Behind the Scenes of The ABC’s of Contentment

Hi everyone, today happens to be a really fun day. As you know I’ve been doing a series called “The ABC’s of Contentment.” I’m almost done, and so I decided to put together a behind the scenes video/blooper video of what goes on when I’m filming these videos. It’s fun but let me tell you, it’s not easy! Sometimes some pretty funny things can happen. You know, I say things I shouldn’t say accidentally, or I’m pointing to something and something falls apart, Etc. etc. etc. I think you know I’m talking about. You’ve seen it when you’ve watched movies or T.V. That’s like the funinest part, right? So first here’s the behind the scenes people who help me put together these videos. This here is Jessica. (Jessica) Hi. (Rachael) She’s my makeup artist, my producer, she’s one that takes care of the lighting on the computer makes sure my face looks good. And this is Traci. (Traci) Hi (Rachael) She’s the one who I work with her during the week she’s the one who helps me memorizes my scripts to make sure I know what I’m going to say every Saturday and like I said, this is a fun day. And as you can tell we have fun doing these. And this is my dog Lady. She’s the one that you’ve sometimes heard in the background bark. She barks when she hears a noise or my mom comes home and I’m talking right in the middle of a video. So that’s everybody and then as you can tell from the hats, as you can tell from the hats we have fun here. Merry Christmas, Happy 4th of July, let your imagination fly high. Bye bye bye everyone I hope you have fun watching as much as we have fun putting this together. Bye.
B is for Blessing. Hi everyone. Thanks for joining me for my second video. (Traci) Rachael are you practicing? (Rachael) Yeah Traci, I volunteer at my local hospital. Many times I’ve heard people (Traci) Are you sitting up straight and looking into the camera? I’m going to come poke you. (Rachael) Yeah yeah yeah. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test time
Hi everyone welcome to week three of (Traci) Rachael Rachael this is how you do it you hold it up here. (Rachael) I know what I’m doing Traci give me back the paper I’m
(Jessica and Rachael) and mercy mild God and sinners reconcile. Joyful all ye nations rise. Join the triumph
Hi haha everyone and welcome to hahaha
hahaha
That is why for Christ’s sake I delight in (Traci) weaknesses (Rachael) weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties for when I am str streaking then I am strong. (Traci) Did you just say streaking (Rachael) Oops I meant to say weak.
(Rachael) Just kidding (Jessica) You realize the first thing that they’re going hear in this video is just kidding (Rachael) hahaha oops
(Jessica) Okay so you’re working and Rachael will be talking and talking and then she’s goning to read blah blah blah blah blah come on so forth and so on and so on and so on and now the mouse isn’t working wait now maybe I have to go over here
Please stop (Jessica) Wait wait I gotta make you laugh.
(Jessica)Oh oh fine I’ll let you talk. About how we’re trash (Rachael) hahaha were not
Hi everyone and hahaha sorry haha welcome to week haha week 14 you know putting these videos together produces a lot of laughter. Me and Jessica have a lot of fun haha together. Sorry about that anyway we are on week hahaha
One body, one Lord, one father overall, One spirit in our hearts, one body many parts.
Hi everyone welcome to week uhhhh 16 of haha
(Rachael) hahaha (Jessica) On wings like eagles (Rachael) haha (Jessica) They will run and not grow weary (Rachael) Haha Jessica turn it off (Jessica) Nope come on sing it (Rachael and Jessica) hahah (Jessica) those who hope in the lord will renew their strength. Come on I don”t hear you singing (Rachael and Jessica) Those who hope in the lord will renew their strength. They will sore on wings like eagles. they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint
(Rachael) Like a pirate hat. (Jessica) You’re on. (Rachael) haha
Hi everyone and welcome to the ABC’s of Contentment. Today’s letter is R. R stands for Rachael, or uh Rachael, Roberto, Renew and R can also stand for ARRGH! hahahah (Jessica) hahaha (Rachael) So anyway I’m hahaha Okay we’re getting serious now hahahah (Jessica) hahaha
Hi everyone and welcome to week 18 of the ABCs of contentment today’s letter is R. And R can stand for Roberto, renew and as you can see from what I’m wearing, R also stand for Arrgh. Ahoy matey, Ahoy shipmates
Xmas hence all my Christmas attire the shirt, the hat, my earrings
Jeremiah 45:8 (Traci) No Rachael it is Isaiah. (Rachael) I knew that, I know the verse. Get over and get on my lap, I will show you crazy.
In my mother’s womb stop right there (phone ringing)
(Jessica) Are you ready? (Jessica and Rachael) In Hebrews 12:22-24. You have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly. To the church of the firstborn
Subscribe To My YouTube Channel Here

