Ann Farabee

By Ann Farabee

His name was John Mark, but we call him by his last name — Mark.

He was younger than those he hung out with.

It was hard for him to stay with a task.

He got excited at times.

One could safely say he was impulsive, impetuous, and impatient.

Mark wrote an account of when Jesus was betrayed and arrested. All the disciples had left, but one young man was following the crowd, wearing just a linen cloth. As they tried to arrest him, he left the cloth behind and fled. Yes — he ran naked through the crowd.

When Mark wrote this, he failed to mention that he was this young man who left his linen cloth behind and fled.

But — on his behalf — this happened in the middle of the night and he ran outside to see what was going on. He probably did not have time to get dressed.

Mark decided he wanted to go on a mission trip with his cousin Barnabas. Paul, who was in charge of that trip, did not approve. He felt Mark was too young, but he finally allowed him to go. Mark made it to the second stop of the trip, abandoned the group, and headed home. I would think that perhaps Paul said to Barnabas, “I told you so!”

Paul’s next mission trip was being planned and Mark again wanted to go.

Paul refused. But, as time passed, Mark matured and began going on mission trips.

Second Timothy 4:11 tells us that as Paul was preparing for a later trip, he said to Barnabas, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is a great help to me in ministry.”

That spoke volumes. A young boy had grown up and had become a great help in ministry.

Mark is considered to be the writer who most shared the human emotions of Jesus. Perhaps he acknowledged some of those emotions because he felt them, too.

So, how about Mark? Mark was just Mark being Mark.

He was being who God made him to be.

Mark my word — he was one who wanted to be in on the action — but he also had a heart to serve.

So, how did Mark become a great help to Paul in ministry? Some credit goes to his mother. The home he grew up in — was the home where people would often gather to pray.

Mark grew up around prayer warriors.

Mark grew up learning to pray.

Mark grew up learning about Jesus.

Mark made mistakes.

Mark had trouble completing tasks.

Mark needed strong leadership in his life.

It appears that Mark was imperfect, but God used him perfectly.

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

By Ann Farabee

This season we are living in — just keeps on giving us more reasons to frown — and to smile.

I prefer the days that give me reasons to smile. As I was waiting for my groceries to be delivered to my car at Walmart, a father dressed in mud-covered work clothes was leading his three children to their car. They followed him dutifully, smiling broadly, for they each carried a rather large box with a toy in it.

The joy on their faces clearly indicated that access to these gifts was a blessing — and carrying them was not a burden. Neither was their desire to follow in their father’s footsteps as they kept their eyes fixed on him, while walking through the parking lot.

It was a beautiful thing to watch.

I wondered.

Did they ask their father to buy them the gifts?

Probably.

I believe the father was just being their father.

Loving his children and wanting to give them good gifts.

I totally understood.

Matthew 7:11 says that if we, as evil as we are, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

It reminded me of the love of our heavenly father for us — we are his children. As we follow him, we hold on with joy to the indescribable and unspeakable gifts he has given us:

The gift of God is salvation — Ephesians 2:8 says that by grace we are saved through faith, not of ourselves: it is the gift of God.

The gift of God is eternal life — Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Who can give the gift of salvation?

Who can give the gift of eternal life?

Only God.

We do not deserve it. We cannot earn it. It cannot be bought or sold.

We just have to accept it — for it is the gift of God.

The three children that day were happy. I saw it in their faces. They knew they held something special that their hearts longed for. I did not see them open their gifts that day, but I did spend time thanking God for his gifts to me:

Oct. 15,1967 — The gift of salvation.

Then, now and forever — The gift of eternal life.

John 3:16 explains those two gifts more clearly than I ever could:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

We are that whosoever.

Our father who art in heaven — holy is your name.

Thank you for salvation and for eternal life. Amen

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

By Ann Farabee

In a recent column, I referenced feeling as if traversing through difficult circumstances was like trying to keep my balance on a 3.9 inch wide balance beam.

I now have an update.

Lord, could I please have my balance beam back?

The news came. Not just one — but two friends — lost their lives to COVID this week. They were too young to go. It was too soon. They had families that needed them. It was hard for me to understand.

COVID continues to impact all of us daily. The struggles seem to be front and center and multiplying. In a way, it feels as though our balance beam was removed and replaced — with a tightrope.

As a young girl, I remember watching a tightrope circus act from the upper level of the coliseum. I gasped in horror as I saw the acrobat on the tightrope fall. She fell and fell and fell. The fall seemed to last forever.

Then came her landing. She fell — right into a safety net. It was so far down from where I was sitting that I had not even realized that a safety net was there. She jumped up, smiled, and waved to the cheering crowd.

I caught my breath. Whew! That was close. Or was it?

No, apparently, it was not close at all. It was part of the show.

