Why Pamela In Training?

I picked this site title for two-fold reasons. One reason was because of my dear husband’s amazing grandmother and his outstanding sense of humor. That is a longer story you can read below. The other reason, as it became apparent to me later, was because I am always in training. I am a “Pamela in training” as I walk through this world. I love Jesus and I know he is training me to be like him but even more so to be fully me as I was created to be. Not that I don’t already have everything I need or am not complete, but rather that I am always on a journey of realizing and accepting different parts of me and, in all honesty, I will be in training my whole life. This isn’t exhaustive training but rather growing and learning more about myself and about the nature of Jesus so I can fully love me and everyone I meet.

These verses, from The Passion Translation of Philippians, sum it up well:

Phil 3:10-14 And I continually long to know the wonders of Jesus more fully and to experience the overflowing power of his resurrection working in me. I will be one with him in his sufferings and I will be one with him in his death. Only then will I be able to experience complete oneness with him in his resurrection from the realm of death.

I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover. I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus.

I may not have the fullness that I long for yet but I do have Jesus and am No Longer I alone, but it is him living through me, as me. I long to grow and know the wonders of Jesus more fully and as I walk out my life, this site is a place for me to share what I am learning in the hopes that my journey may encourage you along your journey. I hope you feel the love through these little tiny electronic letters and are swept off your feet and into perfect love with Jesus. Or at the very least that you walk away encouraged and knowing you are loved, whether or not you know Jesus, period.

Thanks for joining me on this training journey. It is an honor and a delight to share my thoughts and my life with you.

The Long Reason for Pamelaintraining:

My husband is the greatest Joy of my life. When we first met, he had a wonderful, sweet and amazing grandmother, Grandma Betty. It was a true blessing to meet her, get to know her and share my life with her throughout our marriage.

Grandma Betty was full of life, full of Jesus and overflowing with love. I never heard her utter an unkind word in the nine years I was blessed to know her. She never cursed or disparaged ANYONE, even if, by all worldly standards, they deserved it. My mother-in-law confirms this amazing fact by saying she too never heard an unkind word in all the time she knew Betty, and that was for over 40 years!

Betty was a unique individual filled with God’s love and I often mentioned to my husband that I longed to be just like her. I longed to live my life with love and treat everyone I met with that same love. I knew I was a long way off from walking the path of Grandma Betty’s life, but her loving life provided inspiration for me to strive to become like her.

Grandma Betty was an energy force to be reckoned with for most of her life. She went above and beyond cultural norms, taking care of her family and loving and caring for many others that crossed her path. I was in constant amazement at her energy and her go-go-go attitude. Even though she was busy, she always took time to visit with people and made each person feel they were her only focus when they spent time together.

After Grandma hit her 80s, then 90s, life had to slow down a bit on the physical side of things. However, that did not slow her down on the loving side of life. She continued to faithfully pray for others and offered guidance as needed to the individuals that were wise enough to seek her out. I truly longed to be like her and could not understand how it was possible for anyone to live to that level of love. It was a mystery to me.

Grandma Betty’s health took a sudden downturn in 2012. She was fine one day, hospitalized the next day, scheduled to go home within a few days, then suddenly placed on hospice with only a few days of life remaining. We were heartbroken. We had all been deeply blessed to share in her life and didn’t want that blessing to end.

As a testament to her life, upon hearing of her impending death, seven of her eight grandsons (which she dubbed “The Great Eight”) were at her side within hours, regardless of where they lived. The only grandson unable to make it to her side was living overseas. These grown men rushed to her side because of the unconditional love she had always shown them. That, almost more than anything, says volumes about her life.

Through the sad process of the loss of Grandma Betty God revealed a deep truth to me. Our family spent the remaining time of her life at her home, surrounding her as she rested in the hospital bed placed in her living room. We cared for her and shared memories as we waited for her journey to Heaven. Part of our time was spent paging through her many Bibles. It was there that God showed me exactly how she lived with so much love.

As I paged through one of her bibles, that was held together with lots of tape, I found endless passages that she highlighted. One of the marked passages was Galatians 5:22-23, as follows:

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

Along with that marked Bible passage, there were many more marked passages referencing deferring to God’s power in order to love others as God loves them. Then, I found this handwritten prayer in the cover of her bible, and in every bible she owned:

Lord Jesus, I yield myself to you for this day, so that your Holy Spirit might have His way in me, just for today.

That was it, the mystery was solved! The pieces of the puzzle were now complete. Grandma Betty was that amazing loving person because she let God live through her. She yielded to His Spirit on a daily basis and let Him direct her steps. She may have been able to walk for a time, under her own strength, in a loving manner but by yielding to God each and every day, she could love beyond the ability of any human. She could love like God loves!

After her journey to heaven was complete, we were comforted by the knowledge that she was reunited with God and with her loved ones that had gone before. We would dearly miss her laugh and her love. It was at her memorial service, during which my husband spoke, that Pamela In Training was truly born.

As my husband spoke of Grandma Betty’s amazing love filled life, he noted many examples of her love. He also mentioned how much I loved her and longed to be like her. He then dubbed me a “G-B-I-T” a “Grandma Betty In Training”. I was honored and shed thankful tears for having shared her life.

He also encouraged our family and friends to ask ourselves, “What Would Grandma Betty Do?” and purchased WWGBD? bracelets for each of us. It was, of course, a play on the “What Would Jesus Do” campaign and in essence it was one and the same in its message. Grandma was connected to God and therefore she did what He desired, so in asking What Would Grandma Betty Do? we were asking What Would Jesus Do? A great reminder of her life and her love and of the unconditional love of God for each of us.

I am still a GBIT and I have realized that I am blessed to have many godly influences in my life. I have a maternal grand-mother, my mother, my sisters, my mother-in-law and
many close friends that continually show me what it is like to love like God loves. Thus, I consider myself in training every day to continue to grow in love. Pamela In Training is my way of reminding myself that I am not expected to be perfect, but that I am in a wondrous training experience to grow in love in my heart and spirit. I look forward to training each day to allow God’s love to fill me and overflow from me to others.

I will be in training for the rest of my life and I am thankful to have and have had guidance from many godly influences. My goal is to lean into love and truth to become fully me as I was created to be and to love, with deep genuine love, everyone I meet.