Z is for Zion


Hi everyone, and welcome to week 26 of the ABC’s of Contentment. We made it to the finish line. Today we’re on the letter Z. Z stands for Zion. Zion is a mountain. It’s thought of as the mountain of life. We have two verses today and the first verse that goes with this is Hebrews 12:22-24. It says, “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” I did it! Yay! If you didn’t already know, it’s not often talked about in the church, so let’s just say it’s been kind of a challenge to memorize that verse this week. But as you can see, I just did it! So yay, that’s an accomplishment! Ta-dah! Then we’re going to talk about two mountains. First there’s Mount Zion, which is thought of as a mountain of heaven, hence that verse; and then there’s Mount Sinai, which is thought of as the mountain death. The first place that Mount Sinai is mentioned is at the beginning of Exodus chapter 19 when the Israelites are coming out of Egypt. The Lord is talking to Moses and in chapter 19 verses 12 and 13, He says, “Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.” I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a pretty strong warning from God. I know my middle name is “Danger,” but if I lived back in biblical times, even I wouldn’t want to approach that mountain. But you know what? Let’s face it: I find myself on Mount Sinai more than I would like to be. Any time I let sin sink into my life; like when I have a bad thought. You know, even though I have enjoyed doing my video series, it’s not always easy. Sometimes verses can be difficult to memorize. I’m the type that my mom has trained me to be concerned about time. So I want to get things done, I want to finish this or that on time, and my friend Jessica is always telling me, “Breathe.” Sometimes to memorize verses, she and I make up songs. And sometimes I get a little frustrated, but I have to admit it works. And then there’s times when we’re getting ready for the video, and it’s funny that we’re talking about The ABC’s of Contentment, because you would look at me behind the scenes and you would think that I’m not very content right? That happens. But somehow, I’m always able to pull it together, and with the strength of Jesus, I can do all things; including memorize these verses so I can share them with you. You know, I write a script so I can memorize throughout the week what I’m going to say, and then what I write half the time is almost never what I say; but that’s okay. A lot of what you hear comes from my heart. And that’s the important thing, right? God knows the heart and He knows that I’m climbing my way up to Mount Zion. No one is perfect; except God, that is. The question with the Christ follower is, are you on the path? Are you on the path to Mount Zion? Joni put it this way when she did a broadcast about Mount Zion and Mount Sinai. She said, “Did you know that biblical scholars believe that Mount Calvary and Mount Zion are in the same mountain ridge – it’s all one large mountain?” Isn’t that amazing? But then again, so is our God. That’s how badly He wants to have a relationship with us. He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross. Jesus carried our cross, carried our weight of sin and climbed all the way up to Calvary, so that we could one day be in heaven with Him. Are you ready to trust Jesus and climb all the way up to Calvary and make your way up to Zion? Jesus has everything we need. The question is, will we let Him be our guide? I know for me personally, if I didn’t have Jesus in my life, I could not climb up Mount Zion by myself; I’d fall off a cliff. The weight of this world is too much to handle alone. There’s even a song called, “We’re marching to Zion” by Isaac Watts. I’ll leave a link so you can listen to it in the description when I post my video. Well that’s it everyone. It’s been fun. Thanks for joining me for my series. But you know what? Even though we’re at the end of the of the alphabet, you can still come back next week because I’m going to have a special video. Bye, God Bless, and march on to Zion!

Subscribe To My YouTube Channel Here

Y is for Yield


Hi everyone, and welcome to week 25 of The ABC’s Of Contentment. Today we’re on the letter Y and Y stands for the word Yield. The verse that goes with the word Yield is Isaiah 45:9 where it says, “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?” Kind of an interesting verse, isn’t it? Giving a humorous illustration? It asks some good questions. I know this sounds a little silly, but think about it; here in America, we live in such an image conscience society. The girls are told through TV ads that, to look perfect like models, they should do things such as buy this or that hairspray, have curly hair, straight hair, wavy hair; the list goes on and on. Guys are expected to have buff muscles and be strong and tough. I have no problem with beauty products. I have no problem with being thin and being strong. There’s nothing wrong with being healthy. I’ve even worn makeup a couple of times on occasions. What I have a problem with is when there’s those people that, on a daily basis, spend 5 or 6 hours in the bathroom just getting ready for school, work, etc. The reason your favorite stars look the way they do is because of technology in the studios. Everything you see in magazine faces is being touched up. Nobody looks like that in real life. Think about it; if you made something, how would you feel if that thing you made (like a vase-what we’ve been talking about the last couple of weeks) talked back to you and said, “I don’t like the way I’m made.” Now relate that back to God. How do you think God feels when we do the same to Him by buying every beauty product the world offers on T.V? Have you ever considered the fact that Psalm 139 says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made? When we buy every single beauty product the world has to offer, we’re telling our Creator God that He made a mistake. The one who made us; the one who made the universe in the first place. The one who said, “Let there be light and there was light.” I don’t know about you, but I sure can’t speak and something is automatically created. I wish! Unfortunately, for me to be able to create something, I have to give it time and effort. My hands have to learn certain movements because I have cerebral palsy. Think about God from His perspective. When He made each one of us, you and me, He spent all that time on each one of us. We weren’t just thrown together. Then for us to spend hundreds of dollars on beauty products that the world says work (and then you find out that they don’t, and then there’s all these side effects); don’t you think something’s wrong with that? I do. But that’s just me. That’s just that’s just my opinion. I don’t know. Maybe my opinion is different because I need help with things like dressing and combing my own hair. So even though sometimes I’d like to look a little better on a daily basis, maybe I don’t focus so much on it because I have cerebral palsy. I need help, I don’t have time, and there’s other things I should focus on. The way my birth happened, I guess I’m just glad to be living; thankful for each day that I’m alive, thankful that God keeps my heart beating, thankful that I can share these messages and start this series that we’re almost finished with. I don’t know, I want to yield and give my heart and my life to the Lord, and I want to make sure that people know that. There’s a hymn called “Have Thine Own Way” that I’ve heard Joni talk about which I think goes perfectly with the word Yield. There’s about four stanzas in the hymn and the stanza that goes perfect with that is, “Have Thine own way You are the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will while I am waiting yielded and still.” Amen. You know what? Let’s pray. Dear Lord, we live in a society where there’s a lot of distractions. T.V. ads are calling for our attention. Forgive us when we spend hundreds of dollars on beauty products at the mall that the world promises will make us look and feel better, but Lord, those promises are false. Thank you that your word is true. That you are the divine; the creator. You’ve done such a beautiful job with this universe. Thank you for all you’ve created. Thank you for creating me and allowing me to live. Please help us remember that you never make mistakes. Another part of Psalm 139 says we were created in our mother’s womb. That’s special; to be created in your mother’s womb. Thank you for the time that you spent on all of us and help us, instead of focusing so much on what the world says, focus on the abilities and talents you gave us all. Help us to find ways that we can use them to honor you and share the gospel. Amen. That’s it everyone and I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for joining me. I’ll see you next week when we talk about the letter Z and Z will be for Zion. Bye. God Bless.
Subscribe to My YouTube Channel Here.

X is for Xmas


We wish you a merry Xmas, we wish you a merry Xmas, we wish you merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. Hi everyone. Welcome to week 24 of the ABC’s of Contentment. Today we’re on the letter X and X will be about the history of Xmas. I just love Christmas. Hence, why I’m wearing all this Christmas attire. Notice my blouse, my red turtleneck, my bracelet, my earrings and my Santa hat? I’m ready for Christmas from head to toe. Now the only thing missing is at the very bottom; I need some red and green shoes. If Christmas were the only holiday on the calendar, that would be fine with me. If I had the proper hand dexterity, I would open my own Christmas shop and make a whole bunch of ornaments and other decorations. But anyway, getting to the video. Like I said, we’re going to have a history lesson. Why write Xmas? You know, many Christians get upset when they see the abbreviation of Xmas because they think that our culture is using another way to take Christ out of His own holiday and I can’t blame them. For a while, I thought the same thing. Until I read a book by a guy named Ace Collins called “Stories Behind Christmas Traditions.” In it, he talks about three main reasons why they used Xmas and where it began. I thought they were cool and so I thought I’d share them. So here we go. The first reason was that many of the first Christ followers were Greek. The Greek name for Christ is Xhristos. Spelled the Greek way it’s X- R- I- s- t- o- s. Many of the first Christ followers only had a very basic education, and so even though they could read, it was hard for them to recognize their own name on a document; X was the best thing. That was what they recognized. Also, clergymen at that time taught that X was a symbol for the Christian faith. Just like today we have the Christian fish, the X was their symbol at that time. X marked places where people could go to worship, it also marked places where people died and were remembered. The second reason was resources. Paper and ink were not as easy to come by as they are today. They didn’t have modern conveniences, so Xmas was used as an abbreviation. It wasn’t until the sixteenth century that Christianity began to spread to Europe and Xmas first began to appear in Catholic writings. The third reason was that Xmas was a symbol of faith and for people who died. X marked the spot where they died. Many of the early Christians were hung for their faith. They were burned. X was used as a symbol to remember them and a time of celebration. X was also a symbol of the cross. It wasn’t until the 1800s that Christmas became a national holiday and retailers tried to use it as an abbreviation on their signs and packages. They also tried to honor the early Christians and use a symbol that people could understand. Unfortunately, today a lot of people don’t know the Greek language, and these reasons are not often taught in many churches, so a lot of people don’t know about them. But this is one of the very first Christmas traditions started, and the people that died for this would be proud to see it being carried on into modern Christmas. Again, I don’t blame people for getting upset about the term Xmas. I did too because I didn’t know the reasons until I read the book. We have a lot to learn from the early Christians. They laid down their lives for Christ. If it came down to that, if somebody asked you about your faith, would you be willing to do that? What gift can you give Christ our Savior this Christmas season? Think about it. I’m going to leave a link to a song in the description called “I’ll Give Him My Heart.” I hope that it will make you think and provoke some good emotion as you think about what gift you can give our Savior this season because He’s given so much. Let’s close in a word of prayer. Lord, thank you for sending Your son Jesus to Earth as a baby. Help us to be content like the early Christians, to learn a lot about contentment, sacrifice, and devotion, and give Him our whole heart; because He deserves it. He deserves our all. Amen. Well, that’s it everyone, and I’ll see you next time when we talk about the letter Y. Y will be for Yield. That’s it and thanks for watching. Bye, God Bless.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

W is for Will


Hi everyone, and welcome to week 23 of The ABC’s of Contentment. Today we’re on the letter W, and W stands for the word Will. There’s two verses today. The first verse is James 5:14 where it says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.” The second verse is James 4:14b-15 where it says, “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” Again, today’s word is Will and this is a very touchy subject. Some Christians could look at those verses and they could say, “Shouldn’t we expect miraculous healing? The age of miracles is still with us, right?” That’s a good question. I’ve done a lot of research on the subject. As you know, one of my favorite spiritual mentors is Joni Earecksom Tada. I mention her a lot because she’s been very influential on my thinking throughout my life when it comes to subjects like this. She actually went to many faith healing services when she first had her accident and she wrote a pamphlet called, “Where’s My Miracle?” When we’re done and I upload the video, I’m going to leave a link to the pamphlet in the description. In it, one of the first things she says is that the age of miracles is still with us. She says the mistake in this line of reasoning fails to understand the purpose for miracles in the New Testament. Miracles had a special place at the time of Christ because they proved who He was and who He claimed to be- the Promised One of Israel. Miracles had a special place at the time of the apostles because they proved they too were who they claimed to be. She goes on to talk about how all of this was happening before we had the New Testament written down. So anyway, we live in a society where we want everything to be a quick fix. However, God is not required to stick to a formula. Just because He did something in the Old Testament times, doesn’t mean He has to do it the exact same way now. Look at me. Do I believe in miracles? Yes. Take for instance my birth. The way I survived when I was two months premature; that shouldn’t have happened. The only way that can be explained is a miracle of God, and I’m alive to tell about it and proclaim His good news. When I had the surgery, we didn’t know that it would turn out as well as it did. But God did. The same thing happened when I was born premature in the Neonatal Unit. God had His hand on the doctors. He knew how things were going to turn out. He had a special plan. God worked through the doctors as I believe He works through people today. However, people have come up to me over the years and they’ve prayed for me many times as if prayer is what’s going to make me rise out of my wheelchair. You know what? I appreciate prayer because I do need prayer to deal with my disability on a daily basis. But people cannot make me rise out of my wheelchair. It hasn’t happened and I don’t expect it to. Does that mean that I did something? No. Does that mean that my birth was caused by a sin my mother committed? No. It means that God had plan, God has a Will, God has a purpose, things turned out the way they did, and that’s okay. I have to be thankful that I’m living, that I’m able to do what I’m able to do, and just have thankful heart. Here’s another example of a miracle; a story that my friend Jessica shared with me. Another church that she went to a while ago had somebody who was deaf in both ears, which means she couldn’t hear at all. So people prayed over her, and Jessica’s dad and the kids started talking and she was covering her head. He was like, “Are you okay?” She said, “They’re talking too loud.” So then, just to make sure that he wasn’t crazy, he started talking to her softer and softer and she could hear him. Again, the only way stuff like that can be explained is by miracles of God. So why does God allow some people to be healed and some not? Or is it just the way we think of healing in our society? I don’t have all of the answers. I don’t have the mind of God. But I do know that, like I said, God reserves the right to heal or not heal people physically as He sees fit. If He believes that physical healing is how they’re going to serve Him best, then He will. However, if He doesn’t feel that physical healing is the best thing for them, then He won’t. He is in control of all things. That’s what sovereignty and God’s Will is all about. Another great speaker, Elizabeth Elliott (she is in heaven now) said, “God’s will is never exactly what you expect it to be.” Amen. I know that. I’m a living example. My biggest problem with faith healers on T.V. is that people have a tendency to give them all of the credit. As if the faith healers are God, and God is not. In my mind, if those people really had that gift, (again, I’ve done a bunch of research) why are they making money healing people? Why are they going on extravagant vacations? They should be using their gift to honor the Lord and bring glory to Him, not themselves. When I was born and doctors didn’t think that I would make it, my mom and my family said, “Thank you Lord.” That’s what I wish people would say more often, but they don’t. They tend to give credit to the one human being as if they’re God; and only God is God. If it wasn’t for God pulling me through my birth, I wouldn’t be here today. It’s only because of God, by His grace, that I’m still breathing; even with some of the health issues I face with cerebral palsy. I don’t expect in my case (while I know healing can happen) the cerebral palsy to go away; and that’s okay. Instead, I’d rather study God’s Word and just learn how to make my joy complete in all circumstances that come my way. That’s what I’m really stressing in the series; how do you make your joy complete in all circumstances? Even when God doesn’t give you everything you ask for. It’s like, think about when you were a child. You knew Christmas was coming and you had toys and gifts that you wanted, but did you get everything on your Christmas list? No. Even when you went to the store with your mom or dad, did you get that piece of candy all the time? No. Why not? Because a loving parent doesn’t give you everything that you ask for. The same goes with God. Just because we ask for healing, and there’s nothing wrong if we ask Him for healing; the Bible talks about it. That doesn’t mean that God’s going to give it to us all of the time. My concern, and that’s why I started this series, is that as Christians, we tend to pray for healing; and that’s it. While praying for physical healing is not a bad thing, it shouldn’t be all that we pray for. If we don’t get that physical healing, like I think of that physical healing that the doctors thought I would receive when I had the surgery, we should be praying, “Lord, can you please help me learn how to live with this? Show me how to live and get through it; depend on you and be a blessing to others.” I hope that makes sense. I think I covered everything. Now let’s see, and that there’s my friend Jessica who who’s behind the scenes. She reminds me and keeps me on track. Just like Jodi says in another quote from “Where’s My Miracle?” She says, “On a scale of one to ten, how quick are you to ask God to remove that painful situation from your life? On the same scale, how quick are you to share the gospel with others? Remember, God saved you so that you could share the gospel with others. And your painful situation may be His best platform to showcase that.” Remember, if He doesn’t heal you, it’s not about you. It’s for His glory; to bring glory to Him. I think that says it all. Amen. Now let’s close in prayer. Lord, please make my desires the desires of your heart. Give me compassion for those who have greater afflictions than mine. Help me to be made selfless. Give me patience and endurance as I learn to pray according to your Will. Thank you that you’ve brought me to a place where I can accept the Cerebral Palsy as a gift and remind me on a daily basis, through your word and through people, that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank you for healing me, not physically, but spiritually, because our world needs more of a spiritual healing than a physical healing. In Jesus name, Amen. That’s it everybody. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next time when I talk about the letter X and X will be about the history of Xmas Bye. God Bless.
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel here.

