A Date with JESUS

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness." Jeremiah 31:3

Dear Friends,

I had a "date" with JESUS last Sunday evening. Actually our "date" started off kind of rocky, in fact I didn't want to go with just HIM, I really wanted to go with my husband. My husband and I had planned to go out on a date out to eat at a special restaurant we've never been to before. Then, afterwards, enjoy the full moon- maybe drive down by the river where we got engaged umpteen years ago ( Ha...GOD knew just where to get Johnny to take me to say "yes" to his proposal...the river!). Johnny and I started planning our date on the way home from church Sunday. After lunch, we took a nap and I remember hearing the phone ring, but I went back to sleep. Later when I woke up, my husband told me that his brother called needing him to work at the restaurant that evening. I was not a happy camper, in fact I got angry. I had a little help getting that way with some hormones I'm taking...I usually handle disappointment a little better than I did last Sunday, but I was still mad just the same. As I stormed down the hall, my son kept calling me from his bedroom, " Mom, Mom." Once I got outside, I just stood there trying to decide what to do. I guess I could go paddling like I had thought about doing before we planned our date. I had been wanting to paddle for weeks, and "my" plans kept getting changed...so I cooled down a little, went back inside, and asked Johnny to forgive me for getting angry with him. He really felt badly about having to work, but felt like he couldn't say no, and suggested we could go another night. I was disappointed, real disappointed, and somewhere the thought went through my head, "Disappointments are HIS appointments." I wasn't quiet ready for that to sink in yet, and was still simmering about the change of events...even though I had asked forgiveness for the way I acted. Recently, I've been writing about GOD directing our steps... I wasn't liking HIS directing at this moment. Later on, my son told me that since my niece is going off to college, to Indiana University next week, she asked her Dad to spend the evening with her and their family. So savoring every moment with his daughter, he was taking off, and my husband was his replacement. Okay, that made me feel better. I could give up my evening plans with my husband for my brother-in-law to be with his family. Finally, after I calmed down, I decided I would go paddle and make the best of the evening. The kids were going back to church for the evening and Johnny had to work...so I decided to go paddle. I did feel a little guilty for not going to church with my kids ... but I loaded up my little blue boat in the back of the Jimmy that Hannah Beth's granddaddy gave to her. I got my gear together, and came back in to spend a little time with Johnny before I left. He couldn't help it that his brother needed him, and I wasn't doing too much to make him feel like he was doing the right thing. After we kissed and made up, and we did:), I ate part of a tomato and cheese sandwich, grabbed my IPOD, and I was off...
Once at the river, the sun was still pretty high in the sky just a little after 6:00 p.m. in the evening, and the water was as still as could be. A perfect evening for paddling. As a drove down the hill to the little ramp where I usually put in, there was a family fishing together. I spoke to them and tried not to get tangled up in their fishing lines. It didn't take too long to get my stuff loaded in the boat, my rod and reel, Bible, dry bag with emergency stuff, flashlight, water bottle, machete, rope, and tackle box. I was off-paddling across the still water, toward the other side where the evening shadows where gathering on the water. It didn't take me long to get over my disappointment at my plans being changed, In fact as I paddled along, the LORD put it in my mind that this would be a "date with HIM." I begin to soak in my beautiful surroundings. I startled a great blue heron as I paddled along, and listened to him squawk as he took off, flying gracefully through the air. I cast my rod and reel in the water a few times, but as usual, nothing was biting my line, and I decided to paddle on down the cove to my favorite spot-Big Creek. After paddling under the bridge, where the barn swallows nest and swarm, I was at Big Creek and immediately it seemed the temperature dropped a few degrees. The trees overhanging Big Creek, make for a canopy and the shade made it much cooler. The crickets and tree frogs were singing loudly, and I loved being here on this late Sunday evening, on a "date with JESUS," my Creator, and the Lover of My Soul. As I paddled along, I prayed for some of you, and I prayed for my son, thinking about the upcoming changes and challenges for him in his new school. But mostly, I tried to concentrate on JESUS, and how much HE loved me. I thought about a Scripture that came to my mind,

3The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying,
"I have (A)loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with (B)lovingkindness. Jeremiah 31:3

I paddled on up into Big Creek, until I got to a fallen log that was still there from earlier in the summer and blocked my path. I decided to turn around, and took out my GOD's Promises for your Every Need book, that Dr. and Mrs. James Milner gave me when I graduated from college. Dr. Milner was a Dean at Athens St. College (University now) back when I graduated in 1984. He and his wife were a tremendous encouragement to me and my husband as young CHRISTians where we all attended First Baptist, Athens. Now, 24 years later, I was continuing to be blessed through a book of GOD's promises that they had shared with me on my graduation. There in the evening shadows as the sun was beginning to go down, and I sat in my kayak, I started reading some of those promises... Ps. 40:2, "Do not fear for I am with thee do not be afraid for I am thy GOD, surely I will strengthen thee, surely I will uphold thee with thy righteous right hand." I read Isaiah 41:10, a verse I learned my junior year in college at University of Montevallo when I was going through a difficult time...in fact, I was having panic attacks. "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your GOD. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." I thought "this is a good verse to share with my son as he starts his new school this week." I did share it with him later as I wrote it down for him with a little note and left it on his pillow his first day at UAH. I also read, Isaiah 40:31 my husband's favorite verse, "Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."
After reading some more verses, I decided to paddle on back up into the cove, and it began to get dark. I knew it was going to be a full moon and I had told my family that it would be so neat to go for a moon light paddle and I couldn't get any takers to go with me....well, it did sound neat, but when it started getting really dark, I thought, hum, it's dumb enough to go paddling by yourself, but it's really dumb to go paddling at night by yourself, so, right before it got real dark, I paddled on in, and loaded up my boat...glad to be back on land. I kept looking to see the moon and couldn't see it for the hills and trees around the river were blocking it. After fishing a few minutes from the bank, I kept getting my lure stuck on the bottom, I decided to pack up and go see if I could find the moon, and I did...as I pulled up on the bridge going towards home there it was just as full and shining as could be. It was getting high enough now to shine over the trees and it's beams were reflecting over the water. I pulled over to enjoy its beauty from the side of the road. Part of me longed to stay, and enjoy this time with my Creator and the beautiful moon HE had created, and part of me felt like it was time to go home, my family would be home soon, and I didn't want them to be worried about Mom being at the bottom of the river somewhere on her moonlight paddle:).
On the way home, I stopped by my dear friend Wanda's house. Wanda and I used to be next door neighbor's for 3 sweet years until the LORD moved her and her husband across town, but we still live beside each other in our hearts. I just needed a hug, and Wanda was just the one to give it...except that Wanda wasn't home when I pulled up in her driveway. I thought, "Wanda, where are you when I need you?" Later I found out she was at her Sunday School party. In fact, I called her on her cell phone to ask her where she was and her voice mail picked up. I thought, " Okay, LORD, I give up, I'll get my hug from you tonight." GOD knows how to hug us through HIS Word, through His Spirit, through HIS presence, and as HE and I traveled home alone in that little Jimmy with my little blue boat sticking out the back, the full moon shining up above, HE hugged me, and loved me. I felt so refreshed, and so invigorated, and so peaceful as I drove home through the streets of Athens, around our courthouse square, and then on to our house. When I got home, I was the first one there, and I was eager to sit down and write while my "date with JESUS" was still fresh in my heart.

Later on, as I thought about how disappointed I was when I found out my husband had to work, I thought about GOD's disappointment when I don't make time to spend with HIM...Wow, I guess I've never thought about GOD longing to spend time with me, the way I long to spend time with my husband. When I rush into the day and don't make time to spend with the LORD, I miss my time with the HIM. I miss what HE wants to share with me in HIS "LOVE LETTERS" to me, HIS strength, HIS power, HIS wisdom, and HIS intimacy HE longs to bestow upon me through spending time with HIM through HIS WORD and prayer. But more importantly, my FATHER, my HUSBAND misses HIS time with me...HIS bride. Isaiah 54:5 tells me, " For your Maker is your husband-- the LORD Almighty is HIS name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; HE is called the God of all the earth (Isaiah 54:5). I am the "apple of HIS eye," HIS word tells me in Ps. 17:8", "loved with an everlasting love,"Jer. 31:3, and He "loved me and gave HIMself for me" and you, HIS "love letter" tells me in Galatians 2:20. Yes, HE loves to spend time with us. Sometimes HE really loves to spend "extended time" with us revealing HIMSELF even more intimately to us. Those "dates" may come as the result of our loss of health, loss of job, loss of a dear friend or family member,or any other of a myriad of trials, that leaves a hole in our heart that GOD longs to fill with HIMSELF.


