Be a Lamplighter!

I was so convicted and encouraged by a wonderful woman's conference I attended this past weekend. At the end of the session, we were challenged with the question: "Will you live a life that counts? A life that counts would long to make much of the glory of God." Our purpose every day should be to bring glory to God.

Our world, however, often seeks to attribute anything good to anyone or anything else other than the Lord. And how often our (translate, "my") prideful tendency is to want the glory for ourselves. Does anyone notice all that laundry I've folded or the hard work I put into that ridiculously difficult "30 minute meal" (I suppose superman could cook it in 30 minutes--but he would still have a 3 hour clean up). How quickly I can slip into the desire to be thanked and praised for my puny efforts, and suddenly God is left entirely out of the equation. Who gave me the ability to make that meal or drive that car or accomplish that task? Who gave me energy or desire or focus? I should never tire of continually giving Him glory with a thankful heart, even for my next breath.

Needless to say, that is why this blog is named Solideogloria--my heart's desire every single day is that He would be glorified in all that I do, all that I say, and in all that I think. If that is not our ultimate purpose in everything we do, then our efforts will be futile and will result in frustration rather than fulfillment. And that is so contrary to God's purpose for us--to live joyful, purposeful, satisfied lives as we enjoy Him and walk with Him each day.

As I contemplated what it meant to live to bring God glory, I couldn't help but think of one of my very favorite little illustrations I heard years ago. (and I may have already shared it--but don't we all need to be reminded of these things? I know I do!) It's a simple (and true) description of an old lamplighter as told by Sir Harry Lauder, the famed Scottish humorist from the late 19th and early 20th century. Here are his words:

"I was sitting in the gloanin' and a man passed by the window. He was the lamplighter. He pushed his pole into the lamp and lighted it. Then he went to another and another. Now I didn't see him. But I knew where he was by the lights as they broke out down the street, until he had left a beautiful avenue of light. Ye are a lamplighter. They'll know where ye've been by the lights ye have lit."

What a beautiful description of how we should be living our lives as believers! We are all lamplighters! We should be lighting the way everywhere we go by our love, our joy, our faith. When we are living for the glory of God in all we do and say, then we are lighting lamps that will leave the warm glow of the light of Christ in every place we have been. Do others see the reflection of His glorious light trailing behind us or do they see our selfishness, hypocrisy, or pridefulness? If we are living for the glory of God, we cannot help but be lamplighters!

Today, be a lamplighter--purposefully seek to live for the glory of God. Jesus revealed that He is "the Light of the World. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12) And Psalm 27:1 declares "The Lord is my Light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" He is our Light, so we need never walk in the darkness of fear and despair. As we live for His glory, might we be lamplighters reflecting His glorious Light in every dark corner of our world. To our gracious, saving, powerful Light of the Word, be all the glory!

My Thank You List Today

Just a few things for which I'm thankful today:

Car seat warmers (what a genius invention)

The outline of the bare trees against an early morning or early evening sky

The truth that this is not our home--and if this earth can be so breathtaking, can you imagine what heaven will be like? Wow

Warm days in the middle of January--a reminder that the sun is still there, winter is bracing and beautiful (even if sometimes a bit discouraging), but spring will be here eventually

Smiles... and laughter--what a gift from God!

The comfort and joy of dear friends--may we never take the blessing of friendship for granted!

Date nights--whew, always good to get a break from the grind and the routine, but...

The routine--we forget how good it is to have some predictability in our lives until we experience those inevitable disruptive moments. Suddenly all the little things we took for granted, or perhaps even felt a bit burdensome, become quite precious to us. Maybe we need to be thankful for those seemingly inconsequential routine blessings/burdens now and not when we are deprived of them. (One very small, silly example--remember how thankful you are to be able to do the laundry or drive your child to school after you have just recovered from a virulent stomach bug?!)

My husband's sense of humor (after all, he puts up with me) and wisdom (which I don't always perceive as wisdom but really is)

The dear women in my Bible study and all they have taught me (and that they put up with me, too! A small miracle)

Teachers--God bless 'em!

Chocolate--because absolutely no list would be complete without it! If you don't like chocolate, my sympathies, and, frankly, I'm mystified.

The wisdom and supernatural power of God's Word and the way the Bible is endlessly applicable, encouraging, convicting.

My children--simply grace upon grace. As a mom, I am utterly inadequate, undeserving, and grateful beyond all reason.

Slipping into a steaming hot bath late at night when you are really tired. Bliss

The Pioneer Woman's blog--what can I say, she is just so real and funny, and hope springs eternal that I will one day become a great cook (HA!)

The sound of my children's voices on the phone--especially when they call me just to talk or for advice and not just because I called them (it does happen every century or so)

The sound of my children's voices on the phone even if it is just because I called them

The gift of my brothers and sisters and all our shared memories and the fun we all have when we are together (which is not nearly often enough)

Writing and reading--and having a moderately decent set of eyes and a slightly decent (even if below average) brain with which to see and think

Grace

Grace

Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me. O Lord, help me never ever to get over the wonder of Your salvation to such a one as me. To paraphrase Tim Keller, I am far far worse than I could ever imagine but I am far far more loved and cherished by my Savior than I could ever dare hope or dream. We all are. Don't take it for granted. We are all the thieves hanging on either side of the Lord Jesus on the cross. The only question is, which thief are you? Are you the thief who died in his pride and sin or are you the thief who asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom? We are all thieves--but I am a thief redeemed by the blood of Christ

and saved by His grace. There are only two choices: which one are you?

To the Savior and the Redeemer, the Giver of all good gifts, be all the glory.

Lesson from our Dog--Part III

As I write this, sweet old Moses sits at my feet--snoozing contentedly as usual. Yet another lesson from my old lab: he just wants to be sitting as near to us as possible whenever possible. He's content as long as someone is home, and he can rest at that person's side. I have often asked myself the question, does that reflect my attitude towards God? Am I determined to rest at His feet? How important is it to me just to be and go wherever He is or is going? Or do I tend to want to pursue my own agenda and get busy with my own plans and ways?

Who cannot be challenged by the example of Mary and Martha? If ever there was a Mary in our household, it is Moses! Jesus comes to their house and Martha welcomes Him. Martha is busy busy busy: cleaning, preparing, serving, making sure everybody has enough food and drink, that the table is just right and the pillows upon which the Master reclines are comfortable. Thank goodness for Mary--otherwise they would have been eating Easy Mac and pushing the dust bunnies and crumbs out of the way in order to find a place to sit! Frankly, I think we are too hard on good old Martha.

Meanwhile, Mary "sat at the Lord's feet and listened to His teaching." (Luke 10:39) "But," quite understandably, if you ask me, "Martha was distracted with much serving," (Lk 10:40) and she goes up and complains to the Lord about her lazy sister. Boy, can't you see her, fussing and fuming and pointing out that one person is doing all the work and the other person is doing squat--so, she essentially orders the Lord, "You need to set her good and straight--and don't mince any words! I need some help here!"

Well, imagine her surprise when Jesus' rebuke is aimed not for her unhelpful, lazy sister but for Martha herself! "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." (Lk 10:41-42) Don't you kind of want Jesus to first commend Martha and tell her what an outstanding job she is doing, and then maybe encourage her to spend time at His feet? Or maybe He could at least acknowledge all her hard work and her considerable skills involving home and hearth, and what a blessing this is to others? Or perhaps at least gently nudge Mary and point out what an unselfish servant her sister is?

Nope. None of that. Jesus loves Martha too much to allow her to remain locked in her self absorption and pride. He knows that true contentment, true joy, true peace come not from producing the perfect home or being the perfect hostess or completing all the tasks on her to do list. And true joy and peace certainly never ever come from comparing ourselves and our accomplishments to others. Boy, every time we go down that road, it always results either in pride or discouragement. Or as Jesus described Martha, we become "anxious and troubled" in our relentless pursuits--clearly not the path to the abundant life Jesus longs to give us.

No, the Lord Jesus loves us too much to allow us to wallow in such feelings and in such anxiety-producing preoccupations. Rather, we are first and foremost to seek Him. Worship Him. Know and love and listen to Him. So what if the Master eats Easy Mac--I think He wants a devoted heart far more than a distracted "hostess with the mostest." All those "many things" Martha (and we) focus upon may be wonderful and even important, but they are not the "one thing" that is "necessary."

We need to do those things. I do need to cook dinner for my family and run errands and love and encourage my husband and children. I do need to do the work God has called me to do--but if I'm engaged in endless, frenetic striving and not centered on Christ, then it's all for in vain. And if I seek to love and serve others but do it with a half-hidden attitude of resentment or frustration or score-keeping, well, then it's all for nought, and I will find myself burned out and discouraged... not to mention extremely unpleasant for others to be around.

I have shared it a number of times before, but I've always loved the proverb, "Reverence for God adds hours to each day." Put Him to the test! Seek Him like Mary and then trust that He will enable you to accomplish all He has called you to do as well. Have a Mary heart even as you live in a Martha world of things that need to be done--but in His time and in His way and with His heart.

Will we choose to put the Lord first? Choose to sit at His feet and seek His face and His will and His ways? Will we choose to be a bit more like Mary--and Moses--setting aside all else in order to be with and enjoy the One we love, growing in grace and godliness? O Lord, help us to do the "one thing" that is "necessary" and trust You with the rest. To God be the glory.

A tough day... But God

This morning I woke up in a funk. I'd like to say I had lots of excuses for my crummy mood--hurt feelings, unfair treatment, bad back, cold damp weather... blah blah blah. Even as I started to enumerate the reasons, they fell absolutely flat. So minor and petty, really, so self-absorbed, so self-pitying. Forgive me Lord. Funny, isn't it, how we often tend to enjoy nursing our feelings of frustration or disappointment or sadness? What starts out as a fairly small blow to our psyche slowly transforms into the Godzilla of emotional hurts. We lose perspective. We lose joy. We lose gratitude. And we shrink into a teeny little bundle of unattractive bitterness and irritability. Sometimes it takes days to overcome our self-imposed prison of misery and self-absorption.

Well, I was headed in that direction, and I got one of those "But God..." moments. You know what I mean, don't you? Those are some of my favorite verses in all the Bible, all those "But God" treasures. Just a couple to remind us: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (Joseph in Gen. 50:20) Or "But God demonstrated His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8) Or "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my potion forever." (Ps. 73:26) The Scriptures are replete with those wonderful nuggets, reminding us that things may look bad, "But God" is our Helper, Defender, Redeemer, Enabler, Sustainer and on and on.

Back to my point: God graciously intervened with a "but God" moment this morning. I sat down for my quiet time and began with a little devotional book by David Jeremiah, and it was if he had written the words just for me, just for today. God likes to do stuff like that, doesn't He? Here were the opening words: "Some days are harder than others, and perhaps this is one of them for you. Life is full of frustrations, and we can grow mighty weary with financial pressures, family problems, church misunderstandings, and workplace conflicts. It sometimes seems like we're losing our minds." O boy, David had me nailed. He went on: "But God isn't losing His! Remember that nothing revokes His faithfulness. His promises to us are irreversible, unalterable, firm and fixed. There are conditions to be met, of course, but outer circumstances must bend, in His time, to the purposes and promises of God in our lives."

O mercy, I might as well keep quoting it: "Dietrich Bonhoeffer [one of my very favorites] once said, 'God does not give us everything we need, but He does fulfill His promises... leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.' The Lord your God will bless you just as He has promised in His Word.

His promises are sure. His blessings are great. His grace is sufficient. His presence is near. His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. Cheer up! It's not as bad as it seems." And then to top it all off (he had me at "Some days are harder than others"), Jeremiah quotes Corrie ten Boom: "Let God's promises shine on your problems."

So that's the whole devotion! I was so convicted of my utter failure to measure my little petty grievances against the Lord Almighty! Of my selfishness and refusal to take my troubles to my Savior and ask Him to forgive and cleanse and restore and renew me. As Nancy Leigh Demoss has said, "The fact that I feel bad isn't necessarily wrong or sinful. There may be circumstances that really did make me feel bad. What's sinful is when I let those emotions cause me to start to think things that aren't true, and I nurture those thoughts and then begin to act based on them." It's the Word of God, the Truth, that needs to sanctify our minds and emotions. And when, by an act of the will, even when we really don't feel like it, we turn to God and His Truth, rather than continuing to indulge in our pity-party, then He will be faithful to change us and encourage us and teach us and, praise God, forgive us and renew us.

Maybe this doesn't apply to anybody else in the world, but if you are having a tough day, be encouraged in God's presence, His promises, His power, His peace. I pray you will have a "but God" moment and when you do, give Him your thanks and give Him the glory. To our Almighty Lord who delights in declaring "But God" be all the glory.

A Lesson from my Dog, Part II

If I were a person of at least average intelligence, I would be able to download a photograph I just took of our dog, Moses, with a look of intense, focused attentiveness on his face. Let me describe the scene: two of our boys are eating scrambled eggs for breakfast (one of the few things I can cook really well). Eggs--of any form whatsoever--happen to be Moses' favorite food. Now mind you, this is not saying much since he will eat virtually any food under the sun except, we have learned, raw garlic still in the bulb covered with that annoying skin. I guess he is concerned about his breath--I told you he is a wonderful, thoughtful dog. At any rate, whenever anyone in the house is eating anything, Moses rushes to the scene of the action, prepared like a canine boy scout, for any and all action. If even the tiniest morsel happens to drop to the floor, he is on it in a microsecond. It sure has helped with our sweeping the kitchen floor. But, boy, when I break out the eggs, Moses is especially excited and attentive.

Back to the photograph: the boys are eating eggs at the counter, and Moses stares at them with laser-like focus, ears pointed straight up, head raised and alert, eyes zeroed in on every movement of their forks. If you knew Moses, you would be especially impressed, because the other 99% of his day is spent lounging... or resting... well, actually sleeping, often with a thunderous snore. But bring out the food--especially the eggs-- and he is so totally on it.

As I snapped his picture, though, I couldn't help asking myself, is that my attitude with the Lord and His Word? Do I approach the Lord and time spent in His supernatural spiritual food--the Bible--with the same focus and attentiveness, desperate and excited to glean whatever He has to say to me that day?

So many verses speak of the beauty and infinite value of God's Word. Ps.119:105 tells us "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to for path." Hebrews 4:12 declares: "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

One of my favorites on this topic, Jeremiah 15:16 tells us that "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Lord, God of hosts." Does that reflect my attitude towards God's Word? Daily reading and eating it--attentive, focused, joyful, expectant? God wants to speak to us today. He has words of love, comfort, conviction, guidance, wisdom, hope, warning, and strength... just for you, just for me, just what He wants us to hear and understand for today. Are we too busy? too preoccupied? too overwhelmed? too prideful?

Really?! The One who knows every hair on our head as well as our secret thoughts and our deepest insecurities and fears and our greatest needs--we are too busy or preoccupied for His supernatural words of help and enablement? How convicted I am that at times this reflects my essentially indifferent, foolish attitude towards His Word. I can sometimes read the Bible with a lackadaisical approach or perhaps with the air of "let's get this checked off my to do list." How terribly costly is such indifference! How much I miss when I fail to come before the throne with attentive wonder and eager expectancy that the Lord of the universe is speaking to me, right at that moment in time. Pretty incredible, when you consider it--frail, selfish, petulant, prideful little dust people have the infinite, omnipotent Creator and Sustainer and Redeemer speaking directly to each one of them.

Diedrich Bonhoeffer, the brilliant German theologian killed in a nazi concentration camp for conspiring against Hitler during World War II, wrote these words about God speaking through the Bible:

"First of all I will confess quite simply- I believe that the Bible alone is the answer to all our questions, and that we need only to ask repeatedly and a little humbly, in order to receive this answer. One cannot simply read the Bible, like other books. One must be prepared really to enquire of it. Only thus will it reveal itself. Only if we expect from it the ultimate answer, shall we receive it. This is because in the Bible God speaks to us. And one cannot simply think about God in one’s own strength, one has to enquire of him. Only if we seek him, will he answer us. Of course it is possible to read the Bible like any other book, that is to say from the point of view of textual criticism, etc.; there is nothing to be said against that. Only that is not the method which will reveal to us the heart of the Bible, but only the surface, just as we do not grasp the words of someone we love by taking them to bits, but by simply receiving them, so that for days they go on lingering in or minds, simply because they are the words of a person we love, and just as these words reveal more and more of the person who said them as we go on, like Mary, “pondering them in our heart,” so it will be with the words of the Bible. Only if we will venture to enter into the words of the Bible, as though in them this God were speaking to us who loves us and does not will to leave us alone with our questions, only then shall we learn to rejoice in the Bible…

If it is I who determine where God is to be found, then I shall always find a God who corresponds to me in some way, who is obliging, who is connected with my own nature. But if God determines where he is to be found, then it will be in a place which is not immediately pleasing to my nature and which will not be congenial to me. This place is the cross of Christ. And whoever would find him must go to the foot of the cross, as the Sermon on the Mount commands. This is not according to our nature at all; it is entirely contrary to it. But this is the message of the Bible, not only the New but also in the Old Testament….

And, I would like to tell you now quite personally: since I have learnt to read the Bible in this way- and this has not been so very long- it becomes every day more wonderful to me. I read it in the morning and the evening, often during the day as well, and every day I consider a text which I have chosen for the whole week, and try to sink deeply into it, so as to really hear what it is saying. I know that without this I could not live properly any longer."

That's a long quote, but such profound words. God longs to speak to us through His Word. Will we listen? Really listen? If my sweet old dog can exhibit such attentiveness and expectancy over some scrambled eggs, surely we can approach the eternal spiritual sustenance the Lord God longs to give each of us with equal fervor and hunger. He has spoken. He is speaking. He will speak. Come hungry and expectant to His banquet table! To God, our Sustenance, our Living Word, be the glory.

A Lesson from my Dog

Early this morning, our sweet old dog, Moses, and I went for a walk. Moses is teaching me a number of lessons, one of which is patience. When I say sweet "old" dog, I mean it. He has slowed down considerably over the past year. We used to run together, but we "graduated" to walking briskly about a year ago--frankly, we're both thankful since Moses and I have clearly aged out of the pounding and stress running puts on our bodies. But now our formerly brisk, semi-long walks have "graduated" to shorter and shorter veeeeeeeeery slow walks. You simply cannot imagine how many things there apparently are to smell on the greenway. Bushes, trees, branches, blades of grass, trash, and certain unmentionables left behind by other dogs, just to name a few. Unbelievable! And, apparently, the smells are so fascinating and scintillating that the thought of actually continuing to move and walk lose all appeal for Moses. Meanwhile, I am pulling (HARD) trying to get him to budge, so we can get some exercise, and, I'm embarrassed to say, sometimes growing irritated and impatient with our GLACIAL pace.

Even writing this convicts me of how this reflects my complete lack of patience and my inability to wait--in general--with a contented, peaceful heart. How often do I bustle through my day, oblivious to God's agenda or the people He puts in my path? And how frequently am I ungrateful for all the blessings strewn in my path, because I am on to bigger and better things (or so I suppose)? Lord forgive me!

You know, you can learn an awful lot from a dog. Yeah, yeah, you think, I've heard all about slowing down to smell the roses, but, gracious, isn't it sad how frequently we fail to do just that? And just think about what dogs are smelling! If they can enjoy smelling whatever disgusting thing it is they like to smell, how can we not slacken our frantic pace a bit to appreciate the dainty sliver of the new moon or the gentle sound of the wind in the pine trees or the raucous laughter of our teenager's carpool? Are we really too busy and rushed not to notice that exhausted grocery bagger or that lonely widow or that overwhelmed teacher? Surely I can meander a bit more in my day--even if it's only in my heart and my attitude--so that I can pause and thank the Lord for the bracing air of winter or the sound of a favorite song or the taste of a chewy bagel.

I may have mentioned it before, but one of my favorite quotes is from Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (don't ask me who that is--I read his quote in a book):

"Every time you feel in God's creatures something pleasing and attractive, do not let your attention be arrested by them alone, but, passing them by, transfer your thought to God and say: 'O my God, if Thy creations are so full of beauty, delight and joy, how infinitely more full of beauty, delight and joy art Thou Thyself, Creator of all!"

Amen! Any God who could create a black labrador, or really most any dog (but especially labs), must be pretty incredible, indeed! Or the mind that could conceive of giraffes and tigers and elephants and anteaters--can you imagine?! Or the beauty of gently falling snow or the haunting sound of hoot owls, or the majestic power of waterfalls. Just today, as Moses and I walked along, I looked up and saw the fingernail sliver of a new moon outlined by the bare branches of the trees, and I thought, such is my Creator Lord! I couldn't help but be reminded of the line from Shakespeare describing winter's tree branches, "bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang."

I've only touched on the lessons a dog can teach us (O, yes, there is more to be mined on this wonderful subject!), but for today, Lord, teach us to slow down and taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps.34:8). We can't taste and see His goodness and greatness if we don't have hearts attuned to Him and slacken our pace--at least in our perspective and our attitude--to see Him reflected in His creatures and His creation.

I may still be pulling hard on Moses' leash, but I'll be praising God in my heart for the stout heart of a dog and the strength of an arm and the lushness of that alluring blade of grass! O, if a dog could be so loyal and loving, imagine the God who made the dog! "How infinitely more full of beauty, delight, and joy, art Thou Thyself Creator of all!" To our creative, good and great God, be all the glory.

A Lonely Woman

Early this morning, I was reading through my One Year Bible, and it was some tough sledding, I must say. I read about all the regulations for infectious skin diseases and mildew in houses and men with discharges. As I read, my attitude was less than stellar. Why on earth is all of this in here, I wondered. When will I get through all this? And, good grief, this is so gross! Not exactly a reverential approach to God's Word.

I read about the regulations for a woman's time of the month (she is impure for 7 days afterward and anyone who touches her is unclean for 7 days). And then I read these verses: "When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge... Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean... and anything she sits on will be unclean... Whoever touches them will be unclean..." (Leviticus 15:25-27) I couldn't help contemplating the terrible isolation and embarrassment of such a woman. She is unclean, virtually anything she touches is unclean, and any person who not only touches her but touches anything she has touched is unclean. How awful, how defective, how alone must such a woman feel?

