From glory to glory to glory...

     "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor.3:18)
     From glory--

     to glory--

     to glory--

     to glory--

     Just a few glimpses of God's glory on display all about us!  And these were simply taken while driving to a haircut with a crummy little cell phone camera!  If only I'd had a good camera with me...and more time and access...and considerably more photographic skill in order to do justice to the Lord's magnificent masterpieces!  
     But driving about the last couple of days, it stuck me anew: what a spectacular show God gives us every autumn...and how frequently we go about our busy lives with nary a notice. Failing far too often to give even a word of thanks or praise to our generous, gracious Creator.  
     We should be driving from tree to tree to tree--from portrait to portrait to portrait--using each as another opportunity to give Him glory, to give Him praise.  Oh, my, Lord another one...and another one...and another... 
     Each a silent masterpiece singing wordlessly but powerfully of the glory and goodness of their awesome Maker.  
     And ours.  
     For here's the truly astounding part: the more we behold Him--in His Word, in prayer, in rejoicing in His creation and His character--the more we, too, will be transformed from glory to glory to glory...   
     What a miracle--to consider that the Savior, the Almighty, the Sustainer and Redeemer, will increasingly transform us more and more into His glorious image.  To behold Him is to become ever more like Him.  Can mind even begin to comprehend such a glorious wonder?  No, words simply fail...it's all His amazing grace, isn't it?
     So today, might we slow down and savor the beauty of God's myriad masterpieces that line our streets, dot our parking lots, and grace our yards.  Don't let the trees multiple numbers, their commonplace frequency, rob them of their power to astound and awe you.  
     And as we savor, might we offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise to their glorious Creator.  Each new tree, a new opportunity to give Him glory...from glory to glory.  And each a fresh reminder that the Almighty is doing this in our lives as well--as we behold Him, we are becoming more like Him...from glory to glory to glory...all the way to heaven.  O thank You, Jesus! 
     To God be the glory. 

Autumn's bittersweet gifts

   

     Late last night, as I sat working on my computer in an impossibly still, quiet house, I heard it.
     The distant, muffled and rhythmic "Boom...boom...boom...boom..."   Sunday night...the final night of the State Fair. The final hurrah of the State Fair's nightly fireworks display.  We wouldn't discern their distant sound from the Fair again until next October.
     We'd been hearing them every night like clockwork--beginning at 9:45.  That faint sound of thunder that always signaled the glorious display of shooting, sparkling flashes of rainbow-colored happiness displayed across the black night sky.  I thought of all the families enjoying the wonder for one more night, one final, sweet fall night.
     I thought of all the times we'd delighted in fireworks with our children at so many places over so many years--from the State Fair to the mountains to the beach to the golf course and even to the street in front of our house.  A moment of melancholy that our children are growing up and moving away washed over me.  How quickly the years have sailed by.  How I wish I could slow them down a bit--savor more and worry less.
     My husband adores fall--it's his favorite season.  And I'm inclined to agree with him.  All the joy and anticipation of the holidays...but not yet with all the fuss and busyness of preparing for them! All the beauty of showy trees robed in dresses of scarlet and orange and yellow.  The refreshment and cool, clean scent of fall air.  And the joyous anticipation of children returning home of the holidays.  All the wondrous tastes of fall--the sweetness of pumpkin anything and tart apples and hot scented cider.
      So much to look happily anticipate.  So much to savor.
     And so much to remember.  My husband says fall also proves to be a beautifully bittersweet time.  For autumn brings back glad memories of his own childhood and the happiness of football and childhood friends and holidays.  And the joyous memories of our own children growing up.        Going to a local farm and laughing in the itchy straw for the hayride...and picking just the right pumpkin to take home.  And carefully choosing just the right Halloween costume--not too scary, not too lame, not too uncomfortable.  Watching thanksgiving plays or eating school thanksgiving feasts with children dressed as Indians in paper bag suits or as pilgrims with construction paper hats. Going to Greensboro or Rocky Mount and enjoying being with grandparents and siblings and hearing the ecstatic squeals of overly-sugared, but happy little ones running everywhere.  Gathering around our home's old organ, while my sister, Jane, played the familiar, wonderful Christmas hymns, and we all sang at the top of our lungs. Sometimes my Daddy and brother adding a bit of accompaniment with the sax. So many wonderful memories.
     But we can choose sadness over the swiftness of it all...or gladness over the gift of it all.  I choose gratitude.

