The Obadiah Homemakers Club held its first meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic in early June and among guests was Kim Gowdy, the new MSU Extension Service Family and Consumer Science Agent III for Lauderdale County.

In her new position with the Extension Service, Gowdy said she will primarily focus on areas of development related to parenting, child development, adolescent development, nutrition, health and finance. She informed the club about her plans for rebuilding the Homemaker program after the year of the pandemic.

Cathy Clearman presented the devotional:

“Every follower of Jesus has a not-so-good ‘before.’ A rash, brash fisherman. A pious, fancypants religious leader. A thieving, indifferent-to-suffering tax collector. A demon-possessed woman so insignificant that her ‘before’ isn’t even recorded and we’re left to surmise what it might have been.

“And yet God calls people in the ‘before’ — when they aren’t even aware they’re simply broken versions of themselves. God calls people before He begins His transformative work of redemption because He sees past the ‘before’ to what He purposed and planned. He sees past the ‘before’ to those He loves enough you call His own.

“Take Israel, for example. Isaiah prophesied over God’s chosen nation not during a time of obedience but during their rebellion. A time filled with idol worship and wandering hearts and intense callousness to sin not to mention all the painful consequences they were experiencing as a result of their choices. It was spoken long before their repentance.

“When Isaiah spoke those words, Israel was rebelling against all God had done for them and all He wanted to do. But God didn’t turn away. He showed mercy. He spoke His love over His chosen people, claiming them as His own before they agreed to be. He entered into the ‘before.’

“God speaks what is true over us too; His plan of redemption is on the march, because He has called us by name. Our choices don’t derail His. What we see when we look in the mirror doesn’t determine what He sees or who we’ll be by His hand, and so our brokenness doesn’t alter His plans. Nor do circumstances, other people,or our own choices determine our value; our value is assigned by the one we belong to. So we don’t have to fear.

“Fear not, you’re not who you’re going to be. Fear not, God can redeem your choices and use them for good. Fear not, God can heal your heart, your body, your relationships. Fear not, you we made for more than what you’ve experienced so far. Fear not, this is only the beginning.

“Every follower of Jesus has a not-so-great ‘before.’ But every follower of Jesus also has an ‘after.’ The rowdy fisherman became the bedrock preacher of the early church, healer of the sick and lame, and fearless unto death. The leader of impersonal religion became personal friends with Jesus, finally understanding and being changed by the Scriptures he’d devoted his life to studying. The taxman traitor became a member of the elite twelve and author of the first Gospel of the New Testament. And the woman? The woman too insignificant to even have her ‘before’ recorded was so precious to Jesus that she became the first person He appeared to after He rose from the dead, the first one to hear His tender voice, and the first witness of the culmination of all He claimed to be and do and she got to tell the boys!”

Clearman prefaced her reading of “Before,” the Day 1 Devotion of 40 Days with Jesus from “The Chosen,” by encouraging any members who had not watched the series about the life of Christ to do so. 

“It is unlike any other,” Clearman said. “It brings Him to life, the human side of Him as well as the God side, as if you are walking beside him day by day.”

Judy Harwell concluded the devotion with prayer.

Club president Robin Doerner welcomed members back, recognizing members the club lost — Caroline Wilson this year and Georgia Jackson in 2020. Prayer was requested for club secretary Stacy Davis, who underwent back surgery and has experienced a difficult recuperation.

It was announced the Lauderdale Homemaker Council record book won first place for 2020.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Nancy Gilbertson. 

Refreshments were served and the meeting adjourned.

The club’s next meeting will be Monday, July 5 at 6:30 p.m.

• Submitted by Cathy Clearman, reporter.