So, how's your day?

     “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;  on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;  in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.  And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” (II Cor.11:25-28)

     So, how’s your day going?

     Thought this might provide a little fuel for the fire for anyone joining me in the No Complaining Challenge.  Boy, we’re quick to find things to grumble about, aren’t we?  The weather, the wait in the fast food line, the weariness of our daily routine.  But not Paul!  Like James, he “counted it all joy” and, in fact, ended his staggering catalogue of suffering by saying, “For the sake Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.  For when I am weak then I am strong.” (II Cor.12:10)  O how thankful I am that in our weakness, God is strong and strengthens us!

     What’s the opposite of grumbling?  Gratitude!  Or, more specifically, speaking words of gratitude.  We can’t just desperately attempt to bite our tongues when the bile of griping and grousing threatens to spill out of our lips.  No, we need something positive to put in the place of complaining, right?   We need to have hearts that are focused upon Who God is, what He has done, and what He is doing even now.  Even in the midst of our sufferings and sorrows and setbacks. And I’ve found I need to write down or speak out loud those words of thanksgiving. Replacing words of grumbling with words of gratitude changes not only us but can alter the whole atmosphere of a workplace, a school, a church, or a home.

     We’ve got to choose “a sacrifice of praise” even when we don’t feel like it.  So in those moments when we’re trying not to grumble, make the choice to replace it with gratitude. After all, nature abhors a vacuum!   

     Sometimes it can be challenge, but I’m telling you, nothing changes your perspective and your attitude like finding something, anything, for which to be grateful.  When Janie was in such terrible shape in the ICU, I mentally kept a running list of all that I was thankful for--the wonderful nurses, the hot tea, the warm, dry place inside when it was pouring outside, the amazing care Janie was getting, the encouraging text from a friend just when we needed it, the presence of dearly beloved family and friends, the gift of laughter, a good sandwich, and on and on.  It didn’t change Janie’s condition...but it sure changed me. 

     More to come on this subject!  But for now, Lord enable us this day to speak words of gratitude rather than words of griping.  Keep us focused upon You, the God of all grace and goodness, rather than upon ourselves and our circumstances.  After all, circumstances change by the minute...but You are changeless and completely in control of all.  

     We choose to trust in and rejoice in You.  To God be the glory.

The No Complaining Challenge!

     Time to step out on a limb and take a leap of faith.  Maybe not your typical leap of faith, but still, a bold step.  Wanna join me and jump?  

     We’re going to call it the “No Complaining Challenge.” 

Let me explain: We're studying Philippians in Bible study--which, by the way, is one fine book of the Bible!  But O my, if you want to indulge in grumbling and ingratitude and keep a consistently negative perspective on life, then do NOT read Philippians! 

      But if, on the other hand, you’d like to change your attitude and your life and if you’d like to know how to live with indefatigable joy even in the midst of adversity, well, then, you know where to go.  And incidentally, I can’t think of a better book of the Bible to be reading around Thanksgiving.  

      So here’s what Paul tells us in Phil.2:14 “Do all things without grumbling or questioning...”  Goodness, he had me “all.”  Don’t see much wiggle room in there, do you?  Not “Do most things without grumbling...except, of course, when someone is irritating the fool out of you.”  Or “Do as much as you can without grumbling...except, naturally, when your teenagers are driving you crazy, or the weather is horrific, or you're overwhelmed by all you have to do and no one seems to helping you.”  

     Nope, just “Do ALL things without grumbling.” 

     Paul goes on to give us the incredible, wonderful incentive as to why God doesn’t want us to gripe and fuss...but I’m saving that for my next post.  Otherwise, you might start complaining (shame on you) that I’m going on too long.  So stay tuned.  

     But for now, let me explain the “No Complaining Challenge.”  I figure if anybody out there wants to join me, then you might want to hear a bit more about it.  My original modest goal was to make it one whole day without any kind of grumbling or griping...but I already messed up yesterday...several times.  sigh.  

    So I had to start fresh today.  Thank the Lord we serve a God of second...and third...and fourth chances!  

     Then I thought, well shoot, let’s go for a week.  Ambitious, bold, probably impossible...but “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” right? (Phil.4:13)   

      And then the Lord had to go to meddling. Funny how He likes to do that.

      He reminded me that occasionally, just every so often, I turn into the Wicked Witch of the West while trying to get everything bought and wrapped and cooked and cleaned and mailed and finished for Christmas.  Somewhere about, O let’s say mid-December, I start to freak out about all that’s left to be done and that inevitably leads to fussing and fretting.  Actually, that should read “Fussing and Fretting” with capital “F’s.”  

