Yesterday was a special day

January 3, 2011

Yesterday was a very special day in my life, it began like all others, it was Sunday, it was Jan’s birthday, and we had plans for after church.  It was a cold day, 30 degrees when we got up and I put on wool brown dress slacks, a beige shirt and a sport coat that went very nice with the two.  As I was getting out of the car at church, I checked to see if I had a pen in my coat pocket and to my surprise found a piece of paper with a ladies picture and her name; Anabel Gillham 1928-2010, I must not have worn that sports jacket since attending her memorial service.

Why was the day special, because Jan and I have witnessed many a birthday, and each one, hers or mine, reminded us of how blessed we are to have shared so many of these with each other.  It was also special in that we had lunch at the Vineyard and Jan enjoyed the sea bass special and then we went to the Mall so she could open her birthday present, and that was whatever she wanted at Macy’s.  Our pastor’s message was also very good; it was a reminder that we could live without regrets. 

Before our pastor had begun his message, God had used the back of that paper in my coat pocket to speak to my heart, He had also reminded me that Jan and I met Anabel at a dark time in our marriage, and that her life had a profound effect on us living without regrets.  Anabel was a beautiful lady; she was also a very wise and transparent lady, who was a wife of noble character to Bill, and a light to all who were blessed to know her.  This is what was on that piece of paper, but I’m going to change the order of how it was placed on that paper, I believe you will understand.

Anabel’s amplified paraphrase of Philippians 4:13; “I have discovered – very painfully – that I am not capable within myself to deal with the world and all that is in it.  When that shocking and humiliating discovery was made, I turned to God and said, “I cannot do this.  Please do it for me.”  I now have great confidence in Him – in all things, and His strength working through me.”  At the bottom of this paraphrase was this note: “Oh, I am a very confident woman.  Thanks to You, Lord Jesus.”

If I had not changed the order, this would have been first:

The Basics in the life of

The Confident Woman

1. Essential: To know – unequivocally – that Jesus loves you.

2. Essential: To discover who you are now that you are in Christ Jesus.

3. Essential: To tap into the power of the indwelling Christ.

4. Essential: To have practical applications for appropriating these truths.

I began this by stating that yesterday was very special day and I listed many reasons, one was that God spoke to me from a piece of paper found in my sport coat, just words, but these words if taken into your heart can change you and I from a life of regrets to a life lived in fullness; a life of confidence, and like Anabel, each of us can say “Thanks to You, Lord Jesus.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice