Heart to Heart with Cheri

Tender Mercies

Wow, these sunny June days are flying and Father’s Day has just passed! Although my dad died many years ago, when I was eleven years old and he was 47, I think of him and still miss him. How great it would have been to have gotten to know Papa as an adult. This Father’s Day weekend we honored my husband Holmes, who has been a faithful father to our three (now grown) children and grandpa to our grandkids. And what great dads our sons Justin, Chris and son-in-law Hans are—I’m so grateful for them.  As the days of June go by, hopefully we will all take some moments for fun and enjoyment with our dad, brothers and sisters, kids, and girlfriends.

Holmes and I are heading for Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 25^th through July 1^st, where I will be keynoting the National Congress on Children’s Ministry—“Conferencia Catavento 07.” They will provide translators of course for the four times I speak; I don’t speak a word of Portuguese! Then Holmes and I will share together for the Sunday sermon at the First Baptist Church in Sao Jose dos Campos, on marriage and praying as a family and couple. We would so appreciate your prayers for this ministry trip!

Over and over in my Bible reading lately, I've been struck by many references to the mercy of God.  Here is a favorite verse I want to share with you that speaks of God’s tender mercies: “Now let your unfailing love comfort me, just as you promised me, your servant. Surround me with your tender mercies that I may live, for your law is my delight.” (Psalm 119: 76-77)

Today as I was prayer walking, I prayed these verses for two young men who are caught in addictions and darkness. Oh, how they need God’s tender mercies. I often pray for God’s mercies to cover our military troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have prayed that God would surround a friend who is in the hospital battling leukemia with his tender mercies and fill her with the life of Jesus.  I also have prayed these verses for a mother I know whose heart is broken over her son who is incarcerated and another older Christian friend who is in a hospital with severe clinical depression following a stroke.  Lord, may your unfailing love comfort them today.  Surround them with your tender mercies.  And may they feel and experience and believe the love you have toward them.

This is a powerful prayer that God delights to answer, for he is the God of all comfort and mercy.  He is full of lovingkindness and rich in mercy; that is his very nature! And his mercies aren’t just for one situation or crisis. They are for everyday living. Lamentations 3:22-23 says God’s mercies are new every morning. The way the King James expresses this is profound: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.”

Do you know someone who is in the midst of a trial, who is sick, heartbroken, alone or in distress, and needs to be comforted by the Lord’s unfailing love today?  Who in your circle of friends or family needs to be surrounded with God’s tender mercies?  Lift them up to the Lord, being confident that there is no pain or suffering too deep for the love and mercy of God to reach. Perhaps you are the one most in need of God’s mercies today.  We can pray as David did in Psalm 57: “Have mercy on me, O God,  have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster (or calamity or crisis) has passed.”  

Maybe you aren’t being chased by a crazed, jealous king bent on your destruction as David was when he penned that prayer, but you have stress in your life. We all have times we feel under attack or are enduring waves of trials. When that happens, remember you aren’t alone and God has provided a place to go: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, NIV). That’s a personal invitation—God has stored up all the mercy, grace and help for whatever you are facing right now and whatever comes in days ahead. And when you receive his tender mercies, it will draw you closer to the Lord.

Let me encourage you, don’t try to manage things in your own self effort. Instead, as The Message paraphrases that verse: “Let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy; accept the help.”  I love what A.W. Tozer said,  “God’s mercy is boundless, free, and through Jesus Christ our Lord, available to us now in our present situation.” Thank you, Lord, for your boundless mercy! May his mercy fall like a gentle shower upon your life.

Cheri’s article this month is adapted from one of her most popular books, The One Year Book of Praying Through the Bible (Tyndale).
 

          

Book Give-A-Way

Congratulations to Wynne Terlizzi who won the contest from last month and received LOVING YOUR SPOUSE THROUGH PRAYER for her insightful ideas on dealing with busyness. Below, see Wynne's winning tip:

Dealing with busyness definitely speaks to me and to many of my mom friends. It’s been a hot topic amongst us lately. And when I talk to moms with older kids, they say it only gets busier. James and I are trying to work on it since he’s gone a lot and we both volunteer for school, soccer coach, den mother, etc. we had a “meeting of the minds” recently and tried to figure out ways to slow down or as my favorite quote says “don’t hurry, don’t worry and don’t forget to smell the flowers”. Here are some of the things that we have started to do:

We hired a cleaning lady to come every two weeks – yesterday way the first day. It’s a little more than I’d like to spend but I’ll cut back in other ways. It was so nice to come home to a spotless house last night. The kids and I had a great night. There was nothing nagging me to clean up.

