A winter's bloom

     Just had to give a shout out to the Lord for this magnificent camellia blossom right outside our kitchen door!  Wow--and trust me, we did absolutely nothing to encourage this bloom.  We surely have the most neglected, laissez faire garden in Raleigh. But there you have it--God can handle it just fine on His own, thank you very much.
     Last night we endured nearly gale force gusts--so strong, in fact, that the winds blew over a big,  heavy pot with an equally hefty plant inside of it on our front porch.  And yet, look: I awoke this morning and saw this delicate bloom outside our door as well.  How on earth did it withstand the howling winds and pouring rain?  But it did.  In fact, it more than survived--it thrived, singing of the glory of God.
     So here, right in the teeth of winter, with the winds blowing briskly and the frigid temperatures moving back in today, God sends us a reminder that He is always in the business of new birth and beauty and persevering blessings.  Even when we least expect it... or deserve it... or even hope for it.
     He's just always at work, isn't He?  Sometimes silently in the face of the storms of life, but nonetheless, always always always working.  And perhaps the storms bring out His best work, for it so often seems those times of upheaval and stress and difficulty ultimately reveal how truly great and glorious His work is.   Demonstrating His relentless working for His greater glory and our greater good.
     We may not always understand how, but we can trust the hand of the Gardener even when we cannot comprehend His immediate plan.  Because the bloom is coming.  Even in the "bleak mid-winter."  To God be the glory.

Ringing our bell

     Not long ago, I saw a beautiful Saint Bernard dog, and it reminded me of the sweetest Saint Bernard that my brother, Britt, had when he was younger.  Her name was Da.C. (short for Davidson College though it was pronounced like the flower).  She was ginormous (duh), had the mother of all fur coats, and though her size might be intimidating, she had an incredibly gentle and laid-back disposition.  I'm betting she hated our N.C. summers, but she was always up for a romp around the neighborhood--sometimes unaccompanied, in which case we might spend hours looking for her.  But she was worth it.
      When I thought about Da.C., it reminded me of a story behind the historic Saint Bernard Pass--the location high in the Alps where the Saint Bernard dogs originated (or so I've been told).  There's a hostel run by monks at this pass.  In the last century, during the frequent snowstorms, the snow would so fill the air and obscure any kind of vision of the way ahead, that a traveler would be unable to see the trail up the mountain.  And, of course, this would be terribly dangerous, even deadly.
     But the monks came up with an ingenious solution: they would ring a great bell continuously during the storms, so that any potential travelers could follow the sound of the bell and find their way through even the most blinding of snowstorms.  Montgomery Boice commented on this: "That is what I want to do.  I want to sound the bell.  Life is sometimes so filled with the mist of afflictions and sorrows (or whatever it may be) that we cannot see the way clearly.  But here is a bell that all can hear and follow.  Come to Me!  Come to Me!  It is the invitation of the Lord to anyone who will hear..."
     I've thought about that a lot.  Isn't that what we are all called to be and to do?  We can be that bell sounding out the way for others who might be walking through the darkness of despair or defeat or disappointment to encourage them in their life's journey and to help lead them to the Lord.  O Father,  help me to be a bell that sings forth Your love and that draws others to Your Light and out of the darkness.
     Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)  Might we be His light-bearers as we ring out His love and goodness and faithfulness to a dark world.  To God be the glory.

Indescribable!

     "It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night." (Ps.92:1-2)
     "Let everything that has  breath praise the Lord."  (Ps.150:6)
     So let me just add to the chorus and give Him praise in the afternoon as well--

Yes,  this is where we ate lunch one day at a place called Firefly on some island in the Bahamas... I can't remember the name, but does that really matter in the face of such abundance and beauty?  Of course, the girls are beautiful... the food is beautiful... and the view, O my, it takes your breath away to sit by the bluest water you've ever seen and laugh and eat and rejoice in God's goodness!  I'm sure we could have eaten cardboard and found it wondrous!s  As my sister would say, "It was a peak experience."
     And here's one of my favorite shots, since it was when we had just gotten off the ferry to the little town of whatever-it-was-called.  When we lined up for a picture,  a local decided we had to include him in the photo.  Who is he?  Who knows, but who cares... just look at that water in the background!  O my--God did such a fine job when He made the Bahamas.

     Okay, I promise enough already with the pictures... except this one, since this is the police station!  Have you ever?  Man, I  wouldn't mind being hauled into this quaint little place (and it's right on the water, naturally).

     Sorry all these pictures feature us "January Babies" (we have been officially renamed--and isn't it O so appropriate since at least the other five are babes).  But it's just so nice looking back and remembering and thanking the Lord for the gift of friendship and warmth and sea and rest and beauty everywhere you turn.  What an amazing God we serve!
     Okay, I lied.  Just one picture--which does not even begin to do it justice, but still, just imagine the beauty of this water, only multiplied by a billion trillion or two:

      Early one morning, I walked along the beach, looking out over this magnificent water, with the waves rolling onto the shore.  And the steady rhythm of those waves seemed to beat a chorus, "Faithful.  Faithful.  Faithful.  Faithful."  And I thought of the words to the song, "Indescribable:"

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lighting bold where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to it's light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom


Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God
     Amen.  He is indescribable, uncontainable, amazing, and glorious beyond all words and imagination.  And yet, as the closing words of the song declare, "You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same.  You are amazing God." To think that such an awesome, powerful, beautiful, creative, glorious Lord knows us, each of us, individually,  completely and yet loves infinitely!
     Well, what can you say, but praise You and thank You Lord.  Might we spend the rest of our days overcome with gratitude and thanksgiving to the All Glorious One.  To God be the glory!

Friends (and family too!)

               Just a little food for weekend thought from, who else, but C.S.Lewis:
     "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: 'What!  You too?  I thought I was the only one."
     What a gift our friends are!  Our little group of women, named the "January Girls" (we all have birthdays in January), have had such an amazing time this weekend.  Really, it's just been lots of talking and eating and walking and marveling in the wonder of God's creation and talking and relaxing in the sweet Bahamian sunshine and laughing and more talking.  And C.S.Lewis is right--that is where friendship is born: the realization that you are not the only one who feels a certain way or who has certain struggles or who laughs at certain jokes.
     It doesn't mean you are the same.  O no, far from it.  We January Girls differ wildly in so many ways.  But similarity is not the basis of friendship.  Heart to heart sharing and vulnerability feeds the priceless gift of fellowship.  In fact, the differences are part of the gift--to see life through a whole new lens, to gain a fresh perspective on those old patterns of your thinking that can take you out of those ruts in which you've been trudging along.  And don't we all need a bit of shaking up?  A bit of the wild adventure of taking a risk to leave the routine behind and see that God's world and His people and His gifts are varied and wondrous and worth exploring?
     So today, be willing to love another, to see your world with a fresh perspective, and to refuse to assume that your way, your views, your opinions are always the only right ones.  As C.S.Lewis says, "To love at all is to be vulnerable."  But not to love is to miss the riotous joy of living.  To miss the privilege of breaking out of the prison of your selfishness in order to love and serve someone else.  And to miss how big and great our God is that He could make others to love you even with all your flaws. Let's don't miss all God has for us in the gift of loving others.  To God be the glory.
   

