Grains of Sand

by   August 2, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Grains of Sand

Sand. We love it. We hate it. Mostly love it. The times I hate it are when I am trying to get to my spot on the beach on a hot day while barefoot. Sand gets hot – sometimes up to 130 degrees.

For those who may be walking on the sand barefoot, here are some tried and true recommendations that may help us not get our feet burned:

*Run from shade to shade – like to a lifeguard stand or beach umbrella.

*Put plastic bags on our feet.

*Wet our feet or wet the sand.

*Walk fast.

*Stay on lighter colored sand.

*Wear shoes.

Sand. It changes as the day goes by. The tide and waves move it around. People move it around. In the evening, walking on sand is cool and comfortable to the feet.

But the incredible thing about sand is the quantity of sand in our world.

Is there a way to count the grains of sand? That seems impossible and would only be something God could do.

Scientists have given it a try though. One way was to count how many grains would be in a teaspoon, and then multiply it by all the beaches and deserts in the world. That would give it around seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains. That sounds like a lot of sand.

That number, which is only an estimate, is not even understandable to most of us. That makes Psalm 139:17-18 even more amazing!

Verse 17:

How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God!

How great is the sum of  them!

Precious means to be of great value or high price jewels.

His thoughts unto us means that we are on his mind.

A sum is adding together to get the total amount.

‘Great’ means magnitude beyond the usual or to an extensive degree.

Verse 18:

If I should count them, there are more in number than the sand.

So, if we take all the grains of sand, and add to get the total, God’s thoughts of us are more than there are grains of sand.

Grasping that concept could be a lifesaver.

Lord, help me to remember that You are thinking of me – always. May I live peacefully and joyfully in that truth. Amen

Looking Back

by   July 26, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

“I told my children about you,” she said, “I showed them a book we made in Sunday School.”

It had been around 30 years ago and the tools used to hold the book together were a hole puncher and some yarn. The title was, “The Story of Jesus.” Each page was simple – but the book contained the story the world most needs to hear.

She saved it. She showed it to her children. She told them about me.

That makes me smile.

Every Sunday morning, I went. I was on time. I was prepared.

It was a privilege. It was never a burden.

Sacrifice? Yes.

Time? Yes.

Money? Yes.

Commitment? Yes.

Homemade brownies for students? Often.

They were my students  – and we grew in the Lord together.

The students who sat in my classroom changed over the years as they began to grow up, but the power of the story of Jesus did not.

Decades later, I know many of them as adults.

It brings me great joy to see Jesus as the center of their lives.

Years of going to Sunday School every week to teach the children?

Totally worth it.

As a teenager, I remember sitting on the living room floor of my youth pastor’s home, surrounded by many others. One night he said, “Ann, would you read 1 Corinthians 13 for us?” I was scared, but I began leafing through the pages of my Bible, trying desperately to find it. The 13 verses seemed long at first, but the more I read, the more I felt something I did not recognize. I now know that it was the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room. As I read the last verse, “And now abides faith, hope, love – these three. But the greatest of these is love,” a tear fell onto the page. It was mine.

I had no idea that night as I nervously read those verses to the youth group that in the future, I would be reading many verses many times with many students.

The Lord was directing my steps, even though I had no idea that Psalm 37:23 gives us that exact promise – He will direct our steps!

Looking back? Yes. We need to tell the next generation the praises of the Lord, his strength, and the wonderful works he has done. Psalm 78:4

A child from a home with an alcoholic father reading her Bible aloud in youth group?

That was me.

A young adult teaching Sunday School?

That was also me.

Hearing a former student tell me she told her children about me?

And then showing me the book we made?

Priceless.

Our efforts will last for generations to come.

Serve the Savior.

It is worth it.

Looking Back

by   July 19, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Looking back

“I told my children about you,” she said, “I showed them a book we made in Sunday School.”

It had been around 30 years ago and the tools used to hold the book together were a hole puncher and some yarn. The title was, “The Story of Jesus.” Each page was simple – but the book contained the story the world most needs to hear.

She saved it. She showed it to her children. She told them about me.

