Thought #4: "Walking by faith means being prepared to trust when we are not permitted to see."
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Thought #4 ~ Faith
Thought #4: "Walking by faith means being prepared to trust when we are not permitted to see."
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Thought #3 ~ No Condemnation
Thought #3 "...there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). Without believing in the atoning work of Jesus we stand in death’s row -- condemned. "Jesus came (Christmas) to pay a debt (Good Friday) He didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay." I had unspeakable release when I found out that I was no longer condemned. How about you?
Monday, August 13, 2012
Thought #2
Monday, August 6, 2012
Thought #1 and Introduction
Greetings in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Many of you are enjoying my monthly blog spot, A Window for Women. Thank you for your comments that encourage me to continue. Because a month seems like a long time, and because I’ m constrained to share more often, I’m adding a weekly "shortie" called A Thought. A "shortie" is a hard thing for a woman to come by! At least we have a reputation. In this new venture, I have found that it takes a lot of time and forethought to say something that will be worthy of your time and will honor our Lord in a few words. I don’t know who will be reading these nuggets, but God does. I have prayed that the Lord, "Who knows all things," would help me write just the right thought on the very week that someone would need it.
What is the source of these thoughts? Some of the short ones are from jottings on scraps of paper; some are from the fly leaves of my Bibles or my daily Bible study. Some are from friends, and some just pop into my head as I write. The longer ones take much time as I reference commentaries and other sources. They must go through the grid of my own heart before I share.
If this venture is a blessing to you, I would appreciate knowing so. This will help me to know whether to continue. Please don’t expect more than a "Thank you" in reply. My cup is very full in ministry -- mentoring, counseling, writing, speaking, witnessing, housekeeping, and being my husband’s helpmeet.
My prayer is that you will be edified and God glorified through this little tool -- "A Thought."
Look for a new Thought on Monday of each week. We will start with Thought #1 today. God bless.
Thought #1 There is no problem that is bigger than the reservoir of God’s grace. Open your Bible to 2 Cor. 12:9. Paul says that three times he pleaded with the Lord to take away his "thorn in the flesh." But God responded with, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in [your] weakness." Infirmities are not easy to bear, are they? May you, like Paul, rest in the fact that in it all God has a plan to demonstrate through you His purpose and power. What a privilege to be used of God in this way!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Life History of Norma Whitcomb ~ Part 4
Dr. Whitcomb had other serious matters to discuss while we drove along in his big blue station wagon, especially since he knew nothing about me nor my plans after moving back to Kansas. He asked me nothing about my past, present or future, but went right to the point. "Senie [his wife] was ill for so many years. There were times when we thought the doctors had found a cure for her. When it was obvious that the Lord was going to take her home, she told me that she would like you to be the mother of our four children." !!!!!!
No, I was not dreaming. It was all very real. We drove along and he continued to talk. On the outside I appeared calm, cool and collected. On the inside I was in shock. How do I know? Because my mouth went so dry that I could not talk, and when a woman can’t talk, she must be in shock. I had one piece of gum in my purse which I halved to share with him. He put his piece into his pocket. After chewing a bit I was able to talk. Not a word of our conversation do I remember except, "I’ll try", meaning, I’ll try to be the mother of your children!
As we conversed for a couple of hours over a Chinese meal, it began to dawn on me that this man had proposed to me and that I had said, "yes". I was engaged! That really did not confuse or distress me. You see, several months earlier, God had spoken from His heart to mine. No visions. No voice. Just a calm assurance from His Word that He would continue to guide me. My JEHOVAH-SHALOM gave me peace that passes all understanding – just as He has promised all through His precious Word. "This is the way, walk in it." On that assurance I said, "Yes".
On January 1st, 1971, my sixteen-year-old son, Dan, walked down the aisle to give me as wife to Dr. John C. Whitcomb. When asked, " Who gives this woman to this man?" my son replied, "My brother and I." That night, our lonesome threesome became a bustling household of eight. I do mean bustling! The ages of those in our quiver were 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. Our home mission field.
God has been gracious to each one in our blended family. All six children have a close relationship to their God. We are trusting Him to do His perfect work in every one of our seventeen grandchildren. (Norma Whitcomb)
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Life History of Norma Whitcomb ~ Part 3
Dr. John C. Whitcomb had been a professor at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana for nineteen years. My husband and I had been missionaries in the Philippines for eleven years. We came to the States intending to spend two years earning advanced degrees after which we would return to our teaching ministry at Far Eastern Bible Institute and Seminary.
After my husband's sudden death, I moved to Kansas to teach and wait for God's timing to return to the Philippines. How was it possible for a professor in Indiana and a teacher in Kansas to get together? No, we did not go to the Web. God's ways are more reliable than that. Furthermore, there was no thought of remarriage in my plan. God warns us against "I wills" (Luke 12:18). Rather, He examples to us by His own words, "Not my will, but Thine be done". He has unimaginable rewards for His obedient followers. My nut-shell story follows. There will be "fill-ins" in future "Windows for Women."
The day that I completed my MA in Science degree in Kansas, I boarded the train for Winona Lake, Indiana, to counsel in a summer youth camp for two weeks. When I arrived, the director apologized that she had neglected to inform me that the camp had been cancelled due to low enrollment. The next day Dr. Whitcomb, the professor whom my husband had highly admired, contacted me to say that he heard that I was in Winona Lake and would like to see me. That baffled me, since I had never formally met him. I accepted his plan to accompany him for a couple of hours on a "jaunt to do errands".
After driving a short distance, Dr. Whitcomb said, "I have some matters that I would like to talk about". That was not surprising. Since he was the one who informed me of my husband's sudden death, I thought he wanted to share his sorrow over his wife's death that had happened since that time. Jehovah-raah, our Shepherd, was leading us into green pastures. -- (To be continued next month)
Friday, June 1, 2012
Life History of Norma Whitcomb ~ Part 2
Our mission suggested that my husband, Robert, and I spend two years in the States to earn higher degrees and then return to continue our teaching ministry at the Bible institute and seminary in the Philippines. Since both of us had prepared for that and had reveled in the opportunity to multiply ourselves by preparing young people to carry on the task, we heartily consented..There was no other place on earth that we would rather be than in the classroom in the Philippines! Our two sons, ages 11 and 13, happily complied since they liked their "foreign home".
My EL SHADDAI sustained me at the time of my husband’s death and He has done so ever since. God promised that He would never leave nor forsake His own (Heb.13:5), and He has lived up to His promise just as we would expect. However, such a sudden change in my plans made me wonder how God would lead. I did not question "why". The clay never asks the potter that question. Romans 9:20 speaks clearly to this point: "...who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus?" (cf. Dan. 4:35; Jer. 18:6.)
The logical thing for me to do was to continue what I had started – the completion of my Master’s degree in educational psychology as well as a teaching degree in art . Psalms 33: 18-22 was my assurance. My JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH was there all the time! The door opened for me to set up an art department and conduct educational counseling in a Christian school in Kansas! His ways are past finding out! JEHOVAH-JIREH provided. Paul assures us in Philippians 4:19 that "my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
The mission invited me to return to my teaching position in the Philippines with my two sons. That was the plan, so I thought. Again, the Lord had another plan. "In [her] heart a [woman] plans [her] ways, but the Lord determines [her] steps" Proverbs 16:9. The wife of Dr. John C. Whitcomb of Winona Lake, Indiana, had been ill for several years. The Lord called her to Himself, leaving him with four children. The story unfolds in a spectacular way which I will share by bits and pieces in my "Windows for Women." God developed a dramatic series of events that is second to none. He always does ALL things well. (The word "all" throughout the Bible makes an enlightening study).
God had plans for a widower with four young children who had suffered long–term trauma, and a widow with two young children who experienced an over–night trauma.
(To be continued)
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