The Day the Rock Cracked (and let in some sun)

I am a retired special education teacher who, in a moment of weakness, took a position in a facility for children and youth who don’t have homes. At least they don’t have homes where they are welcome or could be safe or where others are not safe because of them. I was strongly warned about one. Difficult. Won’t work. Can be violent. Temper tantrums.

            I met them. I would be working one on one with each boy. The one I have called my R.S. (reluctant student) is ten. It wasn’t that I could not get him to work. He stayed on task. The problem was the cloud with which he surrounded himself.

            “Too hard!” “Too much!” “I can’t.” Head on desk. Face in frown. An occasional marker hurled across the class. A paper scribbled over and torn out of frustration that it wasn’t right.

            I would come home exhausted and stressed just from two hours with these boys. Last night I was up half the night wondering how in the world I would ever make a difference.

            Then today came. Today the rock cracked and the light shone through. It is one of those days I want to remember. I want to recreate every detail as if there were something magic in the set of events that made up this special day. I want to bottle it. Share it. Cherish it.

           On the way to work  I turned on Joy FM 99.1 and listened to Mercy Me "If We Are the Body". The words pierced my heart.  They challenged me: how can God’s love be seen if it isn’t flowing through me? How will God go if my feet don’t take Him? How can He reach if my hands aren’t outstretched?

            “I’m taking your love into school today.” That was nothing new for me. I had declared hundreds of time that I was taking Jesus into hard places. But today….today I was facing a very troubled boy whose entire demeanor moaned, “Unwanted.”

            He came in and I showed him the book I had purchased for him by Ted Dekker. “Too long. Too hard. Too many words.” We sat down and he started to write and became angry, scribbled so hard that the paper tore and tossed it aside. I made no reference to that action. Instead I said, “We both have some bad habits. You tell me mine, and I’ll tell you yours.” (Head down.) “My habit is that I talk too much! I’m very annoying. My brother always told me I was annoying. That brings back a bad memory.” (Head up an inch.) “You know what I see as your bad habit?” (hands over head as if not to hear.) “I see your bad habit as saying the words, ‘I can’t.’ ‘I won’t.’ ‘Too hard.’ Are you willing to try something? “ (No response) “How about if I bought a pack of little treats and if you could go for TEN MINUTES without saying anything negative, without putting your head down  or complaining you could have a treat? And if you did it another ten minutes you could have another treat?” (Head came up and eyes connected.) "These are nothing but habits. You can change these habits. They'll change your future." He said,

            “I never had anger problems until I had to move out of my house. I haven’t seen my baby sister but only once. They are all good. I’m the bad one.”

            At this I felt the righteousness of God rise up on the inside of me. “You are not bad! You are not bad at all! You are a precious boy! A wonderful boy!” We began the plan of changing his behaviors. His eyes took on a light which I recognized as hope. “I have to be good for three months. If I am good for three months I get to go to a foster home.”

            It was all I could do to keep from crying. But I remember the words of Dr. Yard, my professor. “Cheryl! You will NEVER help a student by pity or even compassion. You help them by giving them strategies so that they can change.”

            So we have a strategy. This little fellow was perfectly delightful with a changed countenance today that I believe is just the beginning. Today the rock cracked. Today I saw the sun in his eyes.

Books for the Jungle School

Hearts in Action in the Peten, Guatemala has requested children's books. I can foresee beautiful, colorful, interesting books that will delight any child. I seldom maybe never ask for donations for a ministry I've not seen with my own eyes. I've been to Guatemala nine times to visit and minister with the Babarczys who founded and direct Hearts in Action which built the Jungle School. The children who attend The Jungle School are very very poor and except for this school most would not have educational opportunities. By poor I mean dirt floor and no running water. Neil and I remarked that we'd never ever seen a place where children don't play! In the Peten children just STAND on land beside the road...stand staring! But in the Jungle School children are engaged in and excited abut learning. Women with a Vision will end a box of lovely children's books in Spanish. If you would like to send yours on your own check out http//:heartsinaction.org

Otherwise send them with us:
Women with a Vision
P.O. Box 693
Florissant, MO 63032
incorporated since 1985.

Do You Feel Like You Missed It?

Did you Feel you Missed It?

Do you ever feel like you missed it? You’ve looked at your results. They are dismal. DISMAL. By any measurement of world or of church growth you are ‘’failure to thrive”. So- what do you think happened?

   *Presumed you heard from God but didn’t?

   *Personality wrong for the job?

   *Poorly prepared?

  *Wrong plan?