Another Friday with the Good Shepherd

     It's early friday morning.  Right now I'm sitting in a little sliver of paradise.  Five dear friends and I came down here--our wonderful friend Joy (such an appropriate name for her, too, since she personifies joy) brought us down to stay for the weekend at their house in the Abacos.  It is an exquisite little island somewhere in the Bahamas.  I couldn't tell you precisely where, and isn't it great we don't have to know everything!  Here's what I do know: it's just remarkable to consider the stunning beauty all over this big green planet.
     What a Creator we have to have made such a profusion of wonder and variety and... gee, I just can't even find words for it.  It almost assaults your senses when you see the extraordinary splendor and creativity displayed by His handiwork.  As we've walked around here in the Abacos, we've just run out of adjectives--so much of so much all around us!  Thank You, Father.  Thank You for loving us, Your creatures so much that You gave us such a home, such a planet.  And if this is our little temporary, rented dwelling--this planet that often groans with the sorrows of sin--well, just imagine what our final, finished, perfect heavenly home will be like!  All I can say is thank You, Father.
     And thank You for the gift of being here in the Abacos--thank You Good Shepherd for leading us "beside this still water" and allowing us to "lie down in green pastures." (Ps.23:2)  What a path of "goodness and mercy" You have led us along--we six little sheep here in the Abacos!  Our cup does overflow with Your goodness and Your grace, as we all know we have done nothing to deserve such a green, rich pasture... just another example of grace.
     But as I sit here in the quiet predawn darkness, I remember where we were exactly five months ago today.  It was also on a friday.  Only it was not such a place of peace and beauty and rest and wonder.  It was a hospital, in intensive care, with our daughter clinging to life.  She unconscious, we uncertain.  Outside those walls there were no undulating, crystal blue waters and white sandy beaches and waving palm trees... no, only busy doctors and nurses and ambulances and helicopters and desperate families and worried friends.
     Maybe not a place of beauty... but still a place of life.  For the Good Shepherd was just as surely within those hospital walls as He is in this island paradise.  Everywhere I turned, I could hear His voice whispering, "I'm here.  I'm in control.  You are loved.  Janie is loved.  She is mine.  Do not fear.  Follow me."
     Yes, on that terrible friday, we followed the Good Shepherd through the "valley of the shadow of death," and we knew that we knew that we knew that "I will fear no evil for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff they comfort me." (Ps.23:4)  Even in the hardest and darkest of moments, our Good Shepherd was there, so clearly there, fending off those predators of despair and desperation and terror.  His rod and staff defeating those enemies of Janie's brain swelling and fever and lung problems.
     As His people prayed--O so many dear wonderful people praying at all hours--He answered and answered and led and led and led us on through the valley of the shadow of death... and slowly back into green pastures and still waters.
     But you know,  those fearsome valleys in our lives are places of such richness and depth.  Hard, yes.  O yes. But I wouldn't trade them for anything, for the Good Shepherd teaches us so much more of His love and His faithfulness in those dark valleys.  We learn that nothing can separate us from His love in the valleys.  We learn that He undertakes for us when we are utterly helpless in the valleys.  We learn the extraordinary blessing of being part of a big flock of sheep in the valley--thank You, Lord, for the body of Christ.  We learn the power of prayer in the valley.  We learn the fellowship of darkness in the valley.  And we learn the power of gratitude even in the hardest of places in the valley.
     And so, on this friday, five months later, I sit in a far different place... but with the same Good Shepherd.  I write these words, because I'm sure there are people reading this who may be in the midst of a dark, deep valley right now.  And I know it is unimaginably hard.  I've been there.  So I just want to remind you that the Good Shepherd is right there with you.  He is leading you, even when you can't see Him or feel Him.  He's there.  And He's right ahead of you, fending off predators you cannot see or imagine and leading you closer, ever closer, to those green pastures and still waters.  Just keep following and trusting with your faith, not your feelings.  He will not fail you now.
     For He already knows the path and the best way to get you through.  He's been there already.  For on another friday, over two thousand years ago, the Good Shepherd trudged up to a cross and lay down His life upon it... for you.  The Good Shepherd suffered that death for you, so that you need only walk through the shadow of death.  And as Donald Grey Barnhouse said, "Shadows can't hurt you." Jesus took the reality of death, we suffer only it's shadow.... on our way through the valley to the glory of our eternal home.
     Thank You, Good Shepherd, for leading us and loving us all the way home.  Might we live this day listening for Your voice and following in obedience wherever You lead--whether green pastures and still waters or dark valleys... knowing, if we're following You, we're right where we need to be.
     To God be the glory.

Something wonderful just ahead!

     As our friend, Barry Mann, once quipped, "I woke up with a sleep injury."  
     This is clearly an ominous sign of encroaching old age--the body falling apart so that somehow or other you manage to roll over or sleep at some kind of a funny angle and awake with a terrible pain in your shoulder or your neck. Right now it hurts to move or turn my head, and I think I'm leaning left.  Sigh.  My daddy was so right--old age is not for sissies.
     I have an idea of the cause of this dreaded "sleep injury."  It's all because of something wonderful just ahead. But to get to that "something wonderful just ahead," I have had to work like a Trojan.  Laundry, grocery store runs, figuring out schedules and carpools, getting things to the tailor for my daughter for something she has this weekend, not to mention working on a lecture for Bible study and on and on... and in the midst of it all, getting precious few hours of sleep night after night.
     And so, as the result of pushing harder and harder all the way up to the finish line, I am now both exhausted and sleep-injured.  Mercy.
     But seriously, what does all this matter?  This is all so inconsequential compared to what's just ahead.  If I can just hang in there a few more hours,  some dear girlfriends and I are going on a trip for the weekend and leaving today!  O glorious day--even if I can't move my neck.  We are leaving these frigid temperatures behind for a few shining days and heading south to sunshine and warmth and crystal blue waters.  Ahh, even now the pain diminishes a bit as I contemplate rest and fellowship and laughter and good food and heat... and no laundry or to do lists or frantic trips to Target for toilet paper and poster board.  I will miss my family.  I really will.  But still... what can I say, but O glorious day!
     You know, though, it's so funny how skewed our perspective can be.  Here this wondrous trip is just ahead, and yet how quickly I discounted the joy just ahead while stuck in the muck and mire of rushing and working and pushing and hurting.
     Sometimes we just forget, don't we?--what God has for just around the bend--because life can just be so relentlessly daily and difficult and demanding.  I just read these simple words this morning in Daily Light: "The Lord is at hand." (Phil. 4:5)  And He is.  He is here with us in this oftentimes messy, exhausting, but still wonderful life.  But He is also at hand in the sense that He is coming back soon, and He will take us to our glorious heavenly home.  Sometimes I just forget... forgive me Father.
     This all made me think of one of my very favorite stories from John Newton.  I've probably shared it before, but it bears repeating.
     "Suppose a man was going to New York to take possession of a large estate, and his carriage should break down a mile before he got to the city, which obliged him to walk the rest of the way; what a fool we should think him, if we saw him wringing his hands and blubbering out all the remaining mile, 'My carriage is broken!  My carriage is broken!'"
     We have less than a mile before the wonders and joys of heaven and eternity, and yet how often we are blubbering, "My health is broken!  My to do list is broken!  My house is broken!  My children are broken!"  All the while, even as we cry and whine, the Savior is at hand, helping, guiding, strengthening us as we walk that inconsequential little distance on the way to our glorious inheritance.
     If only we would lift our drooping heads to look up and see how close we are and how close the Lord is with us in the midst of our struggles and how wonderful it is "just ahead."  If we could but gain that perspective... "less than a mile, less than a mile and the Good Shepherd is with me and leading me," what a difference it would make for us today... on our way to somewhere wonderful.
     So today, let's keep pushing and trusting and knowing... there truly is "something wonderful just head."  And the Good Shepherd is leading us safely home.  To God be the glory.

