Gayla's Magazine

Cell Phones..... Hell Zones....

I think I have owned every style and type of cell phone possible in the last 20 years.  Cell phones either can be the  wonderful glue that hold various parts of life together.... for instance I am in Minnesota.  running my regular departments back in Texas every day.  It's easy, simple and this modern technology keeps my world running smoothly. 

On the other hand.... cell phones can also  superglue life to a complete standstill when they become lost, stolen, or accidentally fall overboard to the bottom of Franklin Lake!!!  Hint: my husband's 900 + phone numbers are drowned.  Luckily he is a techie guy and had most of them backed up on his computer. (Hard lessons learned from past experiences)

Gotta love these mini portable computers that ring and jiggle and control  our details, give orders and generally run our lives)  Every once in a while I learn something new it can do, I'm just waiting on it to do jumping jacks and order me to exercise next!!

Do you know where your cell phone is right now?  Or do you need to call it to hear it's ring to find it!! Gurgle.... glub...glub... are those bubbles I see coming up from the depths?  :)

God Never Blinks

During this summer I am reading a spiritual common sense book.  I grow bored with books that say the same trite statements but really don't do much to stretch my mind.  I have found one that really hits concepts of truth home.  It's called 'God Never Blinks'  by Regina Brett.  Regina wrote this book when she turned 50....it's  '50 lessons for life's little detours' that are gritty and plain but tell the truth aptly.  These chapters are little essays that have been compiled from a newspaper column (she wrote) into a great book.   

Pithy lessons like....

Lesson 13 - Don't compare your life to others, you have no idea what their journey is all about.

Lesson 17- You can get through anything life hands you if you stay put in the day you are in and don't jump ahead.

Lesson 29 - What other people think of you is none of your business. 

She's a great author - get it .... read it... and change your mind about some basic beliefs that may have tangled your life travels. 

It's worth reading.

If You Can Use Anything Lord You Can Use Me......Please watch this.

Letters that brighten my heart...

Dr. Gayla,

We are happy and excited for you as we know that Lord is leading and fulfilling your heart’s desire as it is accomplishing His will on the earth.  We pray that you will have favor and wisdom in all of your new adventures.  We miss you more than you know.  But yes, you have trained and equipped us well.  I must say, that I believe your absence has brought a closeness to our RMA Leaders knowing that we have to depend on each other as “Mama Bear” is not here to straighten things out.  All of us know what we are suppose to do but with you gone causes us to act upon that knowledge and trust in the Lord even more so.

I believe that Pastor Angela will do a fabulous job as leader of La Porte  RMA.  I am constantly amazed at the mantle of anointing that she has and the wisdom in which she walks in it.  She is fully capable to lead RMA with wisdom and love.  I receive her as Pastor and Leader.  I receive her in a new position of authority over New Life and RMA.

I know we are expanding and have an expectancy as to what will happen in the near future.  From north to south, from east to west, across the United States, RMA will begin to cover like a much needed blanket in the cold of winter.  Not by a boastful stance, but by a gentle slow moving hand will RMA flourish and bloom to bring comfort, healing, provisions physically and spiritually to those in need.  As the times change and the uncertainty of the future lies beyond the fog, RMA will be as a lighthouse on the rock during the winds of the storm.

 Regards, Deborah

 Pastor Gayla,

We miss you and love you very much!!!  Our prayers are with you during this time of change in your personal ministry and still feel very much a part of it.  Your strong mentoring has helped make us all who we are as leaders. 

 

Yes I do believe Pastor Angela is ready.  I know she has a heart for New Life and that will make her the best kind of leader.  We will be proud to follow and serve along side.

 

I pray that we are all making a difference in the scope of our dominion area.

 

love....Rhonda

Pastor Gayla,

I wanted to say how happy for you I am. I'm glad that God is using you in so many new ways. The world is gaining our Mama bear and they need you so much.You always make a difference anywhere you go. I wish I could ride around in your pocket and be with you for just a bit longer, but I would probably feel the same way if we had 20 more years.

               I would like to thank you for looking at me all those years ago and finding value in me. Spiritual mother doesn't encompass all you have been for me, but its the best word I can find. Thank you for being such an extraordinary force in my life and holding my shaking paper or hand whenever necessary.I am so honored by this opportunity to rise to the challenges that God has for me both personally and corporately. And I know that Pastor Angela feels the same way. She is truly a lovely woman and I expect our lives at New Life will be enriched in a new way under her leadership. We will continue to grow and bind together as the team you and God designed us to be.You have trained us well, and left us in very capable hands. We will make you proud and God will smile!!!

Love you,

Shelby

---

Set Apart

"He went up into a mountain apart" (Matt. 14:23).

One of the blessings of the old-time Sabbath was its calm, its restfulness, its holy peace. There is a strange strength conceived in solitude. Crows go in flocks and wolves in packs, but the lion and the eagle are solitaires.

Strength is not in bluster and noise. Strength is in quietness. The lake must be calm if the heavens are to be reflected on its surface. Our Lord loved the people, but how often we read of His going away from them for a brief season. He tried every little while to withdraw from the crowd. He was always stealing away at evening to the hills. Most of His ministry was carried on in the towns and cities by the seashore, but He loved the hills the best, and oftentimes when night fell He would plunge into their peaceful depths.

