Flying Solo

Fridays with Ken

How can we participate with God in our own healing?

Surrender…Surrender to His love.  Some of you are saying, “Blah, blah, blah…what does that mean?”  If you don’t know that God is love, start there.  The knowing that I’m speaking of is not know with the head but believing with the whole person that God is love.  When you get that then you can surrender because perfect love casts out fear.  Fear is one of the biggest obstacles to healing.

Why is that often we are more comfortable with feeling pain than enjoying the beauty that God has blessed us with the things around us?

It depends on the pain.   We tend to stick with the pain that we know because it’s familiar and comfort often is more important to us than the freedom that God offers.  Freedom always costs…the freedom that God extends costs us the death of our selfishness.  Selfishness has to go we are going to enjoy true beauty otherwise we’ll just want to own it.

Ken Edwards is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and has earned a Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling and a Master of Arts in Religious Education of Southwestern Seminary. But his discernment matches his education and for me often the greater gift. He lives with his wife Janet and three children in Franklin, Tennessee. And this is him enjoying what he loves, the mountains in Wyoming. Except he's usually behind the camera. And he has been kind enough to spend Friday’s with us. What he is offering us regarding his time is a gift. I hope we will take advantage of it.

Got Question's for Ken? Email your questions to [email protected]

Thursday Thumbprint

For almost three years my house has been on the market. Before my divorce I asked the Lord to let my house sell before my divorce was final so I could have this piece of my life shut down and all of our ties could be broken. But months passed and it didn’t sell. One of my close friends said, “I think the Lord is going to keep you there until you remarry. And you will just go from one house to the next.”

I didn’t believe this at first. But as the months passed into years I began to believe it too. That this was a place for me to heal and be kept safe until God took me to that new chapter. On April 10th I got married. And on May 17th I will close on my house…a sweet and final Thumbprint from my Father. From one house to the other…

Got a Thumbprint you would like to share? Email it to 

[email protected]

Wednesday 1 on 1 with Nancy cont.......

 
  Our special guest this month is Nancy Alcorn. Nancy is actually the reason that I am writing today. Eighteen years ago when I first moved to Nashville, I wrote an article for a church magazine about her organization Mercy Ministries of America. She was in the middle of writing her autobiography Echoes of Mercy and after she read my article asked me if I would come help her finish her book because she wanted it to read like the story I had written. I had never written anything more than songs in my journals and poetry about old boyfriends. But that opportunity changed the course of my life. And I am forever grateful. I wanted you to meet an old friend as she shares with us her story….

 

What are the ways that you experience the most joy in being single?

Not only have I learned that God is more than enough as previously mentioned, but I am able to be accessible and flexible when God needs me to reach out to someone or has a particular assignment He wants me to fulfill. There is also joy for me in knowing that I can pull away and spend time with God without the guilt of taking time away from my husband.  As a single person, in reality, Jesus is my husband and that means He is the Provider - the One I share everything with and the One I am most intimate with, and there is tremendous joy in knowing that His Word is always true and will never disappoint.

What do you feel like God has revealed to you about himself that you might not have discovered if you had been married?

If I had been married, I probably would have taken advantage of the provision of my husband.  As a single person, I have had to lean on and rely on and come to know God as Jehovah Jireh, my Provider.  Not only have I had to lean on Him for provision for me personally, but also for that of a growing and ever-expanding ministry outreach.  I also believe there is a deeper deposit of God’s Word in my heart because of the additional time I can devote to reading and studying His Word because I live alone.

Tuesday Tips

Design a No-Fail Rose Garden
12 tips from a rose garden fanatic

by Fran Sorin, Green Thumb

Even with the many plants out there to brighten up the garden, the rose is still every gardener's favorite. This year, try more than planting just one rosebush -- plant many. Nothing will excite you more than a rose garden for clipping fresh flowers off of or simply admiring.

1. First, select a location for your rose garden. Most roses need direct sunlight, at least five hours of sun a day, so plan accordingly.
  

2. Familiarize yourself with the types of roses. Each one has a specific use in the garden. Learn what they are to maximize the effectiveness of their characteristics.

  --Hybrid tea roses are free-branching shrub roses to be used in a more formal bed.
  --Floribunda are ever blooming and look best in a border or as hedges.
  --Miniature roses are shrub roses with very compact stems and tiny flowers.
  --Ground cover roses are spreading and trailing shrubs that can bear flowers along the stems.
  --Climbers are vigorous climbing roses bearing scented flowers.
  --Ramblers have long arching stems and sometimes scented flowers.
  --Shrub roses are typically scented, are usually larger than Hybrid Tea roses and look best as hedges.

Do you have some favorite Tips you would like to share? Email them to [email protected]

Monday Musings

My mom use to have a garden. She’d be out there with her hoe dressed in her heels and white slacks. But come five o’clock when she would call us in each night for dinner we were grateful for that garden. We’d have butter beans, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn and it was like heaven on a plate. 
I never knew back then all the effort it took to put those things on our table. Life can give you a healthy perspective as you age and allow you to understand the real work that goes into having a garden. But back then I didn’t understand. I just gobbled it up and ran back outside to play. 
 But my mom knew. And I know now. I started learning how much effort it took to put up corn when I was in high school. I became the official corn shucker and I hated it! I hated it because it held the potential of finding worms and I hate worms! My dad however took great pleasure in waking me up at the crack of dawn, singing This is the day…This is the day…This is the day that the Lord has made…that the Lord has made. All I wanted to do was slap him. Instead, I got up moaning, complaining and then went outside to shuck corn screaming with each worm I uncovered. 
 But I have a different respect for all of it now. That energy and effort produces something I want. Something I enjoy. On Sunday afternoons when I fix big Sunday dinners I want that corn. The corn that comes with effort. The one that risks a worm or two. 
  There are some things in life that we will never have without working for them. There are some things our hearts crave that require effort. Healing requires effort. Deliverance requires effort. Enjoying life can sometimes require effort. But each one is worth having. What are you willing to garden for this spring? What are you willing to shuck? Prune? Hoe? Weed? Tend? You’re only willing to do any of this for the things that you are desperate for…

Sunday Reflections

This is your time. Reflect with us about your week, your friends and what God has become to you. This is your space. Your time.