Looking to the Good Shepherd

     Maybe nobody else needs this good word today, but I know I sure did.  From Daily Light: "When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." (Ps.61:2)  And "O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me!" (Isa.38:14)
     Nothing earth shattering--just a lot going on right now, and sometimes you fall into bed exhausted and wake feeling just as overwhelmed with all you have to do.  And then, of course, the enemy knows just when to attack with something or other to discourage you or your family.
     So here it is: I choose to look to my Good Shepherd.  I choose to follow Him into those green pastures where He makes me lie down and meander alongside those quiet streams of refreshing water where He restores my soul.  I love how Eugene Peterson puts it: "True to Your Word, You let me catch my breath, and send me in the right direction." (Ps.23:3)
     How thankful I am for my Good Shepherd--never hurrying me, just gently but determinedly leading me into paths of peace and blessing.  Again, Peterson's translation: "You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing." (Ps.23:5)
      Isn't that He does when we choose to look to Him?  Revives our drooping head. When we look to our circumstances or ourselves or any lesser thing, well, that head just drops lower and lower and that anxiety just raises higher and higher.  But simply choose to look to Him, and everything changes as we behold His beauty and goodness and grace and love and power.  And recall that He is our Good Shepherd.
     Just a few minutes ago I read in Oswald Chambers: "We will find what we are looking for if we concentrate on Him.  We get distracted from God and irritable with Him while He continues to say to us, 'Look to Me, and be saved...' [Isa.45:22]  Our difficulties, our trials, and our worries about tomorrow vanish when we look to God.  Wake yourself and look to God.  Build your hope on Him.  No matter how many things seem to be pressing in on you, be determined to push them aside and look to Him.  'Look to Me...'  Salvation is yours the moment you look."
     Thank You Good Shepherd and Restorer of our souls.  We are looking and following and trusting in the Rock who is infinitely higher than us.  And who, even now, is leading us into those green pastures of hope and restoration and joy.  To God be the glory.

Screwtape and Prayer

     Just one more thought related to our wonderful night watching the stage adaption of C.S.Lewis' Screwtape Letters.  A particularly powerful and memorable moment of the play occurred when Screwtape brings up the subject of prayer.  The moment he merely mentions that one word, "prayer," his assistant, the odious Toadpipe,  throws up .  Seriously-vomits on stage.
       I don't think I will ever forget it, for it was such a tangible reminder of the power of our prayers, and the hatred the enemy has for this, our most powerful of all weapons.  Samuel Chadwick once wrote: "The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying.  He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion.  He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray."
     Or Oswald Chambers "The prayer of the feeblest saint who lives in the Spirit and keeps right with God is a terror to Satan.  The very powers of darkness are paralyzed by prayer; no spiritualistic seance can succeed in the presence of the humblest praying saint.  No wonder Satan tries to keep our minds fussy in active work till we cannot think in prayer."
     Boy is that not the truth?  Get me down on my knees and suddenly my mind races with something I need to do right now!  It's so much easier to do, do, do than to pray.  And I'm convinced that's because it is the absolute last thing the enemy ever wants us to do--again, because "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees."  (William Cowper)
     Father, teach us to pray!  Help us to pray!  Might we cease waiting for the proper feelings that we assume are necessary in order for us to pray.  No, just pray!  It's not about our feelings but about our faith in the One who has all power.  He doesn't need our feelings--He just wants us.  I've heard it said that if you can't feel Him with your feelings, feel Him with your faith.
     So today, as the old Nike ad says, let's "Just do it!"  And believe me, I'm preaching to myself, since I can be the worst when it comes to prayer.
     I have to close with just one more quote--from bad, old Screwtape (remember, this is reverse psychology at work here, since a devil is talking!): "Whenever their is prayer, there is the danger of His [the Lord's] own immediate action.  He is cynically indifferent to the dignity of His own position, and ours, as pure spirits, and to human animals on their knees.  He pours our self-knowledge in a quite shameless fashion."
     Yep, Screwtape's got that right--it's the scandalous Gospel all over again--the Almighty Holy God willing to listen to and heed the prayers of us, such infinitely inferior, sinful, and underserving created little dust people.  Shocking... and glorious.  But it's called grace.  And praying is all by grace, too, isn't it?   Start to finish and everywhere in between--amazing grace in the privilege of prayer and the power of prayer.  Help us Father to come to You.  To God be the glory.

Our Choices

               A little food for weekend thought:
     From C.S. Lewis:  "I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before.  And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices,  all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature: either a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with it's fellow creatures, and with itself."
     Last night four dear girlfriends and I went to see a stage adaptation of C.S. Lewis's magnificent book, The Screwtape Letters. Screwtape is a senior devil who carries on a, well, we'll just call it a lively but hellish, correspondence with Wormwood, a junior tempter.  Screwtape is mentoring the junior tempter in his attempts to woo his "patient" to the kingdom of hell and away from God's kingdom.  A tempter is assigned to every human on earth.  And so Lewis gives us the remarkable and telling perspective of the hosts of evil in their efforts to destroy the human race and populate hell.
     Anyway, the play was incredible.  Just amazing.  And I'll probably write more on this tomorrow, but for now, just wanted to include the quote above, as this was the one shared by the actor who played Screwtape in a Q & A session after the show.  And, as with everything C.S.Lewis wrote, these words just seemed to capture and express truth so clearly.
     Our choices matter.  And so often we tend to forget that as we just rush through our day, making one seemingly inconsequential choice after another.  But they all add up.  Like that sand that is either slowly eroding a beach till the houses fall into the sea or the sand at another beach that is slowly being added until hundreds of feet of new beachfront emerge from the waters.  It happens so gradually, often so quietly, that we tend not to notice until, boom, there it is.
     The drug addict homeless on the street did not begin there.  It started way back,  with one small choice to try something forbidden... something small and seemingly so unimportant.  And then choice upon choice, layer upon layer... and in the end that choice enslaves.  Doesn't every addiction begin that way--one small, often random, thoughtless choice?
     Our choices can ultimately result in our enslavement.  But also in our sanctification. One choice to turn off the TV and go to bed a few minutes earlier... so we can get up to read a few verses and pray... and then we find ourselves thinking about that verse throughout the day... and we are able to respond in love and grace to someone who doesn't deserve it, all as a result of what we read... and that person is then drawn to the Light of Christ... and the next day, that choice encourages us to do it again... and the ripples continue to spread... and it all began with one seemingly inconsequential choice.
     Lord, help us to remember this day: our choices matter.  Our words matter.  Our prayers matter.  Draw us to Yourself and might Your Holy Spirit enable us this day, throughout the day, to choose wisely.  To God be the glory.

Disappointment: NO snow!

