Ethel's Writing's

© Ethel Hiday Wicksey

3.   The Whisper of God

I wrote this, the morning before my surgery
I am fortunate to have my bedroom window face the rising sun. When I am woken up early in the morning by the whisper of God, I can watch as the dark of night turns into the light of day.
            So often, in our busy life, we feel the heaviness of darkness all around us. It could be the sickness or death of a loved one. It could be a child, who has wandered off the path, like the prodigal into a wayward lifestyle.
            Tomorrow, at this time, I will be in a hospital bed not able to see the sunrise. I like you, do not know how many more sunrises I have left.
            The good news is that I have an inner peace that has never left me. Sure, like any human, I have had some fear but I keep hearing this inner whisper say, “Fear not, I am with you and will never leave you or forsake you.”
            Yes, the God I love and the God that loves you; has come to me and let me know on many occasions, that He is as close as a whisper.
“That is close!”
            Have you ever whispered a secret to a friend? Your lips just about touch their ear. You smell their breath and some times feel their cheek, as your eyelash brushes across it.
That is how close God is to me, when He wakes me up in the morning and says, “I have something special for you to write today, Emily. Get up and turn on your computer. Feel what my heart is saying to you.”
            Sometimes it is a beautiful poem. Sometimes it is words of encouragement. Sometimes, He wants me to sit back and enjoy the sunrise with Him. Each time I am woken up by the whisper of God, it becomes a completely new and exciting adventure.
Oh how blessed I am to be loved by such a wonderful, Heavenly Father. Next, time you feel a gentle nudging and the sun has not yet risen, whisper, “Yes, God, I Am Listening.” Get up and share a Sunrise with God. Hear Him whisper in your ear.
“I Love You.” 

© Ethel Hiday Wicksey

4.   The Robin

Learn to listen to God, like the Robin listens for his breakfast.
When you take time to pray today, remember to listen for the whisper of God.
The Robin gets up early when the dew is still wet on the ground, just as the sun is budding over the horizon.
He walks silently over the dew-wet grass listening for the sound of worms crawling just beneath the surface.
His life depends on it!
What hearing!
How quiet he must be to hear a worm.
Can we take a lesson on listening to God from the robin?
Our life depends on it!
A robin's hearing has to be sharp, to hear the silent slithering of a worm just below his feet.
Have you heard a worm?
Have you heard God’s voice?
God speaks to us each day.
We need to rise, with the sun, before we are distracted and listen for God’s voice.
It comes ever so quietly, like a worm crawling just below our feet.
Be still and listen, not for worms, but for God's voice whispering:
“Come to Me.”
“I am here.”
“I love you.”
“Let us pray.”

© Ethel Hiday Wicksey

5.   Bend So You Will Not Break

Have you ever been in a situation where you know you are right about something and most of the people you talk to have a different opinion. I have and found I have been so right that I broke the branch. I would not give an inch and the other person would not give an inch.
            Weeks later, it did not matter who was right. I held onto my opinion and the other person held on to theirs. They had bible proof that they were right and I had bible proof that I was right. 
            The thought came to me the other day that both of us would not give an inch. It was as if we both had our hands on a branch. I was bending the branch one way and the other person was bending it their way. Soon the branch was ready to break. You can only bend a branch so far and then it will snap. That is the same way with friendships. If we do not give and take in some situations, we will bend the relationship so far that we can loose a friend. 
            As we study the Bible, remember that your opinion and the other person opinion might both be right. You, through your experience look at a bible verse from your perspective. They look at it through their understanding.
Pray and release the whole situation over to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to be with the two of you as you pray about it. Be willing to change your opinion if the Holy Spirit shows you a new perspective. Listen to your friends and see where they are coming from. Ask them to listen and pray with you. A lot of the time there is no answer. That is the time to file it in the ask Jesus when you get to heaven file.