Saturday Dinner and A Movie

Cheesy BBQ Sloppy Joes

www.southernliving.com 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup bottled barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapeño peppers (optional)
1 tablespoon liquid from pickled jalapeño peppers (optional)
1 (11.25-oz.) package frozen garlic Texas toast
1/2 cup (2 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Preparation:
1. Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes or until beef crumbles and is no longer pink; drain well. Return to skillet. Stir in tomatoes, next 3 ingredients, and, if desired, jalapeño peppers and liquid. Cover and cook 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare Texas toast according to package directions. Serve beef mixture over Texas toast; sprinkle with cheese.

 

Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is the executive editor-in-chief of a book publishing company, Colden Books, who forces her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her in order to avoid being deported to Canada. He grudgingly accepts, under the condition that he is promoted to the position of editor. When the government investigates, the two are forced to spend the weekend with his parents in Alaska in order to sell the lie. The family suggest they could marry the same weekend, and they reluctantly accept.

 

We want your recipes, favorite movies and pictures of dinner with friends! Email them to [email protected]

Fridays with Ken

Being pruned is never easy. How do we trust our “Gardner” during these seasons?

We can find peace during these seasons when we orient to truth and not emotions.  Pruning is painful and if we draw conclusion based on emotion we’ll believe that God is not good and doesn’t love us.  If we embrace the biblical truth that God is love and that He cares for us then even amidst the pain we’ll see Him pursuing our hearts and offering care and companionship to us.

How can we learn to settle ourselves in that “be still and know” place?

This is a journey and a discipline.  A place you can begin is to sit down with pad and make a list of everything that’s on your mind…every worry, every distraction, every temptation, every to do…empty yourself on paper.  Then pray over each item giving it to God and recognizing that He has dominion over all of it.  Ask Him to quite you and to give you focus so you can encounter Him.  “Knowing Him” is far more about relationship then knowledge.

Ken Edwards is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and has earned a Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling and a Master of Arts in Religious Education of Southwestern Seminary. But his discernment matches his education and for me often the greater gift. He lives with his wife Janet and three children in Franklin, Tennessee. And this is him enjoying what he loves, the mountains in Wyoming. Except he's usually behind the camera. And he has been kind enough to spend Friday’s with us. What he is offering us regarding his time is a gift. I hope we will take advantage of it.

Got Question's for Ken? Email your questions to [email protected]

Thursday Thumbprint

I hate to see people texting or emailing in church. And now with these iPhones and other gadgets I know there are some times that you can’t tell if people are reading their Bible or typing their notes on there, but I’ve pretty much gotten to where I don’t even take my phone into church anymore. But on the Sunday of our first date I had my phone in my purse. It was near the end of the service and my pastor was about to pray and I had this overwhelming desire for my bike. 
 

My bike was still in the storage room of my former husbands and I had never gotten it from our last move. And after almost four years without it I had this overwhelming desire to simply have my bike. I thought, “I have to tell him now.” So, yes, I did the cardinal, I picked up my phone and texted my former husband and asked him to bring me my bike that week. 
 

I left church to meet Philly for lunch and our first “official” date. We talked for a long time over lunch and I was asking him about his house. He asked me if I’d like to see it and I told him I’d love to. When we got there he said, “I’m not sure if I should take you through the front door or here through the garage. He chose the garage and when we walked in he was showing me a few things and then said, “And I got us all of these for Father’s day.” And there were six bikes lined up side by side. I tried not to gasp and decided I would just ponder that one…and ponder it I have…

Got a Thumbprint you would like to share? Email it to [email protected]

Wednesday 1 on 1 with Nancy cont........

Our special guest this month is Nancy Alcorn. Nancy is actually the reason that I am writing today. Eighteen years ago when I first moved to Nashville, I wrote an article for a church magazine about her organization Mercy Ministries of America. She was in the middle of writing her autobiography Echoes of Mercy and after she read my article asked me if I would come help her finish her book because she wanted it to read like the story I had written. I had never written anything more than songs in my journals and poetry about old boyfriends. But that opportunity changed the course of my life. And I am forever grateful. I wanted you to meet an old friend as she shares with us her story….

 

What do you sense God speaking to your heart during this season?

God has really put it on my heart to speak out against the injustice of human trafficking, and to publicly proclaim to these young women that we are committed to opening the doors of Mercy so they can experience for themselves healing and transformation.  Bottom line, there is nothing too hard for God and Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost (1 John 3:8 - For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.)

 

Your experience is in the lives of young women. What do you see is the biggest lie or lies that they believe about relationship?

In my experience through working with young women, the biggest lie they believe is they are not complete unless they have a guy in their lives.  They often then settle for less than what God wants to give them because of this lie, not understanding that they need to focus on their relationship with God and allow Him to bring the right person at the right time.  This way, they go into the relationship as one whole person joining with another rather than looking for another human being to complete them.