LB – Living 2 B Free

Dad-Pap

Wayne Franklin McLaughlin

August 11, 1927 – August 20, 2021

LOVING LIFE

Just like Snow White, he was deceived into accepting a rotten apple even though others could see suspicion of it coming. This was no fault of his own unless trusting people is a fault. As unfortunate as this was, it was a blessing for both of us for such a time as this. He was able to get away from the evil and it gave me the privilege of spending 9 months with my dad to be able to hear stories that I never had the privilege of hearing. It was a blessing to me even though I would have never wished for him to be in the position he was in due to the behavior of those that he not only trusted but also did a lot for. I believe he trusted them because he would have never done such a thing to others so he trusted others to behave appropriately also.

I am happy to say, his life overall was satisfying and he made the most of it. He had wonderful family members and friends that he loved being around and sharing whatever he had which made wonderful memories for us. He shared his time and his talents to give people moments to cherish.

I hope to continue to share some of his stories here as I have time and as those stories come to mind. Stop back for updates.

For now, I can say that he was a hard worker and committed to following through on his promises. My parents divorced when I was three with my mom moving 1.5 hours away and I remember him faithfully every other weekend driving to pick me up for visits and dropping me off after visits. I am grateful for the time I spent with him during those years in the truck with him hauling oil or coal, riding my pony (that would throw me off and run to the barn and dad would send me to get him), planting and harvesting (I especially remember potatoes). Later in life I was able to ride horses and he would saddle up horses for my children and hitch up a buggy or cart to give everyone a ride. I believe it was my 5th birthday that we had a big party with family and friends and a hay ride. Many happy memories. My wedding had a special touch of him making the drive bringing the horse and buggy to take us from the church to the park. I appreciate that effort and those that helped in that endeavor.

I am going to skip over to the few weeks prior to his passing. He had been doing great until about 2 months before he passed. Those two months point back to a specific event and were straight downhill. During those two months even with his increasing difficulties, he was able to make a 2.5-hour drive to spend 10 days with his brother, Norman, which I am so grateful to Susan for making that possible. He made the drive back home in time to spend two days at the fair in his belt trailer and going around to see the animals, especially enjoying the horses and purchasing a Trump hat.

His passing seemed to be quicker than I expected, With the weakness increasing, I still felt there would be a time of disability but nope, he did not allow that. When the weakness became too much, he was not interested. The day before he passed, he called me in to his room and asked for a pill. I said, “I don’t have a pill.” He asked again and I asked, “Are you talking about dying?” He said, “Yes, I can’t take this anymore.” I said, “Dad, I don’t have a pill for that. Jesus is in control of that. You need to talk to Him.” He turned away from me and said, “Jesus, I can’t take this anymore.” He then turned back to me and said, “Now give me a pill.” I chuckled but had to tell him once again that, “I don’t have a pill.” His request was answered by Jesus the following afternoon, with him being called into eternity. He was in the process for the last 4 months preparing to set up to continue with his leather work. That may have been cut short but it is my prayer that his grandchildren will continue his legacy here on Earth and he has a shop and horses on the other side, more than he could have imagined and beyond his wildest dream. May our blessings live on in our memories until we gather together again. It is because of Jesus that we have this hope.

Prepared to celebrate Christ’s birth.

Greetings,

As Christmas is right around the corner, I hope this finds you and your family well and prepared to celebrate Christ’s birth.

After last year’s big events, it was nice having some down time this year. We all had an opportunity to go on some smaller trips, some as separate couples and others were some precious family trips and get togethers. These are gifts more precious than the gifts we share during Christmas. More importantly is the most precious Gift that is free to each of us, Christ our Savior.

Speaking into the lives of others

Having the privilege to speak into my first granddaughter’s life(almost 3 now, Oh my), I want to share a time of her speaking into mine.

I have always tried to make time each day to spend time with Jesus. Lately, I have been able to have that time in the morning. I like morning because I feel more alert and the idea of Christ being first seems appropriate to make that the time to spend with Him. More on that later.

With the busyness of Thanksgiving preparation starting days before, I moved my Bible to the kitchen table where I usually have my devotion. With the distractions of my husband being home(good thing), our granddaughter being with us(good thing) and lots I wanted to accomplish(good thing), I found myself later(maybe early afternoon) telling my husband, Look, “My Bible is still sitting there and I have not read it yet”. Our granddaughter speaks up, us not even knowing that she would be paying a bit of attention, and says, “Well read it now, silly.”

Don’t be to busy

Of course silly. That is what we call her when she is silly and does things for no apparent reason. So for no apparent reason, I was distracted by being busy instead of making Christ my priority. I have already realized in my life, that I can accomplish more in my day by taking time to start it with Him. He helps it go smoother and helps me be more productive. I hear people say they don’t have time. I say, “I don’t have time not to.” I notice it in my own life and I notice it in the lives of others. It is amazing to see some struggle with trying to get so much accomplished and no time for Christ and they seem to never get out from under their heavy load.

