NEWS RILL

HAIRBRUSH EXPERIENCE OF BETH MOORE AT THE AIRPORT

Bobbie — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:02:08 +0000

For those of you who do not know Beth Moore, she is
an outstanding Bible teacher, writer of Bible
studies, and is a married mother of two daughters.

This is one of her experiences:

April 20, 2005, at the Airport in Knoxville, waiting
to board the plane, I had the Bible on my lap and was
very intent upon what I was doing. I’d had a marvelous
morning with the Lord. I say this because I want to
tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God
really working in you.

You could end up doing some things you never would
have done otherwise. Life in the Spirit can be
dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least of which is
your ego.

I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a
strange sight. Humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin
and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he
was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees
protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked
like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His
hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones.

The strangest part of him was his hair and nails.
Stringy, gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down
part of his back. His fingernails were long, clean
but strangely out of place on an old man.

I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could,
discomfort burning my face. As I tried to imagine what his
story might have been, I found myself wondering if
I’d just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, I
remembered that he was dead. So this man in the
airport… An impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us
somewhere? There I sat; trying to concentrate on the Word
to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of
humanity served up on a wheelchair only a few seats
from me. All the while, my heart was growing more and

more overwhelmed with a feeling for him.

Let’s admit it. Curiosity is a heap more
comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with

aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man.

I had walked with God long enough to see the
handwriting on the wall. I’ve learned that when I begin
to feel what God feels, something so contrary to my
natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to
happen. And it may be embarrassing.

I immediately began to resist because I could feel
God working on my spirit and I started arguing with
God in my mind. ‘Oh, no, God, please, no.’ I looked
up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through
it into heaven and said, ‘Don’t make me
witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please.
I’ll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but
don’t make me get up here and witness to this man
in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!’

There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His
Highness, ‘Please don’t make me witness to this man.

Not now. I’ll do it on the plane.’ Then I
heard it….’I don’t want you to witness to
him. I want you to brush his hair.’

The words were so clear, my heart leap into my
throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. Do I witness
to the man or brush his hair? No-brainier. I looked
straight back up at the ceiling and said, ‘God, as
I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to
witness to this man. I’m on this Lord. I’m your
girl! You’ve never seen a woman witness to a man
faster in your life. What difference does it make if
his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed? I am going
to witness to this man.’

Again as clearly as I’ve ever heard an audible
word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of
my mind. ‘That is not what I said, Beth. I
don’t want you to witness to him. I want you to
go brush his hair.’

I looked up at God and quipped, ‘I don’t have
a hairbrush. It’s in my suitcase on the plane. How
am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?’
God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began
to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from
God’s word: ‘I will thoroughly furnish you unto
all good works.’ (2 Timothy 3:17)

I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could
use one myself. Even as I retell this story, my pulse
quickens and I feel those same butterflies. I knelt down in
front of the man and asked as demurely as possible,
‘Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your
hair?’

He looked back at me and said, ‘What did you
say?’

‘May I have the pleasure of brushing your
hair?’

To which he responded in volume ten, ‘Little
lady, if you expect me to hear you, you’re going to have
to talk louder than that’

At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out,
‘SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR
HAIR?’ At which point every eye in the place darted
right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking
more peculiar than old Mr. Long Locks. Face crimson
and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him
look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say,
‘If you really want to.’

Are you kidding? Of course I didn’t want to. But
God didn’t seem interested in my personal preference
right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could
utter the words, ‘Yes, sir, I would be pleased.
But I have one little problem. I don’t have a
hairbrush.’

‘I have one in my bag,’ he responded.

I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I
got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger’s
old carry-on, hardly believing what I was doing. I stood
up and started brushing the old man’s hair. It
was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I
don’t do many things well, but must admit I’ve
had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two
little girls. Like I’d done with either Amanda or
Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the
very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my
time not to pull. A miraculous thing happened to me as I
started brushing that old man’s hair. Everybody else
in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for
those moments except that old man and me. I brushed
and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out
of that hair. I know this sounds so strange, but I’ve
never felt that kind of love for another soul in my
entire life. I believe with all my heart, I - for
that few minutes - felt a portion of the very love of
God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little
while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home
for a short while.

The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew
they had to be God’s. His hair was finally as soft

and smooth as an infant’s.

I slipped the brush back in the bag and went around
the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees,
put my hands on his knee and said, ‘Sir, do you know my
Jesus?’

He said, ‘Yes, I do’

Well, that figures, I thought.

He explained, ‘I’ve known Him since I married
my bride. She wouldn’t marry me until I got to know the
Savior.’ He said, ‘You see, the problem is, I
haven’t seen my bride in months. I’ve had
open-heart surgery, and she’s been too ill to come
see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, what a mess
I must be for my bride.’

Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a
divine moment when we’re completely unaware of the
significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those
rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in

details only He could have known. It was a God
moment, and I’ll never forget it.

