Category Archives: Leadership

Rescued from Resentful Bitterness

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On my birthday, my Grandmother gave me a beautiful gold bracelet with a single charm displaying my initials, DMG. Back in the day of the 1970’s, a simple gold bracelet (no clasp, just a circle of gold)  with a single charm was the rage. Owning a bracelet like that gave status to the person wearing it, at least that was the perception. Only the most popular girls had a bracelet like this! I wasn’t popular. What is important to know is that I did not realize the significance of this bracelet. I never wore jewelry and didn’t ask for jewelry but my grandmother thought it was special for me to have it. The gold bracelet was an incredible gift and I loved it!

I felt so special and loved by my Grandmother each time I wore that bracelet, which was everyday.  Since I wasn’t popular and didn’t care about style (unless my Grandmother coached me) I had no idea that this bracelet would be a source of discontent for someone else. One day, while in the locker room getting ready for gym class, I carelessly turned my back to the belongings in my locker basket. I had taken off the bracelet and placed it inside the basket. When I turned around, the bracelet was gone. The thief was fast and disappeared quickly…but I knew who she was. I reported the crime to the school authorities, but since they couldn’t prove that my bracelet was stolen and not lost (the thief denied the crime) I was out of luck. Even more frustrating was to see her walking down the hall wearing my bracelet with my initials on the charm.

I was seething with resent and bitterness. I chewed on it. I began to savor the sour bitter taste. I choked on that bitter flavor but managed to swallow and digest this feeling with hope that I would take vengeance on that thief.  But the resentful bitterness ended up taking its vengeance in my soul instead. I was miserable and consumed with hate towards that girl.

The heart knows its own bitterness…Proverbs 14:10

A bitter and resentful person is like a contagious poison, spreading his resentment to others. 
(A paraphrase of Deuteronomy 29:18)

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.   Ephesians 4:30-32

The bracelet had become a golden idol while that thief was becoming more of a false god, vying for my attention. The only way I could be free from this angst was to surrender my bracelet…that golden idol to God. It was His. It was always His. I gave the bracelet to God numerous times and the more I gave it back, the softer my heart became towards the thief.  I began to pray for her each time I saw her at school and each time I missed the gold bracelet until I didn’t feel the resentful bitterness anymore. I actually had the strange kind of love and compassion for her. God was healing my heart and rescuing me from resentful bitterness and then–God showed me love. My grandmother gave me another gold bracelet, identical to the one now owned by a thief…that girl…needing to feel loved, needing to be rescued.
Years later, I continue to pray for that girl and hope she knows that God loves her and perhaps she has been rescued too. When my daughter was in college, I gave her my treasured bracelet and shared this story with her in hopes that it would be a reminder of God’s rescuing power in her life.  She wears it all the time!
the simple gold bracelet


The Giver and The Receiver

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We are blessed with friends. When I think about it, the Lord has given us many opportunities to help our friends in time of need. It’s God’s awesome gift of His grace in our lives that enables us to live out the gospel in tangible ways. It is a joy to be “the giver.” Recently we have experienced what it feels like to be “the receiver” of good things. Friends staying by our side as we experience deep sorrow and loss. Prayer support, meals, cards, and listening to us talk. Friends sending small gifts of appreciation or a gift for no other reason but “just because.”

Last weekend, friends in Florida invited us to get away for the weekend and they treated us to several hours of sailing and dinner afterwards.  We stayed in their home and we were treated like royalty. They rolled out the red carpet for us!  We said our farewell the next morning and drove to our next destination at the beach. The amazing beach front condo was another gift to us. So “the giver” became “the receiver”…humbled by the generosity of others.

Sailing near Cumberland Island
My husband’s phone rings at 3:00 in the morning. He then noticed a text message sent earlier in the night, which he had missed seeing. My husband’s friend needs him by his side. He is very ill with cancer. His family needs his presence. Without hesitation, my husband quickly begins to pack the suitcases and cooler for the long drive home. For he has been “the receiver” of good things from his friend– encouragement in his faith, an example of deep unmovable faith and love for the Lord, a passion for ministry and to change the world through world missions for the gospel of Christ, answered prayers, friendship and more and more. My husband cried and said, “I will miss my friend.”
The Giver and The Receiver. We are both. Humbled that we can give to others, only because of the generosity of God’s gift to us and humbled to be the receiver of the most indescribable gift…only because of His grace.

The Giver and The Receiver