© Ethel Hiday Wicksey

6.   Do You Know Jesus Like You Know Your Mother? 

            I heard those words on 100 Huntley Street tonight.
            Do I know Jesus as I know my mother? It says in the Bible that we are to know Jesus, No! I do not mean know about Him, I mean really know him. 
            Why not use our mothers for an example of how we are supposed to know Jesus. Last Sunday was Mothers Day. We that still are blessed with our mothers tried to do something extra special for them. If your mother is not with you any more, you likely will remember what favourite food or dessert she makes just for you. You can describe the colour of her hair or the pattern that was in wallpaper on her bedroom wall. You will remember the times she held you in her arms, when you had a scrape on your knee, then kissed it to make the hurt go away.
            What about God? He sent his Son down to earth for us to get to know. I do not just mean read about but to really get to know. When you know someone, you usually know the colour of his or her hair. What flowers they like. Their favourite dessert! You know what they like to drink, what music they like to listen too. You will remember the last time you sat and had a chat with them. You might not remember what the chat was about but you will remember the friendship and the laughter. What about your mother? Can you remember where you were when you had your last chat with her? For some of you it will be on Sunday but a lot of your mothers have passed on to a new and better place. Some of them at this very moment might be in intercessory prayer to God on your behalf. 
            The question still is unanswered. Do you know Jesus like you know or knew your own mother? Let me take you back to when you were five years old. You have just tripped over the family dog and cut your knee. The red stuff is on your hands and knee. Did you stop playing and run to your mother so she could give you a hug and wash the dirt off the cut, or did you just keep on with what you were doing and forget about your hurt? Most of us ran to our mothers. 
            Some times, I get so busy I forget to listen to my master’s voice. I am out there trying to please everyone but God and Jesus. He calls my name each day, but some times, He has to use a foghorn to get my attention.
            God created Adam and Eve to walk with him in the garden. God created mothers to nurture their children in somewhat the same way God nurtured Adam and Eve. God told them no! A mother is constantly saying no to her children who want to do things that might get them into trouble. It is done in love just like God telling Adam and Eve to leave the fruit from a certain tree alone. 
            God told Adam and Eve to leave the Garden because of their sin of disobedience. God is saying to you that the door to the Garden of Eden is open. Get down on your knees and repent and humbly come to the garden and worship Me, and my Son Jesus Christ. God is saying to each one of us today and forever.
            “Come enter into a relationship with Me your Father, My Son Jesus Christ, and allow the Holy Spirit to anoint you and walk with me in the cool of the morning or evening. Share your day with me. Tell me what it is that makes you happy. Share your likes and dislikes with me. Share what it is that is bothering you. Share your hearts and what it is you need me to do to help get you through your day. When something happy happens let me know so that I can be happy along with you. When you have more than you need, share the abundance with Me, so that I can help others. Do not forget to thank me, once in a while for what I am doing for you.

© Ethel Hiday Wicksey

7.   Faith Stories

Faith stories are treasures to be passed from one generation to the next. In a culture that scoffs at spiritual truth, they offer living proof that God exists and is intimately involved in the lives of those who follow Him.
            Scripture acknowledges their value and encourages us to do likewise:
"I will teach you hidden lessons from the past-stories we have heard and know, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD. We will tell of his power and the mighty miracles he did...He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children so the next generation might know them-even the children not yet born-that they in turn might teach their children, so each generation can set its hope anew on God, remembering his glorious miracles and obeying his commands." (Psalm 78:2-7)
            When our children hear stories of God's faithfulness to their ancestors, they'll be encouraged to trust Him, too. Lord willing, someday they'll repeat those stories to their own children. From generation to generation, God's name will be honored and lives will be impacted for eternity. What's more important than that?

