Patricia Cameron

Stunningly Beautiful

by Patricia Cameron | Sep 22, 2023 | Beauty, Faith, Trust

Stunningly beautiful.

I read the comment on someone’s social media page. I cannot remember who wrote it or what it referred to — someone’s physical beauty or words written. Maybe it referred to God’s beautiful creation.

It reminded me of a time many years ago when a friend and I visited Niagara Falls. We were in Toronto and drove down for the day. It was breathtaking. The shops and town on the Canadian side of the falls were beautifully decorated with potted and hanging plants overflowing with flowers. The overall experience was one of awe and appreciation.

We decided to see the falls from the U.S. side, so we drove over. In contrast, this trash-littered scene was quite appalling. No quaint streets. No beautiful landscaping. Of course, the falls were equally as beautiful, but the environment around them hadn’t been kept up. It had quite literally gone by the wayside. Abandoned. Not cared for. We saw only trash scattered about.

Those two sides of the most powerful waterfall in the world couldn’t have been more different. (I do not believe this is true today, but the experience absolutely left an impression.)

Pristine or neglected?

What about us? Are our lives in pristine shape? Have we cared for the conditions around us?

Our physical health. Is it on the back burner while we focus on other things? (Ouch – that one hits home for me.)
Our mental health. What do we allow into our minds?
Our spiritual health. Are we reading God’s word consistently?

Which side are you on?

Niagara showcases two views. Both views surround a beautiful phenomenon.

We have the love of God. It is without doubt stunningly beautiful. It is beyond comparison. Jesus Christ is our center, our constant. He is our powerful redeemer.

On the one side, we have complete trust and faith. The other side disobedience and rebellion.

My life has depicted both sides over the years. Can you relate?

But as Christ as our center, let us strive to keep the physical, mental and spiritual chunks of our lives in order so that others can see Jesus in us. Not to be distracted by clutter but that the life we live will point people to Him.

When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them? Psalm 8:3-4 (NIV)

Don’t know Jesus? You can.

It would be my greatest honor to take your hand, introduce you and walk you through how to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and how to have a personal relationship with Him.

Find out more here.

What Keeps You up at Night?

by Patricia Cameron | Sep 14, 2023 | Fear, Praise, Worry

I woke up to blessed quiet. It had been many weeks — almost two months — of noises in the attic awakening me or scuffling between my office walls and the outside brick frustrating and distracting me. My sons and I couldn’t determine its identity.

One morning the noises sounded like someone moving furniture. Several days the sound of a golf ball repeatedly dropping and rolling tested my patience.

We set out to find an opening and finally found a hole under an eave in the roof, assuming the squatter must be a raccoon. Upon further inspection, we found the insulation had been patted down by the critter’s many trips across the attic floor. Plus, the air duct was detached in two places! So, instead of cooling my house in the 107-degree Louisiana heat, I had been cooling the attic for our attic resident. I can just imagine him sitting up there in between the two sections of the air duct and enjoying all that cold air.

After patching up the hole, we set a borrowed trap in the attic. After a week and even one instance where the raccoon outsmarted the trap, he unexpectedly took the bait and landed in raccoon jail. Our unwanted visitor was then taken to his new home in the woods.

That attic situation was quite the experience.

So I’m grateful for a quiet house on a lazy Saturday morning. I’m grateful for cool air and a son who didn’t complain even once about checking the trap three times a day.

What’s in your attic?

What’s in your attic? Hopefully, it’s not something wreaking havoc and causing destruction.

However, sometimes, it’s our own thoughts that do exactly that.

What keeps you up at night or awakens you in the early morning hours? What is that constant worry that keeps you in a state of disarray? What is the fear that won’t give you peace? Or the nagging voice that distracts you from your life’s purpose?

Jesus brought calm to the chaos and peace in the storm. He spoke healing to the helpless and provided plenty to the hungry. He spent time with the outcasts as well as the prominent. He made himself available to men and women alike, and cherished children. He taught, he prayed, he wept, he loved.

And he does that for us too. We can rest at night knowing that He is in control and He’s available.

Who fights your battles?

There is an account in scripture that reminds us where to place our trust. It’s an unusual one to discuss trust, but I love what King Jehoshaphat says when enemy armies were about to invade.

2 Chronicles 20:12

We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.

That is the answer for us too. No matter the pressure you’re feeling in life right now, put your eyes on Jesus. If the walls seem to be closing in, or something is causing destruction in your attic, remember He is there.

2 Chronicles 20:17 also reminds us of God’s provision. When facing a battle, He told the people of Judah not to do anything.

You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, tomorrow go out against them and the LORD will be with you. 2 Chronicles 20:17 (ESV)

And I love their response. They praised and sang BEFORE the LORD delivered them. God caused their enemies to destroy each other. By the time Judah got there, all they needed to do was pick up the spoils. Don’t you love that?

I do not know what battle you might be facing, or what the Lord might require of you, but I do know this. With Jesus by your side, you cannot lose.

Ordinary People

by Patricia Cameron | Aug 30, 2023 | Courage, God, Praise, Sorrow

As King David stays hidden from his son Absalom, two men risk their lives to report to David Absalom’s plan to take over the kingdom. (2 Samuel 17:17-21)

Because they had been seen leaving the city, a man in Bahurim allowed these messengers to hide in his well. His wife placed a blanket and grain over it to stow them away from their pursuers. She then sent Absalom’s men in a different direction.

Available and willing

We don’t know much about this couple other than these few scriptures. They were likely just two ordinary people God used for a moment in time to protect his anointed. Did they sense that they were part of a bigger picture?

When they got the news David’s messengers needed a hiding place, did they “push through” their fear of possible punishment? I can imagine the wife’s rush to fling the blanket over the well in time. Did her heart race as she pointed the pursuers in the opposite direction?

One thing seems clear. They were available and willing, and God used them to protect His messengers and David.

Abide in the Word

I attended a women’s conference this past weekend — Abide in the Word — hosted by The Vine of NELA. The words amazing, inspiring and encouraging best describe our eight hours together.

The thought occurred to me that while we all came from different areas, different backgrounds and different churches, we were all just ordinary people with our problems, fears, mistakes and our sorrows. But together, as we stood singing and praising the Father, the presence of God filled the room and amazing things happened in our hearts.

We each fulfilled various tasks and responsibilities from listening, lifting a hand, putting an arm around a sister in support, organizing, praying, speaking and singing . . . and making sure there was plenty of coffee. 

The two from Bahurim played a role in protecting David. What about us? Our lives may seem ordinary in our own eyes, but God can use us — He wants to use us — to accomplish His purpose and His plan.

Let’s be available and willing to answer the call, and to complete the task . . . no matter how large or small, or daunting.

Seek the Lord. Trust His Word. Ask Him to draw you close and teach you to abide.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32 (NKJV)

Straight to the Source

by Patricia Cameron | Aug 22, 2023 | Disappointment, God, Trust

Have you ever wondered how someone as brave and gallant as King David could do an about-face and run from his son Absalom?

Absalom had campaigned against David, garnered support and attempted to take over the throne. (See 2 Samuel 15) With all David had been through and as Israel’s greatest king, why did he take the escape route?

There are several thoughts on this. 1) He wanted to spare Jerusalem from destruction and innocent people from suffering. 2) He wanted to spare his own life. 3) Because of his own sin, he saw the coming attack as God’s discipline. 4) He didn’t want Absalom to be harmed.

I believe David’s words in Psalm 3 also gives us a glimpse into his heart during Absalom’s rebellion. Maybe it was fear that prompted him to fall on his knees and call out to God for deliverance.

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah. (ESV)

Finding answers in times like these

Could it be that going through difficult times — even if it’s our own fault or the consequence of our own sin — teaches us, prepares us or moves us along in our journey?

David’s escape from Absalom drove him to God. Although he had had many victories in his life, David committed many sins, as we all do. Yet he knew who to turn to, who to cry out to, who would be sure to answer.

I could write a book about the many things that happened to my family, particularly financially in the last seven months. Not long after we moved into our new home, our 22-year-old truck — parked on the street in front of our house — was hit by another vehicle . . . and totaled. That truck was the “rite of passage” for my sons as they became first-time drivers. We were about to make that transition for my third and youngest son.

This, along with a host of other repairs and other general issues, sent me wallowing in my misfortune. At one point, my son stopped to ask me “Mom, do you think we’re being tested?” I didn’t know how to answer except to say, “It sure seems like it.”

Oh, I cried out to God but I focused more on complaining to my friends and family. In contrast, Even when betrayed by a family member, David went straight to the source of all comfort — to the one who already knew his situation. While friends offer sympathy and comfort, it is God who lifts my head and answers me.

Finding peace in times like these

Times like these do, in fact, draw me closer to God. Difficulties often show me that He is near. And it is in that nearness, peace can be found.

Like David, when fear and disappointment come, I know I can trust Him, not only because he is God and creator of the universe, but because I can see how he has been with me — by my side — over the weeks, months and years. Through each trial, through each heartbreak, through every decision whether good or bad, He is there.

Do you know who to turn to? Who to cry out to? Who is sure to answer? No matter what comes, Jesus Christ is there every step of the way.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

A Bump in the Road

by Patricia Cameron | Aug 11, 2023 | Forgiveness, Grace, Hope, Support

Sometimes things don’t turn out as you plan. No real secret there, right?

As my son loaded up a bed frame to take to his first “home away from home” at college, he casually said the frame was secure in the back of the pickup.

However, at the first significant bump in the road, that frame sailed out of the truck and into the middle of the interstate.

Since I was a few miles ahead of him, he called with the news, to which I cried out to God, “Lord, not something else!”

Not knowing what else to do, he kept driving, seeing cars swerving in the lanes behind him.

The other drivers must have been stunned to see the cloth and metal frame flying toward them. Fortunately, someone stopped and moved the obstruction to the side of the road, and no one was injured in the ordeal.

Bumps can surprise us.

Have you had a bump in the road recently? Have things not gone as planned? It seems I’ve had quite a few lately — too many to count!

What is your bump in the road?

Was it your dream that went flying out the window?
Was it a dreaded call that came?
Was it a careless, hurtful word that left you a wreck?
Was it a sinful act sent your life spiraling out of control.

Bumps can change us.

Consider the woman in the Bible who was caught in adultery (John 7:53 – 8:11). She didn’t plan on being caught, but when the Pharisees showed up, she knew her life would change. In fact, she could have thought her life would end that day.

But that “bump” introduced her to Jesus, who stood beside her, offered no condemnation and told her to sin no more. That one act changed her life.

The bumps I’ve experienced have changed, shaped and even sharpened me – so much so that I am a different person. When I thought I was done, Jesus picked me up, and gave me a firm foundation, hope for a better tomorrow and the will to keep going.

Jesus stood by my side and in the gap for me and remained by my side until I was no longer the same.

Bumps can be used for good.

I encourage you to look at your bump in the road differently. Maybe it will project you into a new phase in life. Perhaps it will remind you of what God has already done in your life. Or it could possibly serve as a wake-up call to fulfill the purpose God has for you.

I wish I knew the rest of that woman’s story. Did she go back and pick up the pieces? Did she repent from her lifestyle and follow Jesus? Did she tell others of the mercy, grace, forgiveness and new life extended to her?

My nephew and son went back to get that bedframe. It was torn and scarred from the impact and being dragged across the concrete, but it was still strong enough to do what it was designed to do.

We may not be hauled to a makeshift trial on a dusty, brick-paved road, however, we’ll likely be scarred and bruised from the impact of our bump.

Even so, we can still be used for good. With Jesus by our side, we have the strength to do what God designed us to do.

Take that bump — that lesson — and let it be used for good.