Homeward Bound

     One of our daughters just got back from a wonderful spring break trip with several girlfriends in Kiawah Island, SC.  Wow, some of the pictures she sent back made me dream of long, hot afternoons and salty ocean breezes. There's something about the peacefulness of those waters--

       When I see such beauty, such serenity, it also awakens in me a longing for our true and wondrous home...heaven.  If this imperfect planet could be so breathtaking in it's splendor, imagine what our perfect, glorious Home must be like.  "...No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined that God has prepared for those who love Him." (I Cor.2:9)

      O thank You, Father, for all we have to anticipate and for the hope and joy that gives us now in our present circumstances, whether good or bad.
     I guess I'm especially thinking about this right now as a good friend of mine just lost her daddy.  Death is just plain heartbreaking, no way around it.  But I loved these words from Randy Alcorn:
     "Grasping what the Bible teaches about Heaven shifts our center of gravity and radically alters our perspective on life.  This is why we should always seek to keep Heaven in our line of sight.
     In 1952, Florence Chadwick stepped off Catalina Island, Ca, into the waters of the Pacific Ocean, determined to swim to the mainland.  An experienced swimmer, she had already made history as the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways.
     The weather that day was foggy and chilly; Florence could hardly see the boats accompanying her. Still, she swam steadily for 15 hours. When she begged to be taken out of the water, her mother, in a boat alongside her, told her that she was close and that she could make it.  But Florence, physically and emotionally exhausted, stopped swimming and was pulled into the boat.  It wasn't until she was on board that she discovered the shore was less than half a mile away.  At a news conference the next day, she said, 'All I could see was the fog...I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.'
      When you face discouragement, difficulty or fatigue, or when you feel surrounded by the fog of uncertain circumstances, are you thinking, If only I could see the shore, I could make it?
     Set your sights on Jesus Christ, the Rock of salvation.  He is the One who has promised to prepare a place for those who put their hope in Him, a place where they can live with Him forever.  If we can learn to fix our eyes on Jesus, to see through the fog and picture our eternal home in our mind's eye, it will comfort and energize us, giving us a clear look at the finish line."
     Now that's a good word.  It may be foggy now, but Heaven's glorious shore is just ahead...and by the grace and mercy of God, we can make it.  Not somehow, but triumphantly.
     And you know what?  It's going to far exceed our wildest imaginings...He's promised.  So in the meantime, I want to be found faithful right where He has placed me.  My gaze set firmly on Jesus, the Finisher and Perfecter of my faith, my hope in heaven, and my joy in following Him all the way Home.  There's nothing like being Homeward bound.
     To God be the glory.

Give 'em the Bingley blessing!

     Bingley...waiting...waiting...waiting to go on a walk early this morning.
     Wish you could've heard him--quiet, pitiful little whimpers--so impatient to get out there to see and be seen.  And oh, the joy, when I grabbed his leash and out we ventured into the pre-dawn darkness.
     Now the first half of our walk was pretty uneventful from Bingley's vantage point.  The hardest part was selecting just the right stick to carry.  First he tried for a huge branch.  "Nope," Mama scolded.  "We're not hauling a tree trunk down Lassiter Mill Road."
     Then it was too little.  I think he figured no self-respecting dog would be seen carrying that little stump of a stick down a major thoroughfare.
     Finally Bingley located the perfect one--hefty, impressive, but not neck-wrenching or gait-impeding.
     With that arduous selection process completed, we were free to trot along and look for...
                       OTHER DOGS!
     Because, I have learned, that is the whole purpose of walking for Mr. B.  The purpose is certainly not, well...um...to take care of your morning constitutional.  It's not to witness the beautiful dawn of a brand new day (a fresh start, once again--thank You, Father!).  It's not to get enough exhausting exercise so he won't chew our house down to the nub.  It's not to chase after birds or squirrels or rabbits--though they always prove pretty entertaining.  It's not even--shock of shocks--to hunt and gather an ever-increasing collection of sticks for our yard.
     No siree.  THE purpose, the glorious and happy purpose of our walks is, apparently, to meet and greet another dog...or if we're really lucky, numerous dogs.
     Now here's the thing.  I don't really enjoy running into other dogs...basically because it's a huge pain in the neck...or should I say arm and shoulder.  When Bingley spots another dog, it's "Katie bar the door" (to quote my Mom).  Bingley's basically a very, very, very good little fellow most of the time...until he spots a fellow canine. And then he will pull my arm out of the socket, run me down the road or greenway like a crazy person, or generally do whatever it takes in order to get to that dog ASAP.      
      Meanwhile I'm yelling all the things the Beautiful Boyettes (my name for the fabulous, wonderful girls who are helping us train Bingley) have told me to tell him.  "LEAVE IT!!  LEAVE IT!! LEEEEEAAAAVVVVEEE IT!!!!"   This works wonderfully when it comes to sticks or squirrels or almost anything you can think of except...you guessed it.  Nope, I yell.  Bingley listens...and completely ignores me because--
      It's ANOTHER DOG!!  JOY!  HAPPINESS!  RAPTURE!  A DOG!  A DOG!  A DOG!    Time to greet and sniff and bark and jump around with glee.
     Meanwhile, I'm apologizing and saying things like, "I'm so sorry--but he's really friendly."            Really?  You think?
     It happened just yesterday with the Brown's sweet old brown lab.  And then again this morning with the Marlowe's wonderful black lab.  And I might add, both of these dogs seemed happy enough to see Mr.B but they were far more dignified and restrained in their response.  I'm chalking that up to Bingley's youth and inexperience.
     But can I tell you what I thought?  My dog has a better grip on what we've been placed on this earth to do than yours truly.   Oh Father, please forgive me.  Because, after all, we're here to love and glorify our glorious Lord...AND to love our fellow earth-dwellers that He died to save.                We're not here to serve ourselves...but to serve others.  We're not here to make much of ourselves...but to make much of our Savior and of others.  We're not here to focus upon ourselves...but, you guessed it, to place our gaze firmly upon our Lord and upon others.
     Maybe we need to stop worrying so much about how we feel and instead wonder about the feelings of others and how we might help them.
     We need to slooooow down and notice the clerk at Target.  We need to smile and offer a word of encouragement to that hard-working grocery store bagger.  We need to ask that nice fellow at Starbacks how he's doing.  Do we even know his name?
     If Jesus loved them enough to die for them, how can we not care?
     How can I not be willing to put aside my busy, selfish little agenda long enough to give them a Bingley greeting?
     Or pick up the phone and call our children or our parents or our friends to encourage them and remind them how much we love them?  If Bingley could talk, he'd had already racked up 10,000,000 minutes on his cell phone.  How about us?  Or are we too busy to call or text a word of love and encouragement.
      And while we're on the subject, I've often heard that the word encourage means "to pour courage into."  Oh man, who couldn't use a little courage being poured into their life?  Yes sir--a little courage-infusion to get us through the hard, tight places in life sure sounds good to me. And I promise you, there's not a person on this planet who isn't fighting some kind of tough battle somewhere in their lives...and your courage-infusion might be just the thing they need today to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and start again.
     Okay, I know, I know.  I'm going on and on, but goodness gracious, how important this is and how easily we tend to lose sight of it!  And you know why?  Because we're so stinking preoccupied with ourselves and to-do lists and our challenges that we miss the people--the eternal souls made by their Creator and loved infinitely by Him--that God has placed in our paths and in our lives.
     And He made it so clear.  So, so clear: "A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35)
      Any questions?
      So today, God's given us all another chance.  If we don't fold the five loads of laundry.  If we don't get a home-cooked meal on the table.  If we don't write our Bible study lecture.  If we don't finish our errands.   That's okay--as long as we LOVE.  Love God...and love one another.
     People, that's why we here.   That's why He came--love.  "We love, because He first loved us." (I John 4:19) Love that willingly relinquished the infinite joys of heaven to come to earth to love and love and love...and die on a cross so that those He loved could be with Him forever.  It's all about love.  Seriously.
     Time to get loving, folks.  Time to give 'em the Bingley blessing...
     Oh boy...ANOTHER PERSON!!
     To God be the glory.
     

Daylight saving...and feelings vs. faith!

                      A little food for weekend thought--


     Thank You Lord for this spectacular day!  Oh my, to feel the warmth of the sun after being frozen stiff for so long.  Our youngest even said this afternoon he saw--and was stung by--his first bee of the season!  Oh well, we have to take the good with the bad.  We'll take the bees and even the mosquitos over the ice and frigid rain and dampness that seems to seep down into your very bones.  So thank You, thank You, thank You, Father, for a tiny taste of spring!
     We're also thankful for daylight saving time beginning today...sort of.  Okay, well in the interest of full disclosure, we WILL be glad of it.  Today we're still sort of stumbling around, tired from an hour less sleep last night.  And for some reason this changing clock thing has also left me ravenous all day long.  What's up with that?  But a few days from now when we've adjusted to the time change, we'll rejoice in that extra hour of daylight in the evening.  Some things we have to take on faith...rather than based upon our feelings at the moment.
     So, maybe tired today...but thankful tomorrow.  Repeat after me: faith, not feelings.
     In light of that, from C.S.Lewis--
         "Nobody can always have devout feelings: and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about.  Christian love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will.  If we are trying to do His will we are obeying the commandment, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.'  He will give us feelings of love if He pleases.  We cannot create them for ourselves, and we must not demand them as a right.  But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. [Hallelujah!!  That's grace for you!] It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him."
     What wonderful news to be reminded of once again--it's not about us, but it's all about Him. Not about our performance, but about His perfection.  Not about our feelings, but about His faithfulness. Not about our adequacy, but about His unending abundance.
      Not ours...but His forgiveness.  His grace.  His power.  His enabling.  His love.  His strength.       Goodness, aren't you thankful when you have a day like today, maybe...when you're weary or weak or just feeling a bit threadbare, that it's His love, grace, and power that sustains and strengthens and undergirds you?
      Oh what a burden lifted!  Thank You, Father.
      Angie Smith says it this way: "We don't follow Him because we are sufficiently moved to do so or because we think we're sufficiently prepared.  We don't wait for a moment of emotional revelation.  We simply fix our eyes, steady ourselves with His promises, and put one foot resolutely in front of the other out of obedience.  And when the feelings of unbelief come like clouds on the path, we form these words alone with out lips, and we step forward anyway.  Lord...I believe."
        Yes, Father.  We believe.  To God be the glory.

Muddy puddle...or flowing stream?

     Early this morning, Bingley and I braved the sodden greenway together.  Nothing like a refreshing morning walk when it's 34 degrees, raining to beat the band, and windy.  Yes, let me go ahead and answer your question: I am crazy.
     But truth be told, it wasn't really my choice.  Bingley has to be walked.  I'm the mom.  Voila.  Need I say more?
      I'm living for the day when one of our children walks downstairs--after making their bed and bringing down their laundry--and says with a smile, "Ah, Mama, let me do it today!  You sit down on the couch and read the paper.  I'll go fetch you some hot tea before I head out into the howling, Arctic winds with Mr.B.  And by the way, have I told you lately how much I love you?"
      That so could happen.
      Yeah, right...I'm humming the tune of "To Dream the Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha.  A great musical, by the way.
      But I digress.  How unusual.  As Bingley and I walked along the water-inundated greenway, I was startled at how high little Crabtree Creek had risen.  What is normally a lazy, low and sluggish creek had become a veritable raging torrent of water.  Water poured past the bridges and threatened to overflow the banks.  It was stunning, really, to see the dramatic transformation from yesterday when the creek was...well, an innocent little creek and not a throbbing, rushing river.

(No kidding--this is usually a rocky, dry creek bed or at the most a tiny little trickle of water.  Not today!  And you should see the real Crabtree creek--we're talking the Nile...or at least the Mississippi River right here in Raleigh!)
      Bingley, thankfully, seemed pretty uninterested in the whole thing.  Had he decided to give her a try and jump in, I might be writing a mighty sad blog right now.  Now see...there's another benefit to obeying the city's leash laws--not only do you miss the joy of visiting with the nice animal control officers as they give you a ticket, but you also don't have to worry about your sweet puppy jumping into the water and flying down the stream as  you stand there stunned. So we're all good with the leash laws.  And, by the way, Bingley always wears his rabies tag. Anyway...

(Please note the water-logged greenway...and especially the leash.  Thank you.)
     My point?  Who knows.  No, no seriously, I do have one.  Just this morning I read these words: "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, my God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  Where can I can go and meet with God?" (Ps.42:1-2)
     Wow, this really hit me today, for what a reminder that this is to be our attitude towards meeting with and knowing our Lord.  Like a desperately thirsty deer panting for the water that will quench it's thirst and save it's life.
     Is that how I prepare to meet my God?  With that kind of expectancy, that kind of determined and relentless desire to be in the presence of the Almighty?  How thirsty am I really for my Lord or do I quench my thirst with so many lesser, inferior substitutes?
     Gosh, how often we rush to satisfy our thirst by lapping from shallow little mud puddles by the side of the road when God is offering us a rushing, raging torrent of His stream of living water.  Mud puddles of possessions...or pleasures...or perfection (perfect house, perfect children, perfect appearance...).  They'll never satisfy.  Never.  Only His stream of living water will fully and finally quench our thirst.  "Whoever believes in Me," said the Lord Jesus, "streams of living water will flow from within them." (John 7:38)
     So Lord, forgive us.  Forgive us for settling for little drops here and there of the world's tepid water when You offer us so infinitely much more--those streams of living water ready to fill us, flow from within us, and splash over those around us with the joy of Your presence.
     Keep us thirsty for you, Father, and allow our thirst to be satisfied by nothing less than Your streams of joyful, abundant, living water.  To God be the glory.
     
     

A prayer to begin this Lent

     Today is Ash Wednesday.  The first day of Lent.  When I mentioned this to my husband, he asked me (with an ever so slight smug expression, I might add): "Well, what exactly does the word 'Lent' mean?"
     I stumbled around...basically winging it...which actually means I made up something out of whole cloth.  Funny, I really didn't know even though all these years we've talked about Lent, read (somewhat irregularly) Lenten devotions, and tried to give up something for Lent--usually quite unsuccessfully since the thing I typically gave up tended to involve the renunciation of chocolate in some form or another. Always a huge, nearly impossible challenge in the case of yours truly who has zero will power when it comes to sweets.  Sigh.
     But after a bit of research, here's what I've learned: the word "Lent" means "the lengthening of days"--because during the weeks before Easter, in the northern hemisphere, the short, frigid days of winter should be lengthening into the longer, warmer days of spring.  At least that would be the case if the Polar Vortex would take a hike and never, ever, under penalty of death, show it's wretched face around here again.  Not that I'm resentful at all about the FREEZING weather that seems doggedly determined to hang on.  Oh no.  Don't we all love cold, damp, dreary days?
     But here's the good news...on several fronts.  First of all, the days are getting longer--praise God!  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for longer days of glorious daylight--and praise You that You are our Light, the Light of the World. (John 8:12)  Secondly, winter will eventually--no matter how grudgingly--give way to spring.  "For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.  The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land." (Song of Sol.2:11-12)  And third, Easter is coming!  No matter what it looks like right now, no matter what it feels like right now, Easter is coming.
      Just as surely as Good Friday looked like the end of all of Jesus' followers' hopes and dreams, just as surely as it must have felt like the end of the world...it wasn't.  Not by a long shot!  No, it wasn't the end of life...but the beginning.  Yeah, it was the end of plenty of things--like the end of the penalty of sin and death and despair.  The end of man's futile attempts to earn God's favor.  The end of trying and doing, trying and doing...and failing over and over again.
     And instead, it was the beginning of salvation by grace.  The beginning of righteousness by faith and faith alone.  The beginning of Jesus saying "No more doing and doing...it's done."  The beginning of God being with us and in us through the Holy Spirit and never, ever leaving us alone or forsaken.  The beginning of power--real power--and unconquerable hope and joy and peace through the indwelling presence of our Lord and King, Jesus.
     So, yep, today is the first day of Lent--the lengthening of days to remind us and prepare us for Easter.  I love how Barbara Rainey explained the purpose of these next 40 days: "Lent is the season of preparation for the pinnacle of the Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The purpose of observing Lent is to remember our need for a Savior and to anticipate the greatest miracle of all time.  Jesus willingly gave His life to free us from slavery to sin.  Many of us know that, but here in the Shadowlands (C.S.Lewis' description of earth), the wonder becomes clouded by daily disappointments and difficulties."
     Amen to that.
     Lord, would You remind us in these next 40 or so days of Lent?  Would You, in Your mercy and grace, restore to us the joy of our salvation?  "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You." (Ps.51:12)
     Forgive us, Father, that we silly, sometimes superficial creatures, forget so easily.  Would You show us again, Lord?  Would You give us a glimpse this Lenten season of Your glory and revive in us a sense of undiluted awe and wonder in Your Son, our Savior?   We join with Moses on this Ash Wednesday and ask "Please show me Your glory." (Ex.33:18)  For if we glimpse Your glory, we will be awestruck...and changed forever.
     We know You will, for You are the forever faithful Almighty One. We anticipate with eager excitement all that You will show us, Lord, for You've promised "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you." (Mt.7:7)
     We're knocking, Lord.  Might we be astounded and awed this Lenten season by Your infinite love, Your unlimited power, Your matchless beauty, Your amazing grace, and Your magnificent glory.
     To God be the glory.

Cold, college, and God's faithfulness

     Brrrrr.  It's cold in these here parts.
     We're in Davidson watching a golf tournament in what can only be described as Polar Vortex heaven.  Seriously, I cannot for the life of me figure out how these young men can possibly swing a golf club, much less manage to get a tiny ball into a teensy hole in such frigid, windy, and yesterday wet, weather. Thank the Lord it's dry today--and a balmy 30 degrees...wind chill listed at 12 degrees.  Don't you wish you were here?  Of course, how can I complain?  People actually live in places like Canada and Alaska and Maine, though I cannot imagine why.  I'd never leave the house from november thru april if I lived in Chicago or Buffalo.
     Okay, done with complaining.  Forgive me, Lord.
     "Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice!" (Phil.4:4).  And "Do ALL things without grumbling or questioning, that you  may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and corrupt generation among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil.2:14-15)  I am so busted.  Thank You, Lord, for repentance, for grace, and for fresh starts.  Boy, do I need the Gospel every single hour of every single day.
     Back to the subject at hand.  Here's Richard "warming up" (sort of an ironic term when it's 30 degrees and windy!) this morning--

     And here's what I'm thinking--other than thank you, Father, that I'm inside right now: Our son's four years at Davidson have flown by.  It sounds so cliche, but it's so true--the days may sometimes feel mighty long, but the years are far too short.  It seems like yesterday that we arrived on the campus for Richard's orientation with a bit of fear and trepidation in our hearts.  Yet the Lord knew this was the very perfect place for our son--a place where he would grow and learn and flourish.  A place where he would develop incredible friendships.  A place where God would begin shaping him into the man He's called him to be.  So a simple, thank You, Lord.
     And while I'm at it--thank You, Lord, for the beauty of this campus.  I walked around this morning and despite the bitterly cold temperatures, I marveled at the peaceful, gracious beauty of this place.

     Like all of life with our children, it's all gone by far too quickly.  So I'm trying to savor these simple moments with our children.  Like dinner with our newlyweds and Richard the other night here in Davidson--

     Hard to believe they've been married for nearly two months--but thank You, thank You, Father!  I want to hold onto my children tightly and keep them close...but in Your grace and goodness, You've given them wings that they might fly. Teach us to rejoice as they soar rather than whine and worry that they are flying away.  