     Well, a big bust for my children--this "snow" event that was supposed to happen.  Yes, I know we southerners are a bit pathetic when it comes to snow: the mere possibility of a dusting throws us into fits of excited anticipation mixed with over-preparedness in the extreme.  A chance of snow flurries?  The Harris Teeter is packed with anxious patrons buying up every last loaf of bread and gallon of milk.  Now seriously, what is that?  Do we really think that a few snowflakes will mean that all bread and milk will disappear from the planet for our remaining lifetimes?  I don't know... but I do know I get caught up in the frenzied excitement just like everybody else.  Time to make chili--even though no one in my family will eat it--and brownies (always an excellent choice, however).
     But we tried and tried last night to somewhat prepare our children for the inevitable letdown this morning.  Last night, our youngest son, Peter, checked the forecast every 3 minutes.  I am not exaggerating.  I began to think he had a future in meteorology.
      "Mom, there's a 100% chance of snow at 9 p.m. A 100% at 10 p.m.  A 100% at 11 p.m...." You get the idea.  We knew all about the amounts of snow we might get, the air temperature--O mercy, I heard ad nauseum about the temperatures and how cold, cold, cold it was going to get.  So surely that snow would stick, stick, stick.
     And then this morning, we awoke to... nothing.  An infinitesimally small dusting on the grass and a bit of a glaze of ice on the back deck.  Peter, bless his heart, had left out this blue bowl above to catch the massive quantities of snow to make snow cream the moment he woke up.  The bowl looks a bit forlorn sitting there, but maybe we can just leave it out there for our next "snow."  It always helps to be proactive.
     Peter also tried to sled on the dusting of snow.  No go.  He even attempted a slide down the glazed deck stairs.  Also pretty unsatisfying.
     So what can you say?  Disappointing to all the children in the extreme.  But, if we're honest, deep down, a bit of a relief to us parents.  Okay, I feel awful even admitting that.  I do love the snow... just not right at the moment.  I don't think I bought enough loaves of bread and gallons of milk.
     But all this reminded me--this is so often our tendency. We all too often place our hope, our joy in the things of this world.  And they will always always always ultimately disappoint us.  We think some thing will bring contentment, and, of course, it may bring momentary happiness--but that feeling never lasts.  Or perhaps a new and improved job or house or health or relationship will really, finally do it.  That's surely what we need. Or we're certain what we really need is just more time--more time to relax, a break from the children or from all our responsibilities, maybe even a nice long vacation--that's the ticket.
     And these are all good, some even necessary, things.  But they are not the best thing.  The ultimate thing that will bring us lasting joy and contentment is found only in the One who made us and knows us and loves us infinitely.  "My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips" (Ps.63:5--i.e. better than chocolate!) and "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" (Ps.34:8)
     Might need to tell Peter--He's better even than snow cream.  And, after all, He's the inventor and producer and sustainer of the snow.  So we'll just wait on Him.  Our God is so worth it!  To God be the glory.

The Wrong Word!

     "But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." (Heb.3:13)
     "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works" (Heb.10:24).
    A good word!   Exhort or encourage one another... every day.  And think about, consider, how to stir up or spur one another on to love and good works.  Boy, there's nothing like an encouraging word is there?  Mark Twain once quipped, "I can last two months on a good compliment."  Give me a little chocolate with that compliment, and I might be able to last 3 months!
     I had a little reminder of this yesterday.  My 16 year old son texted me with some great news that he had done really well in Algebra this quarter.  In our house, this is huge news as we are all missing the math gene.  I'm not kidding.
     Like many boys his age, he's not particularly loquacious.  So for him to text me out of the blue to share this news, well, that was exciting in and of itself.  So my first response was to immediately text back "Praise the Lord!"  And then add some encouraging words and tell him how proud we were of him.
     But, being the abysmal texter that I am--in fact, my spelling on texts often makes them illegible--I began to text "Pr."  So far so good.  But then I put in an "i" instead of an "a" and my trusty blackberry thoughtfully auto-spelled for me the word "Pride."  I quickly tried to hit my delete button but instead hit  the sent button.  So here is the text my excited, somewhat quiet, teenaged son received from his mom:
     "Pride"
     Gee whiz.  I almost choked.  I rushed to repair the damage by immediately texting him that I was trying to say "Praise the Lord" (rather than apparently slamming him for pride).  O mercy, I responded back within a few moments, but I imagined him slack-jawed at my first text and showing all his friends what a total jerk his mom was.  Happily, this did not happen--mainly due to the fact he is somewhat used to my atrocious attempts at texting.
     But all this reminded me--Lord, help me to guard my tongue.  And guard my expressions and inflections as well when it comes to the people I love.  A wrong word, a sharp look, a sarcastic comment can do untold damage.
     On the other hand, an encouraging word, a thoughtful note, a big smile after someone has messed up to tell them "It's okay! For this we have Jesus," well, it can make all the difference.  And we'll never know the way God can use it in other's lives to strengthen them and to help them avoid some pitfall of sin or some hole of fear or despondency.
     So today, might we all encourage those God has placed in our paths.  Might we find reasons to thank rather than complain.  And grounds for rejoicing rather than nit-picking.   May the Lord guard us from falling into a default mode of fault-finding and instead make us people who relentlessly love and encourage others as God has done for us in Christ.   To God be the glory.
   

The Finite and the Infinite

     I just have one question: if we could send a man to the moon and have figured out how to put a computer inside a tiny hand-held phone, why on earth does it require TWO remote controls to work the TV in our den?
     Seriously... two controls for one, not-even-that-hot-sho- of-a-TV?  It's not like it's some super high tech TV--we've had it for a couple of years.  It's a regular size.  It's doesn't do anything special like brew coffee or bake chocolate cake, so why would it, as opposed to the other smaller, less demanding TV's in our house, require two remotes?
      And, let's just put it all out here in the open: I cannot for the life of me figure out how to even turn it on.  I know this is pathetic.  If I were you, I'd stop reading right now, since it's clear I'm a person of sub-average intelligence, but it's just so blasted confusing.  You push some button that I can never remember on one remote and another button on the other remote--unless of course, it's a full moon, and then you have to push two buttons on the first remote and, I'm sure, wave it around 7 and a half times over your head before pushing 3 buttons on the other remote.  Geez.  This is frustrating me all over again just thinking about it.  Why?  Why is this?
     And here's the second part of this deep philosophical conundrum: why are ALL my children not only able to turn it on, but all able to actually find the channel needed at the moment.  Carolina basketball game?  No problem: go through the 18 minute process of turning on the TV and then go to Channel 194804937588875018472.  Then they look at me as if to say, "Are you kidding?  You can't figure that out?"
     Every now and then they, or my not-very-long-suffering husband when it comes to this sore subject,  will try to walk me through the long, painful ordeal of how to work this TV, but for the most part, they've simply given me up for hopeless.  They just figure if I really have to watch TV, I'll go to the kitchen and watch the small one... or better yet, go find something productive to do like fold laundry or eat some chocolate.  Actually, a good idea.  The chocolate, that is.
     My point in all this: nothing really.  I just needed to get that off my chest.
     Well, that, and the fact that this is a humiliating reminder that we are finite, limited creatures.  And for some inexplicable reason, we often arrogantly assume we know--or better-- than God.  We surely have a better plan than the Almighty.  We surely know more facts than the omniscient One.  And if we were in control of the spinning planets and sprawling galaxies (so ridiculous, isn't it), we'd surely do things a little differently.
     I've always loved Steve Brown's quote: "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans."
    How can the limited and small ever begin to comprehend the enormously, infinitely, tremendously Unlimited, Unbounded One?  His thoughts and ways are so far far beyond our thoughts and ways that we simply cannot even begin to wrap our little, limited minds around it. And that gives me such comfort!  If I could fully understand God, how big would He be?  But I can't!  His love is higher than the heavens.  His grace deeper than the oceans.  His power mightier than anything this world can think or imagine.
      And whatever our soul requires, whatever our need this morning, He's got us covered.  We can't exhaust Him or stump Him or frustrate Him.  He'll never run low on the grace to help us, the wisdom to share with us, or the power to transform us.  For how can the finite ever exhaust the infinite?
     Yep, as Charles Spurgeon put it so memorably: "Dost thou need more strength than the omnipotence of the United Trinity? Dost thou want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring hither thine empty pitcher! Surely this well will fill it. Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them here--thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs. Behold, this river of God is full for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside? Go forth, my soul, in this thy might. The Eternal God is thine helper!"
     So, forget our incomprehensible TV.  I'll never figure it out--or certainly never remember it even if I did figure it out for one brief shining moment.  But that's okay.  Because my God's got more than enough of everything, everything, everything that we will ever need. 
      The finite will never ever exhaust the infinite.  And as long as He's in control, well, I'm good.  I'm so good.  
     To God be the glory.

