Back with gratitude, forward with faith

       The last day of the year.  Good grief.  I'm finally getting accustomed to writing 2014 on checks, and suddenly, 2015 prepares to make a grand entrance.  Ready or not, here it comes.
       Don't know about anybody else, but the tail end of 2014 finds me feeling a bit weary.  My word for the year was "Joy," and it was such a joyful year in so many ways--beginning with a wonderful wedding last January.  So I'm full of thanksgiving to our generous, gracious, good God...but still, it seems just now I've been letting that joy drain out a bit.
       You know why?  Well, I think it has to do with contemplating  all those resolutions from last year that I failed to follow through on (devotions with the children every single day, for instance.  Ugh, really missed the mark there.)  It's so tempting to look back and feel regret at missed opportunities...or shame at unkind words and actions...or disappointment at failed goals or dreams, isn't it?  
       But God.  But God.  But God.
       Surely the best two words we see over and over again in the Bible.
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Gen.50:20)
"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Ps.73:26)
"Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Mt.19:26)
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom.5:8)
       Time to stop looking back--except with gratitude for the blessings--and start looking forward with faith in our great God!  "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of god in Christ Jesus." (Phil.3:13-14)
      Press on in Christ!  Time to start afresh and begin again.  So here are a few of my thoughts/goals/hopes for 2015.   First and foremost, to begin (and end) each day with gratitude and praise to God.  Always.  To choose to obey and seek God first, despite my feelings.  To refuse to give in to discouragement but instead to lean in to the Savior--keeping my eyes fixed on Him.  To memorize and hide His Word in my heart.  

       Sure, I failed this past year, but no more excuses.  No more whining.  No more dropping arms and weak knees.  Nope, as Ann Voskamp says, FORWARD!  Fall forward!  And as John Piper says, this will be my word for the year: "Christ-exalting."  My prayer, Lord--might my actions, my attitudes, my conversation, my writing, my speaking, my parenting, my “wifing,” my all, all, all be Christ-exalting.  That God would be glorified in everything that I say, think, do, plan, hope. That His name, His honor, His reputation would be exalted and lifted high in my life, family, ministry, activities.  

       Lord, show me what needs to change in my life in order to do that.  What needs to be added.  What needs to be eliminated.  What needs to be remain.  

       And, Father, help this to become a habit, not a resolution.  Again Ann Voskamp says, “It’s not what you do every now and then, but what you do everyday that changes everything...Random acts of greatness pale in comparison to habitual acts of faithfulness.”  Paul Tripp puts it this way--we need to trade “one dramatic resolution for 10,000 little ones.” Faithfulness in the many mundane small moments each day rather than focusing on some huge all or nothing, dramatic change.  Mundane, day by day, hour by hour, faithfulness.  In the large but also in the small moments of life.  Just a few examples:  

--Prayer everyday.  No matter what--talk to my Father before talking to anyone or anything else. 

--Short devotion with the boys daily, even if it’s just a quick word from the Word.   

--Checking in each day with our out-of-town children--remind them I LOVE them like crazy! 

--Asking God continually throughout the day to enable me to be Christ-exalting, even in my cooking, cleaning, reading, watching, eating, talking, studying.  

--Choosing others over self, others over self, others over self...multiple times a day.  Asking God to help me die to self and live to righteousness, daily, hourly.

--Memorizing some small portion of the Word everyday.  Word in, 

--Pausing in the middle of every day--right in the midst of the busyness--to focus upon and worship God.

--Seek to daily encourage others rather than indulge self.  Love as Christ loves.  Impossible standard...but perfect Savior who empowers.

--And writing daily at least 3 things for which I’m grateful to God.  Don't just think it--write it down.

       Just a few ideas from my neck of the woods.  How about you?  Forget the past--except as a source of gratitude. Look back with gratitude and forward with faith. 

       Press on.  Routine faithfulness in the small and everyday.  Christ-exalting.  

      The Lord Jesus is supremely worthy...in this new year and every year.  To God be the glory.

        

Don't forget to laugh

       Laughter is a gift.  A beautiful, shiny, soul-reviving, heart-filling, gaze-lifting gift.  And don't we all need that lift of laughter on the days right after Christmas?  These days can be such a let-down after all the excitement, happy gathering of family, and crazy wonder of the season.  I'm looking around at boxes, crumpled paper, candy wrappers, scattered gift cards, and tired looking decorations...all while preparing to say goodbye to the joy of having all our children home for "one shining moment."
       Yep, if you're anything like me, you're feeling weary, worn, and a bit off key, so it's good to remember that laughter is definitely a gracious and desperately needed gift from God.
       So rather than tackling the tree or the laundry or the boxes,  I'm pondering--what was that first laugh like?
       Did it shock Adam and Eve when suddenly a chuckle bubbled up from their diaphragm?
       And don't you wonder when it happened, that first guffaw?  Could it have been Adam and Eve's first stunned and happy glimpse of a giraffe?  Or maybe a lumbering bear...or a lovely leaping deer.  Was it after some affectionately teasing comment from Eve?  Or maybe it burst forth from awed and worshipful hearts after viewing the luminous colors of a sunrise.
       Whatever the source of laughter, what a gigantic, glorious gift.  Yes, life can be hard, but oh my, can't it also be so funny?  If you need some kind of prompt, watch a dog for a new minutes.  Or a toddler.  Or the birds flitting and fussing at a bird feeder.  Or recall some silly moment from your family.  We all have them--those moments of hilarity that puncture life's monotony or difficulty like a needle popping an overinflated balloon.
       So as we prepare to put away Christmas for yet another year, I couldn't help but think back to a few of those happy moments...and there's one in particular involving our neighbor's blow-up Santa Claus and our silly dog that makes me chuckle every time we drive by their yard.  Let me explain.
       Back at the beginning of December, Mr. Bingley glimpsed Santa for the first time...and pandemonium ensued.  He jumped back in terror and then began darting back and forth while wildly barking as if confronting a savage beast.  Who knew Santa could be so evil and threatening?

 (Yeah, sure, he looks friendly enough in that bright red suit, but looks are clearly deceiving.  Bingley's figured him out and was determined to warn the world.  We were worried Santa woud take great offense at this treatment and thus would refuse to bring that rainbow trout chew toy Mr. B had been begging for.  Do labs eat coal?  Fortunately, Santa displayed great grace this Christmas.)

       Know what?  Sometimes we just might need to stop taking ourselves so seriously.  Isn't it funny (excuse the pun) how quickly we can lose our sense of humor, our wonder, and our light-hearted joy, especially during this busy, sometimes overwhelming season of the year?  That is so, so wrong!  Forgive us, Father.
       Let's determine to replace all that soul-crushing worry with wonder, with worship, and, dare I say it, with some laughter.  The world won't end if you don't get an A on that exam.  The planets won't spin out of orbit if you don't get everything accomplished on your to-do list. The stars won't stop shining if your child takes a wrong turn or two in life or suffers a setback.  And God won't stop adoring you if you mess up or miss that appointment.
      Nope, God's got this.  He gives strength to the weary, hope to the worried, and infinite grace to the worn and weak.  Slow down and savor the gifts God has showered upon you.  The smells of pine trees, hot coffee, and baking bread.  The colors of Christmas still sparkling on houses and trees.  The sounds of singing birds, giggling children, and loved ones' voices.  The comforting feel of warm wool sweaters, strong hugs, and roasting fires.  The fun of board games, ball games, and beloved movies.  The joy of shared jokes and funny memories.  So much to savor and enjoy.  So much cause for laughter.  And so much for which to be grateful to the Giver of all good gifts.
      G.K. Chesterton once quipped, "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly."
      Maybe it's time we do the same.  Let go of the punishing weight of bitterness.  Consider how infinitely much you've been forgiven by the sinless Savior...and freely forgive.  Let go of worry--it's nothing but wasted energy.  Breathe deep into faith and grace.  God's got this.  God's  got you.  God's got them.  God's got it all.
      So trust...and savor...and worship...and laugh.  Forgive as freely as You've been forgiven by the Savior.  Pause and praise.  Remember Who's really in complete control and relax.  Let go and laugh.
      Emmanuel is here--God with us--and He will never, ever leave you nor forsake you. Since He's here, we can lighten up and live this day with love and laughter.
      To God be the glory.

