Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. Yes, I know I'm over a month early. But my heart is full; I'm sitting here on the beach today, with the man I love. Two years ago, give or take a day, we "restarted," our life together in Tennessee. Back then, a day like this seemed like an impossible fantasy. We've weathered some major storms in the past few years and there were days I wondered how we would ever overcome some of the obstacles we faced. The truth is, we couldn't. Only God could bring us to where we are today. Trust me, there are many more mountains to climb, but when I look back at the overwhelming circumstances from which he provided a way of escape, I'm amazed. 

Right now, there are some big decisions looming, some uncertainties ahead. Lately I’ve given in and let fear tighten its noose. Why do I let myself worry after all He’s done for me? So today, as I sit warmed by the sunlight, looking out into the endless horizon, I am thankful.  Today, I'm putting it in black and white as a reminder to myself. Thank You God for all you’ve done. Thank You for hope, for provision, for Your faithfulness--even when I’m faithless. Thank You for Your perfect love that casts out every fear. 1 John 4:18

LET GO!

When life isn’t going so well for my friends, it comes naturally to me to give them a hug and a word of encouragement.  Sometimes we’ll share stories of God’s faithfulness over coffee. I might send them a card or an email and remind them that no matter how dark their situation, God is in control.  And I’m not simply tossing out platitudes here--or trivializing what they’re going through. When I pray for them, I release them into God’s care with total confidence. 

But when the winds of trouble blow at home, the situation gets a bit stickier.  I can believe it for my friends, for my husband, for me, but what about my kids?  Why is it so hard for me to just hand it all over to God when it’s about my kids?  

As our children grow into adults, their problems and concerns are more serious than when they were children.  They’re facing things like heartbreak, disappointment, career decisions, choosing a life partner, health issues.  There’s no possible way for me to fix those kinds of things!  Still, I’ll lie awake at night mulling them over, worrying, exploring every possible outcome.  You know what?  That’s CRAZY, and here’s why:  God’s promises are not something I can pass down to my children like a family china pattern. Those promises already belong to my children.  I’m not the one sitting at the right hand of God, pleading their case for them--Jesus is! 

What a relief, it’s not up to me. Certainly, I’m going to continue to encourage my girls, to pray for and with them.  But ultimately, God’s got it all in control and they are in His tender care. 

And as for me, I need to let go! 


What about YOU?  Is it hard for you to let go?

For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.  1 Timothy 2:5 

It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.  1 Corinthians 3:7

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. Proverbs 22:5-7

JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL

“Jesus take the wheeeel, take it from my hands.”                        

Oh, I do love that song, and when it comes on the radio, I’m singing every word right along with Carrie-- much to the chagrin of some unnamed family members. 


The last time I heard that song, I thought to myself, wouldn’t it make more sense to just let Jesus KEEP the wheel? Now it’s a great song, and I’m certainly not knocking the idea that once we come to the realization that we’ve made a mess of things, it’s time to call on Jesus. But when I am saying is, once we’re out of calamity, we tend to subtly say, “thanks Jesus, I can take it from here.” The truth is, that’s how we met with disaster in the first place.


I’ve always been a doer, fixer, problem solver kind of girl, so it’s not easy for me to scoot over to the passenger side. But it’s not enough to cast God in the role of consultant or co-pilot, He want’s me to put Him in the driver’s seat. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart, do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path."  There’s a reason we shouldn’t depend on our own understanding; we can’t always see the big picture, but God can. He knows every curve in the road and what’s best for us, not only today, but in the future. His word says He delights in us and orders our steps. (Psalm 37:23) We need to learn to seek His wisdom at every turn and let His word be the GPS that maps our journey.


I love this translation of Mark 8:34-35 from The Message because it’s plain and simple!


Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how.’ 

 Is it difficult for you to surrender your control to God? How is He teaching you this lesson?

God Made it And Said It is Good So We Should Probably Take Care of It!

Happy Earth Day!

Not in some weird-- I think you should abandon your house to a family of tree squirrels because it's clearly in nature's best interest for them to create a habitat there--kinda way. But more like a cheerful Woodsy The Owl , "Give a hoot don't pollute sort of way." (and if you are familiar with THAT reference, I'm guessing you're reading this through some pretty serious bifocals!)

God did create the earth for us and gave us responsibility for it. Throughout the bible we're taught many examples of good stewardship.

SO what is a steward anyway? A steward is a person who manages another's property, financial affairs or anything really, as the agent of another. He or she is held accountable by the owner for the wise or unwise management of that property. Well, in this case, the owner is God. “The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.” Psalm24:1

We all heard the parable of the "talents" as a child. The master goes on a trip and leaves each servant in charge of a portion of his wealth. One servant did really well and made a huge increase, the next one did a pretty good job, but the third guy--not so much. He buried it in a hole and when the master returned, he was not too happy about it.

There are a lot of lessons we can take from this, but I think the main one is: Whatever God gives us is to be used wisely and in a way that brings honor to him.

We should treasure His creation just as any grateful child should revere a gift their loving father has given. Afterall, aren't the very best gifts handmade?

Genesis 1:26-31 The Message

Heaven and Earth

God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth."
God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God's nature.
He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
"Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."

Then God said, "I've given you
every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,
given them to you for food.
To all animals and all birds,
everything that moves and breathes,
I give whatever grows out of the ground for food."
And there it was.

God looked over everything he had made;
it was so good, so very good!
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Six.



-- Post From My iPhone

Atonement

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
Isaiah 53:4-5

-- Post From My iPhone

Faith of Our Fathers

Maybe it's all this talk of Springtime, the Resurrection and new beginnings, whatever the reason, Romans 4:17 has been SO much on my mind.  


As it is written: "I have made you (Abraham) a father of many nations."  He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.     NIV


Continuing  on through verse 21...


Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.    NIV


Try as I may, sometimes I waver, and my faith is quite the opposite of strengthened.  So I thought it might do me some good to read it again.  So I did.  And then I decided it to read it again and then in 3 or 4 translations and WHOA, I LOVE this one, it's my favorite.  


From The Message:


^17-18 We call Abraham "father" not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, "I set you up as father of many peoples"? Abraham was first named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!"



I love how it says, first Abraham was named "father", then he became father, because he dared to trust.  


So today, I'm going to look at all of those things that I so long to be a reality, I'm going to call them "done."  And instead of lying awake thinking about them tonight, I'm going to dare to trust God to do what only HE can:  raise the dead to life and with just a word--make something out of nothing.  


What are YOU believing God for today?

Two Turtle Doves and Loaf of Bread--Hold The Yeast

Our senior pastor challenged us to a church-wide mitzvot to read through the One Year Bible in 2010. This sounded like a great idea to me.  As much as I hate to admit it, I've never read the ENTIRE Bible--cover to cover--even though I've been following Christ since I was a child.  This also really, really appealed to my somewhat competitive ambitious nature-- I LOVE A CHALLENGE!  I went right out to amazon.com and purchased the One Year Bible for my kindle--FABULOUS Christmas gift from my sweet husband--and jumped right in on January 1.

The whole thing started off swimmingly.  Genesis was great; it had the excitement of creation, the flood, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, the great promises made to Abraham.  Revisiting all those bible stories I've loved since I was a kid was wonderful.  The time seemed to fly by each morning as I read through the assigned passages and before I knew it, I had read 12% of the bible!  Then we got to Leviticus...

I'll share a tidbit from February 20th: 

     Leviticus 9: 19-21 Then he took the fat of the bull and the ram—the fat of the broad tail and from around the internal organs—along with the kidneys and the long lobes of the livers.   He placed these fat portions on top of the breasts of these animals and burned them on the altar.  Aaron then lifted up the breasts and right thighs as a special offering to the Lord, just as Moses had commanded.