The Burden-Bearer

     Okay, I just had to include a little joke I shared today at Bible study.  The captain of a slave galley goes down to the slaves one morning and asks them to put down their oars.  "Gentlemen," (this is obviously a very polite captain)... "gentlemen, I've got some news for you.  Some of it is good news, some of it bad news.  I'm going to give you the good news first.  Tomorrow, we are going to dock at Caesarea, and you will all be getting shore leave.  There will be all kinds of entertainment available and you can all do anything you want."
     "Now the bad news.  Today, the Admiral wants to go water skiing."
     I know the feeling.  The last few days, it seems like I've been trying to row hard enough to keep the Admiral waterskiing behind the slave galley.  And failing.  And in case you're wondering, it's exhausting rowing that hard and unremittingly.
     But the other morning I had something strange--but sweet--happen. I awoke very early, tired and overwhelmed by all I had to do.  Gotta keep rowing and rowing... and eventually that just wears you down to a nub.  A grumpy, empty, tired nub, I might add.
     I  dutifully sat down with a steaming mug of hot tea and opened my Daily Light and read a bit of God's Word.  And here were the first two verses I read: "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Isa.26:3 (always one of my favorites) and "Cast your burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." Ps.55:22
     And here's what happened.  I decided to just lie down on the couch for a few minutes and talk to the Lord a bit.  Just sort of tell Him how tired and grumpy and overwhelmed I was feeling.  I'm sure He loved hearing from me.  Such joy to hear all those complaints.  But guess what?  He can totally handle them all, and I know He loved me just as much after my grumbling session as before.
     But here's the strange part.  As I closed my eyes, His Word just ringing in my ear: "Cast your burden."  "Cast your burden."   And that is exactly what I did.  I just imagined Jesus standing beside the sofa (since He was anyway), and I kept handing Him my burden--my burden of frustration, my burden of fear, my burden of too much to do... and on and on.  I just kept casting my burdens, and He just smiled and kept taking them right off my shoulders.
     After a few minutes, I suddenly felt lighter.  Because I knew I handed Jesus all those burdens, and He could carry them with ease.  In fact, those burdens were as nothing to Him.  He just laughed as if to say, "Okay, I've got them all, and I've got you!  So let's get going and enjoy this day together."
     And what can I say?  We did.  With all those burdens gone, I was free to get up--a freer, lighter, far more joyful woman.   Ready for whatever adventure the new day might bring.
     He's promised to be our Burden-Bearer.  And what we carry with sorrow and a heavy heart, He carries with ease and with joy... just as He went even to the cross with joy to bear our sins.  Thank You, Lord Jesus.  Help us to continually cast our burdens upon You, for You have promised to sustain us, and Your Word never ever fails.
     To God, the Burden-Bearer and Joy-Giver, be all the glory.

Stepping over

                 Just a little food for thought for the weekend:
     "Sometimes we need to 'step over' our anger, our jealousy, or our feelings of rejection and move on.  The temptation is to get stuck in our negative emotions, poking around in them as if we belong there.  Then we become the 'offended one,' 'the forgotten one,' or the 'discarded one.'  Yes, we can get attached to these negative identities and even take morbid pleasure in them.  It might be good to have a look at these dark feelings and explore there they come from, but there comes a moment to step over them, leave them behind and travel on."  Henri Nouwen
     A good reminder that God gives us the Holy Spirit to enable us to "step over" those negative feeling and emotions.  He has given us the mind of Christ to replace our destructive, negative thoughts.  And He has given us our will, which at times must assert it's right to be king over our emotions. Sometimes I just need a little reminding... but for this we have Jesus!
      Lord, help us to step over that which holds us back from the abundant life You have for us. Help us  to refuse to indulge in negative thoughts, to forgive others as You have forgiven us, and to love in the freedom of Your grace.  Help us, in Your power and by Your grace, to keep stepping over and traveling on with You.   To God be the glory.

Abiding and hiding

     The other day I talked about the gift of friendship and about a wonderful trip our family took to Little Washington, NC.  As I mentioned, it was a visit with 3 other families who have a post-Christmas get-together every year, and this was the first year we could join them.  It was a blast--and another reminder of why we need friendships and what a joy those friendships are in our lives.  But one of the highlights of the visit was an annual scavenger hunt, and, well, I've been thinking about that scavenger hunt, and since I shared about it in Bible study, I thought I might share a bit about it here.
     Our group included four families--eight parents and thirteen children. Shortly after we arrived in Washington, we were divided into four groups, each group having a mix of adults and kids from each family.  Each group was given a list of places or people to locate in Little Washington.  You could go in any order to find the items on the list.  And you had to take a picture of your group in front of each place or person and then get back to the house by a certain time.  Points were assigned for various items--some of them being slightly more challenging to locate--or identify--than others (to put it mildly).
      But here's the kicker: because two of the four families live in Washington,  each group had to include one of the four parents who live there and that person was the designated driver for their group.  The driver would not only drive their group around but would also determine the best route and the best order in which to find the places.  Gee, I guess they could choose the music and the car temperature as well, now that I think about it.  This could have turned into a driver dictatorship.
     For instance, we had to get a picture with the mayor of Washington.  Now if you are not from Washington, this is a problem as you have no earthly idea who the mayor is or where he or she might live.  Or another of my favorites, a picture with a minister.  Now two of the dads in our groups were actually ministers--they didn't count, of course (which is a good thing since neither minister was in my group. And it's all about me).  So, again, not being from Washington, this minister issue was a challenge.  Well, even being from Washington this was a challenge, since it was late on a Sunday afternoon just before New Year's.
      I have to include one of my favorite pictures--this is our group (I'm the designated photographer--everyone has a role in life) in front of our minister:

Pretty creative, huh?  Will Page, our designated driver, had the keys to their church so we were able to get in and take a picture in front of a wall of ministers!  I think we should have received extra points for that.  Not to mention we turned off the lights on the way out.  So there.
     We also had to get a picture with a firefighter, a picture of a giant crab in some park, a picture on a boat (also a bit of a challenge), etc.  But here's the point: us non-Washingtonians had absolutely no idea where any of these places were located or how to get to them.
     Now here's my tendency in life: look at the first item on the list--a picture in front of a gas station--and think, "I remember passing a gas station when we drove into town!  I've got this!  So I might immediately rush off without asking my driver where to go.  The next thing you know, I'd be completely lost.
      Well,  come to think of it, I'd get lost even if all this happened  in my hometown, since I have zero sense of direction.  But suppose you do--suppose you are super gifted when it comes to directions (a remarkable, incomprehensible gift, if you ask me).  Because of your giftedness, you might think to yourself, "I can totally do this on my own.  I can find all these spots and get back here before anybody else has even crossed off one item on their list.  So you take off and get busy doing it on your own.  But if you're not from the town, I don't care how gifted or efficient you are, you'd get lost, confused, and very frustrated.
     The key, of course, would be to stick with your driver who knows the town, knows every location, and knows the optimum way to find the mayor or the giant crab.  As long as you stick with your driver, you're in great shape.  And having a blast along the way!  As long as we let the driver do the driving, we had the freedom to laugh and look out the window and chat and jump out of the car for the photograph and then jump back in to go safely and comfortably to the next location.  We enjoyed freedom from confusion, from stress, from worry, and from spending gas in our own cars.   What's not to love?!
     But here's the thing: if we realize that for a silly scavenger hunt, why on earth do we tend to forget it in real life?  We have a Lord who made us, who knows us intimately, who understands the very best way for us to live, and who has the perfect plan for each of our lives.  And He wants to be our personal Driver to get us exactly where we need to go.
      Yet how often do we refuse to wait on Him or trust Him as our Driver?  We just rush off on our own, harried and hurried, too busy to wait on Him.  Or we insist on doing it our way and on our timetable, certain we know best... and the next thing you know, we're discouraged, defeated, frustrated and wondering where God is or where we went wrong.
      We left without our Driver!  We don't know the way ahead--He does.  We don't have the absolute optimum plan--He does.  We don't know all the facts--He does.  It's been said that God's will is what we would choose if we knew all the facts.  Boy, if I could just remember that in the heat of frenetic days or dark challenges or even just exhausting work.  He knows all.  He can do all.  And He is waiting to be our Driver... not just now and then, but continually.
     "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)
     That's the key!  Abide in His Word.  Read it daily... but then think about it, talk about it, ponder it as you drive along.  Ask God to bring it to your mind in the trenches of your life that day.
     And memorize it.  I know, I know.  You've heard it before.  Me too.  And I've failed repeatedly--but for this we have Jesus.  I'm gonna keep at it and keep trying to hide His Word in my heart--just a verse or so a week--so I will have that reservoir to draw upon when my days fall apart or my energy runs dry or my love disappears.
     Because those verses promise us: if we abide in His Word, then we'll be His disciples and that is how we will know the Truth that will set us free. Set free from all those fears that bind us.  Set free from those sinful hidden habits that enslave us and make us miserable.  Set free from confusion and worry, because we are abiding in Him who knows all and has all that we need... every single day.
     Sorry this was so long, but this has just so convicted me!  I want to enjoy that kind of freedom--the freedom of the abundant Life He came to give us.  But it all has to start by abiding in His Word and allowing Him to teach us and transform us.
     So if you're up for it, memorize John 8:31-32 along with me.  Let's start abiding and hiding--His Word, that is.   To God be the glory.

Do it again, Lord

     Thank You, Lord, for a breathtaking sunrise this morning!  Wow!  Moses and I went out for his morning constitutional--an ever slower and briefer one, I might add--and we (I'm just assuming he felt the same way--he's a deep thinker for a dog) were staggered by the stunning beauty--the wash of neon pink painted across the sky as a backdrop to the bare tree branches.  What a God, what a Creator.
     And to think: He does it over and over and over again.  Wouldn't you think that would be exhausting--to keep coming up with such scenes of remarkable, shocking beauty and wonder day after day, year after year, millennia after millennia?  I get tired just thinking about it.
      I cook a half way decent meal for my family or get the house all cleaned up and laundry folded for one shining moment in time, or maybe even come up with a great idea for a birthday party or a lecture or a gift for a friend, and I think: "I'll never be able to match that again.  That was a semi-peak performance, and I'm washed up, I'm sure. Not to mention, I"m worn out from all that effort."  Gee, sometimes I just get finished with the morning rush, get everyone fed and fortified for the day, clean up the kitchen, and then I'm tempted to go lie back down, staggered at the thought of how on earth I can do that again for 364 more days.
     But not our Lord.  He just keeps shining His glory day after day, century after century.  Like that giant waterfall at Cane River--the water just thunders over Upper Blue Sea Falls.  Think of the amount of water that pours over those falls... every single minute of every single day of every single year.  How can it not run out?
      The same way our Lord never runs out, never runs low, never runs away, never runs scared.  Nope, He is sovereign and omnipotent and omniscient... and relentlessly loving and forgiving and redeeming and restoring.  He is huge and vast and infinite and eternal.
      And yet He is our God.  He knows and loves us personally, individually, intricately.  He knows the hairs on our head and the hopes and dreams in our hearts.  I just can't get over the wonder and the joy of that.  O might we never get over that!
      Even as I write this, I'm suddenly thinking of Chris Tomlin's incredible new song entitled, "Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies).  Janie heard him sing it live at the Passion conference in Atlanta last week.  The lyrics are so powerful... and speak truth, because this is Who our Almighty God was and is and will be forever.  Man, I wish I could figure out how to put the song itself on this blog, but here are the words:
You hear me when I call
You are my morning song
Though darkness fills the night
It cannot hide the Light

Whom shall I fear?

You crush the enemy
Underneath my feet
You are my Sword and Shield
Though trouble lingers still

Whom shall I fear?

I know Who goes before me
I know Who stands behind
The God of angel armies
Is always on my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a Friend of mine
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side

My strength is in Your name
For You alone can save
You will deliver me
Yours is the victory

I know Who goes before me
I know Who stands behind
The God of angel armies
Is always on my side
The One who reigns forever
He is Friend of mine
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side

Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?

And nothing formed against me shall stand
You hold the whole world in Your hands
I'm holding onto Your promises
You are faithful
You are faithful

I know Who goes before Me
I know Who stands behind
The God of angel armies
Is always on my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a Friend of mine
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side.
     Sorry that was so long, but what on earth could I leave out?!  He is the Almighty God of angel armies and the God of thundering waterfalls and the God of brilliant sunrises and the God of resurrection and redemption who can do all things. Now seriously, in light of Who He is, whom or what on earth should we fear?!
      And the most shocking, even scandalous, but wondrous part of it all?  "The One who reigns forever, He is a Friend. of. Mine."  Who would believe it?  Who can comprehend it?  Who could ever deserve it?  No one. Not one single person on the planet. That's why it's called "amazing grace."  And the older I get, the more I agree with John Newton, who said at the very end of his life that his memory was fading but he would never forget two things: "I'm a great sinner but Christ is Great Savior."
     So thank You, Lord.  Wow, Lord.  Do it again, Lord.  And again.  And again.
     To the God of angel armies, the One Who reigns forever... and is a Friend of mine... be ALL the glory.
   

Battles

     Whew.  Just whew.
     When I awoke this morning, just felt threadbare--like one of my children's ratty old tee shirts (that for some inexplicable reason, they seem to prefer--at least my daughter.  Go figure.).  It's been a busy few days... well, actually, a busy few months.
     And sometimes you just feel like, well, Lord, I'm just ready to check out for a little while. Life is, by and large, wonderful, but it is always filled with battles. Have you noticed that?  You get through one battle, and low and behold, there's another one poking around the corner saying, "Yeah, you--you ready for me?  You think you can take me?  Let's see what you're really made of,  Mr. Big Stuff."
     Some of those battles are very public--like children in ICU--but some of very private and, frankly, those can be the toughest.  Those battles against discouragement... or fear... or frustration... or just plain exhaustion.  I think it was Winston Churchill who said something to the effect that exhaustion makes cowards of us all.  So true, because when we're tired, it's just so much harder to fight those battles.
     But how I love My Savior, because He never grows weary or downhearted or frightened.  Those loads of laundry and piles of stuff that need to be taken care of at home along with that seemingly endless to do list--nope, doesn't overwhelm Him.  Not a bit.  Dealing with that crummy attitude of your child--or yourself--nothing to the One who scooped out the oceans and formed the far distant galaxies.
     One of my very favorite passages in the Bible is Isaiah 40.  I just have to include part of this beautiful chapter:

To whom then will you compare me,
    that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
    who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
    calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
    and because he is strong in power
    not one is missing.