And then it hit me. Such was the woman who fearfully but desperately touched the hem of Jesus' robe. Remember her? Jesus was busy, surrounded by huge crowds, and He was on His way to the home of the very important Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, to ultimately heal his young daughter. Surely He should have been a bit overwhelmed by the teeming horde surrounding Him and preoccupied by the critical task He was about to perform (which actually ended up being the raising of the young girl from the dead).

How could He not have been preoccupied or overwhelmed? Boy, we sure would have been. O, but not our Savior. He is never too busy, never too rushed, never too focused on something else more pressing, never too engrossed in His own agenda to fail to love and heal and encourage a seeking or hopeless heart.

And surely she knew hopelessness and desperation and loneliness. Luke 8 tells us she had suffered from "a discharge of blood for 12 years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone." (Lk 8:43) Think of it: 12 years of being unclean. 12 years of contaminating anything she sat upon or lay upon. 12 years of other people fearful to be even just in her general vicinity for fear of being made unclean. Did she have children or a husband? We don't know, but if she did, I'm betting they weren't ever in her presence. And since she spent all her living on doctors, it sounds like she might not have had any kind of family to help her or encourage her through her long, dark nightmare of loneliness and disgrace.

Have you ever experienced such piercing loneliness that you felt utterly bereft? Have you ever felt like such a failure or so disgraced or so alienated that you were overwhelmed with the sense of desperation or discouragement or defeat? I just cannot begin to imagine her loneliness and despair... but my Savior can. He, too, would experience agonizing loneliness and rejection and betrayal and shame when He bore your sins and my sins, on a lonely cross, located "outside the camp" at Calvary.

But back to this woman. We're told that "She came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately the discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, 'Who was it that touched Me?' When all denied it, Peter said, 'Master, the crowds surround You and are pressing in on you!' But Jesus said, 'Someone touched Me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.' And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before Him, declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. And He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." (Lk 8:44-48)

He is God. He knows all things, and yet He asked who had touched Him. I kept thinking about that. Why would He do that? I'm guessing it had nothing to do with Jesus not knowing who had touched Him. I'm thinking my Sovereign all-knowing Lord asked the question not for Himself but for that poor, lonely woman's sake. Look at her--trembling, fearful, hidden, and then for the first time in 12 years, she comes out into the open and declares that she has been healed. Healed! Whole for the first time for as long as she can remember. I wonder is she had forgotten what it was like to hear the sound of her voice speaking out loud to real people. To feel what it was like not to be a pariah, sneaking around, trying to make herself invisible.

You know, Jesus could have just allowed her to be healed by touching the hem of His garment and then letting her slink off. And that would have been pretty spectacular--to be healed of a terrible, mysterious illness that had isolated and impoverished her. But then, she wouldn't have heard the sound of His voice. Or seen the soft but piercing gaze of His eyes upon her--only upon her. Or heard Him, the Almighty Savior, call her "daughter." Or heard His commendation that "your faith has healed you." Or listened to the glorious, unforgettable words, "Go in peace" spoken by the only One in the world who could actually give her true and lasting peace.

And neither would we.

O what a Savior. O what grace and goodness and thoughtfulness.

You can bet she was never ever the same. She had been healed, but more importantly, she had been recognized and known and encouraged and loved by the Savior.

I don't know what you might be enduring right now. Perhaps you have lost a dearly beloved husband or wife or child. Perhaps you feel like a failure. Perhaps you are overwhelmed with discouragement or fear or futility. Will you, like this woman, come to the Savior? Will you take your loneliness or sorrow or hopelessness to Him and trust Him with your heart and your hurt? He may heal in some dramatic way. Or He may simply give you a sense of His presence and His power and His peace as never before in the midst of whatever you are enduring. We may not always understand His ways. But we can know Him and His incomparable love and His amazing grace and His supernatural peace.

Just like a lonely desperate woman on a dusty road in the midst of a teeming crowd over 2000 years ago.

He still heals. He still knows. He still comforts. He still encourages. He still loves. He is still the Lord of the lonely. And He still redeems and restores... one person at a time. To the gracious, loving, kind and powerful Savior, be all the glory.

Thank You Notes

The children just finished writing some thank you notes for Christmas presents. This is what my 10 year old wrote to one of his aunts and uncles: "Dear Britt and Alice, Thank you for the kite. It flys good. love, peter" (as I mentioned earlier, spelling is not our strong suit around here). Short and sweet. Or at least short.

He really did love the kite--it is a really cool giant hawk kite with a 6 foot wing span (is that too much information?)--but you would never know it from this rather half-hearted effort on the thank you note. Why, you ask, was this letter so, hmm, to-the-point? Well, my son was desperate to get out of the house and off to the golf course, but first, he had to finish his thank you notes. He was focused on marking this off his to do list and getting on to something more fun.

While we laughed at his note, I couldn't help but wonder, how often is that my attitude with the Lord? How much time do I spend thanking Him, really thanking Him, with a truly grateful heart, for who He is and all He has done for me? Especially when I have a busy day, do I completely miss the manifold blessings He has sent my way that day? Do I thank Him for the incredible joy of His gift of salvation or am I too preoccupied with all I think I have to do that day? Do I pause to rejoice in His goodness, His grace, His love, His power, His peace? Do I thank Him for giving me a voice to praise Him, eyes to read His Word, ears to hear the laughter of my loved ones, hands to accomplish all He has called me to do?

Or do I just go through the motions? Mark it off my to-do list. Pray or read His Word or worship but with a distracted, distant heart. O forgive me Lord! You are so worthy of all our thanksgiving and focus and love. You know, it's not a mere matter of time. You could give Him just a few minutes of time but with a thankful, attentive heart, and it would mean abundantly more than hours spent with a preoccupied, ungrateful heart.

I know I sound like a broken record, but we (or I) just can't be reminded often enough to rejoice in the Lord! To choose to have an attitude of gratitude for what He has chosen to give us and to withhold from us. And to express our thankfulness out loud--either verbally or in writing--whether or not we "feel" like it. I recently read about a convicting example of such thankfulness shared by Nancy Ortberg:

"I worked as a registered nurse for about ten years before my life took a different direction. One of my earliest patients was a young girl of about 14 who had been in a dirt bike accident. I met this young girl down in the physical therapy department. She was in a whirlpool bath. I had read her chart before I went down to work with her and had learned that as a result of the accident, her leg had been amputated below the knee.

I couldn't imagine what it must be like to be a 14-year-old girl with part of your leg missing. I introduced myself, and we made some small talk. Through the course of our time together, I learned that she was a follower of Christ, although she really didn't say much about that.

I was not prepared for her spirit, however, especially when she lifted her freshly amputated leg up above the bubbling water for me to see and said, "Look at how much I have left!"

She excitedly told me that since the doctors were able to amputate below the knee, it was much easier to fit a prosthesis. She wondered how long it would take to heal so that she could get started with that. I heard most of what she was saying, but I wasn't really paying much attention. My mind was fixed back on the "look how much I have left!" Her gratitude seemed really genuine. It wasn't denial or a Pollyanna mentality. She knew she was missing a good part of her leg, and she wouldn't have chosen that. But she was so very thankful for this bit of good news. Her spirit made my spirit soar that day. And I had two good legs."

I, too, was fixated on her "Look at how much I have left!" How we need thankful hearts! We who have been given so much, how can we not overflow with gratitude to the Giver of all good gifts? Today, might we choose to be thankful with all we "have left" and not with what we might have lost or want or lack. Choose to "consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." Heb.12:3

Or as Heb.13:5-6 urges us "Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, 'I will never leave you or forsake you. So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'" He will never ever leave us. We will never ever be alone. And the Almighty, Omnipotent One is our helper! So we have no need to fear, for what is any problem or concern or person compared to the Incomparable Lord of the Universe? Could we ever merit such extravagant goodness? Nope. But He has poured it out upon us all the same--so be thankful! Rejoice in Him! (... and don't forget those thank you notes!) To our Helper and Sustainer and Provider and Redeemer be the glory.

Reframing Our Thoughts

I woke up this morning, thinking. Thinking about our schedule for the day, thinking about the errands I need to run, thinking about conversations from yesterday, thinking about packing my son for his return to college monday morning, thinking about what I would cook for breakfast (eating--always favorite food for thought, excuse the pun), thinking about what time my daughter and her friends would get up this morning and what I would fix them, thinking about cleaning out clutter (Lord have mercy), thinking about a busy week ahead, thinking about all the stuff I failed to do yesterday, thinking about what I wrote in this blog yesterday....

Have you noticed, we women are good thinkers? We tend to mull things over in our minds. And then the mulling tends to move to worrying. And the worrying tends to move to fussing and fretting and fearing. And then, woe be the next person who happens to walk into the room or look at us "funny" or innocently question anything in the world. One minute we seemed to be contentedly folding the laundry, and then the next minute our unsuspecting husband or children get blasted for NEVER (we imagine) helping around the house. What on earth happened here? Thinking, I'm telling you--it will get you every time!

Our thoughts really matter. Of course, we all know that, but then we (okay, I) tend to forget it in the course of our day and we/I allow our thoughts to run to places they have absolutely no business going. I'm not talking about something slimy... I just mean those pesky, willful thoughts that go visit locations like "why am I the only one doing any work around here?" or "this house is a total mess and I'm the only person in the universe who cares" or "wonder what he/she meant when she/he said..." or "this headache is probably a brain tumor" or "some chocolate sure would taste good right about now" or "I bet if I go shopping I would feel better" or "why can't my child be more like..." or "I sure wish I had more..." or "I sure wish I had a lot less..."

The potentially alluring locations our thoughts might meander to is endless, but the result, unless we step in and stop them, almost always results in discouragement or pride or fear or criticism (of others or ourselves). But we do have a choice! We can choose to stop those thoughts right in their tracks and either send them packing or reframe them into something which is God-honoring. So, I come back to yesterday's shorthand version of Phil.4:4-7 "Pray about everything; worry about nothing; rejoice in everything." We have to choose to take those thoughts of worry and say "NO!" And then choose instead to reframe them into prayer--with thanksgiving.

Just a silly example--my wandering thoughts about all I had to do today and all I failed to do yesterday might be reframed, "Father, thank You that You have given me a family and friends so that I have things You want me to accomplish. Thank You that You promise to give us strength that is equal to all You have called us to do. Thank You that You are sovereign and in control of this day. Please show me what I am to do and then by Your power, enable me to accomplish it to Your glory. O Lord, help me to love today and not be preoccupied by all I have to do." If we would do this with all those thoughts of worry or frustration or anxiety or anger, imagine the difference in our attitudes, our answers to prayer, our relationship with God and with our family and friends.

As I was contemplating this, I thought of something I just read by Henri Nouwen:

"Our minds are always active. We analyze, reflect, daydream, or dream. There is not a moment during the day or night when we are not thinking. You might say our thinking is "unceasing." Sometimes we wish that we could stop thinking for a while; that would save us from many worries, guilt feelings, and fears. Our ability to think is our greatest gift, but it is also the source of our greatest pain. Do we have to become victims of our unceasing thoughts? No, we can convert our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer by making our inner monologue into a continuing dialogue with our God, who is the source of all love. Let's break out of our isolation and realize that Someone who dwells in the center of our beings wants to listen with love to all that occupies and preoccupies our minds." I couldn't have said it better myself (duh)! We have the choice! We can choose today, moment by moment, to reframe or "convert our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer by making our inner monologue into a continuing dialogue with God." Or as Paul put it in I Thess.5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances,; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." The way I see it, if I'm praying without ceasing and rejoicing and giving thanks always, there just doesn't leave a speck of room for those negative, destructive thoughts. So, I'm back where I started (like I've said, I'm a good forgetter and need to be reminded over and over again): pray about everything; worry about nothing; rejoice in everything. Convert thoughts into praying and rejoicing--today (and tomorrow and the next), one moment at a time. To the One who hears and loves and acts, be all the glory.

The Day after the Day after the Best Day of my Life

How am I living on the day after the day after the best day of my life? I guess the question really boils down to: how well am I trusting God? If I'm trusting Him then I'll be grateful rather than grumpy. O dear, I just got frustrated with my nonstop ringing phone and a irritable teenager. If I'm trusting, then I'll be contented with whatever God has given me and with whatever He has withheld. That includes a settled contentedness even with a really slow car in front of me or a creaky back or a massive load of laundry or a frustrating schedule or a seeming failure of the world to understand and cater to my every desire.

I just always come back to Phil.4:4-7 "Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. the Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Rejoice in the Lord. Don't be anxious about anything. Pray about everything--with thanksgiving. Why can't I remember this?! I don't know about you, but I can do pretty well, and then suddenly the baby gets sick, the car breaks down, the sleep deficit adds up, the to-do list gets too overwhelming and, bam, there goes the attitude of gratitude. Here comes the worry or the frustration. Since I have a crummy memory, maybe I need to shorten it: pray about everything; worry about nothing; rejoice in everything. Pretty simple, huh? And the result will be God's supernatural peace and joy suffusing our hearts and our minds. It's a moment by moment choice. As I talked about on the day after the best day of my life, it's a matter of trusting in my Sovereign God and His perfect ways and work. So it's still true on the day after the day after the best day of my life, right? And honestly, isn't that where we really live: on the day after the day after the day after the day after the best day of our lives? It's life in the trenches and the ordinary grit and grime of the everyday.

Today, tomorrow, tonight, early in the morning, late in the afternoon, choose to pray about everything, worry about nothing, rejoice in everything. Say it out loud with me (because there is such power in the spoken word)--pray about everything, worry about nothing, rejoice in everything. I can't hear you--say it like you mean it! Because God did. Because He loves us beyond all comprehension and because His plans are perfect and will always always always work out for our ultimate good and His greater glory. Somehow. Someway. Someday. Don't ask me how. The good news is, I don't have to know how. I just have to know Who... And His name is Jesus.

So today, pray about everything, worry about nothing, rejoice in everything. And leave all the rest with Him--trust Him, He can handle it. To God be the glory.

The Day after the Best Day of My Life!

Well, it was just hard to write anything yesterday, since I had just enjoyed "the best day of my life" the day before. I've noticed it can be a little challenging to stay at the very tippy top of the mountain for very long--especially when you have children. One minute you are reveling in the joy and wonder of your little ones, because they have written you a sweet note or actually cleaned up their room without you nagging them (this, theoretically, could happen) or talked to you about their day in full sentences with real, actual information or sat at the dinner table and laughed and talked for a while even after wolfing down their food or offered to clean up the kitchen (and then actually followed through and did it--completely) or been kind and encouraging to their sibling. Now, granted, these wondrous occurrences may not happen on a daily basis, but the fact that they do happen gives us such hope, such a deep seated joy that we are carried along for days... well, maybe hours... or minutes, for sure.

But, I am so convicted at how quickly I can plummet off the mountain peak and down into the "Valley of Despond" (or the Valley of Disgust or the Valley of Desperation). I don't want my joy, my contentment to be determined by whether my teenager happens to be in a good mood or by whether the house is messy or by whether the weather is crummy or by whether I am tired and am having a really bad hair day (which, for me, fortunately is never a problem since I am used to have daily bad hair days). You fill in the blank--what is it that steals your joy and your peace and your trust in Your sovereign Lord? A struggling child, a health scare, a strained relationship, a cluttered home, a fearful and unknown future, a lack of energy or finances or perspective?