© Ethel Hiday Wicksey

8.   How To Get Rid Of The Gray Areas In Your Life

1. This question was asked me at the women’s retreat this weekend.
2. Looking back over my life, I can see a lot of gray areas. I thank God that He forgave me for my sins when I came to Him and repented.
3. Today is a new page in my life. God’s forgiveness is like removing a page of writing on your computer. When you press the delete button on the computer, you have two choices to make.
4. Go on with your work and start a new sentence. Leave your mistakes in Gods hands.
5. Click on the undo typing in the edit section and bring back everything that you have deleted.
6. God’s memory is like the delete button of the computer. Once it is pressed and you go on with a new word the mistake is removed from the computer forever.
 Satin is like the undo typing button. He loves to go into our past and throw all our mistakes back into our face.

© Ethel Hiday Wicksey

9.   Bible Study

The Spirit of God, takes the word of God, applies it to the child of God, to make us more like the Son of God
Anonymous
Let us think this through;
If we pray and ask God, He will allow The Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth and bring to our remembrance all we have read from His holy book the Bible.
The Spirit of God that lives in us, takes the word of God we read, and helps us apply it to the way we think and live so that when people look at us, they can see the reflection of God’s Son in us.
Let us break this down even more;
God sent His Holy Spirit to live in us. God wants us to pray and ask for help before we do anything. His own Son Jesus said He did nothing without talking to His Father first. When we read the Bible, we learn God’s word and the life of Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit help you understand it. The Holy Spirit of God helps us take what we have read and put it into practice every day. When we do this, we become more like God’s Son, Jesus.
When God fills us with His Holy Spirit, the same spirit that dwells in you dwells in me. We can quench God’s Spirit from working in us by our sin.
WOW!
Thank You God, for loving us enough, to send Your Holy Spirit, to help us every day.
Thank you for giving us the bible.
Help us become more and more like your Son, Jesus Christ.

© Ethel Hiday Wicksey

10.   I’me’it is

A question, was asked me, by a good friend this month. It was “Why do I do what I do?” This person wanted me to defend my actions. I had to defend the WHYS in my life.          WHY I give books away, WHY I give roses away, WHY I drive people places. WHY I write and share my personal thoughts. WHY I have made hundreds of puppets and given them away. WHY I have gatherings and invite people to come and share a meal. WHY I give testimonies of how God has blessed me. This was hard on me. I was using to many I’s and me’s, when I shared my WHYS. Soon I got frustrated then angry. I was so angry that the next day I decided I did not want this friend in my life any more.
            I was accused of bragging or boasting when I shared how I had been blessed by God. I had been sharing some of the things I had accomplished in my life.
All this hurt at the time, but God had a plan for it. He was the instigator of the whole evening. Looking back over the past month, I see this incident, as a time of growth in my life. It started me soul searching, which is a good thing if you have people to come along side of you to support you and pick up the peaces. Searching out our mind and heart and finding why we do what we do in life is very hard to do. One thing I was encouraged to start doing, is getting rid of a lot of the I’s and Me’s in my life.
            It has always been God helping me and giving me the talents to do what I do. I am whom I am because of the gifts given to me from God. He gave me these talents, and gifts to bless His church and the people out in the community that need to be blessed.
It is not about me Ethel, but God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, living inside of me. I am nothing on my own. With God as my Creator, Jesus as my Savior and Holy Spirit guiding me, I become more Christ like every day. I am inspired to write deeper thoughts. New and better ideas are given when I sit down to make roses or puppets.
            I come up with a new word, to describe what the symptoms of what I had wrong with me are.
                                                            I’ME’ITIS

 I’ME’ITIS = Pride, Self-centered, Selfishness putting me first, saying I too much.
I looked the suffix itis up on the computer and this is what I found.
Main Entry: -itis
Function: noun suffix
1: disease or inflammation <bronchitis>
2 plural usually -itises: condition likened to a disease -- chiefly in nonce formations <televisionitis>