 Why do you say, O Jacob,
    and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
    and my right is disregarded by my God”?
 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
 He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

   That is the God we serve... and there is none other.  And He is the One who fights our battles for us.  We simply fight alongside Him--but He is the One who strengthens and encourages and renews us in the midst of whatever we are going through. I have seen Him do it over and over and over again in my own life.  I think I'm done, down for the count.  And then suddenly He is the Almighty Calvary, riding in to save the day. Filling up empty places, patching up those threadbare emotions--actually not just patching them, but replacing them with His robes of righteousness and love and strength. 

   And suddenly, I find myself ready to take on that next battle--because as I just read this morning in my Daily Light: [Jehovah Nissi] The Lord-Is-My-Banner. (Ex.17:15)  And, as I just shared with a dear friend who is also fighting a battle (because every single one of us is fighting battles): "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe." Prov.18:10 

   When I run to Him, I am safe... and saved... and strengthened.  And ready to take on the next battle.  For I go under His banner and in His might.  Might you remember this day, whatever kind of battles you are facing, that you are not fighting alone.  Never.  Run to the tower of the Almighty and know that He is fighting with you and for you. And He will never ever fail you.  To God be the glory.

    

Friendship

     All the kids (from 4 different families) in a recent trip to Little Washington, NC.  The parents of all these kids are not pictured as I have no picture of all us parents... which is just as well, since our advanced ages makes for a slightly less appealing photograph.  But trust me, we were all lookin' good.  Sort of.
     We had the best time.  For the past few years, the other 3 families--the Pages, the Dwights, and the Martins--have been getting together just after Christmas for a couple of days, but this was the first year the Fountain clan could join them.  And, boy, had we been missing out!  We had a scavenger hunt (more on that tomorrow), games, food, more food, oysters, smores (now we're talking!), laughter, talking, basketball and a couple of power walks... O, and did I mention, food?
     There's just nothing like true fellowship with dear friends, is there?  Just the other day I met with a couple of close friends at a coffee shop.  I had so much to do and wondered why on earth I was making time for coffee with buddies when I should have been crossing items off my to do list.  So so wrong.  I cannot tell you what a joy it was to get with them, to laugh, to talk, to share our struggles and our hearts.  What a gift our friends are.
     And how easy it is in this frenetic world to neglect spending time with those we love--both family and friends.   God has given us this gift of friendship to encourage us, to give us strength for the journey, to spur us on.  I love how the writer to the Hebrews puts it: "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb.10:24-25)
     Our friends--just another priceless gift from our relentlessly generous Heavenly Father.
     C.S.Lewis writes: "Friendship is the greatest of worldly goods.  Certainly to me it is the chief happiness of life.  If I had to give a piece of advice to a young man about a place to live, I think I should say, 'sacrifice almost everything to live where you can be near your friends.'  I know I am fortunate in that respect."
      So today, I just want to thank the Lord for the incalculable gift of friends.  One more C.S.Lewis quote: "Is any  pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a fire?"  I think not... unless maybe it's around a very large, very chocolate cake!
      Might we thank the Lord, who is Himself a community of three always in perfect fellowship--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--for the joyous gift of friendship.  Help us Father never to take our friends for granted.  The to-do lists can wait... friends cannot.  To God be the glory.

Hidden Treasure

     Just a quick thought for the weekend--this from Henri Nouwen:

"Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else. Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand."      Isn't that so true?  Don't we all suffer from that tendency--to look beyond the present moment, as if we are gazing over a dear friend's shoulder in the midst of conversation--rudely looking for someone else--and so miss the joy of their company and their wisdom?  That has been another gift of Janie's wreck--God has made me far more aware of the irreplaceable gift of each moment.  Nothing should be taken for granted, no one taken for granted.  Each day's joys--and challenges--deserve to be intentionally noticed, accepted, and appreciated.  And when we appreciate something, our natural response should and must always be gratitude.  Gratitude to our relentless Heavenly Gift-Giver.       So this weekend, might we make time and space to truly see, to truly experience, and then to truly thank God for the irreplaceable gift of each never-to-be-repeated moment, person, and place in our lives.     Even if we are in the midst of waiting or wanting or wishing... Lord, give us eyes to see... hearts to appreciate... and lips to express thanksgiving. Might we find the treasure hidden in the very ground upon which we stand. To God be the glory.

Moses adorns the Gospel

     Moses, finding a patch of sunlight in the dining room.
     He's in here with me while I work on a Bible study lesson on John 8.  And as always, he's teaching me. Such a spiritual dog. I think it's John Piper that says something to the effect that when we live out the truth of the Word, we can "adorn" the Gospel.  That's what Moses is doing--adorning two of my favorite verses from this wonderful chapter.
     "...I am the Light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (v.12)  Moses is a light seeker.  He loves, loves, loves to discover patches of sunlight and then just do what he does best: rest.  And when he gets tired of resting, well, then he sleeps, waits for his next meal or snack, and then continues resting.  It's a tough life.
     The only exception to this rule is the yard... which Moses seems to detest despite the fact that there is ample sunshine pouring down upon our desiccated grass.  His goal in life is to remain indoors with the family he loves, seek out--if possible--a patch of sunlight, and then rest, eat, sleep, and repeat.  He daily accomplishes his goal beautifully--we are so proud.  And thankful.
     And thankful that Jesus is my Light.  Wherever He is, there is Light.  Even in the most profound darkness, even in the hardest, darkest times of our lives, we can be certain that He will always give us "patches of sunlight" to warm us, to guide us, to help us, to strengthen us.  Thank You, Jesus.
      Moses also "adorns" v.31: "...If you abide in My word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Moses has so cornered the market on "abiding."  He defines abiding--hanging out, never straying far, listening for the slightest sound of movement from his family and then rushing (okay, he doesn't "rush" anywhere, but he walks purposefully) to that spot.
      If we're sitting in the dining room, well, then great.  He quickly locates the optimum patch of sunlight and flops down.  If we move to the kitchen, up he goes, following along... after all, there just might be food involved.  If the children are all upstairs, he waits at the foot of the stairs in the morning, waiting for them to come down.  If we're eating dinner, he rests on his bed under the table... of course, ever alert for possible dropped food.  Usually a good bet.
      That's what it means to abide, isn't it?  One definition I read was to "to continue without fading, to dwell, to live." I love how John MacArthur put it: "to abide habitually in Jesus' words."
     I guess I'd put it "to hang out... and to keep hanging out... and to keep hanging out in the patch of sunlight... or the Light of the Son."  And the more we abide, the more we will know the truth and the truth will set us free.  Thank You Lord!
     So once again, Moses is teaching me.  He's adorning the Gospel with his love and loyalty... well, and his laziness.  But God can use anything!  To God, who is our Light and our Haven for abiding, be all the glory.

