Nancy Parker Brummett - Simply the Savior: A Womans Search for Simple Joy

Contents

Acknowledgments

My heartfelt thanks go to Phil Wilcoxson and Susan Riches at Best to You for believing in this project and to Karl Schaller and Julie Smith, my capable and caring editor, at Chariot Victor Publishing.

Additional thanks go to my family and my friends for their encouragement and prayers. Books are rarely written by one person. Certainly everyone who has ever touched my life in any way is a part of this one.

Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ. Great is His faithfulness.

N. P. B.

SIMPLY THE SAVIOR

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance View

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C Cook Distribution Canada

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David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, scanned, resold, or distributed by or through any print or electronic medium without written permission from the publisher. This ebook is licensed solely for the personal and noncommercial use of the original authorized purchaser, subject to the terms of use under which it was purchased. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights.

The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version; (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers; (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible 1971, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60189. Used by permission.

LCCN 98-23393

eISBN 978-0-7814-1117-2

1998 Nancy Parker Brummett

Previoiusly published by Best to You, ISBN 1-56476-759-0 and Chariot Victor Publishing 1998, ISBN 1-56476-752-3

Cover design: Bill Gray

Cover illustration: Bob de la Pena

Editor: Julie Smith

Join Nancy Parker Brummett in her search for lifes simple joy. She began her simplification journey by leaving a management position to become a free-lance writer. Also a wife, mother, stepmother, and grandmother, Nancy says the word that truly defines her is redeemed. She and her husband, Jim, live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

If you enjoyed this title, visit DCCeBooks.com for more great reads.

D edicated to

my husband, Jim,

whose faithful encouragement

and support free me to become

the woman God created me to be.

N.P. B.

Chapter 1

S imply
Believe

Jesus said to her,
I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?

John 11:25-26

Most of us have had enough of living in the midst of a self-made whirlwind. We desperately crave simplification and the balance and harmony it can bring to our lives.

Yet sustaining a simpler, saner life-style over time is very difficult to do. We clean out a closet and within the week its cluttered again. We decline a request to serve on a committee one day, only to accept two more extra responsibilities the next.

How can we simplify our lives to be more serene, more focused, and more significant on a permanent basis? How can we calm the fear in our hearts that what we see of this world is all there is?

I believe that it is this fear, more than anything else, that fuels our busyness as we desperately try to control and hold on to everyone and everything we love.

I also believe that the only hope for the lasting, effective simplification of our lives is a relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ. Once Hes in control we never have to fear losing control again. In Him we are found, not lost. In Him we are free, not enslaved to the demands of this world.

Mary and Martha were two sisters who lived in Bethany in the time of Jesus. When they lost their brother Lazarus their whole world was turned upside down. To be without a husband or a brother in those days meant that their very survival was at stake.

Martha rushed out to meet Jesus as He approached their home after Lazarus had died. Jesus loved His friends. When He saw the fear and panic in Marthas eyes, He quieted her spirit by saying, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26)

He asks the same question of each of us today, and nothing impacts our ability to live a simple, secure life of faith more than the answer we give Him. Yet often were so busy trying to find reliable stepping stones on our own that we never take the leap of faith He asks us to take. This was certainly true of me.

Five months after I was officially divorced, on a hot day in June, 1982, I waved good-by to my sons in the driveway of my parents home in Tennessee. The boys dad met me there to pick them up for a six-week visit with him in New Jersey. I was headed back to Colorado to live all alone for the first time in my life.

Since there had been some talk about my older son staying with his dad for the next school year, I waved good-by not knowing if he would ever really be coming home again. I didnt even know what would be best for him. I just knew my whole life had fallen apart, and I still didnt understand why.

As soon as the boys were out of sight, I went in the house to change clothes. My mom asked if I was okay. Im fine, I lied. Im going for a jog.

Physical activity was one way I tried to regain control of my life that year, so within a few minutes of the boys departure I was running around the track at my old high school in the hot summer sun. Soon uncontrollable tears mingled with the drops of sweat running down my face. I kept running, but I couldnt stop crying.

Finally, I dropped to my knees and said, Lord, I cant do this anymore. I cant control whats happening, and even if I could, I dont know the right answers. Ive made such a mess of things on my own. Please help me.

If there was one defining moment in my life when I surrendered completely to Him, that was it. From then on, I became more than a Sunday Christian. The letting go process took time, and I still find myself clinging to certain things too tightly; but since I asked for His help, Ive had the assurance of the Holy Spirit reminding me that my life is in more capable hands than my own. The more I allow Jesus to be Lord of my life in every way, the better I know Him. The better I know Him, the more I desire His simple, yet gloriously satisfying, way of living.