Isn't it amazing how quickly we can go from a settled peace, a happy contentedness to frustration, irritation, envy, worry? And you know, I really think the bottom line for me is that when I plummet, it's because I've taken my focus off my Savior and put it squarely on my circumstances. I somehow refuse to trust that His plan is perfect in that moment, and that those annoying or disappointing or even crushing circumstances cannot possibly be for my best or that of my loved one. Ultimately, it's all a matter of refusing to trust Him, isn't' it? Selfish, prideful girl that I am, I think my way, my comfort, my desire is better and more important that Him and His ways.

This made me think of a wonderful quote by Peter Kreeft that I recently read in the book One Thousand Gifts: "No one who ever said to God, 'Thy will be done,' and meant it with all his heart, ever failed to find joy--not just in heaven, or even down the road in the future in this world, but in this world at this very moment. Every other Christian who has ever lived has found exactly the same thing in his own experience. It is an experiment that has been performed over and over again billions of times, always with the same result."

If I truly trust God and His perfect plans in every single moment of my mundane, O so daily, day, then all my plummeting will cease. Because I can know that He is in control of my teenagers and the weather and the safety and the health of loved ones and... well, everything. We cannot control how those we love will respond. But we can control how we will respond. We cannot get everything done that we need to get done... but we can do whatever He enables us to get done with the strength He has given us and trust Him with the stuff left undone. We cannot heal that illness or damaged relationship or annoying habit, but we can do whatever He calls us to do and then hand the whole mess to Him and choose to trust that He can and will do whatever we can't. We cannot protect our children or our loved ones every moment of the day, but we can entrust them to Him and trust that He who knows all and can do all, loves them far better than we ever could and that He is working and moving in their lives in ways we cannot see or know (just as He is in our lives).

So today, I am choosing to trust Him. Trust His love. Trust His plans. Trust His ways and His work. And trust, moment by mundane moment, that He will enable me to keep trusting Him even when it is hard or goes against my feelings or desires. Help us to trust, You, Lord! Help us to keep saying over and over again, "This is from You, and I trust You, Lord." Help us to trust You this day. This hour. This minute. To Him who is Worthy of all our trust, be all the glory.

The Best Day of My Life!

Today, I think I have pretty much passed the threshold of middle age--contrary to my assertion the other day. I am 23 years older than Princess Katherine (who also has a birthday today!), and I don't think most people live to the age of 106 (you do the math). But maybe I could coin a new phrase--"advanced middle age." I don't know, that still sounds awfully OLD! But my slightly more "advanced" and "perfected" sister (isn't that a much better way to look at it? After all, Lord willing, we are all growing in grace and godliness and wisdom--qualities which matter far far more than wrinkles, faltering memories, and creaky knees. Boy this is a long parenthesis!) began signing her emails, after her most recent birthday, "Mary Norris, 62." I love that! So, I'm declaring, 53 and thankful for it! 53 and grateful for every year filled with dear friends and family, good health, various sweet pets, incredible parents and siblings, fun trips, memorable holidays, warm, comfortable homes, great schooling, priceless husband and irreplaceable, precious-beyond-words children (this list is not in order), and, of course, the "Indescribable Gift" of the Lord Jesus!

Our children always write birthday notes to us (okay, with some gentle persuasion from mom or dad), and I have saved them all... somewhere in my stuff. Truly treasures, every single one of them! But I have to reprint our 10 year old's letter that I opened this morning, misspellings and all:

"Dear Mom, Happy Birthday! Thank so much for helping me and feeding me and so much more! I hope you get what you want! You help all of us when we are sik or heart. [Spelling is not our strong suit] Thank you so much for comeing watch us play sports. I hope this is the best day of your life and best birthday ever. We no you are going to love your presents. Happy birthday! Love, Peter" [Did I mention that spelling is most definitely not our strong suit? But we make up for it in sweetness! At least Peter does, anyway.]

Now first off, I'm glad he's grateful we feed him! So right off the bat, the bar is obviously set pretty low for old Mom, and I'm thankful I have met the challenge: we feed our children and help them when they are sick or hurt. And please don't forget I attend their sporting events--mother of the year, here I come!

But I especially loved "I hope this is the best day of your life and best birthday ever." O for the precious perspective of a child! When you get to be my age, another year added onto your age tends not to be a tremendous cause for rejoicing. The birthday cards about aging are all hilarious... sort of... and you are just thankful to still be here for another year, but otherwise, growing older can be, hmmm, well, somewhat challenging.

Yet as I thought about sweet Peter's words, I felt overwhelmed with the knowledge and the gratitude, that this is, indeed, "the best day of my life." Here's what I am doing for my birthday: going to a family event at one of my children's schools, doing laundry, cleaning up the children's rooms (Lord have mercy), walking our ever-slowing sweet old dog, Moses, eating lunch with my wonderful sister and a dear friend, carpooling, doctor's appointment for a child, laundry, cleaning up, writing (yeah!!), helping with homework (Lord have mercy, again), laundry, cleaning up, going to Cloos Coney Island Hot Dogs for my birthday dinner with my husband and our children, watching our son's city league basketball game, reading to our youngest in bed (truly one of very favorite times of the day--thank You Lord!), making lunches, laundry, cleaning up, world's hottest bath (thank You Lord, again!), read for 2 and a half minutes before falling sound asleep.

Now admittedly, Donald Trump or Paris Hilton might not think that would constitute the best day of their lives, but let me tell you something, it doesn't get any better than this. No kidding. I'll admit, sometimes that is not my perspective. Sometimes I forget how ridiculously blessed I am by my extravagant, awesome Lord. Sometimes I see laundry and carpooling and doctor's appointments and cleaning as some kind of interruption or irritation that hinder what I should really be doing (which is, who on earth knows what).

I forget that my Savior who formed the stars and planets with a mere word and then flung them into space and who knows every hair on every head in the world, picked up a towel and washed filthy feet of clueless, unreliable, sometimes unfaithful disciples (John 13). I forget that He is not only my Savior, my Redeemer, my dearest Friend and ever faithful Companion, my Creator, my Sustainer, my Master, but He is also my example: "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil.2:3-11)

Such is my God and there is none other. Who could not love such a Savior?

And remind me again, why do I think I am too big for my britches? What chore, what act of service is too insignificant for me when I follow and love the Lord-who-washes-filthy-feet? What interruption, always divinely appointed by my sovereign Savior, should not be my joyful priority since it is a way to serve and love the people He has so graciously, undeservedly, and lovingly placed in my life?

I don't have to do laundry. I get to wash and fold and match socks for big and little feet of the people I love with all my heart and soul. I don't have to clean or carpool or cook. I get to love and serve and help and nourish the most important, the dearest of eternal souls in this world. I get to go to the grocery store or the doctor's office or the school or the drug store to see and to encourage and to care for beloved, unique, priceless people that the Lord Jesus adores and came to seek and to save. And I get to love and serve and follow my Master, my Savior, my Lord every single day of my life. What an unspeakable privilege! What a life!

So, yes, Peter, today is the best day of my life, and I thank the Lord that this is my best birthday ever! And as long as I have breath in me, might I rejoice that this day, this hour, this moment, is "the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" (Ps.118:24) To the Almighty God who came to serve and to save, be all the glory forever.