That memory has now become a message.

A tightrope is a tensioned wire between two points that you try to keep your balance on by positioning yourself over your base of support. Some use a tool like a pole to help them balance. Others choose to balance by stretching their arms out.

Me? You? Balancing on a tightrope? Let’s see:

There will be times we will waver back and forth, feeling that we will fall. It can be scary, for there will be emotional strain — tension.

How do we keep from falling?

We position ourselves over our base of support while using these tools:

• Balancing pole — that would be God’s Word.

• Stretching our arms out — that would be prayer.

But, we are human. God knows our frame. He made us. He knows our limitations. No matter how hard we try to walk safely on our tightrope, there are times we lose our balance. We forget our balancing pole. We forget to stretch out our arms.

Those are the times we may fall.

We fall, and fall, and fall.

Then we land.

Straight into the safety net.

Our savior’s outstretched arms.

Psalm 145:14 says, “The Lord upholds all who fall.”

All means all.

Ann Farabee

In a recent column, I referenced feeling as if traversing through difficult circumstances was like trying to keep my balance on a 3.9 inch wide balance beam.

I now have an update.

Lord, could I please have my balance beam back?

The news came. Not just one — but two friends — lost their lives to COVID this week. They were too young to go. It was too soon. They had families that needed them. It was hard for me to understand.

COVID continues to impact all of us daily. The struggles seem to be front and center and multiplying. In a way, it feels as though our balance beam was removed and replaced — with a tightrope.

As a young girl, I remember watching a tightrope circus act from the upper level of the coliseum. I gasped in horror as I saw the acrobat on the tightrope fall. She fell and fell and fell. The fall seemed to last forever.

Then came her landing. She fell — right into a safety net. It was so far down from where I was sitting that I had not even realized that a safety net was there. She jumped up, smiled, and waved to the cheering crowd.

I caught my breath. Whew! That was close. Or was it?

No, apparently, it was not close at all. It was part of the show.

That memory has now become a message.

A tightrope is a tensioned wire between two points that you try to keep your balance on by positioning yourself over your base of support. Some use a tool like a pole to help them balance. Others choose to balance by stretching their arms out.

Me? You? Balancing on a tightrope? Let’s see:

There will be times we will waver back and forth, feeling that we will fall. It can be scary, for there will be emotional strain — tension.

How do we keep from falling?

We position ourselves over our base of support while using these tools:

• Balancing pole — that would be God’s Word.

• Stretching our arms out — that would be prayer.

But, we are human. God knows our frame. He made us. He knows our limitations. No matter how hard we try to walk safely on our tightrope, there are times we lose our balance. We forget our balancing pole. We forget to stretch out our arms.

Those are the times we may fall.

We fall, and fall, and fall.

Then we land.

Straight into the safety net.

Our savior’s outstretched arms.

Psalm 145:14 says, “The Lord upholds all who fall.”

All means all.

By Ann Farabee

Teaching Sunday school to 6-8 year-olds was so much fun! I mean, how do you have greater moments in life than to have a child interrupt your well-planned lesson to ask you if there is Kool-Aid in heaven? The ensuing discussion led them to determine that God would give us pizza on trees if we wanted it.

We would begin class with prayer requests, and sometimes as I prayed aloud I would say, “God speak to us.”

But one day, I guess a little guy had heard that one time too many. He blurted out, “I don’t hear God!”

A girl in the class was not pleased with his interruption, so she yelled at him, “Why don’t you listen?”

After further — and calmer — discussion, it was determined that some of the ways God speaks to us are through others, through nature, through reading our Bibles, and in our hearts.

The heart concept was a tough one for them, since they were concerned about what they called the ‘Valentine-shaped’ object in their bodies being spoken to by God. We all eventually agreed that God speaking to our hearts meant that he spoke to us in our minds and in our spirits.

They definitely left class that day determined to start listening for God’s voice.

Isaiah 48:16 tells us that God’s message has been told clearly and plainly — not in secret.

Isaiah 48:17 tells us that God teaches us and leads us in the way we should go.

The first part of Isaiah 48:18 says, “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments!” It ended with an exclamation mark, too, so obviously it was spoken with emotion. My interpretation of it would be something like, “Why don’t you listen?”

How does listening to God’s commands help?

How would listening to God’s commands change a situation?

The last part of Isaiah 48:18 tells us:

We would have peace as a river.

We would have righteousness as the waves of the sea.

Peace as a river can mean an abundant full flowing river that spills over onto the banks with blessings of every kind.

Righteousness as the waves of the sea can mean unfailing, seemingly boundless strong but gentle movement, with goodness, fairness, and honor that cannot be measured.

I call those beautiful promises from God!

All we have to do is listen!

By the way, there may be pizza on trees in heaven. You never know…

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