That makes me smile.

Every Sunday morning, I went. I was on time. I was prepared.

It was a privilege. It was never a burden.

Sacrifice? Yes.

Time? Yes.

Money? Yes.

Commitment? Yes.

Homemade brownies for students? Often.

They were my students  – and we grew in the Lord together.

The students who sat in my classroom changed over the years as they began to grow up, but the power of the story of Jesus did not.

Decades later, I know many of them as adults.

It brings me great joy to see Jesus as the center of their lives.

Years of going to Sunday School every week to teach the children?

Totally worth it.

As a teenager, I remember sitting on the living room floor of my youth pastor’s home, surrounded by many others. One night he said, “Ann, would you read 1 Corinthians 13 for us?” I was scared, but I began leafing through the pages of my Bible, trying desperately to find it. The 13 verses seemed long at first, but the more I read, the more I felt something I did not recognize. I now know that it was the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room. As I read the last verse, “And now abides faith, hope, love – these three. But the greatest of these is love,” a tear fell onto the page. It was mine.

I had no idea that night as I nervously read those verses to the youth group that in the future, I would be reading many verses many times with many students.

The Lord was directing my steps, even though I had no idea that Psalm 37:23 gives us that exact promise – He will direct our steps!

Looking back? Yes. We need to tell the next generation the praises of the Lord, his strength, and the wonderful works he has done. Psalm 78:4

A child from a home with an alcoholic father reading her Bible aloud in youth group?

That was me.

A young adult teaching Sunday School?

That was also me.

Hearing a former student tell me she told her children about me?

And then showing me the book we made?

Priceless.

Our efforts will last for generations to come.

Serve the Savior.

It is worth it.

Fragile

by   July 12, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

The package was delivered.

The first thing I noticed was the warning: FRAGILE.

Some packages may not give a warning that it is fragile.

Instead, they may give these instructions: HANDLE WITH CARE.

Either way, we know that what is in the package may be damaged or broken if we do not handle it with care.

For me, the warning worked. I picked that package up, carried it carefully into my house, and placed it gently on the table. As I opened it, I had to go through styrofoam packaging to get to it, so apparently the sender and the postal workers had been careful, too. It was not broken or damaged.

Do we pay attention when we see that an item is fragile or needs to be handled with care? At my house, I often hear or say something like this, “Be careful! That will get broken!” Or perhaps I should say, “Handle with care! That’s fragile!”

But how about us? Not packages – but people.

We do not have a sign on us that warns: I AM FRAGILE.

Nor do we have a sign on us that instructs: HANDLE WITH CARE.

But sometimes, it would almost be appropriate.

If we will pay attention to those around us, we may know, anyway.

We may see it in their actions.

We may see it in their movements.

We may see it on their face.

We may see it in their eyes.

We may hear it in their voices.

They are in a stage of their lives where they may feel damaged or broken.

They are crying out: I AM FRAGILE. PLEASE HANDLE WITH CARE.

*Perhaps they lost a loved one. They are still grieving greatly, although we wrongly assume they have begun to move forward.

*Perhaps someone is dealing with a personal or private problem they do not often talk about to others.

*Perhaps it is a son, a daughter, a mother, a father, a grandparent, a neighbor, a friend, or even a pastor – all struggling with a heavy load that they do not feel will ever be lightened.

*Perhaps it is a prison inmate, a hospital patient, the employee working hard to make ends meet, the one close to bankruptcy, or those living in an unhappy home.

*Perhaps it is someone who is elderly, someone who is too busy, someone who lives alone, someone who needs encouragement, someone who is depressed, or someone who needs a friend.

No, the words ‘I AM FRAGILE’ and ‘HANDLE WITH CARE’ are not written on their T-shirts, but they are written on their hearts.

You will know who they are –

Reach out to one of them today.

There’s a promise from God about doing that –

Luke 6:28  – Give and it shall be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Do We Forget?

by   July 5, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Have you heard a speaker speak, a teacher teach, or a preacher preach lately?

Research shows that within an hour of hearing someone speak, we forget 50% of it.