  *Wrong location?

Are you ashamed to hold you head up in the community? Do you find yourself

  *Canceling dates?

  *Avoiding people?

 *Considering quitting?

 *Questioning your worth?

 *Questioning your relationship with God?

WHOA! CONSIDER JEREMIAH!

Let’s look at Jeremiah chapter one.  (Don’t have a Bible? Let us know. Someone reading the blog will send you one.) God sets the stage by making it clear that Jeremiah belongs to Him. God knew him before he was in the womb. He knew the plans that were to be Jeremiah’s destiny. God appointed Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations. God not only chose Jeremiah but He pinpointed the exact people to whom Jeremiah was to speak. Is if that weren’t enough, God gave Jeremiah the script.

Now let’s give Jeremiah’s outcome the 21^st century test of success. Did it draw crowds? Was Jeremiah popular? Was he emulated by many? Did Jeremiah wannabees pop up everywhere? Did people wear his t-shirts, buy his books, watch his DVD series?

Read the rest of the book of Jeremiah and you’ll find the answers. Jeremiah was despised. He was at best ignored, at worst ridiculed. At best he had a straggly following. At worst he was mob attacked. Jeremiah was by no means successful during his lifetime according to  the standards by which we judge others and ourselves.

So what was the problem? Take a look at the questions you may be asking yourself? Did any of those apply to Jeremiah? No! He heard from God. He was chosen. He was sent to the exact people and given the exact message. So what is the explanation?

People have free will. You cannot predict how people will react to you, but you can predict whether or not you will be faithful. You cannot force someone to listen, but you can speak. You can’t drag someone in, but  you can open the door.

What is our part? Our part is to be faithful to the one who calls us. Jeremiah seemed to be a dismal failure. But the story didn’t end with the closing of the book. Jeremiah is known wherever God’s word is preached! Bible scholars study the words of Jeremiah. Sunday school classes memorize his words. And yes, some people now do wear his t-shirt.

Where Did I Lose My Confidence?

This was published today in Christian Educators of America's daily devotional so I posted it.

Prayer: May we know without a doubt that we are nothing without You, Oh Lord, our Savior and our Guide. May our words today be a sweet sound in Your ear.

Where Did I Lose My Confidence?

Scripture: The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Matt 6:22 (KJV)

Where did I lose my confidence? As a young, unmarried, childless teacher I had all the answers. Parents of teenagers would come with their problems that they saw in their children and I had answers for all of them. They leaned forward, earnestly, in their chairs to listen to wisdom--to grasp any hope for their puzzling children.

It's not the same anymore. 35 years have passed since I was that brilliant solver of the problems of all parents. Now that I have been married for 34 years and have been a mother for 32 years, my confidence is gone! Now I hear the problems that parents of teenagers have and I can only empathize. I can squeeze a hand, look deep into the eyes and say, "I don't have the answers!" I sigh with them and cry with them. I can't begin to know the depth of their pain. But I can guess at the dreams that have been killed, at the disappointment that looms bigger every day as that child moves farther away from the ideal that mom and dad had when they held that infant in their arms.

Now they lean toward me, but I lean equally toward them. I let them know that they are not in this alone. I'm in the ring with them fighting for their children's souls.

I am in a public school where prayer is not welcomed, but tells me, “What is my alternative when the tissue box is not enough? I'm supposed to quote some philosopher? I'm supposed to come up with statistics from No Child Left Behind? “

No! I refuse to deny those parents the one resource that got me through my own children's wanderings in the wilderness. I refuse to hold the living water and not extend it to parched lips! I refuse! Yes, I am a teacher in the public school and proud of it! I'm so proud, every day, that I am entrusted to enter into the biggest mission field in the United States of America: the public schools.

I heard it said that the eyes are the windows of the soul. I may not be able to pray publicly in school, but my eyes hold the truth. As hopeless heads come up and as eyes meet mine, I know who they see behind my eyes.

I have had parents breathe their gratitude that I listened, that I cared, that I loved their child. I can't leave it at that! I can't let that parent leave my presence thinking, "Mrs. Skid is a wonderful person." Mrs. Skid is nothing! Mrs. Skid, without Christ and the experience of suffering, was that cocky 24 year old teacher whose advice was worthless! The only thing of value I have is Jesus Christ living in me. And I trust that they see Him in my eyes!
Copyright Cheryl Skid. Email cherylskid@gmail.com

Whom Do You Call Shepherd?

Whom Do You Call Shepherd?

O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.

For he [is] our God; and we [are] the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Vocabulary

Worship   shachah  worship, bow down, bend, study

Bow down karah   knee, bow, crouch, sink

Kneel    barak    bend, kneel, bless, thank, praise

                          thank, congratulate

Pasture    meerite  flock, pastureland, grazing ground

We are Sheep

So what does it mean that we are sheep?

Genesis 4:2 is the first mention of sheep. What do we learn? ______________________________________

Abraham, Rachel each had sheep. They kept the sheep. If we are God’s sheep what is His responsibility toward us? __________________________________________________________________________________________

Consider sheep and their owner. Do sheep have a responsibility?____________________Considerng sheep and God and your relationship what can you assume?_________________________________

Isaiah 53:6 gives us a glimpse into the behavior of sheep which is characterized by _________________________________________________________________________________________

Isaiah 53:7 tells us something else about sheep __________________________________________________________________________________________

Jeremiah 50:6 tells of the horrible way God’s sheep have been treated by ‘shepherds’. Do you care to tell about an experience you have had under the care of a corrupt and deceptive ‘shepherd’? __________________________________________________________________________________________

Many people have turned from the Lord because of how they were treated by false shepherds. Comment __________________________________________________________________________________________

Ezekiel 34:6 speaks of the sheep that wanders off and no one comes to seek him or her out…to bring her back. Has it been your experience that you were abandoned by a ‘shepherd’ that you thought watch over your soul? _______If so how did that affect you? __________________________________________________________________________________________

Many people blame God because they trusted a ‘shepherd’ God did not call. What would you say to that? __________________________________________________________________________________________

Ezekiel 34:11, 12

 What does God, Himself promise concerning the sheep who has been abandoned, lost or even strayed away by his or her own will? __________________________________________________________________________________________

Micah 2:12 speaks of bringing sheep into the fold where there are many sheep assembled together. What can you see as the benefit of being in a large fold of sheep? __________________________________________________________________________________________

Matthew 7:15 Jesus speaks of how some sheep have been deceived. Your experience? __________________________________________________________________________________________

Matthew 10:16 tells of Jesus sending out his sheep! He went from gathering to sending. Discuss: __________________________________________________________________________________________

Matthew 6:24 speaks, not of the sheep under the cruel care of a false shepherd to the sheep with no shepherd. How does that speak to your heart? __________________________________________________________________________________________

John 10:7 Speak of this in terms of your relationship with the shepherd. __________________________________________________________________________________________

John 10:11 A good shepherd does what for his sheep? _____________________________________________

What does that tell you about the responsibility of anyone who considers himself or herself an overseer of God’s flock! _________________________________________________________________________________________

John 10:12, 13 speaks of the false shepherd who runs off and leaves his sheep. Have you suffered that in your own life? __________________________________________________________________________________________

Hebrews 13:20,21 offers a prayer for the sheep who want to do SOMETHING to repay the shepherd for his good care. What would that repayment be? __________________________________________________________________________________________

Of course we can never repay the Lord. Nor does He expect it! Salvation is a free gift, but look what devastation is caused—what harm done when sheep are treated poorly! Do you feel responsible to behave in a certain way ? Explain. __________________________________________________________________________________________

I Honored My Father

I Honored My Father

The morning Neil's nephew was to be Bar Mitzvah,  Neil and I were met in the parking lot of the synagogue by the rabbi. "I understand you two believe that Jesus is the Savior," he said. "Yes." He looked grim. "In that case I have to tell you that you won't be allowed on the bema. You'll have to stay seated. You will not take part in the service today."

We went inside and were seated in the packed sanctuary. One by one everyone from teachers to neighbors, Jews and Gentiles, were called up to take part in the Torah service. We were the only ones who had remained seated. Outside I sobbed----not for me; for Neil who wasn't able to participate in David's Bar Mitzvah. My sister-in-law came up to us and said, "Cheryl, I'm sorry but that's just the way it is." I snapped at her. "You know that BOOK everyone read out of today? Neil and I spend time every day reading it! What do your friends do with that book?"

I was angry and handled my feelings wrong, but my heart was broken. At that moment I knew what it meant: "Let the dead bury the dead; I knew that when my beloved father would die I would not be allowed on the bema to pay my last respects.

Twenty years passed. My dad had developed Alzheimer's  Disease and was in the hospital with complications. I had preached and begged and explained and read and sang everything I knew over the years to bring him to a saving knowledge of Christ. He seemed to 'like' the idea, but I never heard a commitment. When we were in the hospital that morning I said, "God! I don't ask for signs, but I need a sign that my father has accepted you as his Lord and Savior."

