Pet Peeves

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Alesa Miller • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged Alesa Lewis Miller, behind the parsonage walls, Connecting everyday life to Christ, depression, disappointment, discouragement, faith, fear, God, loneliness, Pet Peeves, trust God, unconditional love • Leave a comment

I have a pet peeve! I am not gonna lie, I have had it for a long time, and I would be willing to bet, it is one of God’s pet peeves too, although I know He handles it with greater grace than I do.

When my children were younger, I like to think, I was like any mother, who would ask my children to do some things around the house, like clean their room, put their laundry away, general tasks most moms would assign to their children. But I am sure, my children aren’t the only ones in the world to ever responded “Ok! I will be there in a minute”, to which I would respond, “If I wanted you to do it in a minute, I would ask you in a minute, but I want you to do it now!”

This frustration also coincides with people who promise to do something and then don’t follow through with their commitment as well. I think people should be a person of their word and I strive in my life everyday to do the same.

So, I can’t help but think God might have the same pet peeves as I do. I mean we can look at the bible and find Him getting a little frustrated with children of Israel, so much so that even after they had begged God for years to rescue them from their evil Egyptian tasks masters, when He finally did, they doubted Him and went against what He told them to do, and because of that, all but 2 of them ended up not getting to enter into the promised land. (You can read more about this in the book of Exodus in the bible)

Then lets not forget Jonah, who was told to go to the city of Nineveh and because he didn’t want to, he ended up being swallowed by a whale. (You can read all about him in the book of Jonah in the bible)

I promise, I would never let my kids get swallowed by a whale! But nevertheless I get frustrated. It has been said that delayed obedience is still disobedience.

So what has God told you to do? You may say “ Oh! He has never talked to me” But the truth is He has, we may have not heard His audible voice but He left His word for us called the bible. He gives men and woman, called Pastors, words to speak to us, every week, and we can hear it when we go to church. One of those things He told us to do in His word says, we need to go to, church (Heb 10:25)

Now when we go back on our promise to God, when we haphazardly live our life claiming we love God, but not following what His word says to do , It makes me wonder if God isn’t a little sad with our actions. If we aren’t being a little like those in the bible, and I wonder what is yet to be.

See, we hear a lot about God’s love these days and some of us have come to believe, that love will just overlook the times we have chosen to ignore what we have known, and what we should be doing. But I don’t believe that. We are all allowed to make the choices we want, but we are not free from the consequences of those choices. Those consequences are not because God doesn’t love us, but it is because He does love us and wants us to choose what is best for us, but we often times believe we know best and decide we will do what we want to do.

I heard someone say recently “How can a book written over 3000 years ago relate to my life today”. Well, the bible can because the Creator of the Universe is the one who ordained the writing of that book and the one who inspired every word of it and the bottom line is, the Creator always gets to tell His creation what to do.

The Inspection

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Alesa Miller • Posted in Christian growth • Tagged Alesa Lewis Miller, behind the parsonage walls, Connecting everyday life to Christ, depression, disappointment, discouragement, fear, Friends, loneliness, perfectionism, Romans 8:28, Thanksgiving, The Inspection, trust God, unconditional love • Leave a comment

Do you have any traditions in your home? Oh! I mean, more than just what you do at Christmas, or Thanksgiving? I mean the subtle things that happen and you may not even realize it. These things come from who you are deep inside and often from your habits and the standard of which you were raised.

We have one of those at our house, it is now in the 3rd generation in our family. ,You see, my father-in-law Trammel Miller was an amazing contractor and his standards were so high all that worked for him called him the “piano man”, because if you tune pianos you have to be a perfectionist and that is exactly what Trammel was.

Thus, when he came to our home, after Jeff and I were first married, if there was something that was not maintained to Trammels standard, he would give Jeff that, “I am disappointed with you son” Look. The look may be followed by a few intriguing questions of exactly why it wasn’t this taken care of up to the “Trammel Miller Standard” .

The funny thing is, there was no handbook that told my husband that this inspection would come, no official notice was sent ahead of time, verbal or otherwise. My husband just knew, if his dad was coming over to visit, he would rush around, getting those last minute honey do list items I had for him done. Sometimes he would go back over and check what he had done, to assure it met the expectation of Trammel Miller.

And even funnier thing today, is that Lee Miller now does the same thing his father did, all those years ago when we were first married. Trammel is now celebrating his anniversary of being in heaven 4 years this month, and we all know he is running the construction crew of angels, who are building our mansions in heaven, because that is just Trammel Miller, and God needed Trammel up there because of his perfectionism.

See when we now call our son to let him know we will be visiting, his family in Tulsa, it isn’t uncommon to hear Lee tell his dad. “Well, I’ve got to go so, I can get done before you get here to make sure I pass inspection when you come. ” We often laugh about it as a family but the premise is the same.

You see there as been a standard set that my sons automatically knows their father expects of them and that got me thinking, isn’t that just like our Heavenly Father?

There is a standard that has been set by our Heavenly Father who will soon be coming to visit, and if we don’t meet that inspection, we are not gonna pass, and we won’t make it to heaven.

The difference is, we have been given a handbook with every detail we need to know of what He expects and it is called the bible. We have even been given a family to help us understand what He expects and that is called the church. God has even sent a helper called the Holy Spirit to help us while we are here on earth to help us choose to do the right thing.

So the bottom line is, we have no excuse for not following the directions, God has laid out for us. Everyone of us can pass the inspection that is coming, but it is up to us.

My boys could not care, what their father thinks when he comes to visit. They could ignore standards they have been raised with and choose to walk away from. But they realize their father loves them and wants the best for them. They know, their dad would give his life for them and only expects these things, because he wants the best for them and believes in them and loves them. Because of their fathers age, he has more knowledge and wisdom then they do and can often tell how things are going to turn out, because he has had the same problems, been in the same situations, and doesn’t want his kids to go through what he has been through.

The same is with our Heavenly Father. God loves you and He wants the best for you. He has given us all the tools we need. The question is, are you using them? Will you pass the inspection with your Heavenly Father when He comes? Take the tools He has given us and use them. Don’t hesitate to ask your Heavenly Father for help. After all, that is what a good good Father does!

When You Feel Like You Don’t Belong!

Posted on March 9, 2019 by Alesa Miller • Posted in encouragement, fear • Tagged Alesa Lewis Miller, behind the parsonage walls, Connecting everyday life to Christ, connecting everyday life with Christ, depression, disappointment, discouragement, fear, God, grace of Jesus, loneliness, perfectionism, trust God, unconditional love, When you feel like you don't belong! • Leave a comment

I got to attend a church conference this last weekend with Jeff. It included Assembly of God ministers and their congregations from all over the south central and western part of our state. Several of these Pastors were people my husband and I have known from the 30 yrs we will celebrate being in Kansas this coming October. Although I was born here in Kansas, I attended 9 different schools in 5 different states in the 12 yrs of my education. Jeff was born and raised in the same town in Alabama, in fact he lived on the same street all his life, and I met him when my father was pastoring his home church. Then after marriage, Jeff and I lived in Alabama and Georgia before moving to Kansas.

Needless to say , that much moving around doesn’t give a girl much security. I still battle anxiety going to these types of meetings of our peers. You would think after all my experience in meeting new people, it wouldn’t bother me anymore, but it does. Our teacher at this particular event was a former pastor and district leader of our denomination. He was a co-worker in the ministry that in the past years we had spent a lot of time with. Actually, Jeff and I were just barely wet behind the ears in our own ministry, when this man was a leader, so of course we looked up to him and appreciated the time he took with us.

As I sat around that room this weekend. I looked around and saw many of those pastors and their wives that were in the district when we first came to Kansas. Those were the people that Jeff and I have looked up to for so many years thinking “Maybe one day we will be as awesome as they are”, “Maybe one day, we will be able to help others, like they have helped us”. Looking in the mirror now, there is a few more wrinkles in all of our faces.

When we looked around that room, it wasn’t just our old friends that were there, but there was a whole new crew of younger, newer pastors in that room. And if you look closer, many of the pastors we looked up to are now gone. The funny thing is, these new pastor are starting to look at Jeff and I , like we looked at our old friends, when we first came to the Kansas District Council of the Assemblies of God all those years ago.

I have to say, it was quite a weird and yet awesome experience I had this weekend. It was weird to me because maybe for the first time, I felt like I belonged, I felt like I was in “The Club”, the club of a group of people who could sit around and talk about memories they have, of the fun days they spent together at church camps and ministry events, and the times we have prayed for each other. There is a bond between us that is like no other I have ever had, except when we lived in the Kansas City area for 13 years. In both cases, we had experienced things with our friends that built a bond between us, that you don’t get by going to 9 schools in 5 different states in 12 years, and I have to admit it felt good. If felt good to belong to a group again.

You know, all this got me thinking….. It is a proven fact that we all have a need for security and significance. We all desire to be loved unconditionally. We want our lives to have purpose of something greater than ourselves. Of course we who are followers of Christ know that He is the only one that will be able to fill that need. But we also have to know that there is a group of people in this world that will never care about hearing what we have to say, if we don’t make them feel like they belong. If we don’t invest time into their lives and love them by making regular deposits in their relationship banks.

For to long, the church has made people feel that you have to believe like we do before you can feel like you belong to the church. Why is it that we separate ourselves as Christ followers from the very people God told us to “Go into all the world and share the gospel” ? (Mark 16:15)

I think if we could learn to love the people around us with the love of God, like we have been called to do, there would not be a church pew in the County that would be empty on Sunday mornings.

I can’t tell you the people I have talked to that say the reason they don’t go to church is because they don’t feel welcome. They say things like “They ignore me when they see me in public or “They wouldn’t even speak to me in church”.

How can we, as the church, even call ourselves the church, if we fail to do the most important thing Jesus said we were to do and that is to. “‘…Love your neighbor as yourself ” Matt 22:39 Christ called this part the most important commandment.

So how about we change all that. First off, if you attend a church this week, make sure you welcome everyone in the building and be friendly to those outside the four walls, despite their past. We never know what just a smile and a handshake can mean to someone.

Then, Secondly, if you don’t go to church on a regular basis, and you have been made to feel like you don’t belong in a church, how about you rise above that feeling and follow what the bible says “Love your neighbor as yourself” There aren’t too many people I know that can’t forgive themselves of something as simple as not saying “Hi” or shaking hands with someone, then get up and go to church this week.

Let’s all make an extra effort to make those around us feel like they belong. In a small community like this, it is easy to let past hurts and offenses keep us from being kind and friendly to others. But if we are going to follow what God tell us to do, we need to love those around us, as we love ourselves. (Matt 22:37) So how about this week, we do just that. Let’s make people feel like they belong, even if they don’t believe or live the way we do.

After all, Paul told us in Romans 5:8 “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. If we are really gonna be like Christ, let’s die to our old ways and those old feelings of being better than someone else, and let’s show everyone we know, the same love, compassion, and forgiveness that has been given to us. Because I firmly believe, “Those who can’t forgive, have forgotten what they have been forgiven of” So lets make sure people know they belong here no matter how long they have lived here, or what we may or may not know about them. Let’s be Jesus’ hands and feet this week.

Clean Dirt

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Alesa Miller • Posted in Christian growth, encouragement • Tagged Alesa Lewis Miller, behind the parsonage walls, change, Clean Dirt, Connecting everyday life to Christ, disappointment, discouragement, faith, loneliness, trust God, unconditional love • Leave a comment

I don’t know about your house, but it has never mattered what home I have lived in or what brand of dishwasher is in that house. On occasion, someone in my family has pulled something out of that dishwasher that, had just been ran, that still had some piece of food left on it, to which my family member will say something to this effect “The dishes are still dirty” and I will reply “ It is clean dirt, it has been washed” We will usually laugh and then wash the item by hand.

You know that little scenario got me thinking. How many of us think like that in our own life. We think the little bit of dirt in our life, is “clean dirt”, after all we are good people. We don’t mean harm to anyone and are just doing the best we can. We justify what we see in our lives often times, all the while condemning what we see in others.

But the truth is, what we think about ourselves or others really doesn’t matter, it is what God thinks that really matters. In fact, His word is the ultimate authority. The question is how well do you know God’s word? God’s word is His son’s dying wishes for our life. Just think about it, the creator of the Universe left you a letter, with directions He wants you to follow.

Oh! I know some people say “I have tried to read the bible, but I just don’t understand it” to which I would reply “That is why we have churches and bible studies” It is important that each of us read those true stories in the bible. Those are lesson we can learn through others lives that have lived before us. We also see Jesus as He walked this earth and can learn from His stories as well.

One thing we all need to remember, past the 10 commandments, there is 1 commandment we all must follow, in fact Jesus said it was more important than any other, and that is found in Luke 10:27 “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

You know if you love someone with all your heart, and I mean REALLY love, then you want to please them, but there is no way to please God if we don’t know what His word says. So how about this week you do 2 things, take just 5 minutes and start reading the Psalms and Proverbs each day in the bible, then throughout your day, show that love Jesus talked about in Luke to those around you.