Within 24 hours, we forget 70%. Within 7 days, we forget 90%.

Those percentages seem a bit optimistic for my memory capability.

The 90% forgetting arrives much more quickly.

Research also shows that if we almost forget something, but bring it to remembrance, the memory will then become stronger and stay longer.

For example: I had forgotten that my 13-year-old brother had ridden with me to a basketball game at the high school I was attending as a 17-year-old. So at 10 p.m., he was waiting at the school in the dark on the steps outside the gym for his beloved sister to remember that she forgot him. Yes, this was well before cellphones.

Sometimes we tend to forget things — or even people.

But forget God? Who? Us?

How could that happen?

God made the world. God made us. God is with us.

God keeps our world spinning.

Jeremiah 2:32 says, “Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet, my people have forgotten me days without number.”

A bride forgetting her wedding dress? Unlikely.

That dress would be a very important part of her day.

In this verse, Israel had forgotten God — because they had become focused on the world.

Not only had they forgotten God — but they had forgotten God for days without number.

I am glad we don’t do that!

We remember God, don’t we?

We would certainly not go days without him!

Because he is the most important part of our day!

Or would we?

Sometimes our personal prayer life may weaken.

Sometimes our personal praise life may be forgotten.

Sometimes reading God’s word may be neglected.

Sometimes being in God’s house may be pushed aside.

Sometimes teaching our children about God may be overlooked.

We may then realize that maybe we have forgotten God.

How sad to think that the most important part of our day could be forgotten.

The night I left my brother at the gym happened because I had lost touch with him while we were there. I had been busy watching the game and talking with friends. 

I had forgotten to remember the person who meant the most to me — my brother.

I turned that car around like a maniac and headed back as quickly as possible.

I was focused on one thing only — getting back to him!

When I wheeled around the circle drive that led to the very dark gym, I was afraid he would not be there. I was afraid he would be angry.

But no. He was standing there — looking for me. He smiled, ran toward me, jumped in the car, while saying, “I sure am glad you finally remembered me!”

I was, too. That could have been hard to explain to my parents.

I believe that is what God does when we forget him.

He keeps waiting. He keeps looking for us.

Then, when he sees us heading back toward him, he smiles and runs to meet us.

For he knows that we finally remembered the most important part of our day.

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

Abide

by   June 28, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

The reality of it is embedded in our hearts.

It has been lovingly placed there by the Holy Spirit.

I remember when I first knew it was real.

I was:

A young teen who needed a savior, so I could be saved.

A young teen who needed the bread of life, so I could be fed.

A young teen who needed a light in my world, so I would not have to live in darkness.

A young teen who needed a good shepherd, so I would have guidance and love.

A young teen who needed the way, the truth, and the life.

One night, I knelt at an altar in a small church on East 16th Street.

You may not know where that is — but God does.

I asked Jesus to come live in my heart.

He did.

He still does.

Decades later — it has only grown stronger.

Sometimes, it feels like a flood.

Sometimes, it feels like a still small voice.

Sometimes, it feels so gentle as his love is poured into my heart and soul.

It is real.

It is not about rules. It is about a relationship.

It is not about promises lost. It is about promises kept.

It is not about forgiveness earned. It is about forgiveness given freely.

It it not about our effort. It is about God’s grace.

It is not only about God who abides in heaven.

It is also about God who abides in our hearts.

Abide means to live or dwell in.

Abide means to continue without being lost or fading away.

Abide means to stay or remain.

Jesus lives in us.

Jesus dwells in us.

Jesus will continue.

We will not lose him.

He will not fade away.

He stays with us.

He will remain with us.

What is the prerequisite to Jesus abiding in us?

John 15:4 says that if we abide in Jesus, he will abide in us.

Hudson Taylor was a Christian missionary for 51 years in China during the 1800s. His organization was responsible for bringing over 800 missionaries to the country and starting 125 schools. His efforts brought about 18,000 Christian conversions.

He wrote about abiding in Jesus in a way that I surely could not. His words were, “Abiding in Jesus isn’t fixing our attention on Christ, but it is being one with him. A man is abiding just as much when he is sleeping for Jesus, as when he is awake and working for Jesus. Oh, it is a very sweet thing to have one’s mind just resting there.”