The God of the Impossible

I just spoke with one of my dearest friends and just learned of God answering prayer in the lives of some other friends. We have been praying for a long time--I've prayed, my husband has prayed faithfully every single day, friends have prayed. But honestly, the situation looked utterly hopeless. And much to my shame, I prayed... but without much true trust. I knew God could do it, but deep down inside, I think I doubted He would do it. Shame on me. We worship an Almighty God who can do anything and everything--and I think I had forgotten that. And I think I had forgotten about the awesome power of prayer. We need to stop second guessing our prayers. Stop trying to edit them to allow God wriggle room--which is really wiggle room for our doubts and fears--and just pray fervently and trustingly in our Heavenly Father who delights to answer in BIG ways!

I couldn't help but think of Charles Hadden Spurgeon. One day he was with a group of seminary students and called on one of them to pray for some need. The young man went on and on, using big words and big titles for God, and finally Spurgeon interrupted him. "Young man, just call Him 'Father,' and ask Him for something." We need to ask Him and not be afraid to ask Him for the impossible! Another one of my very favorite quotes is from D.L. Moody: "If God be your partner, make large plans." O Lord, help us to make large plans, because we trust fully in You, the ultimate Planner and Controller and Enabler!

"For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37 I'm trying to figure out what is excluded from "nothing!" Hmm, I'm thinking the Greek for "nothing" is "nothing." Or how about Jesus' words, "With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible." Mt.19:26 Can you figure out how to limit the word "all?" I sure can't. God can do all things... or another way to put that would be "God can do ALL THINGS!" He can heal and restore bodies, marriages, hearts, minds, relationships, memories and on and on.

The question is, will we pray in faith, trusting that He who knows all and can do all, will provide the most perfect outcome? It may not be the outcome we would choose, but if He has all knowledge, all power, and all love, we can place it in His hands with child-like trust and abandon. You know, sometimes it's easier doing this with the big things than it is with the little things. It can be easier, I've found, to hand Him that loved one's serious illness and trust Him with the result than to hand Him my child's poor attitude or my overburdened schedule or my frustrating habits of clutter or procrastination or reacting rather than being proactive. My tendency, when things go awry, is to default to doubt and worry rather than immediately responding with trustful prayer and worship that my God is Almighty and active and able.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen." Look around you. Just this morning, I looked up in the predawn darkness and saw the most spectacular, glowing harvest moon that hovered low in the sky so all could see it and marvel. What kind of God can make something so glorious?! Our God who can do all things and delights to make a creation for His created ones to enjoy! When we see answered prayer, we need to stop and thank Him and remember those answers to fortify us for the times when the answers seem a bit longer in coming... at least according to our timetable. The hug of a child, the phone call of encouragement, the blessing of a book, the laughter in the midst of stress, the gift of a song in our sorrow, the impossible made possible by our loving Father--we must choose to see, really see, and then translate each into trust for the Omnipotent Hand that provided each one.

So today, might we choose to trust the God of the Impossible--in the big and scary and hard places of our lives, but also in the mundane and the minutia. He cares about it all; He hears it all; and He has all the power to do it all, in His perfect wisdom and love. To our Heavenly Father be all the glory.

Older!

The other day, several of our children and my husband, Richard, and I went to get passports. I actually have a passport... but it expired a mere 33 years ago! Good grief, I am old as dirt. My husband kindly pointed out that middle age is typically considered up until the age of 39--meaning we are no longer middle age but now in the old age category. Fortunately I googled this horrifying misinformation and was able to correct him. Happily, we are still firmly in the middle age category, with a few years to spare. Whew, what a relief. Who ever thought one could be happy to be considered middle aged.

But getting back to the passport, the photograph, o my stars, my photograph clearly fell into the might-terrify-young-children classification. When I glimpsed with horror the ancient face peering back at me from the photo, I was stunned. "Please tell me I don't look like this!" I told my family. "O no, you don't look like that at all," was the kind but completely untrue answer. Right, sure. I just had my picture taken for this passport the day before yesterday at the UPS store, but I'm sure it doesn't actually reflect my youthful good looks. Wonder what was wrong with that camera? Funny how the children's photographs looked great and seemed like a mighty accurate reflection.

The problem is, that is exactly how I look! And that is OLD. But the bottom line: I'm just thankful to still be here, to still be able to love and laugh and share and move. "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving an eternal weight of glory that far exceeds them all." 2Cor.4:16-17 How thankful I am that what you see on the outside is not what really matters. That even as my outer man wastes away, shrivels up (or expands as the case may be), wrinkles, goes gray... my inner man is growing and and being renewed and redeemed every single day. And all the struggles and stains and disappointments and sorrows of this life will be seen as helping us achieve "an eternal weight of glory that far exceeds" anything we've had to endure.

So even with the approach of old age, how thankful I am to serve a God who redeems and restores and renews and makes all things new. I'm tired. I'm forgetful. I'm wrinkled. But I'm His girl. And He is mine. And I trust that He is building and renewing in a deeper and eternal way. To God, the Restorer and Renewer, be the glory.

Grateful

Brennan Manning once wrote: "The foremost quality of a trusting disciple is gratefulness." I have continued to be challenged and encouraged by the lyrical book, One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voscamp. And I continue to be amazed at how quickly and effortlessly I can slide into ingratitude. Sure, we think of things like sorrow and tragedy and hardship as enemies of a grateful heart. But just as deadly, perhaps more so, are busyness and exhaustion born of rushing and relentless accomplishment and frenzy. Somehow I must find the time... I must make the time, to be still before God. Take the time to savor the evening sky and the twinkle in my child's eye and the smell of pine needles. How can I be grateful unless I slow down enough to truly see and then to verbalize my thankfulness?

Rather than complaining about hauling all the Christmas decorations back up the stairs (and isn't it always sad putting them away for a year?), I could choose to thank the Lord for the gift of another year to celebrate His birth with my dear family. Rather than grumble about the mountains of laundry, I could choose gratitude for the gift of loved ones, and for the fact they have clothes, and for the water and soap and washing machine in which to wash them. Rather than slogging through the preparation and clean up of another meal, I can rejoice that we have food to eat--and even such an abundance of food that we can choose what to eat--and a warm, safe house in which to eat, and a table with chairs and loved ones with which to share our meal.

If the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens and the earth could pick up a towel and wash filthy feet, how can I complain about serving and loving those dearest to me? I always love looking at a little sticky note I have over my kitchen sink: "I am here to serve with joy." How I need that reminder! How prone I am to want to be served rather than to serve. But it is in loving and serving others that we discover joy and peace. And in choosing to serve with gratitude in our hearts, we find that joy suddenly bubbling up and splashing all over us.

But we have to choose. Choose to serve and love. And choose to be grateful. It's just that simple. Choose thanksgiving. There simply is no pit too deep, no valley too wide that gratitude cannot be the ladder or the bridge that pulls us up out of the muck and mire.

So today I choose gratefulness. Thank You Lord for Christmas. Thank You for children and for friends and for the chores that remind us of full lives and of loved ones for whom we have the privilege to serve and help. Thank You for the bracing cold weather of winter and the change of seasons. Thank You for fresh starts--and that each new day is the opportunity to begin anew. Thank You that You never ever give up on us. Thank You for laughter. Thank You for tears and for the gift of emotions so that we can feel deeply, even when it hurts. Thank You for food... especially chocolate. You really did some good work when You made chocolate! Thank You for friends and the joy and richness they bring to our lives. Thank You for the beauty of this world that sometimes takes our breath away with it's lushness and wonder and variety. Thank You for our differences that keeps life lively and interesting. Thank You for music. Thank you for the warmth of home and for a light in the darkness. Thank You for books. And thank You for the greatest gift of all--for the Lord Jesus and for His love that is greater and deeper and wider than we could ever hope or imagine or dream. In response to so many blessings, might we have hearts that overflow with gratitude and love. To God be the glory.

