Innocence

She lurks in their yard. This total stranger crosses the boundary. She picks things up and moves them. She moves to another yard. She touches things. She moves again and stands there.

When they see her they laugh. Not a cynical, what’s-this-weirdo-doing kind of laugh. A genuine belly laugh full of joy.

That’s because she’s just under three feet tall, has curly baby hair, and toddler legs. At 16 months old she’s innocent. If she were an adult doing these things someone would call the police.

Why can a baby get away with being in the wrong place? Innocence.

No one suspects her of doing wrong. The minute they see her they are delighted.

We don’t have that privilege anymore. We, as Christ followers, can’t do wrong. We can’t even be in the wrong place doing nothing. People who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will not understand. They will point – not laugh.

In 1 Peter 2:12 (NLT) we are called to, “Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.”

As strangers in this world, let’s be so innocent that when they point, they point up to give God the glory.

Amen.


Gifted Quill Devotional
By Nancy Lucas
222 words
October 10, 2006/sent Nov. 30

Seed of a Sparrow

Remember the old Rolling Stones song? Of course, I probably shouldn’t say it’s old since I’m only a year younger. Anyway, remember these lyrics?

No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want ....
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

Can you hear the tune?

When someone in our family (child or adult) starts to whine one of us adults starts to sing the lyrics. But we change the last verse to “But we always get what we need oh yeah!!”

With Thanksgiving around the corner I think of all the expectations we have, happy family times, the perfect turkey, pies, casseroles. For my husband, it’s my aunt’s oyster stuffing which we freeze so we can bring leftovers home on the plane.

What are your hopes for the holiday? What do you want? And what happens if or when you don’t get what you want?

I don’t mean just for Thanksgiving. I mean for any event, situation or trial in our lives. What are we supposed to do when we don’t get what we want? Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

There’s another song that comes to mind. In Jaci Velasquez’ song Crystal Clear she sings, “When I’m a sparrow in winter, you are a seed I find.” Luke 12:6 says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.”

And neither are we or our needs forgotten by God. We don’t always get what we want but we do always get what we need -- even if it doesn’t seem to fit our understanding.

This holiday, and for this season, re-write your life song. Sing “I always get what I need oh yeah!!” Now try it with conviction.

Let’s be giving thanks this season.

Amen.

Gifted Quill Devotional
By Nancy Lucas
318 words
November 17, 2006

Author Available as Speaker

Gifted Quill Author Nancy Lucas is now available for speaking engagements in schools, libraries, churches, at retreats, business meetings or wherever people gather to learn.

As an inspirational speaker equipped with quick facts, relational power, business savvy and a sense of humor, Lucas is available on these topics:

· Playgroup Success
· Reconciliation
· Parenting
· Purity
· Homeland Missions
· Marketing and Public Relations
· Assorted Business

All presentations offer free take-home information!
For a detailed list of subjects please write GiftedQuill@yahoo.com

CREDIBILITY
B.A., Communication Arts,
St. Thomas University, Miami, FL
Leadership Monroe, Class IX
Special Event Organizer, 21 years
Journalist/Writer, 19 years
Business Owner/Manager, 12 years
U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, 8 years
Radio Announcer, 2 years

EXPERIENCE
Public speaking for 16 years to crowds of more than 500 people. Audiences/clients include: Red Cross; 4-H Youth; Boy Scouts; Girl Scouts; Monroe Youth Challenge Program; American Christian Writers of Dade and Broward; Island Community Church; Upper Keys Ministerial Association; Key Largo Chamber of Commerce; Islamorada Chamber of Commerce; City of Florida City; Islamorada Village of Islands; Rotary Clubs in the U.S., France, and New Zealand; Rotary International District 6990 Conference; Rotary International District 1660 & 1770 Conference at UNESCO in Paris, France.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Nancy Lucas, contributing author to “Everyday Grace, Everyday Miracle” by Lorna Owens, and author of five books waiting to be published, lives in the Florida Keys with her husband and children. Her inspirational speech offerings come from life experiences and material gathered for each of her books. She organizes a playgroup for more than 50 families, is a freelance writer, and enjoys being outdoors. Lucas accepted Christ in 1999 and has been a member of Island Community Church in Islamorada ever since. Her mission in life is that people would walk away from an encounter with her to “eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words” God has made known to them. ~ Nehemiah 8:12 (NIV)

TO REQUEST HER TODAY
Email GiftedQuill@yahoo.com
Call (305) 393-6413
Or write P.O. Box 702, Islamorada, FL 33036

BENEFITS
Bringing Nancy Lucas to your event gives your audience:
· An ally, someone who relates and understands;
· Empowerment, energy and confidence they can do it;
· Practical know-how with tips to take home; and finally,
· Gratitude and loyalty to your company or organization.

RAVE REVIEWS
“The audience gained valuable tools to use for promotion as a result of Nancy’s practical advice. She related to them in a positive manner. Nancy is a true ‘friend of youth’ and leader in our community.”
~ Kimberly Coldicott
Monroe County Fla. 4-H Program Coordinator

“Nancy provided a professional, up-beat and audience-interactive finale to our American Christian Writers’ One-day Workshop. Fielding questions from prospective writers to a panel of nine talkative author/teachers, she managed time-sensitive, microphone passing with relaxed diplomacy. No one knew I had tapped her for the moderator job shortly before the attendees entered the auditorium!”
~ Lynne Cooper Sitton
Past President of the Broward County Florida Chapter of the American Christian Writers’ Association


“Nancy successfully condensed the basics of marketing and writing into a workshop for teens that taught them the fundamentals in a way that was dynamic and easy to understand. She did so with wit and frankness youth crave but do not often receive in a traditional classroom. I would recommend her to any youth group who wanted to learn about this important topic.”
~ Michele Sutter, District Prevention Coordinator
Monroe Youth Challenge Program

“Nancy, I just wanted to drop a note to you to express how impressed an inspired I am because of your leadership in the puppet ministries. I know you have made a huge impact on the kids who participated and I am sure you touched people last night in the crowd.”
~ Peter Ihrig, Vice President
US South Commercial Group, CGI Inc.

Stumble

So, I write about anger and add a pious comment about being done with its insidious effects. And as life would have it, my buttons get pushed again. But this time I fail. I reply in an unkind manner and a co-worker watches and comments on the unexpected behavior.

Arg. All this happens the day before I print the “Bike Path” devotional to post copies at work near the time clock.

And how is that like my life?

First, it’s just like in Romans 7, verses 14-18, “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”

Second, we’re called to be humble not braggadocios. “But, ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends,” says 2 Corinthians 10, verses 17-18. Instead of boasting about our own actions, we should boast about God’s grace that overcomes our sinful nature. That’s an attitude the Lord can commend.

Finally, we’re saved by grace. As believers in Jesus Christ, we may stumble but we won’t be shamed. Romans 9, verse 33 says, “As it is written: ‘See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’”

No one can keep the law. It’s impossible on our own. That’s why when we boast it should be in what the Lord has done for us. And when we trust in Jesus, even if we stumble, we don’t have to wear shame. 1 Peter 4, verse 11 says, “... If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Amen.


Gifted Quill Devotional
By Nancy Lucas
415 words
October 23, 2006