Home for Christmas

      Several dear friends have loved ones who are truly "home for Christmas" this year.  Beloved daddies...a sweet sister-in-law...a wonderful wife...a precious son...a dear mama.  Death is so hard on those left behind.  So hard.
      Don't we all know that season of loss?  That ache of missing the physical presence of the person you love.  Longing to hear the sound of their voice, the ring of their laughter.  Bearing a weight of sorrow in your heart...and yet carrying a winsome song of rejoicing in your soul, because they are home...truly, fully, gloriously Home.  And while gone from here, they are more vibrantly and fully alive than ever before...more alive, in fact, than all of us here still "living" on this planet.
      I well remember my mama going Home for Christmas, suddenly and unexpectedly 15 years ago, on a cold December morning.  If I close my eyes, I can still see the color of the carpet, the bare branches of the trees, the red Christmas bows and twinkling lights...all against a backdrop of shock and sorrow.  
      And yet...and yet...almost impossible to explain, but that deep sense of joy underneath all that sadness.  My mama was seeing, hearing, experiencing wonders and joys at that very moment that we could not even begin to fathom.  Oh to be truly Home for Christmas!
      Could there be a sweeter time to remember all this than right now?  Right at this time of year?  It's why our Savior came!  "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
      He came to set us free from the power of sin and death. He came to shine His Light into our darkness.  He came to conquer our chaos with His peace.  He came to shatter our despair with His indefatigable joy.  "In Him was life and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:4-5)
       That glorious carol express it most beautifully--
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings;
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth;
Hark! The herald angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn King!'
       He was born that "man no more may die." He was born "to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth."
      Jesus was born to die...that we might be born again to live forever and ever!
      That first Christmas a little over two thousand years ago spelled the beginning of the end for satan and his hordes.  The birth of that infant-God (who can get over that?--fragile newborn housing the Almighty, omnipotent Lord!) meant the eventual certain and complete doom of death, sin, sorrow, and separation.  Because He came, we will conquer.  Because He came, our loved ones in Christ, even though they die, live.  Truly, fully, joyfully live!  Because He came, we will see them again in glory.  Forever.
     Praise God for Jesus!  Praise God for Christmas!  Praise God for our home in heaven!
      O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
     To God be the glory.

The Prisoner

                          A little food for weekend thought--

      Awoke this morning with the words to "Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus" whispering, humming in my thoughts: "Come thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee.  Israel's hope and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art; dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart."
      Born to set us free from fears and sins.  Our hope and consolation.  The joy of every longing, suffering, waiting heart.  He is our Deliverer the second verse reminds us.  Born a child and yet a King.  The mystery of the incarnation.  Who can ever grasp the wonder of it?
      But as I contemplated this Deliverer born to set His people free, the words of Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, came to mind, when he described a visit to a prison in Brazil.  Might his words remind us of the "inexpressible Gift" we have in Jesus this last weekend before Christmas:
      "Several years ago a Brazilian prison was turned over to two Christian laymen.  Their plan was to run it on Christian principles.  The prison has only two full-time staff.  The rest of the work is done by the inmates.  Every prisoner is assigned another inmate to whom he is accountable.  In addition, every prisoner is assigned a volunteer family from the outside who works with him during his term and after his release from prison.  Every prisoner joins the chapel program or else takes the course in character development.
      When I visited the prison I found the inmates smiling--particularly the murderer who held the keys and opened the gates to let me in.  Wherever I walked, I saw men at peace.  I saw clean living areas.  I saw people working industriously.  The walls were decorated with biblical sayings from Psalms and Proverbs.  The prison had an astonishing record.  The recidivism rate is 4 percent, compared to 75 percent in the rest of Brazil and the U.S.  How is that possible?  I saw it with my own eyes.  When my inmate guide escorted me to the notorious punishment cell once used for torture, he told me that today it houses only a single inmate.  We walked down a long cell block, a long corridor of steel doors, and came to the end and he peeked in.  He paused.  'Yes, he's in there' he said.  Then he turned to me and asked, 'Are you sure you want to go in, Mr. Colson?'
      'Of course,' I replied impatiently.  'I've been in punishment cells in 600 prisons all over the world.'  Slowly the inmate swung open the door and I saw the prisoner in the punishment cell.  I walked in and turned to the right and there on the wall, beautifully carved by the inmates, was a crucifix.  The prisoner Jesus was hanging on the cross.  'He,' said the inmate, 'is doing the time for all the rest of us.'"
      And so He is.  He came to the cradle to go to the cross, so we might be set free from our sins and fears and go with Him to heaven as His redeemed children.
      This weekend before Christmas, we rejoice in our Savior who came to set His people free.  Might we His people live to His glory and sing His praises this day and everyday.  Oh Lord Jesus, might You  "rule in our all our hearts alone."  You are infinitely worthy.
       Thank You for "doing the time for all the rest of us."
       To God be the glory.

Rejoicing

      Today, I'm rejoicing.
      Not in perfect circumstances--never this side of heaven.
      Not in perfect health--too many people I love are waging fierce battles against disease.  (Lord, I hate cancer…but I know You do too.  And You are right here in the fray with those we love who are waging war against this enemy.  Fight for them, Mighty King!)
      Not in perfect people all around me--we're all, all, all sinners.  But we're sinners saved by grace, praise God.
      And certainly not in perfect me--oh mercy, where would I even start to list the ways I fall so far short?  But again, grace…glorious, beautiful, wondrous grace.  That amazing grace was given by the Son...who was given by the Father.  "Thanks be to God for His inexpressible Gift." (2 Cor.9:15)  Gift upon gift upon gift!
      Today, I'm rejoicing in that gift of the Savior.  The One who came to set us desperate, diseased, discouraged ones free.  No, your circumstances may not be ideal.  Your health may not be great.  The people you care about may be enduring a challenging season of life.  You may not not yet be the person you long to be (but by God's grace are becoming!).
      But no matter what the outward conditions of your life, you can rejoice in the Savior who came to this broken planet to bring redemption, reconciliation, and restoration.
      "Joy to the world.  The Lord is come!"  He has come.  He is here now.  And He is coming again!  Which means He redeems our past, present, and future.
      Stop fretting over the past--it's over.  Christ has come, and He has covered every sin by His blood. If you have asked Jesus to be Your Savior, you are forgiven. Forever. Cease all that hand-wringing over mistakes of the past and live this day as a redeemed child of the King.
      Stop missing the joy of the present moment--Christ is here.  How incredible is that--the Lord of the universe is with you!  Emmanuel.  Right now, even as you read these words, He is as near as your next breath.  Oh will you pause and praise Him for His presence, His power, His nearness, His forgiveness, His grace.  Let's live this day with joy, for He. Is. With. Us.  Amazing.
     And stop worrying about the future--Christ is coming again!  The King is coming, and He will make all things new and glorious and right.  He's got the future totally covered, so we can relax and trust the One who made all things and holds all things together by the word of His power (Heb.1:3).  Worry is disbelief.  And disbelief is a sin.  And sin is why He came.  So confess that worry to Him (I'm preaching the gospel to myself), and live this day in the certain hope and joy that He is coming again.
      Today, let's rejoice in the King born in a manger…born to set His people free.  Free from fear.  Free from disease.  Free from discouragement.  Free from purposelessness.  Free from regrets of the past; free from worries over the future; and free from missing the joy and wonder in the present.
      Thank You, thank You, thank You, Lord Jesus.  Thank You for coming.  Thank You for staying.  Thank You that You are returning.  Might we join in the celestial chorus--
      "Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!"  Today, let's rejoice!
      To God be the glory.

Slugs and the Savior

                       A little food for weekend thought--

      From Tim Keller: "There's a place in one of Martin Luther's nativity sermons where he asks something like, 'Do you know what a stable smells like?  You know what that family would have smelled like after the birth when they went into the city?  And if they were standing next to you, how would you have felt about them and regarded them?'  He is saying, I want you to see Christ in the neighbor you tend to despise--in the political party you despise, in the race you despise, in the class of people you despise. 
      Christmas is the end of thinking you are better than someone else, because Christmas is telling you that you could never get to heaven on your own. God had to come to you.  It is telling you that people who are saved are not those who have risen through their own abilities to be what God wants them to be.  Salvation comes to those who are willing to admit how weak they are."
      Today a simple thank You, Father, for sending the Son and saving us weak and weary children.  Weak in willingness, weak in love, weak in compassion, weak in obedience.  Oh my, how thankful I am that it's not up to me and my puny abilities.  That it's not up to us, straining and reaching up to Him, but it's always and forever Christ coming down to us.
      And He came so infinitely far down.  Down to the depths, to the dregs.  C.S. Lewis compares Jesus' willingness to become a man to a man becoming a slug or a crab.  How would you like that?  Would you be willing to be transformed into a slug in order to reach and save the slug population? Yeah right.  Don't think so.
      And what if those ugly slugs wanted nothing to do with you?  What if they utterly failed to understand the nearly cavernous expanse you were willing to bridge in order to come down to them, to reach and save them?  I'd say "Who cares about these lowly, slimy, clueless, underserving, ungrateful slugs?!  Not me!"
        But that wasn't the response of the perfect, wonderful, beautiful, glorious Son.  No, He came.  He relinquished so infinitely much--so much further than a man becoming a slug--all to be born in a manger and die on a cross.  All for our salvation.  All for us slugs and crabs.
       So thank You, thank You, thank You, Lord Jesus.  Thank You for coming.  Thank You for loving.  Thank You for forgiving.  Thank You for dying.  And thank You for saving.
      To God be the glory.
     
     

Heroes and Christmas

       The tears keep falling.  Not so much tears of sorrow, as tears of bittersweet awe and amazement. Tears of profound respect.  And tears of thankfulness for the unconquerable hope--in this sometimes hard, bewildering world--that was born on that Christmas Even over 2000 years ago.
       Today, I saw Jesus in the flesh...and the picture changed me, made me tearful, thankful, yet contemplative.  I saw Jesus in the flesh of a far-too-young wife and mama who lost her husband a few months back.  And in her, I saw such courage, such love, such faith as she continues to live life, raise her children, pursue Christ...even with that big, empty, void of loneliness and sorrow.  Yet she refuses to give in or give up.
      It's grace lived out right before our eyes, in living color...and it's an indescribably beautiful and inspiring thing.
     And I've seen it before--with friends who've lost children or spouses or long-cherished dreams. With friends battling cancer or depression or disease.  Yet they keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep looking to the Lord for the grace for the next hour and the next minute...and He comes through again and again.  Doesn't mean it's easy or painless for them. No, not at all, but He's always enough.  He's always the manna needed for that day's strength.
      None of these folks has any idea how they have inspired and awed me and so many others.  Heroes rarely do, do they?  And heroes come in so many shapes and sizes.  Heroes as teachers.  Heroes as soldiers.  Heroes as Young Life leaders.  Heroes as regular old folks finding themselves in difficult circumstances they never ever would have chosen, yet living by grace, by faith.  And today my hero was in the guise of hard-working, grace-living, Jesus-reflecting, mom and widow.
      Grace for the lonely, the exhausted, the discouraged, the fearful.  Hope for the hard, dark places.  Strength for the weak and worn.  That's why He came--to redeem His own and bring forgiveness, grace, hope, peace, joy.
      I couldn't help but think of these words by another one of my heroes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian.  Bonhoeffer, arrested for his courageous opposition to the Nazis and his part in a plot to kill Hitler, was imprisoned for two years during World War II and finally executed by the Nazis just weeks before the war's end.  Here's what he wrote to his fiance while he was in prison:
       "Be brave for my sake, dearest Maria, even if this letter is your only token of my love this Christmas-tide.  We shall both experience a few dark hours--why should we disguise that from each other?  We shall ponder the incomprehensibility of our lot and be assailed by the question of why, over and above the darkness already enshrouding humanity, we should be subjected to the bitter anguish of a separation we fail to understand...And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God.  Our eyes are at fault, that is all.  God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment.  No evil can befall us; whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives." 
        Thank You, Abba, for sending Jesus at Christmas. Thank You that You came to that lowly manger, that You are our wealth in poverty, that You are our Light in the darkness, and that You are succor in abandonment.  Thank You, that as Corrie ten Boom once said in that darkest of places, a German concentration camp, "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still." Thank You that You are sovereignly in control of all things, all people, all circumstances, all places...all, all, all.  And thank You that You will always and forever work out all things for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. (Rom.8:28)
       Thank You that we can trust even when we cannot see and have hope even when we do not understand...because You came.  Oh thank You for coming...and for staying...forever.  Our Emmanuel--God with us.  And thank You for heroes who reflect Your glory and shine Your light in this dark world.  What a beautiful, beautiful sight.
       To God be the glory.
   
     

A reminder of our Savior-Warrior-Baby

      Sometimes a picture really does say a thousand words, and this one took me back to a little over two years ago.  My sister-in-law snapped this one just the other night at a Carolina basketball game.  It's a picture of Janie with her wonderful neurosurgeon from the UNC hospital, Dr.Matt Ewend.  

      Who knew lime green tee shirts could so beautifully portray God's power and faithfulness?! 

       You see, the time I'm thinking about wasn't this particular chilly December night in Chapel Hill.  No, this picture brought to mind another evening: a sticky, steaming evening in August two years earlier....in an ICU...with Janie unconscious while we waited and prayed.  Prayed and waited.  We prayed that God in His mercy and grace would allow her to wake up and return to us.  Yet we also waited with surrendered hearts, trying our best to trust that God's plans--whatever they might be--were always ultimately best.  

      But  on one particularly difficult evening, when Janie's temperature was spiking, her lungs were struggling, and hope seemed a million miles away, we received an email from one of my husband's closest friends, David Dwight.  David's a minister in Richmond, and the Lord knew that evening was just the right time for his email to arrive.  The words were a strength-infusion.  A God-inspired invitation to shift our focus from the beeping monitors and onto the mighty King.  To stop dwelling on what we could see and instead to fix our eyes on our glorious Savior.  To recall it's not about obsessing over our circumstances but about knowing Who's in control.  

      I've quoted David's words from that email before, but they bear repeating...because in the trenches of life, don't we need reminding?  When sickness strikes or sorrow overwhelms or worry crushes, we tend to forget what is truly true and rock-solid real.  So in case you need some starch in your soul and some hope in your heart, here's the gist of his words.  

      David had asked a Biblical Languages scholar about the oh-so-familiar words of Luke 2 (and by the way, don't let the familiarity of these words strip them of their astounding wonder and glory!):             "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace  to men on whom His favor rests." (Lk 2:8-14)

      The Biblical languages scholar explained, "In v.13, it says 'the heavenly host' appeared with the angel, praising God...This translation is far too mild.  The word that the translators have called 'host' in English is unequivocally the word, 'army' in Greek. The word is 'stratia,' and it is always and everywhere translated 'army.'  

      In this regard, the Bible is saying that at the birth of Jesus, the sky was filled with a heavenly army--and what they said to the shepherds was something that feels much more like 'Glory to God, this is war, but don't be afraid.'  It is more fitting to the reality that Jesus was born to win the ultimate battle, and the capstone of that victory is the resurrection.  The heavenly army said to the shepherds in essence, 'You needn't be afraid.  God does the battling and will win the big war.  You trust and walk with this Savior-Warrior-Baby, and be at peace that the Lord's armies are doing the battling and that the victory will be won.  That's why you can rejoice--the victory will be won."  

      YES!  

      Not just a helpless babe.  Not just a silent night.   Not just Mary, meek and mild.  But a Savior-Warrior-Baby come to earth to battle for you, for me.  To win the victory against sin and death.  To crush the enemy beneath His nail-scarred feet so that we need never fear the very worst this world and the devil can throw at us.  They are defeated foes, and the Savior-Warrior-Baby has not only secured the ultimate and complete victory, but He will carry us triumphant with Him all the way to heaven.  We may lose a skirmish or two along the way, but "God does the battling and will win the big war."  

      I don't know what you might be going through right now--perhaps a hard, frightening path, perhaps a difficult disease, perhaps a painful relational struggle--but I pray these words will remind you that because Jesus came, in Him you will ultimately conquer. 

      It's not a matter of us being strong...it's all about Him as our perfectly strong Savior.  He's already won the victory, and He's gives us grace, day by day, to walk by and with and for Him.  And so "you trust and walk with this Savior-Warrior-Baby and be at peace that the Lord's armies are doing the battling."  Walking and trusting by faith, rejoicing by grace, that "the victory will be won."  

      Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, just keep walking by grace through faith...He'll win the battle.  Always and forever.

      To God be the glory.

 

Christmas memories

      Zero dark early this morning.  Sitting by the fireplace with hot tea and the Word of life.  Thank You, Father.  So many stockings, so much cause for gratitude.

           Our tree, too,  is covered with memories.  Mary Norris'  preschool angel, Richard's and Preyer's wreaths,  Janie's star, Peter's snowflake.  Big Richard's handmade elementary school snowman.  Ornaments given by his mom and one or two that hung on my grandparents' tree.  Not to mention the ornaments from dear friends, past Bible studies, Birthday Parties for Jesus, and school parties.  Our tree won't win any designer awards, but oh my, it is lovely beyond words to us as it reflects love lived out year by year.   Again, thank You, Abba.

      Then there's the nativity sets--all a bit beaten up, and therefore doubly beautiful.  Aunt Janie's nativity--with the wiseman who has somehow lost half of his crown (but I love that he holds that half crown in his hand, ready to lay it at the feet of the baby Savior.  We simply give Jesus whatever we have in our hands.)

       And can't forget Mom and Dad's nativity in which Joseph is missing part of both feet--but he can still stand!  Not to mention several animals have misplaced certain appendages--but, again, they're still standing!

      I love it--God takes us as we are and loves us, even with all our weaknesses and warts.  He doesn't wait till we get it all together.  No!  That's why He came: for us broken and battered lost sheep.  For the disorganized (can I get a witness?!)  For the ungrateful.  For the unkind and unable.  For the weak, weary, worn, worried.  For us--He came for you, for me, even in all our mess-ups and misses.
      The Son of God became a man that men might become sons of God.  That we might be made clean and whole--no more missing appendages or broken places!  At just the right time, God fulfilled that long-ago prophecy that He would send this Redeemer, Reviver, Restorer...this Baby-Savior-Lord.
      Even before the birth of Jesus, Zechariah praised God for sending this Promised One: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people and has raised a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us." (Lk1:68-71)
      John Piper points out that though Christ has not yet been born, Zechariah speaks in the past tense. I'd never noticed before!  Piper says, "For the mind of faith, a promised act of God is as good as done.  Zechariah has learned to take God at His word and so has a remarkable assurance: 'God has visited and redeemed!'"  If God says it, we can bank on it, no matter what, no matter how long it will take.  In the heavens, in fact, it's already done.
      So this day, Father, might we look back and remember Your promises and Your provision.  Your never-failing promises in Your Word.  Every jot and tittle will be fulfilled.  And Your provision to us in the past in helping and strengthening us day-by-day as well as Your extravagant grace in giving us loved ones, those with us and those who've gone on ahead.  Remind us, Lord, remind us.
      But then teach us to look ahead as well and trust.  Trust that You are working and moving in this often dark, confusing world, in ways we cannot see but believe and know by faith.  Trust that Your promises still stand strong and immovable...and since Your Word stands, then we can and will stand as well.  All by Your grace, all for Your glory.
      To God be the glory.

Packing Thanksgiving, unpacking Advent

       The first day of December dawns a beauty here in Raleigh. Sunny, warm, a break from some of those chilly, wet days of last week.  And so this weekend, we began the annual trek...the trek, that is, up and down the stairs again and again as we packed up Thanksgiving and unpacked Christmas.
       So today, I'm thinking, "Father, don't let me 'pack up' a continuously thankful heart and attitude towards You and Your outrageous grace and goodness in my life."  We might have packed away Thanksgiving stuff, but oh my, let's don't pack away thankful spirits.  We need to have thankful songs on autorepeat in our hearts, otherwise the busyness of Christmas threatens to chisel away at that gratitude and replace it with grumpiness.  Lord, might our homes be places permeated with that a tangible attitude of gratitude and rejoicing at Your coming...not an atmosphere of restlessness and harried rushing to get it all done.
      Yep, pack up Thanksgiving, but not thankfulness.  And then time to unpack...
      Unpacking Advent means doing some unloading.  Unloading that insanity of seeking some mythical, impossible standard of the perfect Christmas.  Unloading the sin of comparison--whether comparing families, spouses, homes, health, or even Advent traditions!  (Ever wish your family could "get it together," gather around glowing candles and have those perfect, meaningful, nightly devotions you read about?  Sometimes the reality doesn't quite cut it, especially with busy, distracted teenagers.)
      But here's the thing--comparison inevitably leads to either pride (surely the ugliest of all sins) or jealousy (well, just as ugly as pride if you ask me).  Comparison does nothing but imprison us in a dark dungeon of endless striving, discontentment, and envy.  Strips us of joy.  Robs us of peace.  Steals our enjoyment of the people we love and the moments we have with them.  And worst of all, distracts us from savoring and adoring our Savior.
      Who wants all that mess?  None of us...yet how often we relentlessly chase after that which ultimately impoverishes our souls.
      By the grace of God, not this Christmas!
      Let's daily choose to focus not upon that which surrounds us but upon our Savior.  Jettison comparison and savor the Savior.  Forgo endless striving and love the precious people God has so graciously loaned us for these few short years.
      If you knew this was your last Christmas, what would you do differently?  What activities and chores might you eliminate?  What people would you be sure to enjoy?  What would you say to them?  What moments would you most cherish this Advent and Christmas if you knew for sure this would be your last one on this earth?  Would you spend more time worrying about getting and giving all the right gifts or worshipping the glorious Gift of all Gifts?
      Okay, well then, do it.  Do it this Christmas.  Eliminate the extraneous.  Truly enjoy your loved ones.  Cherish and savor the moments--don't let them slip by unnoticed and unappreciated.  And worship the Savior-Warrior-Baby.  If we do nothing else this Christmas, oh might we daily come and adore Him, Christ the Lord!  He is so infinitely worthy.
     To God be the glory.

A thankful heart for Advent

      Thanksgiving has come and gone...all too quickly, if you ask me.
      And this afternoon, we collected all the pilgrims, pumpkins, and "Give Thanks" pillows and plates and hauled them all back up to their big old storage bins in the attic.  They won't reappear again until next September.  (Yes, Thanksgiving makes an appearance by mid September in our house--much to my family's chagrin--as I believe in beginning the celebration of Thanksgiving as early as possible.  Why?  Because we all desperately need the reminder for as long as possible to have an attitude of gratitude.  It sure doesn't come naturally--at least not to selfish yours truly!)
      In place of the pilgrims and pumpkins, this afternoon Christmas nativities, stockings, angels, and Carolers began making their way downstairs.  But with each Christmas decoration I brought down, my thankful attitude began deteriorating. Rapidly.
      Before I knew it, I'd forgotten all about gratitude and had begun grumbling.  Thinking junk like: why am I the only one working away here?  As if this was some terrible burden to decorate a house for the coming of Christ!  Am I in the ICU with my sick child?  No.  Visiting a loved one trapped in prison?  No.  Picking up the pieces after a devastating tornado?  Nope. Worrying about how I'm going to feed my starving family?  No again.  Forgive me, Father!
      Yes, we're being catapulted into Christmas with the first Sunday in Advent coming in two--count them, two--days.  And yes, Black Friday always feels like "Behind-the-eight-ball Friday."
      But, wait, wait, wait!   I refuse to let go of a thankful mindset--because thanksgiving changes everything.  And if ever there should be cause for unending, unassailable gratitude, it should be over the celebration of God's greatest of gifts--the Lord Jesus!
      Here's how Noel Piper put it: "There is one thing on our gratitude list that we who are following Christ all have in common: 'Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift.' (2 Cor. 9:15)  Of all people in the world, we have the greatest reason to give thanks to give thanks and an inexpressibly great God who receives our gratitude.  What more could we desire than that hope and salvation? 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!' (I Pet.1:3)"
      Sometimes we forget, don't we?  In all the rush and hoopla and desire to create the "perfect" Christmas for our loved ones, we lose sight of the perfect Gift and the perfect response--gratitude.
      So let's slow down.  Somehow, someway what needs to be done will be done...but far more importantly than purchasing is preparing our hearts.  More important that parties and planning is unhurried time for praise....peace...pursuing Christ in His Word...and purposefully loving the people Christ has graciously placed in our lives.
      Father, don't let Thanksgiving disappear from our hearts and minds.  Rather,  magnify that gratitude and praise in these coming weeks.  Might our Advent this year be a time of enhanced rejoicing in the greatest, inexpressible Gift, so that our thankful lists far outstrip our to-do lists.
      In the words of George Herbert,
         Thou that hast given so much to me,
         Give one thing more--a grateful heart;
         Not thankful when it pleases me,
         As if Thy blessings had spare days;
         But such a heart, whose pulse may by They praise."
Lord, please give us thankful, rejoicing hearts this Christmas...and all year long.
     To God be the glory.

A Thanksgiving thank you!

      A busy Thanksgiving day ahead of us--cakes to be baked, dog to be walked, breakfast to be prepared, a few more loads of laundry to be washed, house to be tidied, children's clothes to be readied, miles to be driven, food to be savored, family to be loved and enjoyed...Lord to be thanked and praised and glorified.
       "When thou hast thanked they God
         For every blessing sent,
        What time will then remain
        for murmurs or lament?" (R.C. Trench)
     So thank You, Father, for this day to rejoice in Your goodness and greatness in our lives.  Thank You for the priceless gifts of family and friends.  Thank You for the joy, laughter, love, wisdom, richness, purpose, and even sometimes pain (that is also, ultimately, a gift from You) that those precious relationships bring to our lives.
      Thank You for our nation, for our freedom--even as we know there is much hurt, anger, and confusion in our country today.  But Lord, we place our trust in You for reconciliation, revival, renewal.  You are the Greater Physician and Healer, not just of bodies but of hearts and spirits.  So we ask for Your mighty healing...of our nation and of our friends struggling with diseases and addictions.  You are able, Lord. You are infinitely able (Eph.3:20).
      Thank You for home and the gift of "place" as Eudora Welty once put it.  A place where we belong, a place where we can sink our roots down deep...maybe not a perfect place, but the place where You, in Your grace, have sovereignly positioned us to be a part of a community and family that we might nourish, love, and encourage one another.  All by Your grace.  All to Your glory.
      Thank You for the daily graces in our lives--hot tea, warm fires, good books, hearty laughter, autumn leaves, long conversations, moments of peace in the midst of busy days, good medicine, kind words, big hugs, bouncing babies, bracing walks, and Your beautiful Word.
      Thank You for pilgrims and patriots and soldiers and the priceless gift of freedom their sacrifices have given everyone of us. Thank You for all those men and women serving our nation right now in places far and near.  Oh bless them this day, Lord. How we thank You for them.
     And most of all, thank You for Your Son.  Our Redeemer...Sustainer...Bread of Life...Living Water...Door...Good Shepherd...Hope...Emmanuel.  "God with us"--everyday, every night, forever. And soon we begin the celebration of Your coming--Advent.  Remind us afresh of the wonder and the awe of God's Son becoming a man so that men could become sons of God.
      G.K. Chesterton wrote: "Thanks are the highest form of thought, and gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."  So thank You, Father.  Thank You, thank You, thank You!
      To God be the glory.

Thankful for food, glorious food!

      Hot dog--it's the first day of one of the best weeks of the year--Thanksgiving.  Oh how I love this joyful holiday!  No freezing cold temperatures (well, usually--sorry Buffalo).  No frenzied schedules.  No frantic present-buying...not yet, anyway.
      Instead, it's a joyful time of children returning home...of families reunited...of pilgrims and pumpkins...of relaxing and reminiscing by glowing fires...of hearts overflowing with thankfulness...and, of course, of food, or in the immortal words of Oliver, "food, glorious food!"  Seriously, what's not to love about Thanksgiving?

      (a tiny slice of heaven)
      Jon Bloom apparently shares my love of all things Thanksgiving--and especially the food.  He writes, "The traditional American Thanksgiving meal featuring turkey and all the fixings that go with it is my favorite meal.  Period.  [And all God's people shouted, AMEN!]...But eating something you love on Thanksgiving is exactly what you should do because Thanksgiving is not about the feast of food.  Thanksgiving is about feasting on the manifold, abundant, overflowing, all-sufficient grace of God in all that He is for us and all that He has done, is doing, and promises to do for us.  An abundant, delicious feast of food is intended to be a symbol, a small picture, a momentary experience of what God's grace is like.  It is to help us 'taste and see that the Lord is good!'(Ps.34:8)"
      "In other words," Bloom says, "the food is meant to fuel our thanksgiving, not be the focus of thanksgiving."  
      What a beautiful picture of God's abundant grace--that dining room table laden with sweet potato casserole, dressing, spinach casserole, rolls, turkey, pumpkin pie and, of course, chocolate cake.  All lovingly prepared by the hands of those dearest to us.  All savored and shared by the irreplaceable gift of family and friends so graciously given to us by God.
      And what a Creator to make such a variety of food...and to make it taste so delicious!  You know, the Lord could have just made a standard, one-size-fits-all kind of food...something to fill us up and fuel us for our activities.  But He didn't.  He made all kinds of foods--salty, sweet, savory, creamy, crunchy, and everything in between!  It occurred to me I'd forgotten to thank Him for that glorious variety.
      Has it occurred to you that our Father also didn't have to create us with taste buds?  Oh aren't you so thankful that He did?!  The delectable smell and taste of food and the delightful sharing of it with those we love are just more gifts from His relentlessly generous and good hands.
      But it should all, all, all point us to the One who is the Source and Sustainer of every good thing in our lives...beginning, of course, with the gift of the Lord Jesus.  He is our Bread of Life who always satisfies and never fails.
      So this Thanksgiving, let's pause to be thankful for the food that should "fuel our thanksgiving" by pointing us to the glorious grace and infinite generosity of our Heavenly Father.  Oh might we daily "taste and see" how good and great He is...in His Word, in His Son, in His salvation, in His sovereign and perfect plans.
      To God be the glory.
     

Thankful for C.S. Lewis

                       A little food for weekend thought--

      On this day, 51 years ago, one of the great heroes of the faith, C.S. Lewis, went home to be with the Lord.  What an impact this man and his writings have made over the years!
      So today, I'm thankful for C.S. Lewis as well as for all of those who have gone before us, teaching, encouraging, and pointing to us to Christ with their words and by their actions.  And that's a mighty long list--we could spend all day thinking of folks for whom we need to thank the Lord!  Thank You, Father, for my parents, brothers and sisters, husband (who has, as he once described it--"the gift of opinions"--who knew that was a spiritual gift?), children (how often mine have taught and blessed me), teachers, writers, pastors, friends...the list goes on and on.  So thankful.
      And in honor of C.S. Lewis, here's a little something from one of my very favorite of his writings, The Screwtape Letters.  As we contemplate all the blessings this time of year for which we're thankful, it helps to recall that God is the Creator and Giver of every one of those gifts, or as Lewis puts it, "pleasures."  Sometimes we tend to think of pleasures as a waste of time or even as sin.  But the mind of God conceived those pleasures, and He gave them to us as a means for deep contentment and true joy.  Our problem is the way we twist or misuse or subvert those pleasures.    Okay, enough of my drivel!
      Here's how the senior devil, Screwtape, explains to Wormwood, a junior tempter, the dangers of true pleasures.
      "Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy's [remember--Enemy to the devil Screwtape means God!] ground.  I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours.  He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one.  All we can do is to encourage the humans to take pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways or in degrees, which He has forbidden.  Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable. An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula...
       The deepest likings and impulses of any man are the raw material, the starting-point, with which the Enemy [remember--God!] has furnished him.  To get him away from those is always a point gained; even in things indifferent it is always desirable to substitute the standards of the World, or convention, or fashion, for a human's own real likings and dislikings...I would make it a rule to eradicate from my patient any strong personal taste which is not actually a sin, even it if is a fondness for country cricket or collecting stamps or drinking cocoa.  Such things, I grant you, have nothing of virtue in them; but there is a sort of innocence and humility and self-forgetfulness about them which I distrust.  The man who truly and disinterestedly enjoys any one thing in the world, for its own sake, and without caring two-pence what other people say about it, is by that very fact forearmed against some of our subtlest modes of attack."
     Thank You, Lord, for C.S. Lewis!  And thank You for the gift of pleasures...for You are the Creator and Giver of all good gifts.  Thank You for a good book in front of a warm fire, for a big piece of chocolate cake, for a steaming mug of hot tea, for a bracing walk with a beloved dog, for a gasp of delight in the fall colors, for the scent of pine and cinnamon, and for the unfathomably wondrous love of family and friends.  So many pleasures and people--oh thank You, Abba.
      To God be the glory.

Thankful for the Burden-Bearer

      Can I add one more thing about burdens?
      Burdens are meant to be laid down.  Not carried, but laid down.
      Does that sound counter-intuitive?  Probably...but still, isn't the Kingdom of God "a topsy-turvy kingdom," as Josh McDowell, once put it?  The last shall be first.  To gain your life, you need to lose it.  Forgive your enemies.  Be slow to speak and quick to listen (what a challenge to us talkers!).  Seek first God's Kingdom and all the other things will be added to you.  Not to mention the ultimate shocker--Almighty God...born as a helpless infant.  Or the glorious Creator and Sustainer of the universe taking on the role of the most menial of servants and washing dirty feet.
      Yes, God's Kingdom is, indeed, topsy-turvy.  And now, how about adding one more to that list: burdens are not for carrying...but for laying down. Let me explain.
      Burdens--we ALL have them.  But we also have a Burden-Bearer who is ready, willing, and infinitely able to carry the weight of that oppressive load for us. That doesn't mean those burdens go away.  It simply means on a moment-by-moment basis, we stop, and like little children cry out, "Abba, this is too much for me.  Will You carry it for me?"
      And He will.  He always always always will.
      The enemy shouts at us to shoulder that load all by ourselves.  Or blame someone else and try to force it's bulk upon others.  But Jesus says, "Come to Me.  Get away with Me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with Me and work with Me--watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Mt.11:29-30  The Message).
      Lay that burden down and hand it to the Burden-Bearer.
      And you know, we may do that for a time.  We might relinquish that burden to our Savior for a while...
      Until that burden of grief or shame or fear or inadequacy or sorrow seems to shout at us.  Demanding that we stumble back over and heft it's weight back upon our already sagging shoulders...dragging it along again.  And so we stagger along, desperately hauling what we were never meant to bear.
      All the while, the Burden-Bearer says, "Come to Me.  Let me carry it.  I've stretched out My arms wide as the world so that I can fully bear the weight of your every burden.  Give it to Me that I might give you My full forgiveness, My perfect peace, My consoling grace even in the midst of whatever valleys you are walking through.  I'm walking with you...but I'll carry the burden."
      Oh Father, teach us how to lay our burdens down that You might bear their heaviness for us.
      Every time I think of hefting the weight of burdens, I picture Bingley...and his sticks.
      Sometimes when no one is around on the greenway, I'll let him off his leash (please don't report me).  And he takes off...literally.  Like he's been shot out of a canon.  Bingley loves, loves, loves to rip and run.  Chase after squirrels (heaven help us if he ever catches one).  Tear about in huge, happy circles, racing with joyful abandon.  If dogs could smile, well, that's exactly what Mr. B would be doing--a giant, slobbery, open-mouthed smile on his face.  It's such a picture of joyful, flat-out freedom and happiness.
      That is, until Bingley sees a stick.  Let me correct that--a log.  He'll be running and racing, pausing every now and then for a good sniff, when he spots that log.  And he can't help himself, he has to pick it up.  Here are a few just from the last couple of days.