As I think about it, I guess a lot of "dates" with JESUS start off kind of rocky and unexpected, at least mine do, like my date with GOD last Sunday night. There are those times when I long to be alone with GOD, like each morning in my quiet times, and often when I go paddling, I go with the intent of spending time alone with the LORD. But what about "dates" HE chooses, like sickness that slows me down, an unexpected move that upsets all my plans, a broken heart, or even something as small as my husband having to work that changes my plans for the evening? I was just reading on my friend Ashleigh's blog http://heart-and-home.net/2008/08/journey.html ,about her husband John returning home from Iraq a few days ago after being gone for several months. Ashleigh and John both had a long "date" with GOD, as HE separated them from one another for several months, and she shared how close JESUS was to them during their time of being separated from each other. I don't know how to explain it, but somehow, JESUS "succours" to us in our time of need even though HE is always with us, HE shows HIMSELF so strong when we suffer the loss of other people, situations, or things in our lives that are so dear to us. In Philippians 3:8 Paul writes, "...I consider everything loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing CHRIST JESUS my LORD, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain CHRIST, and be found in HIM, not having a righteousness of my own...but that which is through faith in CHRIST..." The word, "succour" is a word that Charles Spurgeon often uses in his writings, and is used in the King James Version of the Bible to describe the help that JESUS gives us...how HE literally runs to us with help. The word succour comes from the Latin word succurro; sub and curro, to run...and it means literally, to run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; as, to succor a besieged city. In Hebrews 2:18 says, "He is able to succor them that are tempted.' 2 Corinthians 6:2 For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.).
How CHRIST my Saviour runs to me with help is becoming more and more dear to me and real to me the longer I walk with HIM. He has always "run to me" but I haven't and don't always recognize HIS grace, HIS presence, HIS help to me. I mentioned in my last email about my heart being broken in a relationship I desired very much a few months ago. As much as it hurt to be rejected, I would not exchange that relationship for the intimacy with CHRIST that I felt during that painful time. I can look back at the days following that time, and see how CHRIST "succoured" to me, and revealed HIMself so tenderly to me, through HIS WORD, through prayer, through you my dear friends who loved me.encouraged me, and prayed for me, and through my dear family. I was so amazed at CHRIST's tender revelation of HIMself to me, and it gives me confidence that HE is always there, and especially runs to me when I am in desperate need. Would I have "chosen" that "date" with GOD? No, but I wouldn't take anything for the sense of intimacy that I felt with CHRIST during that time, and I know now that HE does indeed run to me...I have never in my life experienced HIS presence quiet like I did during that difficult time. HIS tender love and friendship helped me to thank HIM for the trial that HE revealed HIMSELF to me so sweetly... HE succoured HIMself to me in my time of sorrow. In Words of Comfort and Cheer the reading for August 21 shares further what CHRIST does for us when HE "runs" to us in our trials, and when HE reveals HIMself to us in a more intimate way..."He will give you a fresh revelation of HIS love; He will bind you to HIMself with bonds you shall not wish to break; He will reveal to you such aspects of HIS character as to attract you into the tenderest fellowship and friendship; HE will show you mercy with a new and more delicate flavor than ever before..." Yes, HE does...and how sweet is HIS intimacy and fellowship.

This past Sunday morning, our preacher talked about how CHRIST longs to be intimate with us, even more than a husband and wife are intimate...In this month's "Focus on the Family " magazine, an article written by Glenn Stanton talks about this intimacy that CHRIST longs to share with us. He says, " The apostle Paul makes a powerful link between sexuality and spirituality in Ephesians 5. Paul connects the love between a husband and wife to that between CHRIST and the church...The intimacy expressed between spouses is but a shadow of the mysterious eternal love GOD has for HIS people. Not that GOD's love for us is sexual, but it is deeper, more caring and more sacrificial than even the closest relationship two people can have."

On the way home from the river as I stared at that full moon up in the sky and saw it reflecting over the water, the LORD reminded me that I was still on a "date with HIM," and HE wanted me to be so close to HIM, not just then, but always. I stared at the moon coming home, and the song that we used to sing when I was a child growing up in the Methodist church came to my mind, "He's Everything to Me." I can still see my sister sitting at the piano in her bedroom playing this song and singing it with me. As I thought about the words, I started singing it by the light of the full moon: "In the stars HIS handiwork I see, on the wind He speaks with majesty, though He ruleth over land and sea, what is that to me..." When I sang that song as a child, I didn't know JESUS as my LORD and SAVIOR. I thought I did, but HE was still very much "way out there" to me...until at 19, HE broke my heart over my sins, and invaded my life, when I surrendered my heart to HIM at an altar at Central Baptist Church in Decatur, Ala. Ever since then, HE has been taking me on "dates," some I love, and some I've kicked and screamed through....but HE faithfully draws me to HIM with HIS lovingkindness, teaching me to be intimate with HIM. As I look back over the past 27 years that I have walked with CHRIST, I can truly say that the most intimate times I have with HIM, have come during times of great trial. It's during these times that HE is teaching me, that "HE's Everything to Me," and i am everything to HIM who gave HIMself for me. HE still loves to take me on dates... dates with a full moon, my favorite kind:). I sure did enjoy this one with you, LORD, and next time, maybe my husband can come along too:).

With all HIS love,
mitzi




He's Everything to Me by Ralph Carmichael

"In the stars HIS handiwork I see,
On the wind HE speaks with majesty,
Though HE ruleth over land and sea,
What is that to me?

I will celebrate Nativity
For it has a place in history,
Sure, HE came to set HIS people free
What is that to me?

Till by faith I met HIM face to face
And I felt the wonder of HIS grace,
Then I knew that HE was more than just a GOD
who didn't care, that lived a way out there, And

Now HE walks beside me day by day
ever watching o'er me lest I stray,
helping me to find that narrow way,
He's everything to me.


Congratulations to my sis and her new hubby to be, Dennis who will be getting married next Friday...we are so thankful for the goodness of the LORD bringing them together. Dennis, thank you for the wonderful fish fry at my Mom and Dad's last weekend...you are a great cook!
Please remember my niece, Corinne, and her Mom and Dad and brother as she leaves to attend school at Indiana University this week...and our whole family, as we sure are going to miss her! Thank you so much for your prayers for John Mac this week at school...GOD answered your prayers, and he had a really good first week!