God and Me and You: Musings of a Once Young Woman
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About this ebook
Mary Lou Tutt
She is an assistant pastor at Satellite Beach United Methodist Church. She has held many positions in the church over the last nearly 30 years: choir, Director of Christian Education, Evangelism, Family Ministries, before becoming an ordained clergy person in her sixties. She is currently responsible for pastoral care formation and expedition, plus small group and Sunday School.’
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God and Me and You - Mary Lou Tutt
© 2010 Mary Lou Tutt. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
First published by AuthorHouse 9/27/2010
ISBN: 978-1-4389-4917-8 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4520-8809-9 (ebk)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009900579
Printed in the United States of America
Bloomington, Indiana
Dedication
I dedicate this little book to the community at Satellite Beach United Methodist Church.
You have shaped me, held me up, set me down a peg or two, prayed me to health, and in general made my life a fountain of joy even amid sorrow. There is no way I can name all of you, (it’s been a thirty year span), (think about all the trees it would take!), but know each of you are a part of who I am and are loved deeply. To Doris and George Tantum, steadfast friends for over 30 years.
I cannot leave out all the pastors I have worked with, behind and beside. You, too, have contributed to who I am. Now that might be a scary thought! You have taught me so much and given me so many opportunities to grow and prosper. You, too, have become a part of me and I hold much love for all of you. Thank you and thank you again.!
Mike Loomis
Jeff Peppers
Jeff Henderson
Wayne Speakman
Mike Shirley
Nancy Mc Coy
Ken Blitch
Ben Rider
Bob Titus
Dennis Redstone
Larry Cook
Walt Weber
Thank you to Mary Mutter, Jenny Eldridge and Judy Peterson for sharing the Psalms they wrote during the Monday Morning Bible study. They are inspirational and special to me as are you!
The Picture on the cover was done by a talented artist, Shirley Pollak. Thank you ever so much.
To Ruth Singletary whose typing skills were a plus and invaluable. Thank you, thank you.
And my children, ah, they are so wonderful. Their love for me and mine for them is a precious gift of God. I thank you for your encouragement and your support. I thank you for looking out for me. I thank you for staying in touch. I thank you for all the lunches and dinners and the evenings with a movie. I love you (byeeeee)
Claire Richter
Bob Tutt
Nancy Hammerman
Contents
Dedication
Prayer for When Earth Seems Scary
Lord of All
God Has A Plan!
A Light in the Darkness
Psalm 103:1-3 (NLT)
Prayer for Boldness in Ministry
Prayed up
Psalm 136:1-3 (NLT)
Do Puppies Smile?
We Need To Pray
A Relationship
Psalm 16:7-9 (NLT)
Prayer When Life Has Questions
Prayer: Christmas Is Coming
A Love Story
Trust God’s Wisdom
If I Were In Control
A Psalm Of Fellowship
What Is Your Call?
Prayer For Congregational Love
Prayer For Purpose
The Word of God Will Not Be Bound
A Psalm by Mary Mutter
Prayer to Be in God’s Presence
A Psalm by Jenny Eldridge
God Wants You
A Psalm of Blessing
For Those Struggling at Christmas
Proverbs 11:1-3
Super Heroes for Jesus
Pray through the Death of a Friend
Sending and Seeking
We Pray for Purity
A Prayer for Clarity
Risky Business
Prayer Amid Disaster
Who You Gonna Call
Prayer for Companionship
We Are the Church, We Have a Story
Keep Our Eyes on the Prize
Us, Jesus, The Needy
Mercy and Grace
Prayer for Energizing Our Commitment
May I Serve You?
A Psalm of Unity by Mary Mutter
A Glimpse of History
A Psalm by Mary Mutter
A Prayer After Jingle Bells
Sometimes I Miss the Mark
Trust in the Lord Even When You Cannot See
Lord of the Humdrum
The Love Factor in Faith Sharing
The Lord who Feeds Us
Prayer, Only You Can
Psalm of Restoration by Judy Peterson
Jesus Is Calling!