And there you have it, the reason I've never read the Bible all the way through.  I would always get bogged down in Leviticus, with all those repetitive, very graphic passages about goat heads, kidney lobes and Aaron's bloody toes and earlobes--yuck!  And I'd really like to know what God had against yeast--a wise man would have definitely gotten entirely out of the yeast market and put all of his shekels in turtle doves... okay, now I'm rambling.

Surely that stuff isn't so important today, it's not like we round up the first born of our flock every Sunday morning before heading off to our place of worship, right???  Riiiiight, but let's get back to this mitzvot thing.  The whole point of the mitzvot is to commit to something that if done in the right spirit can prove transformational to the um--mitzvee.  And let me tell you, I could use transformational--ESPECIALLY. IN. THE. AREA. OF. DISCIPLINE.  Okay, you don't have to agree SO vigorously--I can see you out there nodding your heads-- "oh bless her heart she sure could..." 

So that's it-- no skipping, skimming or dodging of the less than riveting passages. This will be my sacrifice, the sweet fragrance I offer up to Him.  I will joyfully apply myself to this task, even when it's not exciting. And while I'm at it, I'll claim this promise,  "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philipians 1:6 NLT

Here's a link if you want to join me on this journey...One Year Bible

Wall Flower Confessional

I confess, I LOVE me some social media!  I facebook, I tweet, I blog--much to the dismay of my children no doubt.  Still, some days facebook makes me feel like a wall flower--I sign on and BAM!

Leaving for France tomorrow!

Cruise was AWESOME, pics will be up soon!

OMG, I cannot believe I was nominated for a Grammy!

Gotta run, having tea with George Clooney and the Queen of England!

Okay, I made the last one up--but still!  Is it just me or does everyone feel like this sometimes?  I think if we're honest, we do.  It gives us that same icky feeling of being the short, chubby kid who was always picked last for the team--oh wait, maybe that was just me! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I DON'T want my friends to be going on all sorts of adventures and accomplishing magnificent things, I just want to do it too!

It's always tempting to compare myself to everyone else around me. Is it human nature? Yes. Is it a good idea? No. Yet time after time, I climb onto that little hamster wheel and spin round and round till I realize--this thing is going nowhere! And when I do, I overlook all the good stuff in my life. 

It makes me feel a little better that even Peter wasn't immune.  Here's Jesus, spending quality time with Peter, giving him instruction, telling him what his future holds.  And what's Peter thinking about?  He's barely paying attention. He sees John walk by and wants to know--what about that guy? Jesus answers, "What is that to you? You must follow ME."  (John 21:1 NIV)  OUCH!  Get your eyes off everyone else Peter, it's all about Jesus.

Paul on the other hand had it all figured out.

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  (Phillipians 4:12)

So what do I do when I'm feeling like this...okay, it's sounds really nerdy.  I make my little mental lists.  Everything I have to be thankful for.  Actually, just the first 10 or 20 I can think of.  Because really, if I made a complete list, it would fill up pages and pages and pages.

But for starters:
I woke up this morning
In a Bed
Under a warm blanket
Beside a loving Husband

In a House

That I own--well, Michael, me and the fine folks at HSBC, but you get the idea
That has heat
And running water
And electricity
And a refrigerator
With Food in it
I have two feet
And plenty of shoes
And enough clothes that it takes me forever to decide what to wear

You get the idea.

When we were kids my mom would say, "Every little dog will have his day." Well, maybe so, but until then, Fido should count his blessings!

The Now and The Not Yet

I like closure. Answers. Neat tidy solutions all tied up with a bow. Call me a sucker, but I love a Hollywood ending. Trouble is, in real life they're not all that easy to come by. In real life the people we love get incurable illnesses, families slowly fall apart, long time friends turn on one another for seemingly no reason. We stand by hoping, praying for answers. Please don't mistake my impatience for unbelief. My faith is strong, unwavering and I know God has a plan for it all. Sometimes I wish He'd let me in on it. Paul said that now we know in part, but one day will know fully. But right now, I'm caught in between the now and the not yet and sometimes it does seem like forever and ever.

I've always loved this beautiful lyric by Pam Mark Hall