I started to write everything on a big calendar now. When someone asks me if I will do something (volunteer for an event, go to dinner, help host a shower, etc) I say “let me talk to James first and look on my calendar to make sure I don’t have anything else going on”. I used to always say YES instantly to everything and then I’d get upset with myself. Although I still over schedule myself at times, I feel like I have more control.

I have also been asking for help more – especially other moms. That was always hard for me to do. Now it’s gotten easier. It’s created a stronger friendship bond knowing that we are always there to help each other out.

I have a sitter every Wednesday and take a “peace yoga” class with my neighbor for one hour. I really look forward to it. Then when I get home at 7:30 p.m. I have each child come up stairs and we work on homework, drawing and reading until the sitter leaves at 9. It’s nice to know that I have that time every week

I also spend special quality time with each of the kids at least once a week. I was feeling like I wasn’t giving enough attention to each one and now they know that they’ll get their own special time. They think about what they’d like to do and we talk about it all week. They really look forward to it and so do I. It’s cut down on the whining for attention.

I also agree that a sense of humor is key. It always surprises me that when I’m totally stressed and diffuse the situation with humor or silliness, it changes the focus from potentially bad to positive. It works with James too when we feel an argument coming on.

Thanks for the great Heart to Heart. It’s always so helpful to know that there are other moms (and probably dads) out there that are feeling the same frustrations.

This month we are giving away another free copy of Loving Your Spouse Through Prayer. If you'd like to enter to win a free copy, send an us an email at cf@pcpublications.org sharing your favorite answered prayer for your husband or significant guy in your life.
 

Quotable Quotes

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
There’s a kindness in his justice,
Which is more than liberty.

                     --F.W. Faber

God’s mercy wasn’t increased when Jesus came to earth, it was illustrated! Illustrated in a way we can understand. --Eugenia Price

His father saw him—there were eyes of mercy;
He ran to meet him—there were legs of mercy;
He put his arms round his neck—there were arms of mercy;
He kissed him—there were kisses of mercy;
He said to him—there were words of mercy;
Bring here the best robe—there were deeds of mercy;
Wonders of mercy—all mercy!
Oh, what a God of mercy he is!

                       --Matthew Henry

                                                 

Movie  Review

Gracie

If you like movies about a character overcoming great obstacles and a family reconnecting and being restored after a great loss, (or like me, just enjoy sports movies) you’ll like the new movie, “Gracie.” Set in New Jersey in 1978, the movie is loosely based on the experiences of two of its actors/producers: Academy-award nominated Elisabeth Shue (who plays the mom) and brother Andrew Shue, a former pro soccer star (who plays the coach). But “Gracie” isn’t just a girl soccer movie. It’s a sensitive family drama mixed with sports and a community dealing with gender barriers. It’s about dreams and a daughter’s desire to connect with her father and gain his attention. Dermot Mulroney plays the soccer-obsessed dad who is bent on training his four boys to be great soccer players and in the process ignores his daughter’s potential.  But the shining star is Carly Schroeder who plays 15-year-old Gracie, the only girl in the family. This uplifting movie is told with insightfulness and balance, has creative cinematography and except for a few scenes of Gracie’s rebellious running with the fast teen crowd (which gives the film a PG-13 rating) is wholesome and clean enough to take the whole family.

Recommended Resources

Loving Your Spouse Through Prayer: How to Pray God’s Word Into Your Marriage
Praying together as a couple, and praying for your mate, is the mortar in a marriage—a way for a couple to turn toward each other rather than away from each other. It also invites God’s love into the relationship. You can purchase this book at PC Publications for $13.99, which includes shipping or at your local bookstore.
 

The One Year Book of Praying Through the Bible
A doable, inspiring daily devotional for all ages, women and men.  It enables readers to experience the power of God's Word and prayer each day and to grow in their spiritual life and be encouraged in their journey.  This book has gone into its 5th printing and has over 85,000 copies in print and we constantly hear how it's blessing people's lives. Purchase at PC Publications for $12.99, which includes shipping or at your local bookstore.