A Psalm By Judy Peterson
Fishing Is Hard Work
Psalm 146:1-2 (NLT)
Faith Sharing – God’s Idea
To Be Useful for Jesus
And Jesus Said, Go
A Psalm by Judy Peterson
Women Of Worth
Prayer for a Dream
There Were Some Women!
The Holy Spirit, Counselor
A Day’s Work, A Days Pay
We Pray and Worship
We Pray for Obedience
A Talk with God
Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV)
It Is Finished
, Victory or Defeat
Praying with Victory
Slow Us Down Lord
Judas’ Feet Are Washed
It Is Finished
, Paid In Full
Pray Without Ceasing?
A Walk To Emmaus
A Prayer about Temptation
It Is Finished
, Perseverance Revealed
Do You Love Me, Feed My Sheep
Prayer, God Is Near
A Psalm by Judy Peterson
Rest In God’s Love
A Prayer for Mercy
Believe God Is In Control
Prayer for God’s Leading
Vanity, Vanity, All Is Vanity
Does Inellect Answer Life’s Questions?
Psalm 72:21-26 (NIV)
Unhappy With Much Stuff
The Futility Of Pleasure
A Psalm by Judy Peterson
Prayer For Our Blessings
The Possible Impossible Dream
Big Dreams Are From God
He Brings You To It And Through It
Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV)
Thanksgiving Prayer
You Can Be Like Children
Prayer of Random Thoughts
We Learn About Trust From Children
A Psalm by Judy Peterson
Children Teach About Faith
Prayer for Seeing the Little People
John 3:16 (NIV)
Freedom Doesn’t Come Cheap
Swimming Upstream
A Prayer for Fathers
You Were Formed For God’s Family
Members of God’s Family
A Psalm by Judy Peterson
The Great One Anothers
A Prayer for Mothers
Yea Team!
Psalm 4:1 (NIV)
Together, We Can Do All Things
Together in Christian Love and Forgiveness
Prayer to a Creative God
Veronica Steps Out
Veronica’s Legacy
An Easter Prayer
Psalm 8:1-4 (NIV)
An Amazing Woman
An Amazing Woman
We Owe You Everything
I Thank You Lord!
An Amazing Woman
We Pray for Dependence
It is my wholehearted prayer that the words herein will draw you to God’s Word in Scripture and a closer walk with God through Jesus the Christ.
Mary Lou Tutt
Prayer for When Earth Seems Scary
Yesterday afternoon, Lord, I saw a rainbow! It was beautiful. It stretched clear across the beach from north to south or maybe south to north. Only you know which. There was Your promise , Your promise to never destroy the earth again written in the sky for us all to see. People run out to see a rainbow. They even call up people to go out and look. It is because we need Your reassurance regularly, assurance You remember us, care for us, and have the power to do it. What a story of power is the rainbow. You can use the sky like a blackboard to send messages. It rather makes my knees weak and I praise You from my heart and the people said, Me too.
Headlines scream constantly about global warming, rampant pedophiles, outrageous crime including murders, daytime raids of garages, and on and on and on. There are few headlines, Lord, that tell of the good that happens and the headlines do not speak of Your work among us. If when we become alarmed, we run to You in Your Word, life will not seem so threatening for we will see you in it. Thank You for Your Word. You are in control regardless of what it may seem.
Sometimes it can make us feel like we don’t belong here because we do not fit the culture anymore. This may not be our permanent home, but we are assigned here, and we are to live and bring Your message of hope to all who feel helpless and hopeless. So, dear God of the Universe, we heed the words of the apostle Paul, Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
With the power of Jesus, we will be joyful always, and give thanks in all circumstances. Amen
Lord of All
Lord of the thunder and lightening, Lord of the light breeze and tender shoots, we come to you today with our praises for family, for friends, and for Your tender mercies. We look to You in times of jubilation and in times of despair. You are always there. Sometimes we question You because we do not understand. We do not understand when healing does not come to someone we love regardless of all the prayers and another is. Why is that so? We bring to You our children to keep them safe, but sometimes bad things happen to them. Did we not pray properly? Were we too deep in sin? Is it our fault? You say you do only what is for our good and yet we can’t always see it that way. Do we not have enough faith? If that is the case, how do we get more? I know that You see the future and we do not. Is that where it is? Help me to have more trust. Hold me up when I sag and dry my tears when I fear. Draw us close to Yourself that we might rest and in that rest our trust will grow and our faith deepens. We praise you in our sorrow and we praise you in the sunshine of life. We praise you for the beauty, which surrounds us and speaks of Your presence all around us. In our praise, Lord, You come close and we can feel safe by Your side.
Far around the world are people just like us who ask the same questions, fear the same circumstances. We ask for Your comfort for them. Increase their awareness of You where needed. Let us always remember this world is temporary, the next is permanent. How much better will that be. Today I saw children playing along the road. They were carefree and happy. They were enjoying the day with friends and siblings. They had it all. These children trusted the adults to care for them. Is that what You meant by coming to You as a child? It brought a smile to my face. Thank you for that insight.
Hear the silent prayers of the people today. Walk closely with those who spread Your Word abroad and, and Lord, make us worthy of our children’s trust. Amen.
God Has A Plan!
I Corinthians 1:26-27. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
He knew from the very beginning that humans would be disobedient. He gave us free will and it was only a matter of time, so He was working on His plan. Part of this plan was to have all His children with Him in Paradise. He could force us, of course, He has the power, but He wants us with Him because we choose to be. What’s more, He wants us to help this happen. God wants us to be a part of the process, the gathering, the bringing of light into the darkness. Besides being with Him in our death, He wants us with Him in life, today. A life of promise - A life of hope. It is our calling. We can answer our call or we can ignore it. Samson ignored his call at a great cost to himself and family. Although he ultimately obeyed God’s call, many years were wasted with much pain and suffering.
God will carry out His plan with us or without us as individuals. He will rise up someone else if we opt out. It will be our loss. We will miss the blessing. We will miss the Well done, faithful servant.
I know, I know! So often, we do not because we do not think God could use us. We are just so ordinary. Moses tried that. God did not accept his excuses, he doesn’t accept ours. He is not interested in our hero status; he is interested in our commitment status! He will use the insignificant of this world to show his power. .
Lord, help us to see ourselves as You see us, capable of doing extraordinary things with You. Amen.
A Light in the Darkness
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
(Psalm 119:105 NIV)
Our world can be such a dark and scary place. Sometimes it is very hard to see the road as we travel through life, but the Psalmist says it well,
Many Christians are anxious and troubled.
A fragile economy,
the breakdown of the family,
the decline in moral and ethical values,
the seeming inability of government to act to resolve pressing social problems –
all these lead to a growing feeling of uncertainty and hopelessness.
When we study God’s Word, we discover God’s transforming ways,
His strength and assurance, and
a light for the path.
As we learn more of the Word of God, we are less troubled by such feelings of discomfort and worry.
I really like what Wilfred Peterson writes:
Memory is an art gallery in which you collect beauty; memory is a mental bank account. You make deposits and depending on the worth of them, you can withdraw from that memory bank.
Faith is kept alive by what we can recall with our minds;
retelling stories of faith is powerful.
This is why regular study is so crucial to people of faith.
We can find hope in what Isaiah tells us when he reminded his listeners that they,
even when in bondage in Babylon,
can rest on God’s promise that he will act again. Isaiah tells us of a God who
"Makes way in the sea a path in the mighty waters and makes rivers in the desert.
Our hope rests in the God who stands by His people!
It is truly awesome,
There has been much said about what we and our children are watching on TV and what kinds of thing we are reading.
I know this sort of points out how ridiculous one can be, but one evening, I just sat there and counted all the ads during a show. The number was between 35-40 in a 30 minute segment, so the question is, are the programs the main thing with ads or are the ads the main thing with programs just to get us to view the ads? I’m afraid I know the answer to that.
So by whom are we most influenced, Madison Ave. or the Bible.
Come to Scripture to be changed,
not to just amass information,
but to put God in the center of our lives.
When our relationship with Jesus becomes the greatest thing in our life,
to know God