Because if we don’t do these things, then can we really say we have surrendered our life to Him? It’s really like saying you’re clean dirt when you don’t. We all know that doesn’t make any sense in anyone’s book, and the fact is, we can’t wash ourselves on our own or by what we do. God’s love is unconditional and His grace is free ,but it is only when we receive that unconditional love that we realize how much He loves us, and in turn wants to give that love back to Him, by living a life for Him and sharing that love with others. So let’s stop trying to hand wash our lives in our own ways and follow what the Jesus says.

10, 2 and 4 Baby

Posted on March 1, 2019 by Alesa Miller • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ESV, 10 2 and 4 baby, 10%, 2 and 4 baby, Alesa Lewis Miller, anxiety, behind the parsonage walls, change, children, Christ, comfort, Connecting everyday life to Christ, depression, disappointment, discouragement, faith, fear, loneliness, perfectionism, trust God, unconditional love • Leave a comment

I have always been a night owl and hated going to bed. I think it is because I was afraid I would miss something. I remember my mom used to call me her 10, 2 and 4 baby because I would wake up at 10pm, 2am and 4am. I think I finally wore my parents down because, by the time I got to be a teenager my father made me a deal and told me that as long as I got up the first time he called me in the morning. I could stay up as long as I wanted at night. So as soon as I would hear my dad call my name in the morning I would jump up out of the bed as quickly as possible calling back to him “ I am up! I am up!” just so he would know that I was up, and I wouldn’t have to go to bed early the next night.

I will never forget one night, as a teenager, my parents let me have one of my friends spend the night. About 2am we decided we were hungry so we started cooking. Of, course my parents had long been in the bed but I didn’t think they would mind. So, my friend and I looked in the refrigerator and discussed what were were going to have and we debated about eggs, but went with something else. I don’t remember what we decided, but whatever it was must’ve started smelling good, because my dad showed up from the other end of the house, in the kitchen half asleep and as he opened the door to the hallway that separated the kitchen/family room from the rest of the house, he hollered out at us “ I am gonna break you from sucking eggs” and with that my friend and I looked at each other and said “ I thought we decided not to have eggs?” as we burst into laughter my dad turned around and went back to bed. I still believe to this day he must of been talking and walking in his sleep.

Of course, it was a weekend, so I didn’t have to get up early the next day. But that didn’t stop me from making sure when my dad did call, I was right out of the bed as soon as I heard his voice the next Monday when it was time to go back to school.

All that got me thinking, Do you have your ear tuned in listening for your Heavenly Father’s voice? Are you looking for His return and ready to go as soon as He calls? The bible tells us that Jesus will return one day to take us to heaven, but He will only be taking those who are looking and living for Him. The bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ESV

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

I don’t know about you, but I want to always be ready to go when the Lord returns. I want to be listening for His voice. Just like I was listening for my father’s voice when I woke up every in the mornings. I wanted to be ready and not late because I knew if I missed it, there would be a consequence to pay. Just as there will be if we miss Jesus return.

But how do we make sure we won’t miss HIs return? Well, Romans 3:23 tells us that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”It is as simple as A,B,C Admit that you are a sinner, (Romans 10:9-10) Believe in Jesus Christ and Commit your life to Him. start, going to a bible believing church, start making Him a part of your everyday life, by talking to Him in prayer and letting Him talk to you through His word.

It is only when we know, Christ then we will know His voice. We can’t hear Him if we don’t know His voice. I knew my daddy’s voice and I listened for it. We need to listen for our Heavenly Father’s voice so not only when He calls us to heaven, but every day He talks to us too and has a plan for our life and that plan is more than give your life to Him and go to Heaven.

There is something He has planned for us everyday. He wants us to be a part of our everyday life and has a mission for us here on earth before He comes back. For some it is to love others that can’t be loved, for some it is to give more to help others, for others, it is to make a difference in someone else’s life. We won’t know what He has in store for us until we get to know Him and we can’t get to know Him until we surrender our lives to Him and choose to follow after Him.

See, I knew my daddy I spent time with my daddy, and I did everything I could to please my daddy. So, the question is, do we do the same for our Heavenly Father, If you haven’t I highly suggest that you do because you don’t want to miss His voice when He calls you to come to heaven. I think you want your answer to Christ to be the same as mine to my dad “ I am up! I am up!”

Behind the Parsonage Walls (Connecting Everyday Life to Christ)

By Alesa Lewis Miller

Monthly Archives: March 2019