          Over the past few days, it seems as if the Lord has repeatedly stilled time for just a millisecond.  Tiny, invisible pauses here and there, as if to say:  Right now.  This moment.  Treasure this moment with the people you love.  Taste the saltiness of the pizza and rejoice in the One who made the tomato and the wheat!  Gaze at these precious, irreplaceable faces that sit around the table with you and rejoice in their loving Creator and His incredible grace in putting them in your life.  Feel the stinging cold and breathe deeply of the fresh winter's air and rejoice in the Maker of heaven and earth...and weather!  Stand amazed at the gifts God pours out upon you in people, places, laughter, love, health, home. Too many to count...but try. Try to notice and number them. 

      Grasp the supernatural Word in your hands and wonder with amazement and joy that the Redeemer, Sustainer, and Creator speaks to you, to all of us.  His Word--warm from the breath of the Almighty--fresh for you, for this day, for this hour...to equip, encourage, strengthen and sustain. 

       And so Lord, we press on...relying upon Your provision for us this day, trusting in Your sustaining presence and power for us for the future, and remembering, too, Your forever faithfulness to us in the past. 

       Lord, children may be growing up, life may always be "a-changing"--but You are eternally changeless, good, and faithful.  

We thank You, and we trust You.  To God be the glory.

A mindset reminder!

                       A little food for weekend thought--

     Time for a quick reboot.
     Anybody else out there need that right about now?  Maybe not, but yours truly does....because for a short month, February sure is a mighty looooong month.  Somehow, these 28 days always seem to be the doldrums of the calendar year.
      I know, I know, totally wrong attitude.  Totally wrong mindset.  As our youngest son so often reminds me--"Mom, February is the greatest month of the whole year--it's got Valentine's Day and my birthday!!"  And I do need that reminder--thank You, Lord Jesus, for the priceless gift of our dear Peter who has brought so much joy and laughter and love into our lives.  And thank You for the Valentine's Day--after all, not only is it a day that rejoices in the irreplaceable gift of love in our lives, but also it celebrates the treasure of chocolate!  Geez, in light of all that, I clearly need a reboot if I've misplaced my joy!
     But here's what C.S.Lewis says: "As Dr. Johnson said, 'People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.'  The real job of every moral teacher is to keep on bringing us back, time after time, to the old simple principles which we are all so anxious not to see; like bringing a horse back and back to the fence it has refused to jump or bringing a child back and back to the bit in it's lesson that it wants to shirk."
      So here's the "old simple principle"--"Set your minds on things above not on things on the earth." (Col.3:2)  So simple...but so true and so powerfully life-changing.
     What's our mindset?  Where is our mind set?
     And are we responding to life based upon our moods or our mindset?
     Because here's the thing--if our minds are set above--upon the risen Savior whose grace saved us, whose love surrounds us, whose power sustains us, and who even now sits at the Father's right hand interceding for us--well then our moods will not, not, not control  us.  Nor will our circumstances...nor our challenges...nor our hardships...nor our heartaches.
     And people, we have heaven just ahead!  Good night, sometimes we forget all the glory and wonder and celebrating and perfection and joy that's just around the corner!
     No, it's not a matter of mood.  It's a mindset--a mind set upon Christ and His glory.
     February's behind us.  Those 28 days are done and gone.  But now God has given us a new month.  A fresh new start and a new opportunity to live with the right mindset.  With our minds set on things above and not below.  With a heart controlled by our mindset and not our moods.
     Oh how many countless times have I quoted it, but I need to be reminded again and again: "All our problems come from looking around rather than up."  (Mother Teresa).
     This new day, this new month, "The joy of the Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me.  My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him." (Ps.28:7)
     Go forth this day in the sweet words of Nehemiah: "For the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Neh.8:10)  Just in case you needed reminding...and don't we all?
     To God be the glory.