     I choose to remember and rejoice.  I choose to wonder at the gracious, generous gift of it all and say "O thank You, Father for all this...for the Fair.  For the sound and beauty of fireworks.  For the children.  For parents and grandparents and siblings. For football games and hayrides and pilgrim hats and family sing-alongs.  For the memories of so much living...and learning that You, Father, are forever good and faithful and changeless.    
     And with that rhythmic booming, I also thought of our good old Moses.  How could I forget him?!  Fireworks always alarmed our sweet old black lab, since he surely assumed they signaled the imminent arrival of the scourge of his existence--thunderstorms.  O how he feared the sound and fury of thunder and would huddle nervously next to us.  Occasionally pacing and looking at us as if to say, "Don't you realize something truly terrible is happening here?  Is this okay?  Don't we need to leave...or better yet eat?"  And once again, while we miss our "Mo," I choose gratitude over the gift, rather than sorrow that is passed all too quickly.

                                        (Moses in his Christmas sweater on Christmas morning!)
      "Only one life...twill soon be past.  Only what's done for Jesus will last."
      How many times have we heard that, but these swiftly flying years teach me to remember...to rejoice and be grateful...and to rest in the only One who will never change, never leave us, never forsake us, never let us down, never be less than the perfectly Omnipotent, Omniscient, Transcendent Almighty Lord.
     Jesus, You're our Hope and Stay in this ever-changing life...because of Who You are and what You've done, the best is yet to come.  So yes, we may experience fall's bittersweet sorrows over the swiftness of it all...but also gladness and gratitude over the gift of it all.  And yes, life continues to move at a seemingly breakneck pace with our children growing up far too quickly...but we will savor these moments with joy in our hearts and wisdom in our ways.  And yes, sometimes that melancholy of memories and missing loved ones who've gone on to their true Home can wash over us.
     But, O my, You, Lord Jesus, are with us.  Forever.  And with You, we trust, we know that the best is yet to come.  That will be one glorious reunion, one joyous Wedding Feast of the Lamb that will put all our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations and fireworks displays to shame!  After all, I wonder if all our celebrations and happy memories are all just a tiny foretaste of what You have in store for us one glorious day.
     So in the meantime, we choose savoring the now that we have rather than sorrowing over the then that is over.
     We choose gratitude for the gifts...O so many gifts, and we choose to continue to look for those gifts every day that You give us, and we thank You for each of them.
     And we choose faithfulness and trust each day in our forever faithful Father who will be with us through it all.
     "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.  Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.  You return man to dust and say, 'Return, O children of man!' For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.  You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning; in the morning it flourishes  and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers...So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."  Teach us, Lord, to treasure You and Your gifts this day.
      Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the gift of autumn's memories, for the joy of Your presence with us in the gift of this day, and for the joyous gift and hope of heaven's glorious future.
      To God be the glory.

"Give it the Kutasch!"

     Two "whatever you do" verses to encourage those of us who may be feeling a bit weary of heart while facing much work to be done:
     "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Col.3:17)
     "Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.  You are serving the Lord Christ." (Col.3:23-24)
     "Whatever you do"--working on a Sunday school lesson--serving the Lord.  Folding laundry--serving the Lord.  Changing diapers--serving the Lord.  Writing a paper for school--serving the Lord.  Running errands--serving the Lord.  Studying or exercising or cooking or cleaning or loving that unlovely person or encouraging that one who is struggling--serving the Lord.
     What a difference when we remember that all we do and say can and should be offered to the Lord as service to the One who was the ultimate Servant to us and for us.  The Sovereign who served.  How can we do any less?  And how transformative when we know that our smallest acts of love or forgiveness or kindness or grace or helpfulness can be means of serving and honoring and rejoicing in our Lord.
     And I love that we are commanded to give "thanks to God" in whatever we do.  Even the distasteful.  Or the difficult.  Or even the things we despise and desperately want to delay.  We're to do them ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus and to give thanks to God through Him.  He's the Creator and the Sustainer of our thankfulness--our Sovereign Savior who served.
     So we place our gaze upon Him as we serve.  We seek His glory as we serve.  And we choose to give thanks as we serve.
     And then we do it "heartily!"  We do it with everything we've got...because after all, we've only got one shot at serving on this planet.  We'll have eternity to rejoice...but only right now, only today, to serve in whatever ways He's called us to serve.
     I was reminded the other day of one of my favorite stories I heard years ago from Chuck Swindoll.  He and his sister, Luci, used to love to go fishing in the summers at an old pier in a muddy bay.  Every single time they went, they saw an old man who sat on the end of the pier fishing.  Mr. Kutasch would sit motionless for hours on end waiting for the fish to bite.  And then suddenly, with the most imperceptible bobbing of the cork, Kutasch (as they called him) would suddenly jerk his line out of the water with such ferocity and enthusiasm that the line (and any poor fish on it) would fly out of the water and back over their heads.  Apparently this happened time and again.  Kutasch rarely, if ever, caught anything, but he never seemed to give up trying.  And, boy, every time he had a bite, he would give it all he had ripping that line out of the water!         And so Chuck and his sister began telling one another, whenever they had some especially difficult challenge ahead of them, "Give it the Kutasch!"  Over the years it stuck--whether facing cancer treatments or dealing with family hardships or facing burdensome work issues or simply persevering in something long and hard--they'd call one another and simply say, "Give it the Kutasch!"  I love that!  That's what it means to work heartily...and not give up!
     So today, Whatever we do, let's do it for the Lord, do it with thanksgiving..and give it the old Kutasch!  And to God be the glory.

Forgetting leads to fretting!

     I'm thinking today about the attitude-altering, life-changing power of remembering.         Specifically, remembering Almighty God and His goodness and grace and glory.  Maybe you don't need any reminding...but I know I sure did.
     And so did the Israelites when they wandered in the wilderness for all those years under the leadership of Moses.  Over and over again we read "they did not remember."
     "They did not remember His power or the day when He redeemed them from the foe, when He performed His signs in Egypt and His marvels in the fields of Zoan." (Ps.78:42-3)
     But aren't we often just like those forgetful Israelites?   They didn't remember...and therefore they grumbled and complained and doubted and rebelled.  We too, do not remember God's faithfulness to us in the past.  We do not remember His power, His patience, His love, His grace, His forgiveness.  And as a result we fret and fuss and worry and whine.
     All the while, the God of all glory and grace loves us with an everlasting love.  He patiently, kindly works and moves in ways we cannot see and do not understand.  Even while we grumble and doubt, He continues relentlessly putting the pieces into place...unseen, quietly....until one day, we suddenly see evidence of His miraculous and sovereign hand at work in our lives.  And then finally we remember and rejoice...until the next crisis or concern when we can so quickly forget and fret and worry once again.
      Just like the Israelites.  Read their saga in Exodus--it's one long repetitive story of complaining and worrying.  Why? Because they forget.  They fail to remember...until God reminds them with unmistakable evidences of His power--parting of the Red Sea, mana provided daily, water issuing from a rock....on and on it goes.  And sometimes the Lord "helps" them remember with terribly negative consequences for their faulty memories and fatally sinful actions--enemy invasions, catastrophic defeats, exile to foreign lands.
     O Father, help us to remember You and Your supernatural power!  Help us to remember Your goodness and grace to us in the past...and trust in Your eternal faithfulness for the future.  Help us to remember Your Word.  Help us to remember the extent of our sin...and the glorious and infinite grace of our Savior that is far far greater than all that sin.  Help us, in the words of Stephen Curtis Chapman, "to remember our chains...and remember our chains are gone."
     Just yesterday, God tapped us on the shoulder and reminded us to remember--at a neurologist appointment.  Well, God can use anything, can't He?!
      Janie's had a few more headaches and even a migraine recently, and so my husband asked her doctor as he examined her, "Well, how's she doing overall?  Is she doing about what you would expect? Is this expected?"
      Assuming the Doctor would reassure him that this was all to be expected, Richard was shocked when the doctor suddenly stopped with his examination and looked directly at my husband.
     "No," the doctor answered seriously.  "No, she's not doing at all what we would expect.  With her type of traumatic brain injury, she should not be in college at all."  He reminded us again that Janie's condition was nothing short of a miracle.  The "expected" would be a vastly diminished condition--not attending college, not enjoying friendships or activities or regular old everyday life.      Somehow we had forgotten the miracle that God had wrought in her life. O Father, how could we fail to remember?
     Because here's the thing--whenever we forget God's goodness and grace in our lives, then we're quick to complain or fret or doubt or worry.
     But when we remember, we're quick to thank and trust and turn over our problems to our ever faithful Father.
     And just one little example of how quickly forgetting leads to fretting--anxiety over our daughter's wedding dress.  Yes, we had heard some horror stories involving the place from which we ordered the dress--dresses ordered but never arriving or dresses not ready till the very last moment before the wedding and the like.
     So we went into the default mode of panic over prayer.  We started worrying...because we had stop remembering.  Sigh.  Where has that ever gotten any of us?
     Then just the other day, the dress arrived.  The folks at the shop were as nice as could be...and yours truly felt like a fussing, fretting, and forgetting Israelite.  So quick to forget all God had done and so slow to remember to go to Him first in prayer and in trust.  O Lord, please forgive me: Your all--too-often forgetful, faithless child!  Forgive me for panicking rather than praying.  Forgive me for complaining rather than coming and laying my burdens upon Your eternally powerful shoulders.
     Maybe you've got a marvelous memory when it comes to the Lord.  But for those of us who tend to forget--and that forgetting has let to fretting--might this be the day we remember and return to the God of all power and provision.  Might we refuse to panic and instead chose to pray.  And might we reject complaining and instead chose trusting and thanking.
     Just in case you need a little help remembering, why not start here:
     "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles." (Ps.103:1-5)
     That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?
     O Lord, help us to remember...and in our remembering, to rejoice and trust in You.  To our all-sufficient, all-glorious, all-gracious God be all the glory.
   

Weeds or blessings?

     A hint of the unveiling of fall's beauty--the first tree I glimpsed last week that was just putting on her God-given robe of red.  And a reminder that the Lord who changes our seasons and changes the colors of leaves and changes the temperature, well, He can change our circumstances as well.  Might we hope in Him.  "The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty.  Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting." (Ps.93:1-2)
     Today the air is beyond brisk--it's downright cold!  But so refreshing.  You just want to breathe down deep and full with that clear, pure air.  Covering it all--a magnificent canopy of startling blue overhead.  The bright sunshine seems almost brash after all the days of cloudy, overcast days.  So thank You, Lord!
      It's funny how easily we can be distracted from all the good God has graciously poured into our lives, because we're so preoccupied with the clouds He's also allowed.  Just this morning, I walked past our front yard...also known as a breeding ground for every weed native to North America.  Seriously, you cannot imagine the impressive--and horrible looking--variety of weeds in that one small space.  What on earth?  We just reseeded our yard, and the back yard looks amazing, but whew, not the front.
     I complained to my husband that this was embarrassing and looked awful for our neighbors.  His suggestion: "Let's put a sign out front and tell people to go look at our back yard instead."  So helpful.
      But here's the point: there's all this glory happening all about me--trees exploding in color, cool-make-you-feel-alive air to breathe, remarkably blue skies, sun-drenched brightness--and I'm focused upon a tiny little oval of weeds in front of my house.  Are you kidding?!
     O forgive me Father, because this so often reflects my prone-to-wander crummy complaining attitude!  No, we are reminded over and over again to count our blessings, to rejoice in the Lord, to delight in Him and His blessings in our lives.
     Why all the reminders?  Because we forget!  Because we tend to focus like lasers on the weeds in our lives rather fix our eyes upon the Giver and His gifts.
     Jonathan Edwards once said, "God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in."  We have to first see it and then we have to rejoice in it--that means out loud.  Consciously choosing to turn our gaze away from the crummy weeds in our lives and turning instead to focus upon the Creator and His glory and goodness in our lives.  And then rejoicing with our lips and in our attitudes.
     So thank You Lord for this day and for Your glory which pours forth upon this earth.  You are a relentless gift-giver.  Thank You for the priceless gift of the people You have placed in our lives.  And thank You most of all for the Savior who came to redeem His children and give us hope of an eternal, glorious, perfect--and weed free--home.  To God, and God alone,  be the glory!
   

Food at the Fair!

Boy, there's nothing like fall.  The cool and refreshing air.  The carpet of leaves on the damp ground.  The oranges and reds and yellows decorating the streets and yards.  The anticipation of pilgrims and pumpkin pie and families gathered together.
     And the State Fair.  O yes, the State Fair.
     I know some of you high-browed types don't darken the door of the State Fair...but I guess I'd put that in the category of unfathomable mysteries like not liking chocolate or sweet black labs or Handel's Messiah.
    Our family usually arrives within the first day or two of the opening.  This year we were down in our numbers but not in our enthusiasm. Here we are arriving...contemplating which food to eat first--

     I think we went with the tempura fried vegetables.  That's why Peter is not looking too excited at the moment.  But believe me, you can barely find the vegetables beneath all that yummy fried coating.  