V is for Vase


Hi everyone. Welcome to week 22 of The ABC’s of Contentment. Today we’re on the letter V and V stands for Vase. I told you I’m going to give you a condensed version of what I did for my Awana girls about how becoming a Christian is like becoming a Vase and give you a gospel message, so that’s what I’m gonna do. Here we go. First, here’s all the pieces that I made when I learned how to make a Vase. Again, this took 11 weeks, and all these pieces could represent how even when we come to the Lord and start becoming a Vase, growing in the Lord and getting to know Him is a process. It doesn’t just happen overnight like things do in the movies. Here’s the finished product that I made, and here’s a yellow one that my friend Jessica made. The reason I’m showing two different colored Vases is to show that not every Vase, not every life, is going to be the same. Sometimes we’re going to have different experiences and learn different things, even as Christians; but that’s okay. The important thing is that we grow in the Lord and get to know him; and when our time comes, we get to meet him face to face in heaven. The question is: are we ready for that? I once saw something on Facebook that a friend of mine had said, “Christians are people who are walking each other home.” That’s so true. Our goal is to help each other along. If we were all the same, relationships would be boring because we would have nothing to learn from each other. We’d all be robots. God never intended for us to be robots. Instead, he intended for us to be Vases. I’m using the Vase analogy because I thought it was appropriate. Remember Romans 9:20-21 that says, “Lord, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” There’s a lot about pottery in the Bible, so I thought it was appropriate; here we go. Here’s the gospel. God had planned for us as humans to have a relationship with him and be together in heaven in paradise where everything would be perfect. When He created Adam and Eve, He only gave them one rule to follow. Can you imagine if you only had to follow one rule? That would be great, wouldn’t it? I think so. Anyway, they only had one rule to follow, but they fell. God said in Genesis 2:16-17, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” One thing that you learn about God and His Word is that when God says something, He means what he says. God is not a liar. Anyway, all they had to do was follow that one rule but they failed. So because of that, we humans are like broken Vases because of sin. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of glory of God.” So the Vase (our relationship with God) has to be repaired. In order to help repair the Vases, God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” So now that Christ died for us and rose again, there’s hope! The Vase can be repaired! Yay! Acts 16:31 says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Then after we accept Christ as our Savior, we begin to be transformed into that beautiful Vase that God meant for us to be in the first place. Psalms 51:7 says, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” From the day we accept Christ as our Savior, until the day we get to heaven, God is always working on us to complete that work that He started when we first became a Christian. Until the day we get to heaven, we’re like unfinished Vases. To become that finished Vase we have to do our part; it’s not all up to God. So how do we begin to become a finished Vase? Well, like I said, we meet with other Christians and learn from each other. Read his word and pray. We actually spend time with God and get to know Him. Philippians 1:4-6 says, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Now the Bible doesn’t say anything about become a Christian and your life will be smooth-sailing. No. Just because you become a Christian doesn’t mean you won’t have problems. Look at the Apostle Paul; even when Saul became Paul, he got thrown in jail many times because he was preaching the Word of God. But he still never went back on his faith; even from inside the jail cell. He wrote letters to other believers to encourage them because he knew what it was like to be in the big bad world. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, the Apostle Paul says, “I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” See my strong muscles? Let’s face it: even though God forgives us, it’s not always easy for us as humans to forget the past. We all have things in our lives that we could look back and say, “I wish I hadn’t done that. What did I do that for?” As the Apostle Paul stated in that last verse, just because you become a Christian doesn’t mean you yourself forget what you did. The Vase may have blemishes, but it’s those blemishes that God uses in our lives to help us minister to others and show us how far we’ve come. The more you get to know the Lord (and this is why it’s so important to spend time with him in His word), the more you’ll be saying, “Thank you Lord for not removing those blemishes from my life. Thank you for what you brought me through. Thank you for who you are. Again, I could go on and on. So this is a condensed version of the gospel and if you’re interested in seeing the full lesson I did for the girls, come to my YouTube channel and look for the video titled, “How Becoming a Christian Is Like Becoming a Vase.” Thanks for watching everyone. If anybody has any questions about what I said, when I upload the video, feel free to leave questions or comments below. I’m here to help okay? Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next week when we talk about the letter W and W will be for Will. Bye everyone, God Bless.

Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel

U is for Understanding


Hi everyone, and welcome to week 21 of The ABC’s of Contentment. If you’d have seen my laughter this morning, that is what contentment is all about. That is what happens when you’re content and joyful in Jesus. So anyway, like I said, it’s week 21, we’re on the letter U, and U is for Understanding. The verse that goes with the letter U is Proverbs 3:5-6. This is a famous, often quoted verse, and it says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Amen. This is a principle I’ve seen to be true in my life over and over again. One of the areas I saw it in was back in 2017 when I was working on learning how to make a vase for the lesson I did for my Awana girls. I did it for 11 weeks, and every week that I did it with Jessica, we put up a picture, I put it on my blog, and I wrote a short devotional. If you’re interested in checking it out, it’s on my blog. It’s a picture, a short devotional, and if anyone is a Sunday school teacher, I added activities for kids to do. So if anyone wants to use it as a curriculum, you’re welcome to do that. Anyway, moving on. I saw this to be true when I was learning how to make a vase. Little movements can be hard because of my limited hand dexterity. One of the things I first had trouble with was learning how to get the right heighth for the vase. We got to week eight and I finally learned how to get the right heighth for the vase. I worked on what’s called internal and external rotation, which is this. See, this is internal; now this is external. I know, it’s a simple movement, but when you have something like cerebral palsy, learning to do little things like that take time. That was a great day! That was a day when Jessica hardly helped me at all. I did the vase almost all by myself! However, that day Jessica took the picture just in time. Shortly after she took the picture, then I had a hard time getting my fingers to wrap around the play-doh. It was as if once we took away the containers, my brain said, “What’s going on?” My brain was used to doing internal-external rotation with the containers, but not by themselves. When someone has something like cerebral palsy, that’s what happens. When I’m used to doing something a certain way with my muscles, things take time. Change takes time, I should say. So of course, I’m going to leave a link to that great day on my blog. But like I said, the reason it looks so good in the picture is because my muscles had just been warmed up, so my mind was still fresh as to how it should be done. The same thing happens in Christianity. We don’t always Understand what the Lord is doing in our lives, but that’s okay; we just need to trust Him and know that He will reveal His perfect plan and His perfect timing. Again, I’ve said this many times, so I’m sounding like a broken record, but I don’t care. The question, the thing is, there’s always a lesson. Are we willing to learn that lesson and are we willing to see what that perfect plan is? His perfect timing; are we going to trust Him? Lord help me to remember that everything that happens in my life is in your will, and that your will is perfect. When I don’t Understand what’s happening in my life, help me to remember that. Thank you that in Your Word it says that someday I will understand and there will be no more tears. I look forward to the day when I will fully understand your ways. Amen. By the way, I forgot to mention that Joni talks about this in one of her radio broadcasts. There’s a song called “Someday He’ll Make It Plain” by a guy named Adam Geibel. I’m going leave the link to that broadcast in the description as well as a link to week 8 on my blog and you can look at it. Some things aren’t meant for us to Understand until we get to heaven and that’s okay. Like I don’t fully Understand why God didn’t allow the surgery I had to work 100% and let me walk without the walker; but I will someday. I look forward to that day. Well, that’s it everyone. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next time when we talk about the letter V and V will be for Vase. Vase is going to be the week that we that we talk about a gospel message. I’ll show you a condensed version of what I shared with my girls. Bye. God Bless
Subscribe to my channel here