A stranger entered the room not long after. He walked passed all of us and stood against the wall by the window. "The angels are here to take Joe Samelson to heaven today," he announced. My heart leapt!  My sign! I knew!

It was Thanksgiving week-end. The rabbi was out of town and couldn't be reached to come back. My mother called Chicago to get the names of rabbis who could come officiate at my father's funeral. He brought us together interviewing the family about my father. Everyone said a few sentences and then it was my turn. I poured out the memories of my father. The rabbi said, "Cheryl, do you think you could do the eulogy for your father?" My heart exploded!

That night I practiced in my childhood bedroom. I  wept as I practiced  the words I would say. I said them  over and over and over  until I could say them with joy, not sorrow.

I suddenly realized: NOT ONLY COULD I APPROACH THE BEMA FOR MY FATHER. I WAS ABLE TO HONOR HIM BY GIVING THE EULOGY.

My precious father, Joseph Samelson, loved us all fiercely and dedicated his life to giving us all what we needed, no matter what the cost to him. The greatest gift he gave me was allowing me to honor him at his funeral.

God's Hands and Our Hands

 Women with a Vision Bible Study

Written by Cheryl Skid

God's Hands and Our Hands

Psalm 95: 3-5

3: For the Lord is a great God and A great King above all gods.

4: In His hand are the deep places of the earth the strength of the hills is His also.

5: The sea is His and He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.

Original Language

Deep Places   Mechkar. There are four consonants in this word: mem, chaf, koof, and resh. The meaning is changed by the vowels that appear as dots and dashes under the consonants. But the root is what matters in Hebrew--it's what matters to me. It's where I dig for meaning to open Scripture. So I dragged down my 3000 page Hebrew English Dictionary that I bought from a traveling dictionary salesman in Ashdod 1966. And this is what I learned: deep places means research, study, inner depth.

Strength  TOAPHOT. Interesting that this word is plural, noted by the OT ending (feminine plural) The word means strength, height, eminence, strength, power.

Hills HAREEM. Why would the psalmist use such a lofty word in conjunction with hills? Hills aren't even high? They certainly aren't majestic? because hareem, in the Hebrew is mountains. Mount Everest is HAR Everest.

Formed YATZAR.  create, manufacture (see the word man in that word--which implies by hand?) fashion, form, produce, contrive, devise.

Dry YABESHET (in the Strong's it has a th on the end--and if you listen to the recorded pronunciation on line, the man says TH at the end. Plain and simple, Israelis don't pronounce th--ever. When I taught English in Ashdod and tried to get the students to say it by sticking their tongues between their teeth and blowing they dissolved in giggles)  This word means dry land or mainland. The word 'land' does not appear in the Scripture.

Let's look at Scripture to Learn More

Read the following Scriptures to discover what God's Hands produce, provide or accomplish.

Genesis 49:24 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How can you receive help from God's hands, judging from that Scripture?

2 Chronicles 6:4 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What came first? God's mouth or God's hands? ________________What can that teach us about how we conduct our lives and expect to experience success? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hebrews 10:31 gives another aspect of God's hands. What can you deduce from this Scripture ? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Let's take a look at what the Word says about our hands.

Ex 35:25 Women were praised for using their hands in this example. What kinds of things do you do with your hands that are praiseworthy? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lev 7:30. What do you think is the implication of bringing the offering with one's own hands? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Deut 14:19. How has God blessed the work of YOUR hands? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Deut 31:21 What kinds of things can we do with our hands that are corrupt and anger the Lord? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Judges 2:14. Sometimes God uses other people's hands to punish His own beloved people. Does this confuse you? _________________________________________ Can you think of examples? _______________________________________________How does good come out of it? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mark 8:23 is one of many examples in which Jesus used His hands in ministering to people. What other examples can you name?  What do you think is the implication of the importance of Jesus' (and our) hands? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do Work

Start looking around to see all the things God created and thank Him for them!   Take a look at your hands. What are they doing?  If you are doing creative things with your hands consider gathering a group of women and teach them your craft or skill? If you aren’t doing anything creative with your hands, find some who is, and learn!

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Talk to us! How has this lesson blessed or challenged you!

Women with a Vision is a not-for-profit organization which means your donations are tax deductible. Your donations help me travel to places where women are dry and thirsty for the Word of God and for Christian fellowship with women of like mind. If you would like to help fund these mini-teaching missions please send your tax-deductible donation to

Women with a Vision

P.O. Box 693

Florissant, MO 63032 USA

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