A View from Patti Lacy's Window - The Rhythm of Secrets

Hey, Kim! Thanks for the invite! I see you have some questions for me! Remember, though, I’m a woman with secrets…

Patti, thank you for stopping by, I'd love to know where the inspiration for this story came from.

Ooh, Kim, that’s a secret I LOVE to share.

On the morning of July 8, 2007, I opened the Chicago Tribune. Coffee (yeah, I’m an addict of this substance. Also tea and chocolate) sloshed onto the table…and I didn’t care. Gail Rosenblum’s article about a mother giving up…and then reclaiming…a child caught my heart and wouldn’t let go. The idea for my third story rustled right there in the newspaper pages, begging to be SET FREE!

Soon I Googled Sandy…and clasped her contact information in my grimy hand. At first Sandy was reticent to share and said she’d “get back to me.” A couple of weeks later, the phone rang, and it wasn’t a cold call!!! It was Sandy, sharing resources (like Ann Fessler’s fine documentary, The Girls Who Went Away). Memories—and emotions—flooded the phone lines.

What can believers do to encourage folks as the face and deal with sins from their past?

Kim, funny you should ask. I just BLOGGED about this!!! God informs us in Romans 8:28 that He will work ALL things for good in the lives of those who love Him, who call on His name. As a problematic and lonely child, a rebellious teenager, a selfish adult who left life pieces scattered like a broken kaleidoscope, I’ve CLUNG to that promise.

God used an illness and surgery to bring me to my knees and face-to-face with the marvelous truth of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Who will minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, help us fashion something God-pleasing, yes, even something beautiful out of shattered lives!

My new friend and The Rhythm of Secrets book character, Sheila Franklin, has slipped her past sins under a Mardi Gras mask. However, her long-lost son…and her pastor husband Edward are about to yank that disguise right off her attractive 30-something face.

How difficult is it to deal with the fact that God has forgiven us when we still have to face the judgment of others and the consequences of our actions? Even though it has been forgiven by God, many times believers grow discouraged as they deal with the reactions of others.

Oh, Kim, you are so poignantly expressing the “troubles” in this world that our Jesus speaks of. Beth Moore studies have SO helped me when I believe the lies of this world. Beth instructs—no, demands—that we search the scriptures for those nuggets of the truth about our salvation and devour them! When rejection rears its ugly head or Satan’s lies capture my mind, I take captive those anxious thoughts and read scriptures like Galatians 4:6-7 and 1 John 3:1.

Galatians 4:6-7: “Because you are sons (and daughters!), God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son (or daughter!); and since you are a son (or daughter!!), God has made you also an heir!” We are heirs to the kingdom of the Everlasting God!!! Let THAT chase away the Devil’s tinkering with y’all’s minds.

1 John 3:1: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” Drop that bomb into your insecurities and watch them be blown into smithereens!

These are a couple of verses I found for today’s post. Let y’all’s fingers do the walking through scripture to find nuggets God wants to share with YOU!!

How important is it to remember that all of us who are saved by Christ's blood are still dealing with sinful flesh and attitudes and that we should reach out to other believers who are fighting the same battle - and do so in love and not judgment?"

Whew, girl! Glad I have a few years of Beth Moore Bible study teachings under my belt. You’re putting me to work, and it’s still before NOON!!!

Isn’t this one of the mysterious dichotomies of our Lord? To live holy, perfect lives (only through the Spirit’s help and only as an aspiration of our sanctification) yet not judge others who fall short?

I don’t have an easy answer. The Spirit is a wonderful counselor for every situation. However, when I ponder the planks in my own eye, then cast my eyes heavenward, desperate for Christ, the issues of other folks kinda vanish. I’m talking just supernaturally DISAPPEAR!

Kim, it’s funny that in The Rhythm of Secrets, Sheila, fearful of judgment, hid under that mask but looked down her nose at her son’s fiancé, who’d been sold into prostitution by family. Yep, the yin and yang of judgment seesaws many a believer’s mind…and actions!

Thanks SO MUCH for inviting me here today! To learn more about me, visit www.pattilacy.com/blog.