Month: April 2017

“A smile costs nothing, but creates much.  It enriches those who receive it without impoverishing those who give it. It happens in a flash, and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.  It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad and nature’s best antidote for trouble.  Yet, it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is no earthly good until it is given away.  Nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give.”  Sign in a Department Store

I recently lunched with a friend of mine who just lost her sister to cancer. As she was telling me about her sister, she was smiling as she relived moments.  It seems that the one thing everybody agreed upon when thinking of her sister was her smile.  I love that she was known for that. Years ago I learned that if you give a smile, it takes a really hard hearted person not to return it.

There was a lady in our church in Newborn who gave her smiles away every day and brightened so many lives.  Betty owned and operated the only “store” in the tiny community.  She not only stocked the shelves with bread, milk, and canned goods, but she flipped burgers and grilled hot dogs every day for hunters, workers, and the people who lived there. Betty’s husband, Steve, worked for Governor George Busbee in Atlanta, and they could have lived anywhere.  She certainly didn’t need to work, but she loved the interaction with people, and she was always smiling and laughing.

At this point in our ministry, I was a stay at home/office mom, so I would strap Rob onto the back of my bike, and we would ride up to see “Miss” Betty at the store.  As an added bonus, we would watch the train come through town.  Betty, Steve, and their family adopted us, and we were always included in their Sunday lunches, Friday night fish fries, and generally anytime the family got together.  I don’t remember knowing a stronger, sweeter woman.

When Steve died of lung caner, she smiled through her tears as the community paid our respects to him.  When her only daughter died after a fight with cancer leaving a husband and two small children, she once again smiled through her ordeal.  I often thought about how people “smile through tears” and how we explain that phenomenon. I think sometimes we are so miserable with our situation such as loss, a disappointment, a death, that we cry.  Then, we think of a memory or something in our lives connected with that person or situation that is so positive that we smile thinking of it.  I like to think both of the people I mentioned smiled so much because Jesus made their life so positive and so full of love and thanksgiving.  They smiled through tears because they have hope, family and friends who love them, and a Savior who knows what it is like to suffer and emerge victorious!

I know a smile can change lives, it changes mine.  The picture is just to make you smile!!

“Let your smile change the world.  Don’t let the world change your smile.”  John Walker

“Home is where the heart is.”  Pliny the Elder

This past month, my sisters and I sold our Mama’s house in our hometown. She and my Daddy built it in 1947, lived in it all their married life, and added on for each of our wedding receptions! They raised us three girls there, entertained family there, celebrated holidays there, had wedding receptions there, met son in laws there, greeted new grandchildren there, had their 50th anniversary party there, and gathered there for funerals of loved ones.  It was a happy place because my Mama made it a home.  She filled it with things and people that she loved.  A part of my heart will always be there!

As we drove away, I was reminded of the many times we are all called upon to take a structure like a house and make it into a home for our family.  Randy and I were so fortunate to only move six times in our married life, but to someone who had never moved, it was six times too many.  Five of those times were to different parsonages in the North Georgia conference.

A parsonage is defined as “a house provided by the church for use by its pastor.”  There are different parsonages, and I must say that we had some of the worst and some of the best.  I had no idea that when you moved into a parsonage, you not only live in a home which is not yours, but also one over which you have no control.  In those days, a committee decided what you hung on the wall, what furniture you had, provided your mattress, and decorated for you whether you liked it or not!  The decor was usually a hodgepodge of whatever the members did not want in their own homes.   You took what was provided, and you made this house your home.

Our first parsonage was pre civil war – quaint on the outside but falling apart on the inside. Sherman spared this house on his march through Georgia, but I can’t for the life of me understand why! The house had huge rooms with high ceilings, and the kitchen and bathroom had been added to the back of the house for functionality with no thought of appearance! The house had space heaters, no AC (which was standard in parsonages), huge cracks around the windows, no washer, dryer, or dishwasher, a hole in the chimney (which was the only additional source of heat) big enough for a man to stand and walk through, and a sink that fell in on our first month there. I was struggling to make this house our home.  What is a preacher’s wife to do?

The morning the sink fell in with dishes in it, this preacher’s wife marched right past the preacher into the bedroom and began to pack!  I remember saying as Randy asked what was wrong, “The sink just fell in! I am going to my Mama’s, taking Rob, and when you move – call me!” When I looked around, Randy was helping me pack as he talked!   He said, “Well, it’s a shame you are going to miss the Parsonage Committee dinner party we are hosting next week.  I wanted them to see the house, so they are coming over.”  I stopped mortified and said, “But, we don’t even have a sink!”  “Yep,” Randy said, “let’s add that to the list.”

I stayed and we got to work.  We entertained the six women and two men committee members on a very eventful evening!  They were very sweet and horrified at the condition of the house.  It seems none of them had ever been invited over to the parsonage before. As God would have it, one of the men owned a construction company, one of the ladies had a connection at the Mart, and yet another sold carpet.  In the next month, we got new carpet, central heating (not air), furniture, washer and dryer, and a new sink!!  The dishwasher was pushing it! With their blessing, I added our touches to the house, we filled it with love, friends, and laughter, and suddenly one day it was our home!

A house is just a house, but making a home is the important thing.

(The picture is my Mama’s house, not our parsonage!!)

“He is not here, for He is risen as He said.”  Luke 24:5

In the beginning of our ministry, Randy began to order and distribute pocket crosses for the members of our congregation and so many others with whom he came in contact.  We got in the habit of carrying one all the time and placing them in the hands of people who were in need of assurance or just an act of love.

The vertical beam of the cross symbolizes God reaching down to us through Jesus with his love, mercy and grace.  The horizontal beam symbolizes God’s people as we reach out to others with that same love, mercy and grace.  I have never known anyone who didn’t appreciate the symbolism, and there are many who still have those crosses today.

In olden times, the cross simply meant death, but Jesus triumphed over the grave and rose to eternal life.  This year as I stand by the graves of my loved ones who have died, I remember that they are not there, but they have risen to live on high with Jesus.  The grave is empty!  He has risen and reigns on high!

“O death where is thy sting?  O grave where is thy victory?”       Corinthians 15:55

“I carry a cross in my pocket, a simple reminder to me;  of the fact that I am a Christian no matter where I may be.  When I put my hand in my pocket to bring out a coin or a key; the cross is there to remind me of the price He paid for me.  It reminds me too, to be thankful for my blessings day by day; and to strive to serve Him better in all that I do and say.  So, I carry a cross in my pocket reminding no one but me, that Jesus Christ is Lord of my life if only I’ll let Him be.”

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation because your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what people think you are.”  John Wooden

It’s always interesting how people perceive others.  Randy and I had an occasion in our early ministry where “reputation” preceded “character.” We were in Dalton when an across the street neighbor took an immediate dislike to our German Shepherd, Chief.  Jack never took the time to know us or talk about it, he just acted on his feelings. The day he called our house to tell us that he would shoot our dog if he was ever outside, was the day we called one of our best lawyer friends, Billy, and told him our story.  Now, Billy just happened to know Jack and made it his business to have lunch with him one day after our call.  As Billy guided the conversation toward neighbors, Jack told him that his neighbors had a big dog that he disliked. One thing led to another and Billy astutely asked the name of the neighbors.  When Jack said Randy Mickler, Billy feigned horror and said, “Oh, no, I’ve heard of him. His nickname is Mad Dog Mickler – you better be careful!  You don’t want to mess with him!”  Jack called us the next day to apologize.  He let someone taint his opinion because he didn’t know our character only the reputation of which he had heard.

On the surface, Christ had the reputation of a healer, miracle worker, exorcist, and teacher.  Only if you take the time to know His character would you see that he had so much more!  I read it put beautifully, Christ had tenderness without weakness, humility without uncertainty, power without insensitivity, integrity without rigidity, passion without prejudice, and boldness without harshness.  He insisted on truth but showed love, mercy and forgiveness. He exhibited confidence, He was convicted, and He was approachable.

When he rode into Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday, many of those who praised Him only knew him by reputation.  The ones who stayed by His side during the next week knew His character.

As we approach Palm Sunday, I want to know all about the character.

As a footnote to our story, Billy is now a judge, and Jack set fire to his own house to collect insurance.  Chief lived a long and happy life.  It’s all about character!

“If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of me.”  Dwight L. Moody