The Pastor's Wife

Every once in awhile something so fantastic comes along that you simply have to try it out. That was my experience with SincerelyScent –  https://sincerelyscent.com/app/Home.accv3 from Scentsy.  I was delighted to learn about this streamlined system of card giving – who else sends out more cards than pastors’ wives?

Scentsy, for those of you who have lived in a cave and haven’t attended a party, is a wonderful candle company. I will not go into detail on their delightful products, but instead continue on to my subject today which is their new product line of cards. I don’t know about you, but I can purchase a card, write a note inside, and even address it, but I can never seem to get it into the mailbox. I’ll find cards days and weeks after they should have been mailed lying on my desk.

So when this service was brought to my attention, I sat up and took notice. On the site you can choose a card, personalize it with your own message should you wish, address it, and mail it. I say mail it, because the amazing thing is the cost of the card includes the postage.  These are not e-cards, these are real cards like you purchase in a store, you simply purchase them online and the company mails them out for you. You buy credits from the company and use them to purchase the cards.

I began the year by opening an account on Scentsy, and  purchasing credits (they sell them in lots of 10). I then entered the birthdays and anniversaries of everyone in our church in my “Contact Manager.” Now, at the beginning of every month, I open my account, pick out cards for the following month’s recipients, write a personal note in it, choose the date I want it mailed and Voila! Scentsy mails the cards out on the specified day.

In the event that you do not know a Scentsy consultant in your area, allow me to introduce my daughter to you. Her name is Jana Waddell. She and her husband live in Oroville, Washington where hubby is a police officer and she is the worship leader in their church. Jana has been a Scenty consultant for several years, and told me about this new program because she knew I struggled to get cards out in a timely manner. If you email her at janablessed@gmail.com and ask her for directions on purchasing points. She will be glad to offer you her expertise.

A really good blog article you might find interesting. Just click here to follow the link:
http://www.joemckeever.com/mt/archives/001351.html

Let me make it clear I am not endorsing (nor not endorsing) the writer and his website. I simply agreed with and liked the points he made. Tell me what you think, I’d love to hear from you.

I don’t know if I’ve ever heard this phrase applied in this way, but I believe it fits when I say, I was raised in a spiritually-abusive church. It’s been many years since I have attended that church and sat and listened to the condemnation emanating from the pulpit. Thanks to my husband’s kind and wise counsel, I have even healed and grown beyond the legalism under which I was raised. Only in the past decade have I actively begun to identify spiritual lies when they are uttered, whether aloud or within my mind, and found relief by correctly applying God’s word.

The reason I bring this up is to make you aware of the damage done by well-meaning preachers who in their concern for their flocks’ souls, use scriptural manipulation in order to control their parishioners. In my church, because they did not want their teens straying they forbid any normal youthful activities. Dancing, movies, and bowling, just to name a few, were all taboo. They cited scriptures with such words as “lascivious” as proof that these activities would lead us to dance with the devil.

When Paul admonished us to “rightly divide the word of truth” he meant to preach it correctly, straying neither to a liberal nor a legalistic bent. Using scripture to bring people into line is not only wrong; it is too often a failure. Within my church I saw dozens of teens leave, some of them saying, “If I’m going to hell anyway, I’ll go have fun on the way.”

I often wonder how many of them would still be serving God had the Word been applied more truthfully. No doubt, some would still have strayed; however, I wonder how many would have returned like the Prodigal Son when they realized their rebellion was not as fulfilling as they had hoped. I believe if they had understood grace they may have returned.

Something to think about. Have any of you experienced what I’m saying? I sincerely hope not, but I’d like to hear from you.