The one thing needed above all others today is that we shall go apart with our Lord, and sit at His feet in the sacred  privacy of His blessed presence. Oh, for the lost art of meditation! Oh, for the culture of the secret place! Oh, for the
tonic of waiting upon God! --Selected
 
"It is well to live in the valley sweet,
Where the work of the world is done,
Where the reapers sing in the fields of wheat,
As they toil till the set of sun.
But beyond the meadows, the hills I see
Where the noises of traffic cease,
And I follow a Voice that calleth to me
From the hilltop regions of peace.

"Aye, to live is sweet in the valley fair,
And to toil till the set of sun;
But my spirit yearns for the hilltop's air
When the day and its work are done.
For a Presence breathes o'er the silent hills,
And its sweetness is living yet;
The same deep calm all the hillside fills,
As breathed over Olivet."

"Every life that would be strong must have its Holy of Holies into which only God enters."

Springs in the Desert

Every Minister's Wife must have a set apart place for herself to renew in.

Prisoners of Hope

'Turn you to the stronghold.... ye prisoners of hope.

                Even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee'   Zech 9:12

NO MATTER WHAT .... NO MATTER WHERE.... NO MATTER HOW....GOD'S PROMISES REMAIN FOR THOSE WHO PUT THEIR HOPE IN HIM. PRISONERS OF HOPE HAVE A SOLID FUTURE.  LOOK AT THESE HISTORICAL RECORDS MADE IN THE PAST....

• Daniels lions actually ate the enemies that had Daniel  thrown in the first place.
• David used Goliath's sword to cut off Goliath's own head.
• Hamon  hung on the very gallows he designed to destroy one of God's own men.
• Pharoah himself was the weapon God used against Egypt to set Israel free.
• Joseph's brothers were the very weapon forged to become their own deliverance in the future.
• Jesus' cross was the very tool used against satan to deliver mankind.

.... 'I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight.  These things will I do unto them and not forsake them'.... Isaiah 42:18

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO FEAR WHEN YOU ARE WALKING CLOSE TO GOD.  YOUR ENEMIES ARE GOD'S ENEMIES, AND HE WILL DO INCREDIBLE, MARVELOUS MIRACLES FOR THOSE WHO FOLLOW AFTER HIM.  FEAR NOT.... YOUR FUTURE IS SAFE IN GOD'S HANDS. TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART.... AND LEAN NOT TO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING...

Trust and Obey

In the full swing of ministry now in the next season of life and loving every minute of it!  Life's twists and turns are easier when one allows God to be the driver while you are simply the passenger. It's called trust....

trust and obey....               for there is no other way...                            

to be happy in Jesus.....                                            than to trust and obey.....

Even when nothing seems to be happening..... trust

Even when you seem to be going backwards.... trust

Even when a quick turn brings sudden changes.... trust

Trust.... trust....trust....trust....trust....trust.....trust.....trust.....trust.....trust......trust....

Because all things REALLY DO work out for our good when we love God and  are called according to His Purpose!!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean NOT to your understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATH.

I'm living proof!!

What's going on?

It's been a supernatural season for our lives.... and the reason I have not updated recently.  The last 10 days have been exhilarating to say the least! Drove back to Tx 1400+miles through Memphis for a meeting. Got home (meanwhile setting up the troops all the way back by phone)  and hit the ground running....

After several years of planning and sorting through our priorities and God-dreams for the future we came to the decision that it was time to turn a page in our lives.   Yes really change..... so we took the courage-plunge and downsized our life and home. How?  We switched houses with our daughter and son in law (they need it for the pastoral work of New Life and all the entertaining that needs to happen at the Pastor's home.) As we are taking care of the different missions and ministries our needs have changed gradually. 

We packed up the house we have lived in for 15 years and put our entire 34+ years of marriage/stuff into storage.  It was a fast and collective work!  When the two of us put our determination together amazing things happen!  It took 4 days....... and when we were done..... it felt strangely freeing to me.

Free of all the 'stuff'' life has handed down to us ...... all the hundreds of thousands of memories safely packed away....all the daily responsibilities of a household.....it's completely put on hold for a while. Leaving us free to focus upon the missions at hand, and a busy summer of travel.  

Their little house was emptied as they moved into ours.... and suddenly demo began inside as we  refocus the interior of the house to fit our needs. All this will happen while we travel and be managed via phones, pictures and emails. 

The next 3 days at our offices CBC and MAH and ICCI  were moved into a bigger office space.  These 3 ministries needed areas of their own to expand into developing areas of work and ministry.  They are now in a much better location with adequate space. 

The next 2 days I repacked the Coach (our home for a while) and  had a little time with our grandchildren.

And then we left for another 1300+ mile trip back to Minnesota. 

It's not the 'talk' that brings one into the future of life it's the 'walk'......or simply put.... it's not just conversations that will cause life to change.... it's actually doing something about it that opens the door to the future.