T is For Timing

Hi everyone, and welcome to The ABC’S of Contentment. Today is week 20 and we’re on the letter T, and T stands for Timing. The verse that goes with the word Timing is Ecclesiastes 3:11 where it says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what the Lord has done from beginning to end.” I’ve seen this to be true in my life time and time again; over and over. One of the first places I’ve ever seen it to be true is when I had that surgery that doctors thought was supposed to give me the full ability to walk without a walker. Trust me, there’s times I could look back and I wish it did. Even though I did the exercises the therapists said, the message that communicates with that part of the brain just wasn’t there. For some reason, the Lord said no. He had another plan. But I have to be thankful that I am walking. With that, other things can happen. Like I’ve said, I volunteer at the hospital. I’ve been doing that for 12 years. I volunteer at church with the Awana program. I’ve been doing that for 19 years. This year I’m on a new adventure. Usually I’m an assistant at Awana. This year, I’m a full-time table leader. I’m really being stretched as I’m learning how to teach my 5th and 6th grade girls on their level and getting them to memorize scripture, while at the same time making it fun for them. The Lord is teaching me a lot this year; and in God’s Timing. I’ve learned that when it’s fun, and the kids are motivated, they’ll memorize scripture. I’ve also seen the principle of Timing to be true with my mom when I was born. When I was first born, even though she was a Christ-follower, my mom was angry. She harbored angry feelings toward God because of the way I was born. She says when she talked to people, that was often her wake-up call that she had a lot of spiritual growing to do in the Lord. It’s not until someone (like my mother) goes through a situation like that, that they realize that they have a lot of spiritual growing to do even though they’ve walked with the Lord for years. The person that says, “That Jesus stuff is not for me,” it’s not until they go through something like waiting to hear whether their loved one is going to live or die in the hospital that they’re crying out to God and praying to Him for the first time. Because the Lord softened my mother’s heart, I came close to the Lord at an early age. Thank you, Lord and thank you, mom. She’s a good example of how in God’s Timing, everything is made beautiful. Though I can’t walk like I’d like to without my walker, I’ve realized everything has a purpose. I’ve also seen that as I search the scriptures and through other people that I’ve met. If I had the full ability to walk like I’d like to, who knows the kind of places I would go? Who knows the kind of choices I would make? Would I even care about spiritual things in the same way? Would I be doing this series? I don’t think so. Would I be helping with Awana? I don’t think so. I look at our society today and I often think that we’re too independent for our own good. I think that’s why we want to take God out of so many things. One of the first things that comes to mind when I think of the word Timing is an old song I heard with a fictional character named Psalty the Singing Songbook. The song is called “In His Time.” I’ll leave a link to the lyrics in the description when I upload the video. Through my many hardships and the challenges I still face today, the Lord has shown me that everything is beautiful in His Timing. I could go on and on. This could be a long video. I’ve seen how everything is made beautiful. My dad died of a massive heart attack in 1995 and I grew even closer to my church family. All the verses I memorized in Awana have really helped me through the years. Because of so many things that I’ve seen, I’ve seen so much light that there’s no way I could doubt the Lord. There’s so much I’ve seen that I could say everything really is made beautiful in His Timing. The question is, are we willing to wait to see what that beautiful thing is going to be? There’s always a lesson. Are we willing to learn that lesson and be moldable? Lord thank you that through my trials and tribulations you show me that everything is made beautiful in your Timing. Please give me patience as I continue to go through many trials and continue to show me that everything is made beautiful in your Timing. I can’t wait to see the other beautiful plans you have for my life. Amen. Well, that’s it for the letter T and I’ll see you next time when we talk about the letter U. U will be for Understanding. Bye everyone, and God Bless.
Subscribe to my channel here

R is for Renew


Hi everyone, and welcome to week 18 of the ABC’s of Contentment. I hope you’re enjoying the series. I am. Today’s letter is R and R can stand for a couple of things. It can stand for Rachael, or it can also stand for Renew. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today; Renew. Usually, I end with the song, but today we’re going to do things a little bit differently. Today’s song goes with the verse, so we’re going to start with the song. I found a song by a lady named Jennifer Shaw. It’s called “Those Who Hope in the Lord.” So here we go.

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength
They will soar on wings like eagles
They will run and not grow weary
They will walk and not be faint
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength
They will soar on wings like eagles
They will run and not grow weary
They will walk and not be faint
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength
Isaiah 40:31”

