise, but human muscles have been pushed beyond their endurance.

Nailed to the Cross
At Golgotha, the beam is placed on the ground and Jesus is quickly thrown backward with His shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly, he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement. The beam is then lifted in place at the top of the posts and the titulus reading “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” is nailed in place.

The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid the stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet.

As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, He is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen.

Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins. A deep crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.

The compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues—the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. Jesus gasps, “I thirst.”

Final Cry
He can feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. With one last surge of strength, He once again presses His torn feet against the nail, straightens His legs, takes a deeper breath, and utters His seventh and last cry, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.”

Apparently to make double sure of death, the legionnaire drove his lance through the fifth interspace between the ribs, upward through the pericardium and into the heart. Immediately there came out blood and water. We, therefore, have rather conclusive post-mortem evidence that our Lord died, not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.

Jesus said, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

This article is condensed from The Crucifixion of Jesus by C. Truman Davis, M.D., M.S.; March 1965. Found on www.iblp.org

Jesus in Ephesians 1

Recently, I've been reading through the book of Ephesians, specificully looking for the descriptions, attributes, and manifestations of Jesus. Here is what I found in chapter 1:

~ He is the Giver of grace and peace

~ The Father works through Jesus in these ways:
*He blesses me with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
*He has chosen me in Jesus before the foundation of the world and given me this purpose: to be holy and without blame before Him in love
*He adopted me by Jesus Christ to Himself

~ Jesus is the Beloved
I am accepted in the Beloved

~ In Jesus is redemption through His blood - the forgiveness of sins! - according to the riches of His grace

~ Jesus abounds in grace toward me in all wisdom and prudence

~ Jesus made known unto me the mystery of His will because it pleased Him to do so. This is the mystery: in the fulness of time, He will gather together as one whole all things in Himself.

~ In Jesus, I have obtained an inheritance

~ Jesus works all things after the counsel of His own will

~ He has predestinated me to fulfill this purpose: that I should be to the praise of His glory

~ Jesus is trustworthy
I trusted in Him after I heard the word of truth

~ After I believed in Him, He sealed me with the Holy Spirit of promise

~ The Holy Spirit is the earnest (or reality) of my inheritance

~ My Father can give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. He can enlighten the eyes of my understanding so that I will know:
*the hope of His calling
*the exceeding greatness of His power to me and the working of it

~ Jesus was raised from the dead by this mighty power and set at the right hand of the Father

~ Jesus is far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and name

~ All things are under the feet of Jesus

~ Jesus is the head over the church (which is His body)

Writing down all these descriptions and details pertaining to my Great Savior provided such rich insight from the Word of God! I hope you are as blessed as I was by reading them...

Let's Go Rodeo!

I guess you could say I have not been a true Texan in 11 years...because that's how long it's been since I've attended the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo - one of the biggest events of the year!

This year, my aunt had an extra ticket and invited me to accompany her. I had a blast! We started out at the livestock show admiring all the ranchers' various breeds of cattle, oohing and aahing over the new baby farm animals (I got to "pet" a brand new piglet for the first time ever!), watching a modern-day milking demonstration, and in general, just enjoying the sights and sounds (notice I didn't say smells?) of the festive event.

Now that's a Texas long horn!

After wandering around in the livestock show, we entered the stadium and found our seats. The actual rodeo events were my favorite part of the evening - everything from bull riding to barrell racing!

There go the chuck wagon races!

It was a delightful evening spent with my aunt.

And now, I'm back to being a true Texan.

That's a comforting thought.