      As soon as he picks up those burdens, no more happy running.  No more sniffing.  No more chasing squirrels.  Bingley just doggedly (excuse the pun) hauls that load down the greenway.  Laboring along at a slow, steady trot.  Every now and then he'll drop it, look at me as if to say, "How much further do I need to bear this load?" and then, with determination, or maybe even resignation, grab it again to bear it's weight.
      I often find myself shouting at him, "Bingley, that's too much!  Too big.  Drop it!  Drop it!"  But he rarely does.  He simply keeps drudging down the greenway, bearing a burden he never ever had to carry in the first place.  And missing out on those few moments of joyful, full-out freedom he could be enjoying.  Missing out of that gift of chasing and racing that God created him to savor...all so Mr. B can carry some ridiculously humongous stick down the path.
      Sure, it's a silly example.  And Mr. Bingley, well, truth be told, I think he loves those sticks...or logs.
      But how about us?  What burdens do we insist on bearing and wearing like those ponderous chains that wrapped about the legs of Jacob Marley?
      Stop bearing those burdens that Jesus died to carry for you.  He is your Burden-Bearer.  He's ready and waiting...come to Jesus and lay those burdens down.  Then go out and live as one who is restored, redeemed and revived by the Burden-Bearer.  And be thankful.
      Thank You, thank You, thank You, Lord Jesus, for being our Burden-Bearer.  To God be the glory.
       
   

Thankful for burdens

      I can't remember who said it, but it's so true: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle."      Here's how I might translate that--"Extend grace, for everyone you meet is carrying a burden."        And you know what?  It's high time we remember a few things about burdens.  First, that we all, all, all carry them.  Sure, some burdens are open and obvious for all the world to see...but others are dark and hidden--and those are surely the heaviest.
      But no matter what kind of burden--whether shame, sickness, guilt, grief, fear, failure, longing, loneliness--all can be so painful and so isolating.  Yet what a difference when we remember we're not in this battle alone--everyone on this planet is dealing with something--whether we can see it or not--so let's lock arms and fight together!
      Knowing we're not alone is so wonderfully liberating!  Liberating both from our isolation but also from our tendency to get self-preoccupied with our own burdens.  It's a big world out there, people, with folks enduring all kinds of difficulties and heartbreaks we often have no idea about it, so let's be quick to extend the grace, love, and forgiveness of Christ.
      Today, I'm thankful that none of us are in this alone--we all are bearing burdens, so we can and must break out of the prison of our self-absorption to extend grace to our fellow burden-bearers.  And that's a gift!
      Secondly, burdens need to be shared.  "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal.6:2)  I've said it so many times before, but sorrows shared are divided, just as joys shared are multiplied.  That's what the Body of Christ is all about--encouraging one another, helping each other, spurring each other on to keep running our race by faith (Hebrews 12!) even when the going gets tough, and picking each other up when we fall down.  And we need to remind each other, when we're struggling in the midst of a hard race, that our Savior will enable us to run all the way to the finish line.  He is running with us, beside us, behind us, before us, and within us.  "And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil.1:6)
      Oh thank You Father for the gift of the Body of Christ that shares our burdens and spurs us on to finish the race!   Another gift that burdens give for which we need to be thankful!
      But finally, and most importantly, our burdens remind us of our great and glorious Burden-Bearer, the Lord Jesus.  On that beautiful, terrible cross, He bore the burden of our sin and shame, our guilt and grief--all of it. Every stinking bit of it...for all time...for all who would come to Him by faith.   He carried every one of our burdens, covered them with His blood, and cast them away forever.
      I've always loved how Corrie ten Boom put it, "When we confess our sins, God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever...Then God places a sign out there that says 'No Fishing Allowed!'"  When the Burden-Bearer has borne your sins and cast them away, they are gone, done, finished, forever.  Alleluia!
      So today, thank You Father for burdens--those seen and unseen.  Thank You for the Body of Christ, and thank You that You allow us to comfort and carry one another's burdens.   And thank You for our glorious and great Burden-Bearer.  Thank You that Jesus fully understands our every burden--for He has borne them all--and that He has commanded us to come to Him with those burdens, and He will give us rest for our souls (Mt.11:28-29), sustaining strength, and enabling grace.
      Thank You, Abba, for burdens, for the Body, and for our Burden-Bearer.  To God be the glory.

Thank You for interruptions!

      Thank You, Father, for interruptions.
      ...and forgive me for my impatience that so often causes me to forfeit the joy of seeing Your sovereign hand behind every one of those interruptions.  Your thumbprints are all over every one of our interruptions, and I want to be carried along by the sovereign tide of Your plans and ways, rather than fighting and striving against the flow of Your grace.  Help me to say "Yes, Lord!" to every interruption and to see in each an opportunity, rather than an obstacle.  A surprising divine opportunity to spread about Your relentless love and hope in ways I hadn't anticipated.
       How about it?  Will you join me this weekend in choosing to be thankful for interruptions?                  Think about it: God is sovereign over all things, all people, all plans, all places.  As Abraham Kuyper once declared, "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!"  If the Lord is completely, totally, ultimately Sovereign over all, then every single "interruption"that comes our way must indeed, be redefined as "God's appointments."  As God's opportunities, rather than man's obstacles.
      I started to write about this three days ago...and then interruption after interruption...no, correction: appointment after appointment came my way.  Three broken down cars in one day.  Several items that I needed to get to our daughter in Chapel Hill asap.  Lots of sudden new responsibilities on a school committee--things that I had to get done now, not later.  Not to mention a birthday for one of our children; another child coming into town with errands I needed to run...and the list goes on and on.  Nothing earth-shattering, mind you, but just lots and lots of things that had to be done that necessitated pushing aside my busy agenda and to-do list in favor of other priorities.
      But God has so imprinted on my heart that these are HIS appointments, HIS priorities, and HIS people that I'm to be busy serving and loving.  Here's how C.S. Lewis puts it: "The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own,' or 'real' life.  The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life--the life God is sending one day by day."
      More another day on the catalyst for this correction and realignment of my perspective, but for now, it's simply thank You, Father, for reminding me to be thankful for interruptions--Your sovereign appointments--in my life.
      "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand." (Ps.37:23-24)  Thank You, Abba, that You order our every step, You delight in our way, and You will use even our missteps and falls for our ultimate good and Your greater glory.
      Thank You for every opportunity You give us to teach us, to grow us, to conform us into Your image, and to use us as dispensers of Your glorious grace.   Whatever interruptions come our way this day, we ask that You would immediately realign our thinking to see each and every one as Your divine intervention in our lives.  Might we be overflowing with gratitude for the privilege of being used by You in unexpected or unusual ways this day and every day.  Thank You for the gift of helping us to die to ourselves and our selfishness, and thank You for the joy of serving and loving others.  
      To God be the glory.

Joining the trees' chorus

      Today, two simple reasons for thankfulness--
      Thank You, Father, for our veterans.  I don't really even have the words to express my profound gratitude for all they have sacrificed, all they have given, and all they have accomplished.  What can we say but thank you, thank you, thank you. Might we be worthy of their sacrifice and eternally grateful for their service.
      And second, thank You, Lord, for the beauty of Your world.  In particular, the gift of fall trees.