Depending on the season of life I was in determined what part of the day I did my devotions. In my younger days, it seemed I had more motivation in the evening so I never considered myself a morning person. Of course with work and children, you get up early anyway but I was only up at the last possible moment to give myself time to be ready. That being said, my devotions were not usually in the morning but I have had times that mornings worked out for me. I even at times would get up before anyone to get that time in before the hustle and bustle of those busy days began.

Make quiet time

Quiet time of any kind has become uncomfortable for most people these days. They want to fill every moment with noise and activity of some kind. I have found quiet time to be a good thing. The time of day does not make much difference, but taking quiet time to spend with Jesus makes a big difference. If you don’t already, there is no better time than this as we begin to prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33(NIV)

May you and your family share memories and blessings as you celebrate Jesus’ Birthday 2019 and enter a New Year of His Blessings 2020.

Discover Freedom

Storms are a part of life

We all experience storms at sometime in our lives. God want you to discover freedom. As Pastor Curtis mentioned, sometimes a storm that occurs in our life is caused from our sin, sometimes it is caused from the sins of others or maybe we have or will experience storms from both causes. The sins of others may have caused trauma in our life that we don’t feel we can get over. God wants to deliver you too. Whatever the cause, God is there with us whether we realize it or not. God also wants to bring us through the storm and help us overcome anything we struggle with or whatever is holding us in bondage because of the storm. He uses everything we go through if we give it to Him.

Desire to see others free

I long to see people be set free from whatever is keeping them from all that God has planned for them. This church service confirmed my desire to help others find that freedom. I have seen what God can do in the lives of those that will follow Him. God’s timing is so amazing. He sends the same message through different channels to those that are seeking. Our Sunday School lesson touched on the idea that sometimes we are our worst enemy. We say we want deliverance but we don’t do our part. Even as a follower we still hold onto things that hold us back.

Helping others find freedom

When we try to help others find deliverance, if they don’t want it, it isn’t going to work. God’s timing is what we need to wait for in this case. God knows how to reach them and what they need better than we do. We just need to watch for the opportunities that God puts before us to be able to help someone when they are seeking. He knows what some need to experience to really get it and what they need to experience to be the perfect witness to help someone else.

Finding deliverance for yourself

No matter what you need delivered from, God is bigger than that thing and He wants to help you. No one is exempt from God’s love. If you are sincerely seeking deliverance, God wants to hear from you. He will hear you. You can use your honest words and talk to Him just as if you are talking to a person. If you need help with some words you can read these to begin your journey. Sometimes you may want a person to contact, you can email me from this site. You may also want to reach out to a church, I am sure someone would love to talk with you and put you on a path to recovery. Look for those God puts in your path to help you. You can discover freedom.

Do yourself a favor and listen to this message. You can skip to minute 42:50 if you don’t want to listen through the worship. Just don’t stop listening early because you don’t want to fight through the storm on your own when God want to fight the storm for you.

God is good and He wants to set everyone free. Remember that nothing you have done or gone through is too big for Him. Reach out to God and if you need a person, reach out until you find the help you need. Keep calling to God, He will hear you and will help you walk through the storm.

Allow God out of the box

I love what Pastor Curtis said about how we put God in a box. God does not operate in a box. If you ever think you have figured God out, you are mistaken. He works in different ways all the time and will do more than you can imagine to help you. The only box God has to deal with is the one we put Him in. Let God break out of that box that you have Him in. You can discover freedom. Let Him bless you.

God speaks to us through Prayer and His Word

Prayer needs are plentiful and grace is available

God’s grace is made available to all of us. God speaks to us. We need to be listening. In praying, I thought how great the needs are and how long the “list” becomes. Having a great need within our own families, how can we have time to pray for all the needs we know of. Then the question, “If I pray for those outside my family, will God not take care of my family?”

God can deal with hardened hearts

After prayer, I proceeded to read Romans 11. I do not want my family members to have God allow their hearts to be hardened because of refusing to follow the way of faith. (vs.7) People do not fall beyond recovery. (vs.11) God is able and still desires to give them salvation. Paul, an apostle to the Gentiles, was meeting the needs of people outside the boundaries of his people and still holding onto the hope that his own would come to know the Truth. (vs.14)

God can deal with pride

If God cuts one, a branch, off because of unbelief, do not be so arrogant in your being grafted in to think that He will not also cut you off if you do not continue in your faith. (Col 1:23) Do not boast in those branches that were cut off seemingly for your sake because they were not. It was because of their unbelief and if they turn from their unbelief, “God is able to graft them in again” (vs.23) and how much more willing will they be to “be grafted into their own olive tree”. (vs.24)

We can always learn from others

One can be called a thriving olive tree and with one roar be set on fire and its branches broken. (Je 11:15-17) What would this look like in today’s world/church? Is not history recorded in the Bible to help us know how to live today? (Ro 15:4, 1 Co 10:6,11) We try to teach our children because of what we learned from our mistakes. Can we learn from the mistakes of others that are recorded in God’s Word?