Come to His Word

The other day I read something by John Piper that really resonated with me. He talked of waking up some mornings "feeling fragile. Vulnerable. It's often vague. No single threat. No one weakness. Just an amorphous sense that something is going to go wrong and I will be responsible. It's usually after a lot of criticism." I can relate, as I'm sure many of us can. But for me, the fragility translates into more of a sense of discouragement, of recognizing how consistently I seem to miss the mark in so many areas of my life: not a good enough mother or wife or sister or friend; not a good enough cook or organizer (there's that dreadful clutter again) or volunteer or Christian or... just fill in the blank. It's funny how often these times of discouragement or that vague sense of fragility or vulnerability can follow times of blessing or victory: a wonderful visit with all the children home and then when they leave, discouragement can set in. Accomplishing something good or big or necessary and then, seemingly, out of nowhere that vague sense of defeat.

The causes vary wildly, but that feeling of fragility or disappointment or discouragement steals our joy, our peace, our hope. But I love Piper's comment on how God has graciously dealt with his fragility over the years: "By desperate prayer and particular promises. I agree with Spurgeon: I love the 'I wills' and the 'I shalls' of God. Instead of letting me sink into a paralysis of fear, or run into a mirage of greener grass, He has awakened a cry for help and then answered with a concrete promise."

Amen! How I thank and praise God for His Word that is filled with so many glorious "I wills" and "I shalls!" (More on this in a later blog). There have been so many times when I would open His Word after struggling with my inadequacies, and there is a magnificent promise from my Omnipotent Lord, reminding me that I am inadequate, but He is not. I am weak, but He is strong. I am changeable and inconsistent, but He is changeless and eternal. I am sinful, but He is holy and clothes me with His robes of righteousness. I am anxious and fretful, but He is the Prince of Peace. I am disordered, but He is perfect order. I am always running behind, but He is always right on time, infinitely and always the eternal "I Am." I am critical and unkind, but He is Grace, amazing Grace. I am empty and discontent, but in Him is fullness of joy. I am thirsty, but from Him flow endless springs of life giving water. And He tells me again and again and again in His Word of His love, His grace, His forgiveness, His joy, His peace, His power, His endless and perfect provision.

I couldn't help but think of one of my very favorite quotes from Tim Keller: "We are more sinful than we ever imagined, but we are more loved than we ever dreamed." Isn't that the message behind His Word? Every time we come to Him in His Word, we come empty and defeated and discouraged. And He tells us of His love and grace and power and provision. We come hungry, and we leave abundantly full and satisfied. We come discouraged, and we leave encouraged. We come defeated, and we leave confident in His ultimate victory.

Thank You Lord for Your Word and for never ever leaving us mired in our fragility and fear and failure. Thank You that when we come in our emptiness and desperation, You always fill us and strengthen us and love us. Right where we are. Right as we are. In the words of John Piper: "Cry out to Him. Then ransack the Bible for His appointed promise. We are fragile. But He is not." To our Almighty, all powerful, all sufficient Savior, be the glory.

Birdbaths and 2012

The dawn of a new year. How thankful I am that we serve a God of new beginnings, a Lord of 2nd chances, a Savior of resurrection. Yesterday, on the last day of my One Year Bible, I read these words from Revelation 21:5-6 "And He who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' Also He said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' And He said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.'" He is "making all things new," because He is the God of resurrection and redemption and renewal and revival! He is the Omega--He was at the end of 2011 and brought us through all the ups and downs of the past year. What a faithful Savior! And He is the Alpha and our Beginning right here at the very genesis of this new and unknown year. We have no idea what challenges and blessings this new year may hold, but He knows and He holds us with infinite love and security.

So thank You Lord for another year to love You and serve You and glorify You. Another opportunity to make much of You and to make Your Name known. And another opportunity to love those You have placed in our lives and in our paths. The older I get, the more I realize that unless I am loving You and loving others, then I might as well be that clanging, useless gong referred to by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. I can talk about it all day long. I can write about it. I can do and do and do, but if I'm not truly loving God and the people in my path, I'm just taking up valuable space and of no use to God or anybody else. O Lord, help me to love! Help my life this year to make an eternal difference not just by the things I do and say (though I pray that would be so as well) but by the way I love.

It's so easy to waste your time and ultimately your life, isn't it? You sit down to catch up on emails and the next thing you know, you've surfed the web and chased down rabbit trails and gone off on tangents and your morning is gone. Or you spend hours organizing your stuff--because you have far too much stuff so that it requires hours to organize it! (I'm the founding member of Clutter's Anonymous) We veg in front of the TV or flip through catalogues or shop for more stuff we don't need, and our time ticks away, never to be reclaimed. Forgive us Lord! I'm always so challenged by Ps.90:12 "Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Teach us Lord! Help us this year to truly use our days and our hours and our minutes in ways that will stand the test of time. Help us to use our time to love You and to love people rather than to love ourselves and love things.

I was so challenged the other day when I heard a story told by David Roper in a sermon given 32 years ago. Listen to his words:

"I was walking across the Stanford campus a few weeks back and I saw a birdbath under a bush. The bush covered it so I could hardly see it. It was a very unusual birdbath. I usually don't pay much attention to birdbaths. I'm not a bird and I didn't particularly need a bath. The thing that struck me about this birdbath was that it was very ornate, carved from one piece of marble, a very delicate and lovely work of art. It had a slender fluted column and a little carved basin on the top.

Some of you may have seen it. Obviously its construction had required a lot of work. Someone had invested months in that little project. But this unusual and lovely object had fallen into disuse. The bowl was full of stagnant water. Even the birds had abandoned it and the gardeners had allowed it to become overgrown with bushes. I went away from that encounter thinking about the man who had made it--the hours, the effort, dedication, and energy he had invested in that forgotten, useless birdbath. And as I walked away I asked from my heart, "'Please, Lord, don't let me make birdbaths. Don't let me invest my life where it does not count and spend my time and energy on enterprises that are valueless in your eyes.'"

O Lord Jesus, help me not to be preoccupied with making (or storing or collecting or prizing) "birdbaths." There are so many birdbaths in my life--all the things I seem to love more than My Savior. All the activities that steal my energy and ultimately my joy. All the trifling ways I waste my time. All the things I do that might be "good" but that prevent me from doing the "best." How many times have I needed to get upstairs and read Bible stories and books with my youngest child, but I get mired in emails or cleaning the kitchen or straightening up some mess and I miss that golden opportunity to love my child and spend precious moments with him. Or I get up early in the morning but get sidetracked unloading the dishwasher which leads me to some other chore and suddenly I have no time to spend loving and being loved and taught and guided by the God of the universe. Or I waste time and money on more stuff I don't need rather than spend that time and money on helping and encouraging and loving other people. Birdbaths!

This year may it be different! Might we truly number our days aright to gain a heart of wisdom--a heart that overflows with gratitude and joy and love for God and for people. Might we use our days in serving and loving Him and them. Might we live each day to make it our masterpiece for the glory of God. We might have failed in the past--but we serve a God who makes all things new! I've always heard "God works best in a graveyard." He delights to take that which seems hopeless and dead and beyond repair and give it new life, new hope, new purpose. Hand Him your birdbaths. And ask Him to enable you to live each day in 2012 no longer making birdbaths but making Him and His Name great and glorious as You love Him and then love others. To God be the glory.