The brilliant colors of the trees and the carpet of leaves crunching under my feet never cease to amaze and delight me.  The glory of autumn never gets old...and reflects a magnificent, creative, gift-giving God.
      A.W. Tozer writes: "We make a mistake if we do not learn to admire God in all things, great and small; for a new rich mine would be opened in our consciousness if we could learn to recognize God in nature as well as in grace!  We do acknowledge that the God of nature is also the God of grace; and it is true that we glorify  God's redeeming grace no less when we glorify His creating and sustaining power...
      At one time, an English merchant and the renowned poet William Blake stood watching the sun come up out of the sea.  The bright yellow disk of the sun emerged, gilding the water and painting the sky with a thousand colors. 'Ah!  I see gold!' the merchant said.
      Blake answered, 'I see the glory of God!  And I hear a multitude of the heavenly host crying, 'The whole earth is full of His glory!'"
      Amen!  Every autumn tree trumpets the glory of God.  Might we join in the chorus of thanksgiving.  Think of how many trees we pass everyday. Just this morning, I was rushing down the escalator, scurrying to pick up lunch for one of my children, and suddenly, there, all over the Target parking lot, was God's glory on full display!  Multiple crimson trees dotted the parking lot, and I gasped with surprise at their beauty--in the middle of concrete shopping center parking lot!  God's goodness and glory is evidenced all around us, isn't it?  The problem is, we're often too busy or preoccupied to notice, pause and give thanks.
      So today, might every autumn tree you pass be a reminder to cease your rushing for just a moment and thank the Crafter and Creator of such astounding beauty.  Whether in your yard, in the parking lot at work, or along the road and highway, every tree sings of the glory of God.  And those trees are everywhere--so we have ample opportunity for praise!  Let's join in their chorus.  He is infinitely worthy.
     To God be the glory.
   

Thank You for Young Life and Windy Gap!

      This is what beautiful insanity looks like--

      Windy Gap, NC.  You have to look closely, but two young women are screaming in on the zip line on the right side of the picture (in front of the majestic Weeping Willow tree).  The zip line, in addition to flying down a mountain at dizzying speeds, ends in the LAKE.  The totally unheated I-can't-even-begin-to-think-about-how-cold-it-is lake.  Good night.
      On the left side of the picture is a giant slide, which countless crazy high schoolers (including my son) have flown down...into the same lovely but freezing lake.  Us stodgy old adults have been debating how much money someone would have to pay us to do either of these.  All I know is it would require Donald Trump and Bill Gates--like big, big bucks to get me to don a bathing suit and go hurtling down a mountain and into a lake in November.
      But as I sit here writing, I hear the beautiful sounds from outside of deliriously happy kids--screaming, laughing, talking, playing.  And all I can think is, thank You, Father.  For this place.  For the vision of Young Life to introduce kids to the Source of real, true, abundant, eternal life--the Lord Jesus.  For the joy of being here with so many amazing friends.  For the glory of God's mountains.  For the wonder of sharing this with my husband and three of my children.  For these truly heroic Young Life leaders and staff who give their lives away daily in loving and sacrificing for these kids.
      So today, thank You, Abba, for Young Life, for these high schoolers, and for changed lives.

      Thank You for the astounding beauty of Your mountains

     Thank You for all Your creatures, great and small--

Thank You for the joy of sharing all this with friends and family-

(Janie, her precious roommate, May, and Peter)  And the other wonderful friends here with us enjoying this little taste of heaven--

(By the way, this picture is lacking several VIP's...like Gray Creech.  Clearly, we've got to have more pictures tomorrow.  This simply will not do!)
       I have laughed hard and cried repeatedly--all out of gratitude and love. And let me tell you something--if you ever feel discouraged about the state of our nation's youth,  pay a visit to a Young Life camp.  Boy, God's got His hand upon some remarkable young folks, and He's working and moving in so many places and in so many ways.
       So today, another simple thank You to our extravagantly generous and gracious Father.  What a reminder that life's greatest blessings and treasures come not from an abundance of possessions...nor from exotic, world-wide travel...nor from perfect, fancy homes...nor from any thing this world can offer us.  No, true  contentment, true joy comes from the One who gave up everything in order to come to this earth and give His life for us.
      He is the Gift.  He is the Giver.  And all His gifts are so, so good.
      Today, what gift has He given you?  The treasure of friendship.  Of laughter.  Of fall's beauty.  Of friends or family (like Young Life leaders) who've loved and cared for your children.  Of a bracing walk on a cool day.  Of salvation.  Would you thank Him?
      "The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my father's God, and I will exalt Him." (Ex.15:2)
      Thank You, Father.  Thank You.  To God be the glory.

Mr. Bingley and our pilgrims

   

       It's been a tough fall for one of our pilgrim ladies.
       Her paint has started to chip, and now her skirt is looking a little worse for wear.  Yes, she's old--she's lived with us many, many years.  Yes, she's been packed and unpacked, packed and unpacked...hauled down a storage tub in the attic to come downstairs and join us for the fall and thanksgiving holidays.  And yes, truth be told, her counterpart, father pilgrim, is looking a bit rough around the edges as well.  Getting older sure isn't for sissies, is it?

But this pilgrim's decimated skirt, well, that's another matter.  

Maybe we need to ask Mr. Bingley about that one.

For you see, yours truly foolishly placed Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim beside our fireplace (not in the fireplace, mind you.  I'm not a total idiot) where they've stood guard for multiple years of thanksgiving.  I know I'm a broken record when it comes to the pilgrims, but oh my how they encourage and inspire me.   They stand as silent sentinels reminding us of what it means to sacrifice, to encounter staggering difficulty, to suffer terrible losses...and yet to persevere in faith and choose gratitude.  To choose thankfulness to God even in the face of oftentimes hard and bleak circumstances.  Oh my, if they could choose praise and thanksgiving in the midst of all they endured and suffered, how can we possibly do any less?  

Sorry, I digress.  Sigh...back to Mr. Bingley.

When I placed our pilgrims in their usual spot,  I'd forgotten that Bingley has never been around for Thanksgiving.  And while Bingley has not been a voracious chewer of objects, furniture, or shoes, he does love his toys.  He really loves his toys.  

So when a new object suddenly appeared in his neck of the woods--meaning in the den and near the ground--he happily assumed his family had gotten him a new toy to chew, toss around, and enjoy carrying from room to room.  Now while this might be great for the squeaky fish toy,  the rubber ball, and the supposedly indestructible squeaky ring, it's not so great for a 15 year old pilgrim lady made of wood, paper, and straw.  

When Bingley proudly trotted into the room holding her in his mouth, our reaction was less than welcoming.  After rescuing Mrs. Pilgrim, I glared down at him and in my meanest voice demanded, "Bingley, what have you done?"  He pretty much knew--

That is one guilty dog.  

And those are the shoes of one irritated mom.  

Don't worry.  We made up...pretty much immediately.  When it comes to dogs, it's pretty much impossible to stay mad for more than a minute or two....especially when they gaze up at you with those soulful, sorrowful eyes. Oh my, what a gift our dogs are--always loving your company (even when you're in a crummy mood), always seeking to please you, always overjoyed to see you when you've been gone for more than two and half minutes, and always happy just to sit and your feet (or in Bingley's case, to jump in your lap) in contented silence.  

So today, a simple thank You to the Giver of all good gifts--thank You for Bingley, thank You for the gift of our pets, thank You for those "little," seemingly ordinary gifts in our lives that bring us so much joy.  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17)

Thank You for every one of those gifts, Abba.  Might we this day be quick to notice those gifts You so extravagantly shower upon us.  Free us from the indifference, busyness, and preoccupation that so often blinds us to Your wonderful grace and generosity in our lives. 

 Open our eyes to Your treasures,  fill our hearts with gratitude, and cause our lips to overflow with Your praise so that You might be glorified and others might be encouraged and strengthened as well. The pilgrims did it so faithfully...help us to do the same.  They might be looking a little worse for wear, but they still remind us--Keep persevering.  Keep praising.

To God be the glory.