Oh, Mr. Taylor, it is sweet, indeed.

Abiding in Jesus.

I may not be able to explain it, but I sure can feel it!

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

Hide and Seek

by   June 21, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

No doubt we have all participated in a game of hide and seek.

Everyone knows the rules.

The person who is “it” counts aloud to a pre-selected number like 10, while everyone hides.

“It” then says something like, “1.2.3.4.5.6.7.10! Ready or not, here I come!”

“It” begins looking for the people who are hiding.

The word look is different from the word seek.

To look means to see it or pay attention to it.

To seek means to go in search of something.

If you are playing with children age 5 or under, and you are “it,” finding those who are hiding while playing indoors can be pretty simple. Look around. Stand still. Listen for whispering, giggling and rustling sounds. Walk toward those sounds.

As “it,” I never let the children know that I know where they are. I make a huge scene  while slamming doors and wondering aloud, “Where in the world could they be?” Then, I make loud announcements like, “I think I will look in the kitchen! I bet he is hiding in there!”

There was that one time though…

One little hider had not been located.

I looked everywhere.

Looking everywhere was not successful, for I was only looking with my eyes.

I needed to seek for him.

I knew he had to be near — so I called out his name.

No answer.

I noticed the blanket on the floor of the closet I had looked at earlier.

This time — I decided to lift up the blanket, so I could seek for him.

There he was.

Safe, secure and soundly sleeping.

Seeking for him had mattered.

Looking for him had not been enough.

Does God’s word mention hide and seek?

Adam and Eve hid from God, but God knew exactly where they were.

Jonah hid from God and ended up in the belly of the whale.

“He is our hiding place,” — Psalm 119:114

“We are to seek him while he may be found,” — Isaiah 55:6

Hiding from God? Impossible.

He knows exactly where we are.         

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

He’s Always Been There

by   June 14, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Psalm 71:5: “For you have been my hope, my confidence since my youth.”

As a 13-year-old, I began attending church and became involved in a youth group. I knew little about God’s word, but there were people at the church who did. I accepted Jesus into my heart, and began my journey toward spiritual understanding.

When I went away to college, I stopped going to church. Spiritually, I was in a season of indifference. But the spiritual seed that had been planted in my heart remained. I had my Bible with me in my dorm room, and sometimes I would take a peek inside the covers of God’s word.

I knew that Jesus was my hope — and had been since my youth — and that my confidence in Him had remained.

Psalm 71:14: “But I will hope continually, and will yet praise you more and more.”

I finished college and began teaching. God began to work in my life. He put the right people in my life at the right time. As years began to pass, I began to realize that I was turning toward Christ and desiring a closer relationship with him. Living for Christ was the desire of my heart. The years were filled with seasons of success and seasons of failure, but my Christian walk was growing stronger every season.

The spiritual seed that had been planted during my youth continued to grow. I had a teaching career, but I also spent those years serving the Lord while being a part of the local church. One day I realized I had begun feasting on his word and was growing and growing and growing.

He became my comforter…my protector…my savior…my provider.

And so much more.

He has been my hope — continually.

How could I help but to praise him more and more?

Isaiah 46:4: “Even when you are old, I will take care of you. Even when your hair turns gray, I will support you. I made you and will continue to care for you.”

I think my hair may now be gray, but I have a magician friend, who makes the gray disappear before I see it. I do admit that I am starting to feel older. The physical is more difficult. The mental is more difficult. But the spiritual — grows sweeter every day. The word of God has come more alive in my spirit. I can open my Bible — and sometimes my heart begins to race as I sense his word coming alive through the power of the Holy Spirit. There is something about the season of gray hair — even though mine is not gray — that is full of the sweet savor of my savior.

God has always been there.

We are never alone.

He made us.

He will continue to care for us.

If God be for us, who can be against us?

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at  annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

Addiction Hurts

by   June 7, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Addiction is vicious.

My father and brother died from it.

My adult children struggled with it.

It separates you from those you love.