            I thought of an object lesson that was used in one of my clown acts to demonstrate the opposite of I’ME’ITIS.
I gave each person a different coloured piece of wool about six feet long. The people were broken up into groups of four. The groups were told to twist their pieces of wool together. Next, they were broken up into groups of 12, and told to braid the three strands of wool together. A volunteer brought the finished products to the front. I held one stand of wool and had the volunteer pulled on it. It broke in two, right away. Next, we pulled on the braded wool. We could no break it. We could pull on it all day and it would not break.
            That is the way it is with our life. If we try to stand, alone we will break, if we are pulled to hard. Braded together, with the other Christians in our church we become stronger and will be able to stand firm when things start to happen to us.
            This reminded me of how our family was blessed; four years ago after the doctors told me I had breast cancer. I was a broken woman. I went to see several close friends from church and we wept in each other’s arms. I was not alone. My friends started to pray for me. My People Pocket and other church groups started to bring us meals after the many surgeries. We hired a woman from the church to come help clean the house.
            The memory of a visit from one of the new women at our People Pocket group will stay with me for the rest of my life. She brought a chicken casserole to share with us in our time of need. I invited her to stay and chat for a while. Since that precious day, we have shared so much together. We encouraged each other by phone several times a week. Inspiration from God comes over the phone lines. Many tears were shed. Lots of encouragement and prayer support was available. It was only a phone call away.
            Arms are there to hold each other in times of need. When one of us is hurting, the other person would pray and we could make it through the day easier. This precious friend has been given a kea to our hearts and our house. She has become a part of our family. She is my best friend now. Thank you God for small group Bible Studies, and the friends we make at them.

© Ethel Hiday Wicksey 

11.   A Cord of Three

Ecclesiastes. 4:12
And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three {strands} is not quickly torn apart.

The rainbow of precious cords God has given us, to help us get rid of the disease of I’ME’ITIS begins by finding JOY.

JOY is spelt this way.
J = Jesus first
O = Others second.
Y = Yourself last.
The prescription the bible gave me to help me get rid of a bad case of I’ME’ITIS, was to put, Jesus first, Others second and Yourself last.
God bless you as you try to get rid of the I’ME’ITIS in your life.

Micah 7:19 paraphrased

God does not hold on to his anger forever, because He delights in mercy. God will turn again. He will have compassion on us; God will subdue our iniquities; and He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

© Ethel Hiday Wicksey

12.  Fishing in the Ocean of Unforgiveness

“I hurt someone when I was a teenager. My best friend Ann came for a drive with me to visit my aunt, two weeks after passing my driver’s test. On our way home, a drunk driver ran a red light, and hit the passenger side of my car. Ann’s back was broken, and I walked away without a scratch.

            “I visited Ann every day for the first few months. When I realized that she would never be able to figure skate again, my heart became heavy. It was hard to visit her at her house and see all the figure skating trophies in the case her father had built for them. The more I visited Ann, the heaver my heart became.

            “Soon I was uncomfortable visiting Ann, because the guilt was causing a barrier to grow between us. I will say this though; Ann never once blamed me for the accident, even though, my friends and her family did, but Ann always had a kind word whenever I visited her.

            “I never forgave myself for what happened. I sat and mulled the incident over and over in my mind. The more I thought about it the more I blamed myself. I prayed to God and asked for His help, but I could never forgive myself. The year after the accident my father was transferred to London and I never saw Ann again.

            “One day when I was visiting my mother in London, I stopped at Wal-Mart to buy some baby clothes. I had just put the cutest pair of baby shoes into my cart when I looked up. Ann was coming down the isle right towards me. I looked around but there was no place to slip out of site and escape. I could not avoid her.

            “I had to face her and talk with her. My palms began to sweat and my body tremble. This was going to be hard. It had been ten years, since the accident.

            “Ann called my name and drove her electric scooter over and asked, “how are you doing Sue, I haven’t seen you in years.” She had a big smile on her face, and gave me a big hug when I bent over to hug her. I couldn’t believe it Ann was glad to see me.

            “I told her that I was fine and that I was picking out some baby cloths for the baby I was going to have in three months.

