My Paperclips....An Altar of Remembrance



Hanging from the rearview mirror of my vehicle is a chain of paperclips - I am not sure how many I have collected but it now loops around my mirror several times over. I love my paperclips…..they remind me that God is with me - He has oftentimes shown me a paperclip to remind me He is here, actively paying attention.

A little over a year ago, I was dropping a contract off to another realty office in town and did not have a paperclip to clasp the pages together. I was going thru a tough time - money was (and still is) an issue and I had really been seeking God and wanting to know Him as my Provider. (Maybe you have heard a little about the housing market on the news?) I decided that when I got to my destination that I would just simply ask the receptionist for one - no big deal. I am walking along the sidewalk, headed to the front entrance, and on the ground is a paperclip - ‘that’s pretty cool’, I thought, but there were other people around and I didn’t want to bend over to pick it up. I went in, got my paperclip, submitted my contract, and headed back to my vehicle - again passing the paperclip on the sidewalk. I felt a twinge within…..but, oh well, and I went on.

I had to now meet another client at her office so I headed straight to her. I am walking along the interior corridor to her office and there is another paperclip on the floor - only now I don’t need one - so I pass it by. The twinge really gets strong now - was this God showing me something? I came home and told my husband the story and about the conviction I felt for not picking up the silly paperclips. He gets a kick out of my musings sometimes and jokingly said, “Yep, that was it - you missed God.” I then prayed that God would give me another chance and this time I would pick up the paperclip. I do believe it was the very next day, I was walking into my own office building headed to my office and there on the floor……yep, a paperclip. I picked it up and remember feeling Him - I quickly text my kids and husband and told them, ‘I did it, I picked up the paperclip.’ They were not quite as thrilled as I was, but for me, that was God telling me He not only cared about the little trivial needs that I have - like a paperclip - but He really does care about the bigger issues in my life, and He is providing for those also.

Since that time, I have some great stories about my God and His paperclips…..so many. Once I was in a vacant house waiting to show it; I was praying and felt God tell me there was a paperclip there for me in the kitchen. I quickly went into the empty kitchen and started searching the cleaned out cabinets. I opened a top drawer - but not all the way - didn’t see anything and closed it back, but felt God say I needed to look all the way to the back; so I opened the next drawer, pulling it all the way out, and sure enough there was a paperclip in the very back tucked under the contact paper. That was a WOW moment with God!

Another time I was headed into Wal-Mart after work - it had been a pretty stressful day - and I asked God to please show me a paperclip; I so needed to know He was with me. I did my shopping and headed to the check-out and was getting a little discouraged because I had not found one yet. As I was waiting to check out, I was praying and started feeling again like there was a paperclip for me very close. Believe me I was searching all around that little lane but couldn’t see it - I felt like I needed to bend down and look under the counter and there it was….a yellow paperclip on the floor next to the base of the counter.

These are just a couple of stories…..but they are mine and I cherish them for they are my Altar of Remembrance that my God is a real and active God - He loves to delight me with His presence and I am so glad because I am often times a wreck and couldn’t make it without Him - I need the assurance that He is with me.

I know I can get hung up on the paperclips - searching for “them” and not HIM - I never want them to become an idol; I try to keep that thought in mind with my motives in check. For right now, I can be driving and look at my chain of paperclips hanging from my rearview mirror and remember my God and where we have been together……and that He is still with me.

Sweet friends, remember Him……where you have been with Him…..what He has done for you in the past……He has been faithful before……He will be faithful again……let God help you make your own Altar of Remembrance and Remember HIM.

Pray For Your Church

One Sunday night, several years ago, at what was probably then the peak of our church, I was sitting alone in a pew before services and delighting in watching my church family fellowship. I remember such an incredible peace and really loving my church. People were coming in, the musicians were setting up, there was hugging, and laughing - I was just taking it all in and felt so tremendously blessed to be a part of this family. As I was sitting there pondering these things and relishing the love, the friendship, the worship - my thoughts went to the church I had attended as a child and young teen. At the time, it seemed like a vibrant church, too - I don’t know numbers, it was a small church, but I remember having several friends in my Sunday School class and when the sanctuary doors opened, it seemed like people poured out. I had a good time there - even though saying I was a Christian infant gives me too much credit. For whatever reason, my parents quit going there and have only graced the doors of another church since then a hand full of times. I am not sure what happened but by this time, the church looked run down, the pastor’s house next to it was in desperate need, the yard wasn’t being kept up - I wasn’t even sure services were taking place there anymore. I became sad and started wondering what happened to that church - how could it had seemed so full of life and now look so dead. I wondered what was happening to the pastor there and where did all the people go.