Our time came to board, and we were not on the same
plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I’d acted earlier
and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on
that aircraft.

I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my
things to board, the airline hostess returned from the
corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said,
‘That old man’s sitting on the plane, sobbing.
Why did you do that? What made you do that?’

I said, ‘Do you know Jesus? He can be the
bossiest thing!’

And we got to share.

I learned something about God that day. He knows if
you’re exhausted, you’re hungry, you’re serving
in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you
feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you’re

hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you’re
sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He
knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an
individual. Tell Him your need!

I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat,
wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I
missed along the way … all because I didn’t want

people to think I was strange. God didn’t send me
to that old man. He sent that old man to me.

John 1:14 ‘The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the
One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace
and truth’

Life shouldn’t be a journey to the grave with the
intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved
body, but rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used
up, totally worn out, and loudly shouting, ‘Wow!
What a ride! Thank You, Lord!’

Girlfriends Need Each Other

Bobbie — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:56:36 +0000

Most of us receive tons of emails that are forwarded to us each week. Here’s one I wanted to share with you that came not as part of a “group” email sent to everyone on her list, but rather was addressed directly to me with the subject line, “You are one of these to me.” I hope it will encourage you to reach out to someone special in your life today - whether it’s out of need or perhaps to be a source of encouragement.

Jobs come and go. Love waxes and wanes. Men don’t do what they’re supposed to do. Hearts break. Parents die. Colleagues forget favors. Careers end.

But…sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girlfriend is never farther away than needing her can reach.

When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley’s rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley’s end.

Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you…Or come in and carry you out. Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, daughter-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, mothers, grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended family, all bless our life!

The world wouldn’t be the same without women, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other. Every day, we need each other still.

Thank God for your girlfriends and may the reality of God’s presence keep your heart and mind focused on Him today.

Bobbie

What it’s like to be a Christian

Bobbie — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:39:14 +0000

I received this from a co-worker that I thought was very appropriate for today.

“What’s it like to be a Christian?”

“It’s like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.”

While I realize this illustration has it’s flaws, I think you get the idea. God has chosen you and transformed you on the inside, which others see. You can trust Him on that one!

The point is that while we were still sinners, Christ demonstrated His love for us through His death on the cross. Your sins have been washed away through the blood of Christ. Read Romans chapter 5, verses 1-11 today. Thank Him for choosing you, walk in the light of His grace and know you are loved!

Bobbie

The Upcoming Election

Bobbie — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:02:42 +0000

Just what you need - another person commenting about politics. But, I have to tell you what my experience of voting was like. We decided to vote early like a lot of people and boy am I glad. I would have been in that little booth for hours trying to figure out how to vote on all the propositions.

Be warned! When it comes to voting on the propositions, be prepared to scratch your head. Twice Bob and I had to stop. We just looked at each other. We both have college degrees and struggled trying to figure out what in the world the people who wrote the propositions were trying to say. In my opinion, whoever was responsible for writing the copy failed miserably in effective communication. I felt like a complete idiot trying to understand what the propositions were saying let alone how to vote on them. Thank goodness for the TV ads for helping to spell it out and tell us how to vote…Surely we can trust them! Right?? Whew! Glad I got through it and so will you.

Before I sign off, let me just say voting for the position of President is a no brainer for me. I’m conservative and proud of it! So, if you’re going to vote Republican, please get out and vote! If you’re even thinking about voting Democrat, I’m shocked. It is totally beyond reason, in my opinion, why anyone would freely choose to vote for a lier to fill our office of President or Vice President. Come on! Doesn’t personal integrity mean anything? Do you really want a person who lies to be honored with such a high position? If they lie on public TV, do you really want to place your trust in that person to lead our country? Not to mention the associations of the Democratic nominee. Open your eyes. Don’t be deceived. Our country is too important to sit back and do nothing. Exercise your right and freedom to vote.

One last thing. No matter what the outcome of the election is remember what the Bible says in Romans chapter 13. ”Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

May you be blessed today with the reality of God’s presence!

Bobbie

On our way home!

Bobbie — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:44:35 +0000

Yesterday we spent time in Koln, Germany - a wonderful, quaint town. Since this was our first day of experiencing some light rain, we decided it would also be a great time to visit our first museum. Up until now the weather has been way too wonderful to spend any time inside but I have to admit, this museum caught both our attention and our interest. It was the Chocolate Museum. Unfortunately, no one in my family either cares much for chocolate or “needs” it. But, it was still fun to see the process of manufacturing it and tasting a few samples.

This morning we took the rail from Koln to the Frankfurt airport and right now are spending some time in the Admirals Club before our flight takes off in a couple of hours. It has been a fantastic trip and thanks again to Stan Moser, we have enjoyed traveling first class, including the amenities of the Admirals Club.

For those of you planning a trip to Europe, I do have some recommendations:

1) Take a wash cloth. For some reason I’ve yet to discover, they don’t use them over here.