             Ann asked, “Do you have time to join me for lunch at McDonald’s?”

            “I tried to think of an excuse but decided to join her. I bought lunch and sat across from Ann. My hands were shaking as I ate my Big Mack and fries. I asked her, “Where are you living?”

            “Ann told me, “I am living near Woodstock, and am a minister in a small church.” She told me how her electric scooter helped her be independent and that her van was equipped with a lift so she could drive it everywhere.”

            “I told her that I taught math in a high school near Ingersoll.”

            “Ann asked me who I had married.”

            “I pulled out my wedding pictures and showed them to her. I told her “Nathan and I have been married for two years now and we will be having our first baby in three months.”

            “Ann was excited and pulled some pictures out of her purse and showed me a picture of her twin boys and her husband Rodger.

            “We talked about our families and what we had been doing. The air was getting heavy as I started to think back to the car accident. It was hard for me to speak the words I was thinking. A few tears escaped and trickled down my cheeks. With much effort, I finally stammered; “I am sorry about the accident Ann. I still blame myself.”

            Ann looked me in the eye. With love and concern in her voice she asked me, “Have you been Fishing in The Ocean of Unforgiveness all these years Sue.”

            “What do you mean by? Fishing in the Ocean of Unforgiveness,” I asked.

            “Come out to my van where it is more private Ann, and I will share what I have learned with you.”

            “After going through the check out, I put my shopping into my car, and then I joined Ann in her van.”

            She told me, “I wrote my theses’ on forgiveness. I have spent four years as a Chaplin at the hospital, working with families who have been traumatized by accidents. Some of the patients have been drunk drivers who had caused the death of someone, and face time in prison. If it weren’t for the car accident ten years ago, I wouldn’t be as effective, when I share God’s words from the Bible on forgiveness.

            “I teach the patients and families about the love of Jesus, and how he died on the cross for them. I teach how God tells us that He forgives us when we repent. He is merciful, and He will forgive all our sins and throw them into the deepest ocean. He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to what our sins deserve. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is God’s love for us when we repent; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD God has compassion on us when we ask to be forgiven.”

            Ann told me, “I have found over the years that we are our own worst enemies and have a hard time forgiving our self, even when we know that our friends and God have forgiven us.” She asked me, “Are you ready to forgive yourself, Sue?”

            I sat there with my mouth ajar. I realized at that moment, that I had been fishing in The Ocean of Unforgiveness every day for the past ten years and caught a big one. I hung onto the blame of the accident for dear life and could not let it go. It had become a life line to me.”

            Ann told me, “I have never blamed you for the car accident Sue. Other people might have blamed you but remember, I was in the car with you that day and I know what really happened. It was never your fault. The other driver was drunk and you did not have time to stop when he drove through the red light and hit us.”

            She told me, “Your Heavenly Father wants to take your burdens away Sue. It is time for you to stop going out in the boat and fishing in The Ocean of Unforgiveness. Give the past to God and stop hashing it over and over in your mind. Forgive yourself once and for all and be set free...”

            “Ann was a true friend that day. She told me, “Let go of the past, cut the fishing line and let me help you row your boat to shore, allowing God’s peace to wash over you and be set free from The Ocean of Unforgiveness.”

            “Our Heavenly Father removed the heavy burdens from my past that afternoon, and I no longer blame myself for the accident. I have been free ever since.

            “That was in the spring. Ann and I are best friends again. She only lives fifteen minutes from me. She is sitting on my deck, holding her namesake; my new baby Daughter Ann, in her arms, while she keeps an eye on her children who are playing in the yard, while I prepare their lunch. It is wonderful what truth and forgiveness can do.

            When God forgives your sins, He remembers them no more. God will throw your sins into the Sea of Forgetfulness and put a sign up that says, NO FISHING ALLOWED. Stop trying to fish where God has told you not to. Cut the line that connects you to your past. Forgive yourself and accept God’s forgiveness and be set free forever.