God’s mercy is available to each of us

Because of our disobedience, not one of us can boast and we are all in need of God’s grace and mercy. (vs.30-32) So much to understand and never understood. (vs.33-34) We have nothing to offer Him but yet He gives us what we don’t deserve. (vs.35) Glory to God forever. Amen. (vs.36) God speaks to us. He will speak to us through prayer and His Word.

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People Do Hurt People

What are you to do with that hurt?

We come to expect that we will be hurt by others at some point in our life. When the hurt comes from “God’s people”, the wounds seem to go deeper. Either way the wounds can cause eternal consequences if not handled properly. These consequences can be experienced by the ones getting hurt or those doing the hurting. We can find ourselves on both sides of the fence at different times of our life. People turn away from God when God’s people misrepresent the true character of God. Don’t allow others to have that power to turn you away and don’t be that person that causes another to turn away.

If your feel you have been hurt by another person, prayerfully answer these questions from Wounded by God’s People by Anne Graham Lotz:

• Where are you in your healing journey?
• Do you remember what your life was like before you were wounded?
• How did you get to this place?
• How is the way you are reacting today going to help you tomorrow?
• Do you want your life characterized by the result of remaining focused on “them” while being blind to your own pride, arrogance, anger, resentment, name-calling, vengeful digs, schemes for revenge, or vicious gossip disguised as prayer requests?
• Are these attitudes working for you and making you happy?
• Do they give you a temporary sense of satisfaction but then disintegrate into a desire for even more revenge? And more misery?
• What are you living for? Instead of living your life to the glory of God, are you driven by a desire to get even, vindicate your actions, prove someone else wrong, justify your opinion, expose the other person, get your own way?
• Consider carefully…do any of these desires truly honor God?
• When was the last time you put your head on the pillow conscious of God’s sweet peace and joy flooding your heart? If your can’t remember, could it be time for you to give your attention to considering your own part in the wounding?

“You might distinguish between forgiveness as letting go of my right to hurt you back and reconciliation as that which requires the sincere intentions of both parties” John Ortberg

Someone needs to make the first gesture to reconcile. You can and probably should make the first gesture but also be aware of any attempt that they may be making to reach out to you. It only needs to be a small gesture. In time, there may need to be an honest conversation in which both listen to each other’s story. Often times the problem was miscommunication or misinformation. No matter who is found to be wrong, the apology and forgiveness need to be spoken. Death to pride is the key to having broken relationships reconciled.

If a person has wounded you or has been wounded by you and you have offered forgiving words or gestures to reconcile the relationship and they reject your effort, take it to Jesus. He understands. He made the ultimate gesture and was rejected. Jesus can heal you even if reconciliation does not happen.

Death to pride and position is the key for reconciliation when a wounder seeks forgiveness. It is necessary to be Christ like.
• Be approachable as Jesus is for you.
• Love those that have rejected you as Jesus loves you.
• Initiate the contact as Jesus does for you.
• Extend forgiveness to them before they ask for it as Jesus does for you.

We can’t force reconciliation or change someone’s heart or mind. The Lord can, therefore we should pray and wait, looking for opportunities and open doors.

No person should have so much power to cause you unpleasant attitudes or to cause any separation between you and God. Take it all to God in prayer.

Jesus always makes the first gesture to reconcile. Are you responding to His gestures? Are you in a relationship with Him and responding to His leading?

Don’t let anyone have the power to keep you from all God has for you. When we don’t have the strength to let go on our own, God will give us the strength that is needed. Let Go!

• Let go of bitterness toward those that caused you to view God differently than His true character. Get to know Him yourself.
• Let go of confusion and fear. These are not of God.
• Let go of your desire to justify and explain yourself. God is your redeemer.
• Let go of your emptiness. He has a plan and a purpose for you. He will fill your cup to overflowing.
• Let go of your desire for revenge. Vengeance is the Lord’s.
• Let go of your hardened heart toward those that have rejected you. Jesus understands. He was rejected like no other.
• Let go of your loneliness. God is the God of the fatherless and of the widow. He is your God also when there is no one else.
• Let go of resentment over the way others have treated you. Consider how Jesus was treated.
• Let go of the injustice. God is Just.
• Let go of unforgiveness toward those that have hurt you. Unforgiveness will hurt you more than them. Forgive as the Father has forgiven you.
• Let go of the hurt. God is your healer. He came to bind up the brokenhearted.
• Let go of the anger toward God for allowing your wounds. Those wounds will bring deeper faith and spiritual fruit. God is more concerned with your character than your comfort.
• Let go of your life dreams and embrace what God has for you. He will give you the desires of your heart.
• Let go of the past to move forward. God has a future for you.

Let go. Give it to Him.