Gran Jan's JOY

Spring Sweetness

April 21, 2009 11:24 PM 14

My favorite Spring Sweetness of all is this picture from Easter Sunday. I cannot stop looking at my little grandson, Zeke. Would you look at that sweet face?

The pink flowering dogwood, pink azalea and wisteria vine are all so beautiful this time of year – reminding me of the change of seasons. Our lives have seasons and it is my favorite analogy of womanhood. All of life is a season. I am in the season called “empty nest.” But this I say…my nest is not empty…look how full my table was Easter Sunday!

They come home, they go. You young wives and mothers, please enjoy your time with your husbands and your children. Trust me – it flees quickly.

“Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come…”
Song of Solomon 2:12

Jan

The HOPE He Gives

April 11, 2009 4:19 PM 11

Easter is my favorite time of year, hands down! (Actually hands up as I praise His Name for all He did for me on the cross!) HE.TOOK.MY.PLACE. I will never get over that fact – ever – never – ever. (Thanksgiving is my second favorite – family, fall, football, food, and no commercialism…yay!)

Y’all know I began this blog out of the hope of waiting for a grandchild (if you have time read some of my very early posts about waiting). I call this bit of cyberspace “Gran Jan’s Joy” because of the joy of knowing Jesus and the joy of sojourning here until He calls me home.

Easter is our HOPE – Jesus is ALIVE AND WELL and seated at His Father’s right Hand – making intercession for us. Can you hardly stand the blessings and joy of knowing that??? Many so-called gods/saviors have been born and died – but ONLY ONE – JESUS THE ONE AND ONLY rose and conquered sin, hell, and the grave. Hallelujah, He is Risen Indeed!

Another joy is my grandboy. I just got these pictures from my daughter-in-law. I’ve been outside gardening all morning (another JOY of mine…for I come to the garden ALONE and He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own…)

I mailed Zeke an Easter card and can you believe he is already reading it and he is not quite 8 months old? 🙂 These pictures brought me out of the garden and into the house and straight to my blog to tell somebody -anybody – THERE IS HOPE! We hoped for more than 3 years that we would have a grandchild, and God showed Himself strong when my daughter-in-love became a mother after the doctors said she probably never would! No matter what you are facing today – here is HOPE – Jesus is our HOPE! His resurrection is PROOF OF THE HOPE He gives.

Proverbs 13:12 speaks of that hope and this verse brought me great hope through many seasons:

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.”

The hope we have in what happened on that TREE as He bore our sins brings LIFE ETERNAL! As we gather tomorrow in our churches all across this country and sing of that HOPE, may you be blessed in knowing there is a HOPE beyond the grave. There is HOPE in daily living, there is a BLESSED HOPE and I know Him personally – His name is JESUS!

Hallelujah, What a Savior!

Jan

Resurrection Ferns

April 6, 2009 5:07 PM 9

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”

I first learned about resurrection ferns while reading the historical novels of one of my favorite authors, Eugenia Price. Most of her books are set on or around my beloved Georgia coast, St. Simons Island. Her books on the beautiful city of Savannah are marvelous.

When we built our home and moved to “farm country” almost 2 years ago, I noticed that some of our pecan trees have these resurrection ferns on the main trunks and large branches. They appear dead but after the rain they revive. What an analogy of this great verse from John 11:25 and especially as we prepare to celebrate the GLORIOUS resurrection of Jesus Christ this coming weekend.

Resurrection ferns feed off the air and may curl up and look dead, but they aren’t. They’re just surviving… They bloom when they receive lots of water! The resurrection fern gets its name because it can appear dead, but when just a little water is present, the fern will uncurl and reopen, and “resurrect.” Sometimes I too may “curl up and look dead” but thankfully, I am not! (I may be in survival mode myself!) But Hallelujah and Praise His Name when the Living Water of Jesus is poured out on me, I will uncurl and open and be alive to Him, and hopefully will remain dead to sin.

Springtime abounds here in Georgia! The hope and power and promise of the Resurrection can be seen, even in the ferns on my pecan trees.
BECAUSE HE LIVES I CAN FACE TOMORROW!
Love, Jan

Prayer Priority and the Practice Thereof

March 28, 2009 8:39 PM 12

As the wife of a minister I am often asked “Will you pray for…?” I’m sure many of you in the family of faith receive requests for prayer as well. This has been on my mind of late, even more so as my church is going through an intense 40 days of prayer and fasting emphasis – asking God for revival.

I’m thankful when someone asks me to intercede in prayer. I am blessed to pray for them and with them, and grateful to be part of what God is doing. (I love to pray right then and there – in grocery stores, in the hall at church, over the phone, in a car, wherever – it is marvelous.) I know I have much to learn, but the power and privilege of prayer blesses me so – and I wanted to share about that on this very rainy day here in Georgia.