     Then it was on to the Sunrise Cafe for burgers and hot dogs and other assorted health food--

     I was reminded of a picture we took just outside the Sunrise Cafe last year--our family gathered around Janie in her wheelchair.  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for how far you have brought her.  Help us to remember our Ebenezer: "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." (I Samuel 7)  

     Yes, it was an extravaganza of gluttony for the Fountains.  Chicken gyros, funnel cake, elephant ears, corn on the cob, NC State ice cream, and, of course, honey cotton candy.  We're all feeling great today.  Well, except for the stomach woes, headaches, and tighter pants.  But it was worth it.  

     I had to take one picture of the place that had a million and one fried items--we're talking fried cheesecake, fried oreos, fried mac and cheese, fried cookie dough, fried sloppy joe sandwiched between kripsy kreme donuts (truly revolting--and Preyer actually ate one and lived to tell of it)--

     What a reminder--our God urges us "O taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed  is the man who takes refuge in Him!' (Ps.34:8) And "How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Ps.119:103) 

      It's the delectable promises of God's Word where we will find lasting and joyous satisfaction to our heart's hunger.  Not in possessions.  Not in popularity.  Not in power.  Not even in pumpkin cheesecake fried on a stick.  God and His supernatural Word will fill our empty souls and satisfy our deepest longings.  O might we go to Him and eat of His ever-satsifying Word! 

      He will never ever disappoint. 

     And this year, the Fair didn't either.  As we left, I couldn't help but look back and praise the Father for the privilege of seeing and walking and laughing and eating.  

     To God--the Source of all that is good and great in our lives and is our joyous and complete Satisfaction--be all the glory.

  

     

Marathoning, Part Two

      Note to self--don't forget what you just learned.
     Life is a marathon...part two.  Yep, God keeps teaching and moulding and shaping us, doesn't He?  Aren't you thankful He never ever gives up on us quick forgetters?
     It was a challenging day yesterday.  Once again, nothing earth-shattering, but just a lot of those pesky disappointments, frustrations, and concerns that seem to love to come in bunches to distract us, discourage us, and even try to defeat us.  Wedding dress woes still unresolved.  Minor fender bender for Janie--a big fear, but praise God, a safe ending.  Hacked email--huge irritation.  Sadness over a puppy we were hoping for but the sweet mama dog had a false pregnancy. Sigh--a long, trying marathon of a day.
     And I woke this morning remembering that such is life--a marathon of ups and downs. Moments of joy...and moments of sorrow.  Days of great hope...and days of tremendous uncertainty.  Times of energy and exhilaration...and times of exhaustion and downheartedness.
     Just like that golf marathon lesson from yesterday.  Those college golfers can't allow themselves to fall into a pit of discouragement over a bad hole or two...because it's a marathon of 54 holes.  There will be spectacular shots...and missed puts.  There will be a fortunate roll that stops just short of a bunker...and there will a terrible break of hitting a ball out of bounds by mere inches.  And the great golfers have learned--stay the course.  Stay steady.  Stay focused.  And stay fixed on the goal of finishing well.
     God's Word tells us "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You." (Isa.26:3)  A steadfast mind--that's what marathons of running or golf--or life--require.
     "When you walk through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." (Isa.43:2-3)
     Notice, it's not if you pass through waters and flames...nope, it's when.  We will all pass through those raging fires of life--or even those minor little brush fires.  That's what happens in marathons.  It's never smooth sailing the whole way.  Never.
     But God promises to be with us.  To walk with us, to lead us, to forgive us, to help us, to strengthen us, to shape  us, to encourage us,  to use us, to love us...all the way to the finish line.
     And so, in the meantime, we need to keep our gaze fixed upon Him rather than our circumstances.  After all our hope isn't in our circumstances...it's in our God who is sovereign over our circumstances.  And whatever He's allowed, He will use it for our ultimate good and His greater glory.
     Our job is just to stay faithful in our marathon, rejecting those thoughts of defeat or discouragement or even despair, and trusting in Him. As Francois Fenelon once declared, "We must leave to God all that depends on Him, and think only of being faithful in all that depends upon ourselves."
     So, marathoning lesson part two--stay fixed on God, stay faithful, and stay focused in hope.  Because you might be in a tough spot in the marathon today...but it could all change tomorrow.  It's always too soon to give up.  Not with God!
     To God be the glory.