Stooping Love

     Okay, here's what I should be doing--working on a lecture for Bible study.  But here's what I am doing--thinking about something I read early this morning that I cannot get out of my head.  Because it's all about grace and how Christ loves and how we should and can love.  Because let's just be honest here: we don't always feel like loving others.  We don't always feel like extending kindness to that person who zoomed up in the far lane in traffic and then wants to dart in front of us.  We don't always feel like holding our tongue when someone we love says something ridiculous or even a tiny bit hurtful.  We don't always feel like forgiving someone who has wronged us--or worse, wronged someone we love.  We don't always feel like being patient with someone who is slow... or forbearing with someone who is driving us slightly crazy... or understanding with someone who is making it mighty difficult.
     We don't always feel like loving the unlovely.
     But here's the thing: that's not the way Jesus loves us, is it?  Because He loved me at my most unlovely.  The Bible says, "but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom.5:8)  Not after we cleaned up a bit.  Not after we finally deserved it even just a little bit.  Not even after we starting reading our Bible or started obeying Him.
     Nope.  He just loved us even while we were covered with the muck and mire of selfishness, cluelessness, pridefulness, hatefulness.
     That is His love.  And that is His grace.
     And that is how He calls us to love.
     Here's what I read this morning: "Love that goes upward is worship.  Love that goes outward is affection.  Love that stoops is grace."  Donald Grey Barnhouse.
     "Love that stoops."  That is exactly what the Lord Jesus did at Christmas, isn't it?  Left the throne of the universe, left the infinite joys and wonders of heaven, and stooped down to a dirty manger.  Stooped down to a peasant teenaged girl.  Stooped down to the size of a helpless infant.  Stooped down to love and to save such as you and me.
     And I refuse to stoop because...?!  How on earth can I, upon whom God in Christ has showered such utterly undeserved love and grace, refuse to extend that love and grace to all those around me?!  Forgive me Father!  Help me to love as You love, to show grace as You show grace, and to stoop as You stoop.
     None of us can ever stoop a more infinite distance than our Savior.  We cannot even fathom such a distance.  But, by golly, let's start trying!  To whom can you demonstrate that "stooping love" today?  Literally stoop down to the level of a small child and really listen to and respond to them.  Or stoop down to an older person--with patience even in their infirmities--and really listen and love and encourage.  Or stoop down to allow that impatient driver--who totally doesn't deserve it--to go in front of you.  And then smile to yourself, since you just demonstrated a tiny bit of God's stooping love!
      Or stoop down to respond with an encouraging word and a smile to that teenager who at the moment might be excessively undeserving!  Or stoop down to show gratitude to someone who is not expecting it.  Even if you have to search really hard to find something for which to be grateful!
     I think of my dear friends who have to overlook so much in order to be friends with me--all my weaknesses and foibles.  Or my husband and my children--all my inconsistencies, all the times I failed to be the wife and mother I longed to be, but am not.  Yet, somehow, they manage to stoop and show love to one so undeserving.
     I think of my Savior who stoops so infinitely low to love and extend amazing grace to me, to you.  
    And all I can say is, thank you to those who inexplicably love me and thank You to my Lord who against all reason, loves and forgives and saves and sustains me.
      O Father, help us to truly see Your stooping love, and then, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, help us this day to demonstrate your stooping love.  Help us to be conduits of Your stooping grace wherever You place us--whether work or school or home or car or store.  Might we who have been given so much love and grace spill forth that same stooping love and grace.  To God be the glory.
   

A Prayer for a New Year

     From The Valley of Vision, a collection of old Puritan prayers, a New Year's prayer I'm praying:

O Lord,
Length of days does not profit me
   except the days are passed in Thy presence,
   in Thy service, to Thy glory.
Give me a grace that precedes, follows, guides,
   sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour,
 that I may not be one moment apart from Thee,
 but may rely on Thy Spirit
   to supply every thought,
   speak in every word,
   direct every step,
   prosper every work,
   build up every mote of faith,
   and give me a desire
     to show forth Thy praise;
     to testify Thy love,
     advance Thy kingdom.
I launch my bark on the unknown waters
    of this year,
   with Thee, O Father, as my harbor,
     Thee , O Son, at my helm,
     Thee, O Holy Spirit, filling my sails.
Guide me to heaven with my loins girt,
     my lamp burning,
     my ear open to Thy calls,
     my heart full of love,
     my soul free.
Give me Thy grace to sanctify me,
     Thy comforts to cheer,
     Thy wisdom to teach,
     Thy right hand to guide,
     Thy counsel to instruct,
     Thy law to judge,
     Thy presence to stabilize.
May Thy fear be my awe,
     Thy triumphs my joy.

     Amen, Lord,
     We have no idea what this new year holds--and I've learned that's a good thing.  Because if we were to know, we'd think, "That will destroy us.  We could never handle that."  But if and when that hard thing comes, trust me, God is able, and He can and will carry you through whatever challenges and difficulties this new year will bring.  And whatever triumphs and joys as well.
     So might this Puritan's prayer be our own.  As we stand at the dawn of this new year, might our eyes be on the far horizon... not just to start it well, but to finish it strong in faith.  In our ever-faithful Father.
     To God be the glory.



   

A fresh start... to finish strong!

     "But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." ((Phil.3:13-14)
     If you are reading this, then God has graciously given you another day, a fresh start, a brand new opportunity of a nascent 2013 to begin anew... to walk with the Lord of the universe, to listen to Him, to love Him, to worship Him.  And to reflect His Light to a dark world.  No matter how badly we may have failed in the past year, if we're still here, there's still time... and He's still able to do abundantly more than all you could ask or even imagine in this coming year.  (Eph.3:20)
     John Piper has just retired as senior minister of his church, and in his closing words last night, he urged us to covenant with him to "Finish in faith."  How I love that, because that is my heart's desire: to  someday cross that finish line with my head still looking up to Jesus and my gait strong, running faithfully with Him.  Not stumbling along, zig zagging from here to there... distracted, discouraged, defeated.  
    You know, there are so many folks who begin with such great promise.  It's not all that difficult to begin, is it?  Just go to a local gym today or for the next two weeks, and you'll see.  Suddenly multitudes of people appear, ready to finally start that habit of exercise and dieting every single day.  But by about mid to late January the crowds begin to thin--because it's hard!  It's not always fun to get up early and go sweat in a hot, crowded gym.  We don't always feel like exercising... or reading our Bibles.... or turning off the TV to spend time with loved ones.  We're tired.  We've got loads of laundry to do and errands to run and work to finish.  And all those New Year's resolutions lose their punch when confronted with the reality of a busy, hectic life, an exhausted body, and a discouraged heart.
     But it doesn't have to be that way!  God's given us a fresh new start to walk with Him in the coming year in this adventure of life.  And He never grows weary or discouraged or distracted.  He never runs low.  He's never out of ideas... or love... or power... or grace... or forgiveness.  When He is our Light, no matter what darkness we may face in this new year, He is brighter still, and He will enable us to finish in faith.
     I'm not making all those rash resolutions this year.  Nope, I'm only making this one: to walk with Him daily so that I might cross that finish line in faith.  'Cause I know if I'm with Him, He will get me all the way there.  You too.
     So forget about those times you've failed in the past.  Or your loved ones have failed.  God will never fail. Go to Him, repent for the past, seek His forgiveness and then by grace, start afresh.  He's waiting, and He is abundantly able.
     Might this be the year we all daily abide in Him, delve into His Word, and discover the joy of walking with the Lord of all glory and grace.  So that we might finish in faith.
     It's never too late.  Not with the God.  Not with the Savior who died so that we might live.  Begin today.  To the God of fresh beginnings and forever faithfulness to enable us to finish strong,  be all the glory.