Well, church service was now getting ready to start so everyone was finding their place and a couple sat down in front of me. This is a great couple, to this day they are still a part of our church and actively involved - I say that because of what happened next. They were having a conversation and I honestly was not trying to eavesdrop, but couldn’t help it - they were right in front of me. They were talking about another member of our church - in a not so pleasant light - I know they never would have wanted me to hear; or anyone else for that matter - I also believe they never would have wanted to hurt the person they were talking about; they were just conversing between themselves, and right or wrong, I think we have all done this at one time. I am not judging, but IMMEDIATELY my perception of my church crashed around me and I felt God tell me to start praying for the love of my church.

Since that time, A LOT has changed within our church. Our senior pastor and youth pastor were both called away, we have had a change in staff, our numbers decreased, but God has continued His work. We have a new pastor and youth pastor, new staff, and new faces within our family. I’m just now reminded of a verse I read in my devotions today, Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”. I honestly just remembered that - He is so good!
In Revelation 1, Jesus tells us He is in the midst of our churches, He is the head of the church (Colossians 1:18) and in Philippians 1:6, we are told that He who has begun a good work will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Please commit to praying for your church, your pastor, the existing ministries, and new ones God wants to use you for. I’m setting this up for where I think God is leading our church right now - I mentioned in the previous post about recently praying for our church and God showing us how He uses our personal situations to mirror what is taking place on a much larger scale within our churches, or His people. The story above is one of many times since that God has used me or my prayer partners to overhear or witness something within our church that we needed to address in prayer. We are the watchmen on the wall….I will speak more again in a later post, but for now….Pray!

The ONE Who Seals, Heals, and Fills....



Lately I have been thinking about where I am in my walk with God - He has shown me so much during these last several months while going thru this trial - to the point where I actually thanked Him for what I am going thru. I would never have clung to Him as Redeemer the way I do now, or how much He really loves me, if I wasn’t so desperately pressed into Him right now. He really has “showed up” full of mercy and grace - I am still holding out to see Him as my Deliverer and holding onto His promise in Psalm 71 that “He has already given the command to save me”.

The Lord has brought many others into my life during this time that I have been able to relate to - the things they share with me have helped strengthen me on this journey, and for others, I have seen God use me to provide them with hope in their circumstance. That is why I chose the particular title for this post today….I am just one cracked pot telling another cracked pot about the One who seals, heals, and fills. He is so good!

It seems I have been bombarded about my testimony to others. In several of the Psalms I have been praying, it talks about telling of His marvelous works - so therefore, He must DO marvelous works and He wants us to tell people about what He has done. In Sunday School, we are going thru Revelation and at the end of every letter to the churches in Chapters 3-4, He says “let those who have an ear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”. How can we hear if we don’t tell? We must share what God has put on our hearts, what He has told us, in order to edify and affirm the work He is doing.

I have been thinking a lot about prayer also - when you are in a desperate situation, prayer becomes very sweet. I can just look at the place where I kneel down in my living room and feel a longing to be there before Him right now. I have tears now thinking about it - He is amazing! So many places in Scripture He tells us to turn to Him, to cry out to Him, to seek Him, to call to Him - He then follows up with so many promises that He will turn to us, He will hear, He will be found, He will act. Ahhh, I do delight in His word!
For several months, I was praying faithfully for some of my friends and the situations I knew they were dealing with. I was doing this, for one, because I love them and knew they also needed to see God in their lives, two, because I knew I was too consumed with my own problem and I knew God didn’t want that. I found it very beneficial to pray earnestly for others, and I honestly tried to pray for them just as desperately as I was for myself because I knew their situation was just as stressing on them as mine was on me. I would also keep in touch with them with insight from my devotions and would send them little text messages throughout the day to let them know I was thinking about them and praying for them - I selfishly admit, I did this also, because even though I did want to be an encouragement to them, I wanted to stay at the forefront of their minds because I needed their prayers, too.

For whatever reason, I have slacked on this - I’m not sure why - my situation is just as desperate, but I do have a greater peace; things have also been very busy, but that is no excuse when you have a friend in need. I want to apologize and ask forgiveness of my friends and commit to pray for them more diligently as I know they are also still in their circumstance. The last few days have been a little rough again and I was thinking about what has changed - this came to mind - I was not encouraging my friends and taking my focus off of myself as I had been; I also was not seeking them to pray for me as I had done before. PRAYER WORKS and the words of Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 are true, “Two are better than one…for if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift Him up!”. I would love to know that time meant a lot to you also - that you needed and felt the encouragement and prayers going up on your behalf.

Yesterday, I met with Linda for prayer and I have a lot more to share on that in a later post regarding how God uses our personal struggles - as individuals - to mirror what is going on in His church as a whole. It was powerful! One of the verses, she shared with me was Job 42:10, “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends…”. Wow! I know I need your prayers and covet them - I will pray for you, too!