      This may never happen to you, and if so, you might as well stop reading right now and go finish those last few details of your Christmas preparations, since you’re probably one of those people who have it all done by mid-July.  But mind you, I’m not complaining.  Just observing.  

      Anyway, the Lord seemed to whisper--why not go for the whole holiday season?  After all, Philippians 2:14 is a command contained in His Word and that which the Lord calls us to do, He promises to enable.  

      So, no grumbling, griping, or fussing through Christmas Day.  By the way, that includes Christmas Eve--no griping while futilely trying to assemble that toy or gift at 1:45 a.m....when you’re already on the edge of hysteria-induced exhaustion.  Always a happy, happy time, isn’t it?        What do you think?  How’s this for a bold, somewhat insane, and completely impossible challenge?   But it is God’s Word, after all.  It is by His power and for His glory.  And then, of course, there’s always His amazing, relentless grace for our inevitable mess-ups!  

      Anyone out there up to joining me?  In the words of a Bebo Norman song: 

  Here goes nothing

  Here goes everything

  Gotta reach for something

  Or you’ll fall for anything

  Take a breath, take a step

  God only knows

  But here goes...

      To all my friends and family, you have permission to remind or correct me throughout the holidays.  “Oops, Mama, what about the NCC?”  That’s short for the “No Complaining Challenge”--to perhaps lessen embarrassment...and irritation.  I need all the help I can get.

      So here goes, Lord.  To God be the glory!  

The stars...the Savior...and us

     Wow.  That’s pretty much covers it.  Wow.

     It’s early in the morning--my favorite time of day.  So quiet and still.  A blanket of darkness outside makes the warmth of light and mug of hot tea inside all the more cozy and comforting.      I walked outside to put something in my car, and the bracing cold startled me into alertness.  Deep breath--O my, it’s good to be alive this fine, cold day.  I had somehow forgotten the gift of this day as I abstractedly began the early morning routine.  

     But then I glanced up at the sky.  And that was when God wow’ed me.  Yeah, yeah, sure, there’s the sky and the stars again, you say.  But that’s our problem, isn’t it?  There it is again...and again...and again.  Dulls our senses to the wonder of it all.  The vastness.  The distance.  The glory.  

     An inky black sky with pinpricks of shining light dot the canopy above me.  How on earth can we simply walk underneath such astounding beauty and be indifferent?  How can we not be awed by our smallness and heaven’s vastness?  How can we not look beyond the glories of the heavens to see the unmistakable reflection of the Creator and His jaw-dropping handiwork?  

     Makes me feel both small and large at the same time.  Small, of course, in comparison. “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (Ps.8:3-4)  We’re just little “dust-people” as Jill Driscoe always says.  Dust, here and then gone so quickly. 

     Consider the vastness and the eons of time reflected in those pinpricks of light poking through the blackness.  We’re here, what, 60, 70, 80 years?   The stars would laugh at such an age span.  And here we stand beneath the heavens, all 5 foot 5 or even 6 foot 5 of us.   Wonder what the heavens think of us when we think we’re too big for our britches?  “You little pip squeak!  You want big, I’ll show you huge,” shout the stars at our audacity.  Yep, puts me in my place to see such vast and awesome wonder. 

     But yet...I feel big somehow.  In fact, pretty gigantic.  For Jesus created the stars...but He came to save me.  Someday, eventually, all of those stars will die.  It may be thousands upon thousands of years, but each of those pinpricks will fade and disappear.  But not us.  Small dust-people that we are, we were created for eternity.  And the Creator of those heavens chose, in His merciful sovereignty, to exit the unfathomable glories of heaven and enter time and space for us.  For you, for me.  To become dust-people just like us.  So that we could become like Him for eternity.  

     We were crafted for eternity.  That’s why King David went on in the very next verse of Psalm 8 “Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!” (v.5)  Kind of makes you want to square your drooping shoulders and lift your head in thankfulness and wonder, doesn’t it?   Yeah, stars, you've got it going on and you're pretty remarkable and wondrous...but He simply created you.  He came...and died for us.   

     So today, just remember who you are--small, sinful, needy.  But then remember Whose you are--saved by an Almighty, all-glorious Savior who spoke those stars into being with a word.  Remember His saving power.  Relax in His sustaining presence.  Rejoice in His goodness and grace to you again...and again...and again.  

    To God--who not only created, but who came--be all the glory.

A moment of awe

     O my stars--this is what the Lord treated us to yesterday evening!  And this was simply taken from our back deck. If only I were a decent photographer...but what a sunset!  Glory on full display--on a regular old thursday evening!  Folks abstractedly driving home from work, kids arriving home dirty and tired from sports practice, exhausted moms trying to think of something new to make with "chicken again." 
     And yet in the midst of the mundane, God breaks through.  Just to remind us of His all-consuming greatness and His creative glory.  It was like a little postcard from the Father to turn our gaze away, just a moment, from all the clutter and busyness that consumes us and to pause and refocus on the Maker, the Giver, the Sustainer...the Redeemer.
     "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" (Ps.107:8)
     "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.  All Your works shall praise You.  They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom." (Ps.145:9-12)
     How can we not give thanks?  How dare we not give thanks?
     So Father, thank You for the reminder that You are forever on the throne, and You are the Author of awe. Might we pause in wonder and worship the Wonder-Maker.  To God be the glory.
   

Remembering and rejoicing

     I can't believe I forgot!  Well, actually I can, since I've always been a pretty good "forgetter"--and old age has only enhanced this not very useful skill. Sure, some things we need to forget...like old injuries, old bad habits, old hurts and misunderstandings.  We need to let them go, release them like a ballon into the wild blue yonder and move into God's amazing grace.  After all, isn't that what He did for us on the Calvary?  By Jesus' death on the cross, God took our sins and cast them into the impenetrable, deepest depths of the ocean and put up sign: "No Fishing Forever! Love, God."  O thank You for removing and forgetting our sins, Father!
     But there are lots of things we need to remember.  Remember His Word...for as D.L.Moody said, "The Bible will keep you from sin; or sin will keep you from the Bible."  Remember His forgiveness...and freely forgive others since we have been forgiven so immeasurably much more than we will ever be asked to forgive.  Remember His amazing grace...and extend grace, rejoice in grace, live by grace.  Remember His love...and that we are God's beloved...the apple of His eye. O my, try to get over that one--or as Max Lucado says, "If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it!"  Remember His power...and that all things, ALL things, are possible with God.  Remember His holiness...and keep short accounts with our sin by coming to the throne of grace in repentance and gratitude.
    When we forget, we fret.  But when we remember, we rejoice.
     We just studied yesterday Paul's words in Philippians, but somehow I completely missed that little word, "Remember"--"I thank my God every time I remember you." (1:3)  And over and over again, God's Word links remembering with rejoicing.
     At the last supper, at the end, Jesus joins them--remember and thanking: "And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, 'This is My body which is for you.  Do this in remembrance of Me." (I Cor.11:24)
     When we remember God's faithfulness and goodness to us in the past, when we remember His greatness and His character, when we remember what the Lord Jesus has done, then we rejoice and are thankful.
      So, to make a long story short (but when have I ever done that?): I forgot to get out our family's thanksgiving book.  We started in November of 1995, and here's the first page--

       On the left side is Janie's masterpiece of thanksgiving (she was one at the time) and on the other Mary Norris (5 at the time) writes in her own large hand--"I am thankful for God."  Well, that just about covers it.
      Of course, the list includes a few less exalted items--like "I'm thankful for Squeaky Mouse" (Richard--aged 3) or "I'm thankful for clowns" (also Richard) or "I'm thankful when I couldn't find my tooth and God helped me to find it" (Mary Norris--obviously concerned about the tooth fairy).       We also have entries thanking God for grapes, for bagels, for chocolate cake (food is a big theme of gratitude in our house), for the Tarheels winning a football game, for a good night's sleep (that would be mom), for a new house, for new babies, and for being on the "Happy Apple" at school (meaning good behavior).
      Then there's thankfulness for my parents going home to be with the Lord (some thankfulness is hard, isn't it?), for healing broken bones, for learning to wait on God, for college, for wonderful teachers, for bringing Matt into Mary Norris' life (getting married in a few months!), for God's grace and forgiveness and on and on. We also had a lot of entries thanking God for our sweet old dog, Moses.  Boy, we miss him--but we remember and rejoice that God gave him to us.
     I was struck by the very first entry from last year on Nov.1 "I am thankful to be able to walk again!" (Janie)  I had written a few days later, "Thank You, Lord, for saving and healing Janie from that wreck and brain injury. We see her wheelchair sitting in the hall [waiting to be returned to the hospital] and it is a reminder of Your incredible power, mercy, and grace.  Thank You, Lord!"  It occurs to me that this is a tiny foretaste of heaven, isn't it?  No more need for wheelchairs or hospitals or caskets or seeing eye dogs or divorce courts or nursing homes or orphanages or empty places at the table or tears.  Never again.  There's something worth remembering and rejoicing about with great joy.
     Sometimes we forget, don't we?  So simple, yet so profound--to remember, write it down...because we are all pretty good forgetters.  But gratitude springs out of remembering.
     Thanks for reminding me Lord...and for Your infinite grace and Your relentless love.  O Father, help us to remember...and then rejoice.
     To God be the glory.  

My favorite day!

     A bank of trees right in front of one of our son's school, Broughton High School.  How many times have I driven there, dropped off there, gone into meetings or concerts or various events there, and even attended church there (since that's where our church, Capital Community, meets)...and yet never ever noticed these trees?  Not once!  Unbelievable.
     O Lord, keep us astonished at Your glory and in awe of Your grace in our lives.  Remove the blinders of indifference or preoccupation or exhaustion so that we might glimpse You at work...for You are always working and moving.  Always.
     Especially on a mundane monday morning.  I awoke early this morning, tired and a bit overwhelmed...and I hadn't even stepped out of bed yet!  Just weary from contemplating all I had to do, all that had been left undone, and wondering why all the minutes and hours and days and years seem to just evaporate before my eyes.
    These are the times we have to redirect our gaze--away from all the stuff to be done and onto the Sovereign who strengthens and astonishes.  Gaze at God; glance at all else.
     And this is the only today that He has given us.  This day, this hour, this minute, to love God and others.  To allow awe of the Almighty to swamp our weariness.
     "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Ps.118:24)
      It's a choice, right?  A choice to rejoice even in a mundane monday.
     "'What day is it,' Pooh asked Piglet.  'It's today,' squeaked Piglet.  'My favorite day!' said Pooh."  (Winnie the Pooh)
     Mine too, Pooh.  I just needed the reminder.  And on this "today," might we choose to gaze at God and expect to be astonished.  And trust that He will fill in all those empty places...for He promises,  "I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint." (Jer.31:25)
     Thank You, Father...You already have.  Do it again, Lord.
     To God be the glory.
     
   
   

Not one sparrow...

     As I walked into the kitchen this morning, I heard it: a hard thump.  O no!  Another bird must have run into our big kitchen window overlooking the backyard.  Always such a sad sound.  But then, suddenly, I heard it again--thump.  What on earth?  Another bird?  And then yet, a third hard thump...but this time I looked up to see a tiny sparrow inside our kitchen.  Such a pathetic sight to see him darting about, flying desperately and hopelessly at the windows, then repeatedly dropping to the floor, stunned.
       We couldn't imagine how he found his way inside our house--except perhaps somehow or other managing to squeeze through a small crack in the screen door.  Goodness, must have required some impressive arial gymnastics to pull off that one.
     But we knew time was short.  We had to figure out a way to help him get outside again before he broke his neck flying into our windows.  My husband went towards him with a towel to try to gently pick him up from the floor, but the sparrow revived and flew towards the kitchen door.  Alas, I had opened the door but hadn't yet opened the screen, so he fell back hard once again.    And this time he didn't move.
     Richard carefully picked him up and took him outside and lay him on the ground.  But things didn't look good--he lay there listlessly on his side, still and quiet.
     A few minutes later, Peter and I left to run by his favorite gourmet eating establishment--Chick-fil-A--and there was the little sparrow on the ground, still unmoving.  I know this is pitiful, but I felt so forlorn.  I love birds, and it was so sad to see one of these delicate little creatures die on our watch.  Peter and I said a quick prayer for him (though without much hope).  Ironically, when we arrived for our fine dining experience of nuggets and hash browns, the first thing we glimpsed outside Chick-fil-A  was a bunch of this little fellow's cousins flitting about the tables, picking up crumbs.      
     I couldn't help but think of Matthew 10:29-31 "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But even the hairs on your head are all numbered.  Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows."
     "O thank You, Father," I whispered.  Thank You for the reminder that You are sovereignly in control of all things--even this one little insignificant sparrow that fell in our house.  Think of all the sparrows!  They're everywhere--simply innumerable! Yet our Heavenly Father knows of every single one...and if the Creator cares about one nameless tiny sparrow, then how much infinitely more does He love, tend, and provide for us, His children, made in His image and saved by His Son?  
      Today, whatever might be facing us, let's choose to "Fear not."  Why?  Because the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of the universe sees us individually, knows us intimately, loves us unconditionally, forgives us completely, and cares for us perfectly.  So whatever His plans for us this day, we will rest and trust in Him.
     And by the way, when we got home from Chick-fil-A, that little sparrow had recovered and flown off into the wild blue yonder!  So might need to add to that list--He's also our Daddy who answers prayers powerfully--even the little ones!  To God be the glory.