It feels like a private journey because it is difficult to share.

With drug addiction, heartache comes.

As does pain.

Some overcome.

Many do not.

Some overcome and relapse.

Then they overcome — and relapse again.

It is a cycle that for many never ends.

But sometimes it does.

Even if a relapse comes, they still overcame — for a while.

Hopefully, they will overcome again.

The road can be long. It usually is.

For some — once the problem begins — it lasts a lifetime.

If only the pain was just for the user of the drug — that would seem a little more fair.

But the pain also belongs to those of us who love them.

We wait for the call that no one wants to get — but fully expect.

The actively using addict tends to be self-centered.

They focus on their need for drugs — and on nothing else.

It controls their thoughts.

Priorities are re-prioritized — and the normalcy of their lives slips away.

It is so sad to watch — and to experience.

Does this mean we do not love them? No. We love them immensely. We love them enough to keep them in the corner of our mind 24 hours a day every day of every week of every month of every year — even if we rarely see them.

For approximately 2.7 million grandparents in the United States, that love is shown to their adult children who are addicts, when they take over the parenting of their addicted children’s children — their grandchildren.

Our boys came to be ours when I looked through the window of their home and saw one of them, who should have been playing and enjoying the joys of being a four year old, rubbing his mother’s head and trying to comfort her as she lay on the couch, lethargic and oblivious to his presence in the room.

That was when we knew. The children had to be safe. So we took them with us. We began to send them back less and less frequently, until one day, we all realized that our home had become the place our grandchildren would call their home.

We did not do that to their parents — we did it for their parents.

Proverbs 31:8 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

The children were too young to speak for themselves.

They deserved better.

We would give it to them.

Our journey as grandparents raising grandchildren had begun.

Thirteen years later, we are still on that journey.

Lord, be with the addict. Be with their children. Be with those who love an addict. Amen

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at  annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

The Roundabout

by   May 31, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

I don’t remember when. I don’t remember where. I don’t remember how.

But I do remember that I had no idea what to do.

It was — the roundabout.

I hate that my parents did not live to enjoy roundabouts. My dad would have gone all the way around one several times, just for fun. My mother, on the other hand, would definitely slow traffic down. Driving 5 mph would not have been fast enough.

What good are roundabouts?

Experts say:

• They slow us down.

• There is one way travel.

• They are safer.

• They improve traffic flow.

• They require yielding to others.

• We won’t be tempted to beat the stoplight, because there aren’t any.

I just about had roundabouts tackled until I came across three in a row.

Three roundabouts and my equilibrium do not go well together.

But, obviously there is a purpose for them. I mean — they are in the Bible, right?

You know — where Psalm 34:7 says that the angel of the Lord encamps roundabout his people forever.

As for camping, it has never been my favorite thing to do.

The daytime is fabulous — but the nights — not so much.

My last time in a tent overnight was on a trip to the mountains with around 100 members of our church. At dark, we would gather around the campfire to sing, testify, talk and roast marshmallows.

Then tent time came.

Sleep did not.

It was too dark to sleep.

My eyes opened. My eyes closed.

It looked the same — dark.

What were those noises? Everyone was asleep — I could hear them snoring.

What is that? Have you ever heard an owl? The screeching was horrendous.

Why is everyone still snoring?

What is that? Something brushed by our tent — on my side, of course.

Not only did I hear it — I felt movement against the side of the tent.

No doubt. It had to be a bear.

I then chose to stay awake all night to listen for bear noises, so I could scream to alert everyone, if needed.

If only I had remembered this important information about camping:

The angel of the Lord was encamping roundabout me.

To encamp means to settle in and establish. Roundabout means you go in one direction around the center.

The angel of the Lord encamps round about us, settles in, and establishes himself in our life situations, as we head in one direction toward our heavenly home — to be with Jesus forever.

Some times — some days — some long dark nights — we may not feel that the protection he gives us while he is encamping roundabout us will be enough.

But, when we doubt, we may just need to read on to the end of Psalm 34:7.

The end of the verse says that God delivers us!

God’s promise from God’s word brings victory — every time.

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