2) Plan time in Grindelwald, Switzerland. It is an awesome place, especially if you enjoy the mountains and like to hike.

3) Leave the traveler’s checks in America! They are not user friendly over here as Sue discovered - contrary to the advise of her AAA agent who told her she would find an Am Exp bank on every corner. Just not so althought I do believe she saw one place in the 14 day trip that did accept them.

4) Euros and a credit card are all you need! Based on some good advise from some friends and also supported by what I read, I took twice the amount of money I had planned, which really came in handy when the Am Exp traveler’s checks did not work well for Sue.

5) Pack lightly. That was the second best advise I received and a great decision on my part to follow. Believe it or not I took only one small suitcase and a backpack on rollers.

6) Oh, you know those converters you can purchase for around $20 so you can use your blow dryer and curling iron, forget it. I purchased one but then got over here only to discover that the sockets all have a round covers in them so the only thing that worked were those pieces of equipment that are already wired for 220v and then all you need to make sure of is that you have a plug. For me that was the charger for the camera battery. By the way, I loved the camera I had to use while over here - Thanks, Brigette! I owe you one for that. Now, for those of you who might wonder what on earth I did without a blow dryer or curling iron, well, all I can say is that it was good to stay with Martha periodically while we were over here and that the 4 star hotels all had blow dryers, too, which was a huge help. I survived and so would you! A trip to Europe is well worth any small inconvenience you might have with the few things we Americans are use to having.

7) We used the 8-day rail pass and loved it. You can get either a 3-day, 5-day pass - whatever but we found it a great way to travel Europe. In addition, the subway systems and rails are fairly easy to figure out and once you do, it’s no problem at all to find your way around.

8) Also, the Swiss pass sounds like a great deal when visiting Switzerland. We didn’t get this but it would have probably well paid of itself.

Well, I’m heading back to enjoy the snacks and beverages in the Admirals Club before we head to the plane. : )

Auf Wiedersien.

Bobbie & Sue

Switzerland

Bobbie — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:19:00 +0000

Switzerland was amazing! We spend three days exploring the area and the weather couldn’t have been more beautiful. I ended up taking off my jacket during the hikes. Will post more photos later.

Dachau, Germany

Bobbie — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:48:40 +0000

After seeing Neuschwanstein, an unbelievably beautiful structure built by man, Dachau is the exact opposite where we see the place of unbelievable acts of evil. The words on the fence of the first photo states that “work will make you free.” That’s the impression people were given as well as that they were going to be able to shower in the room that ultimately led to their death in the gas chambers. You can see where the “shower heads” were placed. Their wooden bunks had no slats separating them so literally hundreds of prisoners tried to rest. The photo of people over the barbed wire fence depicts how some made the choice when their life would end rather than wait for the unknown fate they faced. It was a sobering experience. I learned that every German student is required to visit the camps as they believe that only through education can they ensure that this will never happen again. Although we didn’t formerly take a guided tour, we attached ourselves to a fantastic Australian guide whose knowledge of the history gave insights we appreciated hearing.

We are currently staying with Col. Martha McSally. Today we are heading to Switzerland.

Fussen, Germany

Bobbie — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:45:44 +0000

Fussen is one of those unbelievable places you see photos of in magazines and wonder if such a place really exist. We started this segment of our trip roughing it in first class accommodations on the train as Sue illustrates. The highlight was seeing the majestic mountains and of course the two castles of King Ludwig II. The first was referred to as his “cabin” while the second, larger one, our tour guide called his “apartment” as she led us through the part of the castle he actually lived in. Ludwig unfortunately only lived in the castle for approximately 4 months prior to his death. A large part of the castle was never finished but the interior work of what was completed is breath-taking. The wood work alone in one section of this living quarters took 4 years to complete.

Instead of taking the bus back into town, Sue and I decided to take the 3 mile hike through the woods - or over the mountain, I should say. A couple of the photos above of the castle was taken on that hike, as well as, the swan that was in the lake we passed. Needless to say, a good dinner, followed by dessert, was well earned before we collapsed in our 4 star hotel! (Just a side note - the 4 star hotel in Fussen was less expensive than our 2 star hotel in Paris!) There’s no doubt about it, however, we are not roughing it on this trip!

Salzburg, Austria Photos

Bobbie — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:57:03 +0000

Being in the quaint city of Salzburg was wonderful. After getting lost with the twists and turns of the streets, we finally found our way back to our hotel around 9 pm. The next day we took the Sound of Music Tour. Photos may be somewhat recognizable as Sue spreads her arms singing Do Re Mei and of course the 16 going on 17…Right! It was a great experience!

Paris Photos

Bobbie — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:23:30 +0000

Quaint restaurant in the Latin Quarter in Paris.

Sue at the LouvreBlue lights highlight the Tower at night.Notre DameSue on our boat trip down the Seine River