Besides trying to stay in an attitude of prayer, I have a way that I organize my prayers so that I have a prayer focus each day. Be assured I am not bound by this, but it helps me stay focused and fruitful. I get off track just like we all do, but I always go back to this pattern. I started this prayer plan close to 20 years ago and first got the idea from a book by Emilie Barnes.

Daily: My husband, sons, daughters-in-law, grandson, my sisters and their husbands/kids, and the other pastors/wives at my church

Sunday: My husband as worship leader, my son who is a pastor, my other son who leads worship, and my pastor and other church leaders, our choir and orchestra, the deacons, Sunday School teachers, and God bless the nursery workers

Monday: Extended family

Tuesday: Leadership – Ministry leaders, Missionaries, Political leaders, my doctors and dentist

Wednesday: Those sick, bereaved and with special needs

Thursday: My list of those needing salvation

Friday: ME – specific things in my own life, goals, needs

Saturday: Whatever is on my heart – and also a good time to just read my Bible longer since I don’t have to go to work

Also, here are some ideas about praying for others:

If possible, pray right then! I’ve NEVER had someone say no when I’ve asked, “may we pray right now?
Write down the prayer request and transfer it to your prayer journal.
When God wakes you up in the middle of the night – PRAY! 🙂 Because I am easily distracted and I know the enemy of souls does not want me praying, I keep a pad on my nightstand and in my prayer chair and if my mind wanders…I jot down what is interrupting me, and get back to praying.

One of life’s greatest joys is seeing God answer prayer. As Oswald Chambers says, “Prayer is the greater work.” I would love to hear from y’all – do you have any prayer practices to share?
Love & Prayers, Jan

The Life of a Minister’s Wife

March 19, 2009 1:48 AM 6

Part 1:
The Life of a Ministers Wife – part 1 from stephen proctor on Vimeo.
Part 2:
The Life of a Ministers Wife – part 2 from stephen proctor on Vimeo.
Part 3:
The Life of a Ministers Wife – part 3 from stephen proctor on Vimeo.

Beth Moore and 1,200 Ministers’ Wives!!!

March 17, 2009 12:06 AM 17

This past weekend me (my husband is our Worship Pastor) and three of the other ministers’ wives (Senior Pastor, Adult Education, and Recreation) from my church trekked to Nashville, TN for the Living Proof Live Event for Ministers’ Wives at Two Rivers Baptist Church. We also attended the pre-conference event on Thursday evening and Friday morning too. The breakout sessions and Q&A panel time was so good! I attended “Laugh a Little for Crying Out Loud,” “Balancing Act,” and “Armed and Dangerous.” They were so good, and very applicable!

Then on Friday evening, we could hardly wait for Beth’s teaching and the music from Travis and the Praise Team and band! On Saturday morning we did a “hymn sing,” and it was M-A-R-V-E-L-O-U-S. Beth went around the church and asked the women to tell where they were from and what hymn they would like to sing. Some of them were “Blessed Assurance,” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” “Redeemed,” “Come Thou Fount,” and “I’ll Fly Away!” It was so beautiful to hear all the ladies voices blending together.

Beth with her pink boxing gloves – ready to “FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!

These are my notes from Beth’s sessions. She taught from Galatians and ENCOURAGED us beyond measure! She gave us 6 “Aggravations” and 6 “Alternatives,” each with 6 words…

1. Aggravation: Ministry by default. Life long misfit. Alternative: Chosen by God. Have holy fit. 2. Aggravation: Seek Their Approval. Become Their Slave. Alternative: Seek God’s Approval. Find Your Peace! 3. Aggravation: Work With People. Expect Titanic Problems. Alternative: Choose to Trust. Not to Rust. 4. Aggravation: Trade Your Bondage. Keep Your Chains. Alternative: Don’t Ignore. Get Restored. Then Restore.

5. Aggravation: Sow the Flesh. Reap the Dregs. Alternative: Sow the Spirit. Reap the Life. 6. Aggravation: Lose What Counts. Watch Misery Mount. Alternative: Keep the King the Thing – JESUS!

There was a very special moment that humbled my heart. Toward the end of the event on Saturday morning, Beth asked me to come down and voice a prayer on behalf of all the ministers’ wives for the widow of the slain Rev. Fred Winters who was killed in his pulpit last Sunday, March 8th. To have 1,200 other pastors’ wives all praying together for our sister, Cindy Winters, was a memory that will stay with me for a very long time. May God continue to bless and comfort Cindy and her daughters and meet their every need.

And lastly, here are some Ministers’ Wives SIESTAS!!! Amy W., me, Tammie Fay, and Kristi B!

Much love,

Georgia Jan

Picnic Pictures

March 8, 2009 6:55 PM 5

These are the pictures from our “Second Annual Family Picnic” a.k.a. “The Crab Fest” because my Dad serves crab legs and shrimp and all the fixins. It began to celebrate our nephew’s World Series win in the American Little League!

The Dessert Table…see my Trifle (recipe in last post!)