If you didn’t already guess from listening to the song, the verse is Isaiah 40:31 and it says exactly that. “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” This is something I have to do daily; Renew. Let’s face it. For the most part I have a positive outlook about life and about my disability. But sometimes, I’m not going to lie to you sometimes having cerebral palsy, it can be difficult. I have other special needs friends who have CP (which stands for cerebral palsy) and they have a lesser degree of it. Sometimes I look at them and I think, “Why can’t I be one of them?” For instance, why can’t I be the person who after that surgery I had, has the full ability to walk without a walker? Why can’t I be the person who is able to comb their own hair and dress themselves? Why can’t I be the person who’s able to drive their own car and get themselves around town, and just get themselves out the door independently? If I’m not careful, the list can go on and on. I could have a real bitter heart. Sometimes my mom has to stop me and remind me of her famous saying, “Rachael, remember to focus on what you can do not what you can’t.” It’s at times like that that I have to remember the impact that my disability has had on different people in the community; such as people at the hospital. So how does my strength get Renewed? Well, it gets Renewed by reading God’s Word, remembering verses like the one we’re talking about today, and also remembering scriptures that we’ve already talked about; like the one we talked about in week four when we talked about D is for Displayed. In John chapter 9, the disciples asked Jesus, “Who sinned? Was it this man or his parents that he was born blind?” and remember Jesus said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” When I remember scriptures like that, and then I remember people like my friend Joni Eareckson Tada who every morning when she gets up says, “O Lord may I please borrow your smile?” When I remember things like that, my strength is Renewed and then I can shine and be a light for Jesus. Again, it’s only through Jesus that my strength is Renewed. Without Him, I am nothing. It’s not something I can do by myself. Lord help me to remember that on a daily basis. Thank you that when I turn to your Word, my strength is Renewed. Thank you that I can run and not grow weary, walk and not faint, help me to soar and be like an eagle. Amen. How about you? Are you tired today and need some extra strength? Are you ready to give up? Instead of turning to Extra Strength Tylenol, or some other kind of medication which has terrible side effects, how about turning to Jesus? He will make you soar like an eagle. He will give you more strength than you could ever imagine. I promise. Well, that’s it for the letter R and I’ll see you next week when we talk about three words for the letter S: Sanctify, Organize, and Surrender. It’s what’s called the S.O.S. principles. Bye. God Bless.
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel here.

S. O. S. Principles

I know the letters are out of order. I will not be able to have the letter R up until the end of the month due to technical difficulties. I just wanted to put up something so that people would keep coming to my blog and my channel. Enjoy and thanks for watching. I’d love to hear from you!

Hi everyone, and welcome to week 19 of the ABC’S of Contentment. Today we’re on the letter S and it’s an unusual week. Usually we just focus on one word but today we’re going to focus on three words: we’re going to talk about something called the S.O.S. Principles. If you’ve been around water a lot, or you go to the ocean, you know that S.O.S. usually means “Save Our Ship.” But today, we’re going to talk about something different that can apply to the Bible. I got the idea for this from Renee Bondi. She’s a recording artist who’s in a wheelchair because she was paralyzed from an accident. It’s complicated to explain how she got injured, so I’m not going to. I’m just going to leave a link to her website in the description and then you can look at it from there. I’m also going to leave a link to one of my favorite songs, a music video, and you can you can look at that if you want to. So, the first S is for Sanctify. Sanctify means to make holy or be set apart. When Renee was first paralyzed, she had quite a time adjusting to being in a wheelchair. It wasn’t until she got a pressure sore and had to be out of her wheelchair for seven months and in bed in different positions that she finally learned to appreciate her wheelchair. Afterwards, while she was in bed, Renee called Joni Eareckson Tada and Joni gave her some scriptures to meditate on. One of those scriptures was Philippians 4:8 where it says, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think on such things.” Great scripture, huh? And so, after those seven months of having to be in bed, when Renee could finally get back in her wheelchair, she looked at it as something to accompany her and something to help her get going on and live life. She says, “I looked at that chair while I was in bed and said, ‘Hello old friend. Sure wish I could hang out with you for a while, go places, etc.’ She said, “Guess what Jesus did? He turned it from my foe to my ally, from my enemy to my friend.” So Sanctify is the first S. What’s an area in your life that you need God to make you holy? The next letter is O and O is for Organized. The verse that goes with that is 1 Corinthians 10:31. It says, “So whether you eat, drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.” Organize. Are your priorities organized? For instance, when you talk about making a decision, is God first in your thinking? Are you thinking about what you can do that would please God, or is He last? Where is God on your priority list? The next and last S is for Surrender. The verse that goes with that is Philippians 4:7 where it says, “And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Is there an area in your life that you need to surrender to God? Renee says that the reason that she’s able to talk to crowds, the reason she’s able to encourage people and give the wonderful messages that she gives, is because she finally chose to surrender her accident and her life to God. Doctors said she would never sing again and as you’ll hear if you go to my video link, (that song I love so much), what do doctors know! But as Renee says, she could still sing, she just had to learn to do things a little differently. But because she changed her attitude, she was still able to be used by God. Have you surrendered your life to God so that He can use you and you can be a blessing to others? Is He the captain of the ship of your life? Lord, thank you that if we send out an S.O.S., you answer. Help us to make you the captain of our lives. I can’t wait to see the adventures you’ll take me on. Amen. Well that’s it for the letter S everyone. We’ll see you next time when we talk about the letter T and T will be for Timing. Bye and God Bless.
Subscribe to my Youtube channel here.

1 2 3 4