rays_of_light-659512

“Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.”  

                                                                   – Isaiah 60:1-2

These were the verses that inspired me to write this blog. I had been contemplating a blog for quite some time, mostly, because I like to write. Also, because several of my friends were encouraging me to do it, and promising me they would read my ink. After all, it is pretty discouraging to an author to write something that nobody reads. I have a journal to do that kind of writing already.

In November of 2014 I heard a sermon titled “People of His Light and Glory” by Nancy Slabaugh, my pastor from Restoration Fellowship of Sarasota. You can hear that sermon HERE if you are interested. In the sermon she talked about the above verses in Isaiah and how revival starts.

She quoted Gypsy Smith, a 19th-century revivalist,  who did something unusual whenever he came to a new town. He’d stop and draw a circle in the dirt. Then he’d stand inside that circle and say, “O God, please send a revival to this town, and let it begin inside this circle.” Nancy reminded us that revival isn’t just getting rid of sin, but also making sure that we are doing what God is asking of us, and obeying Him.

During the ministry time, I asked the Lord “Is there anything You want me to be doing that I am not doing?”

His response to me: “Write a blog and write a book.”

That was NOT the response I was expecting. You have to understand something about me. I LOVE to write. Writing inspires me. But I am a pastor’s wife, a mother of five, and up til now, have been a full time student at a nearby college. Time for writing has not really been in my agenda lately. I’m doing good if I even get a chapter of the Bible read, much less write in my journal.

Somehow I expected God to tell me to teach a class or mentor some women or get more involved in starting something more at the church. After all, isn’t that the responsibility of a pastor’s wife? But write? When I heard Him tell me to write a blog, I felt a sort of anticipation and excitement building in me. I also felt a sense of relief. He wasn’t asking me to do something I didn’t want to do. He was giving me an assignment that I would enjoy, and most likely, I would learn more from writing it than anyone who reads it.

So what should my blog be named? I had pondered many names before and never really liked any. But, at that moment, after listening to Nancy’s sermon and after reading the verses from Isaiah 60 about God’s light and glory surrounding me…I knew that was why I was writing the blog. To share how God’s Light and Glory invades my everyday, common little life, and brings revival to me, and hopefully, to anyone who reads this blog.

And that, my friends, is how “The Light and The Glory” blog came about.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *