Embracing The Distaff Side

Crafting a Baby Shower

2011-11-14T15:06:00.001-06:00

So...it's been a while.

For those of you who were there yesterday at our Wreath Making Baby Shower, thanks for showing up because I HAD A GREAT TIME! I hope you did too.

I mean seriously...it was fun. And the FOOD! Have you noticed I'm a little preoccupied with food? You would think I lived on it or something. The soups were delicious, and the sandwiches were tasty and the snacks and the sweets and even the tea (if I do say so myself) was just Y-U-M...yum.

As promised, here are the pictures. I apologize that there are not more, but I've been having some technical difficulty. Silly blogger won't let me rotate!!!!!

Ladies Night

2011-09-10T08:27:00.003-05:00

Thursday, September 15th at 6:30 p.m.

The gals are getting together at Sencery's house in Goodlettsville.

A simmering pot of crab and chicken bisque
will be available. Please bring something to
compliment: crackers and dip, bread, finger sandwiches, fruit,
salad, veggies, dessert, drinks, etc.

We are meeting at 6:30 and you are free to
leave whenever you need to.

There is no agenda for this event, other than to
have some fun, chit-chat and get to know each
other a little better.

Distaff Side Retreat, Session 2

2011-04-29T09:33:00.002-05:00

This session was taught (excellently by the way) by Sencery. She got this to me a LONG time ago and has probably been wondering why in the world I haven't published it yet. I don't have an answer. Here it is...FINALLY!

Session 2: Be Still and Hear
Numbers 9:8

My two year old son has gotten into the habit of holding my face tightly between his little hands, placing his nose to my nose, and saying, “Mommy, do you HEAR me?” I assure him that I do hear him, but he keeps asking me over and over again; not only does he ask me the same question multiple times, he gets increasingly louder each time he asks. To me, this demonstrates the “be still and hear” concept very well; I believe he has mastered it. Step one: Grab the face so that movement is no longer an option (be still...); Step two: Repeat yourself while getting increasingly louder so that not hearing would be impossible (and hear...).

As adults, I am sure you have probably heard, if not used, the following phrase when trying to communicate with certain people: “I know you HEAR me, but are you LISTENING?” Most of the time you can tell when someone is hearing you because there is usually some change in facial expression, body language, or some type of verbal response. How do you know that they actually listened? You wait to see if there are actions that follow. So when the Bible talks about “Be still and hear...”, does that mean we freeze in place and strain our ears until we hear Him? Not quite...

In the book of Numbers, chapter 9, Moses and the Israelites are in the wilderness of Sinai. Numbers 9:1-2 says, “Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: ‘Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time.’” In the Old Testament, in order to have a relationship with God, the Israelites had to follow the Law. Even when they followed the Law, they couldn’t have a direct relationship with God; they had to go through a third party. If they wanted to keep their relationship with God in good standing and be pleasing to Him, they had to be obedient and observe all the rules, rites, and ceremonies that were required of them. A lot to deal with, but they did it to the best of their ability because they had a heart for God and wanted to be in relationship with Him. However, there were some Israelites who were disqualified. They had the desire to be obedient and to observe the Passover, but the rules were keeping them from it. Numbers 9:6-7 says, “Now there were certain men who were defiled by a human corpse, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron that day. And those men said to him, ‘We became defiled by a human corpse. Why are we kept from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the children of Israel?’” They wanted to do the right thing, but because of their circumstance they were prohibited. I don’t know how they came in contact with the dead body – I’m sure they weren’t playing a game of dare where they decided whoever touched the dead body was the coolest – but that dead body got in the way of their worship of God.

So what did these men do? Did they storm the Holy of Holies in the inner room of the tabernacle and begin making their case before God? Nope – then they would have been dead bodies. The step they had to take was to go to Moses, their leader, and Aaron, the priest, and have them bring their circumstance before God. Numbers 9:8 says, “And Moses said to them, ‘Stand still, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.’” The Message Bible puts it this way, “Moses said, ‘Give me some time; I’ll find out what God says in your circumstances.’” The Bible doesn’t tell us how long they had to wait for an answer to their dilemma; but they did have to wait. The Hebrew word for “still” in that verse means “again, repeatedly, still, more”. They were probably like children in the backseat of a car on a long trip asking, “Are we there yet?” – patience isn’t naturally occurring in the flesh. The Hebrew word for “hear” in that verse means “to hear intelligently, often with the implication of attention, obedience, etc.”. In verse 9, the answer is given, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If anyone of you or your posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the Lord’s Passover. On the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight, they may keep it.’” The defiled Israelites heard what the Lord said through Moses – there was a way for them to maintain their relationship with God despite the circumstances they found themselves in – and they listened by observing the Passover as they were told.

So what does that have to do with us? We aren’t under the law; through Jesus Christ we have direct access to God – a personal relationship with no third party. We don’t have to worry about being defiled by a dead body and not being able to attend church or fellowship with other believers because of it. But... are there things in our lives that hinder our relationship with God? Things that affect how pleasing we are to Him? Do we find ourselves in situations or with circumstances that separate us from God? I’m not necessarily talking about some blatant, neon-sign sin; just anything that is out of His will; that is not according to His instructions in His Word for us. I know I can think of many things that I have in my life that battle for my time and attention every day. If I give them priority and let them keep pushing my prayer time, Bible-reading time, devotional time, or quiet time with God later into the day until I fall into bed and realize I have put Him at the bottom of my list – that hinders my relationship with Him. Our circumstances in everyday life can sometimes separate us from Him; but the good news is that we can talk directly to our Father and tell him about our circumstances (confess), apologize, and try it again (repent). Isn’t God awesome?

When we work on our relationship with God (yes, I said work – you have to make a focused effort in any relationship you have or it dies), there are times when, like the Israelites, we have to be still and hear what the Lord is saying to us. Being still/waiting is difficult – especially when our circumstances may be worsening as we wait. But our faith that God is who He says He is, and that He is our provider, stronghold, shield, and covering, is what helps us be still when our flesh is screaming otherwise (are we there yet????). Once we hear what He says to us, it is our turn to let Him know we are listening. How do we do that? In our Christian walk, there are many times we say, “I know what the Bible tells me to do.” So we definitely hear God speaking to us through His Word. However, how does God know that we are listening? Colossians 1:10 says, “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;” The fruit will show up in your life.

So whether you are coming out of a situation, in the middle of a situation, or getting ready to enter a situation (that would be all of us, right?), remember to be still. Then, when you do hear, make sure you listen!

Be Still and Sleep

2011-04-04T17:22:00.004-05:00

The following is another post (actually it's two) from my personal blog. It's something that was on my mind during our session but there wasn't time to relate the story and it wasn't necessary to our weekend. Sharing the details on our blog however, gives me opportunity to share a little more and I hope you don't mind my taking license to do so. These were written in February of 2007 about Ivan who would have been almost 15 months at the time. I am sharing because I think it reflects our need to be still as children of God. Just like I shared about Moses being able to still the people because he had a knowledge of God's faithfulness, we must be able to still ourselves knowing that He is our caring Father and our reigning King.

This has been a hard day. I love being a parent, and I love my children, but today was one of those testing days where you wonder if you're qualified and if maybe you should have been licensed before signing up to be a caregiver to such young and fragile creatures.

Ivan was sick yesterday, low fever part of the day but gone this morning. After taking him from his crib and holding him a while I noticed his breathing was strained and he was just miserable and exhausted. I prayed and held him all day. I got him some great stuff at Orbit per Becky's suggestion and I know it's helping, but results aren't swift, at least not as swift as I'd like, and all day I've been questioning everything. Should I take him to the doctor? Should I give him this? Should I keep him from eating that? What if he's really ill?..what if it's more serious than I'm aware?..what if?..what if?..what if?..was the mantra, and I had to banish it under my feet constantly.

One of the drawbacks of being a somewhat creative person is that my mind not only comes up with good stories or witty things to say, it also festers with dramatic scenarios of pain and suffering. I can imagine things that no one should ever dwell on and today those images were almost constant. Cast your cares on Him...I would remind myself, take every thought captive...By His stripes Ivan is healed...at least the arsenal is ready when needed. It's just exhausting to fight myself all day. He did have a fever again after his nap and I did call the doctors office and the nurse suggested a few things to do and said if he's not better by morning to bring him in. He will be better by morning. I trust that God will bless him abundantly as he sleeps tonight.

I feel better just writing it out. All evening after putting the little guy to bed I have felt confident that tomorrow would be a much better day and therefore the title of this post...if this day ended early I could move on to tomorrow.

Habakkuk 3:18 "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation."

After posting last night I still had a long way until morning. Kris and I listened and debated what to do with our little wheezing baby. Of course it got worse as night fell and I began to get scared. Should I take him to the ER? I really didn't want to do that. At one point I decided to try sitting up with him thinking that an upright position would help him breath more freely. He did do much better that way but let it be known about 30 minutes later that the bed was where he wanted to be. His cough was almost constant so we did end up giving him a bit of over-the-counter medicine for that and he did stop coughing for a few hours which I think helped him with his breathing as well.

I was a wreck. Now, from where I slept I couldn't hear the coughing which was my only signal that he was actually breathing at all. I had prayed earlier and told God that I needed Him to care for Ivan, I gave Ivan over to God and asked Him to be his Father. I told Him that I trusted Him and that I would do whatever He told me to do. Would you believe that God told me to go to bed and then challenged my earlier resignation? "If you trust me...don't check on him."

"What?! How can I sleep?" I questioned.

I struggled, but believed I had heard from God, and that it was more important that I be obedient and show my trust than to worry over my baby and hover over his bed every thirty minutes. For me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, when the lights go out and I am tired it is much harder to control my emotions. I was in anguish, and finally got up and physically knelt to pray for peace if I was going to be obedient.

I seriously felt like Ivan could die in those moments. How could I just lie in bed and not make sure that he was still breathing? I finally resigned my position and let God be God...telling myself all the true things about God's love, His power, His mercy, His constant care was not what helped me. I had to resign to His position. He is King and I had to obey. It was strange, but all the other stuff became believable when I submitted to Him as LORD. I laid my head on my pillow and I slept.

Ivan did wake up about three times, crying and I went to him to comfort him, give him his pacifier and cover him up again. Each time, his forehead felt a little cooler, his breathing a bit more peaceful until at 4:00 a.m. he was cool and his breathing just slightly heavy.

I felt victorious. I felt like I could now trust God for anything. It was as if I had to leave Ivan with Him for the night and not interrupt whatever process God was using to make him better and I felt truly grateful for His care.

Ivan was still a bit ill all day today but leaps and bounds better than yesterday. No fever today and his breathing, though heavy, was never bad enough to cause me concern. He just sounded congested. He didn't cough as much, didn't need as much attention and even laughed a few times. I laid him in his crib with confidence tonight, knowing that His heavenly Daddy would be watching over him constantly.

The Adventure of Stillness

2011-04-01T15:54:00.004-05:00

The following is copied straight from my personal blog, "Calico Dreams." It's where I write day to day stuff, limericks every Friday and once and a while a little bit of what God is doing in my heart. I used one of these paragraphs in our retreat flier in hopes of enticing you to join us for the retreat and at the end of the post is a story I told those of you who were here. Again...this is so you can refer back to it again should you desire to.
______________________________________________________________________________

Adventure:
–noun
a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

I'm not typically very adventurous. I don't like risk. I like steady, calm and faithful. I like having fun, I am somewhat curious and I enjoy spontaneity a great deal, but if it involves even the slightest possibility of losing something important to me, I'm not going to get involved. Adventure to me is a trip somewhere completely new with nothing but an extra pair of underwear and a toothbrush in my carry on. I would have to get what I need and fly by the seat of my pants, meeting people, asking questions and discovering things that aren't on the brochure. I guess to me adventure is more on the side of a scavenger hunt than a bear hunt. I don't want to have to find anything that might just be looking for me too.

Kris and I are a bit different in this category. To him a trip like I described is more risk than he wants to take. It sets his planners brain on edge and causes him to wrap his dollar bills more tightly inside his wallet. He can think of multiple scenarios where this sort of adventure could be disastrous and his only goal is to get out of the situation as quickly and at as low a cost as possible. Yet, he'd happily jump out of an airplane if given the opportunity.

Regardless of what our differing definitions of adventure are, neither of them seem to blend well with the idea of stillness. Stillness is defined as: silence; quiet; hush. How can adventure be associated with these descriptions? I want to tell you so bad!

I mentioned in a previous post that I am intrigued and fascinated by the idea of stillness, what it means beyond it's definition, what it means to me as a Christian. The Bible tells me that being still is a pre-requisite to knowing that He is God in Psalm 46:10. Doesn't that make you want stillness? It does me. Exodus 14:13 and Joshua 3:8 show us stillness was a command of God before He parted the waters for Moses and his Protégé. Before many of God's great miracles, before much of His instruction, in the midst of many revelations we read about stillness. Even His voice is described in I Kings 19:12 as still and small. He leads us by still waters in Psalm 23 (you knew I had to mention it), He defeats armies (II Chronicles 20:17) with stillness and causes a young woman to secure her future (Ruth 3:18). Stillness is what Jesus commanded of the sea (Mark 4:39), and became His posture when hearing of his friend Lazarus' illness (John 11:6). Our God is a fan of stillness and when I think more on the topic I think of our own practices and the many ways God uses stillness to prove Himself. Our faith determines our stillness. Our stillness determines His action.

Stillness can seem like an exercise in foolishness. It is a vulnerability that few are willing to risk. Why do we not see more miracles? We are not still. Why don't we hear God's voice? We are not still. What could God do in us if we reserved our own desires, our own strength and traded our restlessness for the supernatural quiet of stillness?

The Psalmist made mention many times his need for stillness, to trust in God enough to remain vulnerable in the situation he was in. This call to stillness can feel like a death sentence, it can feel like a command to become a stoic monument to foolishness. Stillness is not encouraged in this life, there are few examples of it. We are a society on the move, we are a people of action and stillness doesn’t stand out as a mentionable criteria for success.

Yet there is a continuous thread in the Word of God directing us toward that hush, where God’s voice is heard more clearly, that quiet where His songs over us enable us to dance, and that silence where His Spirit so willingly approaches us to comfort and encourage. It is a necessary ingredient to witnessing the miraculous and a powerful factor in experiencing His grace. In order to experience God, we must at some point become still.

But how? As a mom it's nearly impossible to find those pockets of quiet in our days. It's difficult to schedule in the ever wavering moods and actions of little ones. It's even harder to seclude ourselves and truly find a quiet place and time. I treasure those moments when I find them and I know many of you do as well. I think they are crucial and I hope I never take them for granted once the little voices are no longer attempting to overpower the still and small one in my heart.

I do believe that "quiet times" are something to seek and strive for but God showed me something last night that encouraged me so much. In my quest to continue as faithful in the road I find myself lately, I am constantly asking if I'm in the right place. Have I missed anything? Show me where I am and for me personally I often ask for a picture. My understanding is enlightened and impacted more profoundly with visual remembrances or stories that communicate God's messages. He often obliges me and I'm so grateful.

Last night I recalled a situation many years ago when I was still traveling with Images. We were staying on the beach between two bookings in the area and had a few days of free time to spend as we wished. One of these days we decided to rent wave runners and take them out on the gulf and have a little fun. It was incredible. I have never had so much fun with a motorized vehicle since. I've taken wave runners on the lake before and though it is very fun, there is nothing like the waves of a huge body of water that can give you that rush. I asked the guy we were renting from, how far out into the gulf can we go? He said 1 mile was as far as he would want anyone to take them. I asked how we would know when we had gone a mile and he replied, when you can't see the people on the beach anymore. You've gone too far. So I did it. After playing around for a little while and becoming comfortable on the machine I headed out to sea. I turned around every now and then to see how far I had gotten and though I felt like I had been driving forever, I could still see clearly, the crowd on the sand. I kept going and finally even though I could still make out colors, sizes, shapes and even actions of the people on shore I stopped and something like fear gripped me. It wasn't the depth of the sea beneath me, the size of the body of water wasn't any more impressive to me from where I was, it was the stillness that shook me. I could hear nothing of the laughter and noise from the shore. I could hear myself breathing and I could hear the water hitting the sides of the wave runner, I could hear the motor running smoothly, but I couldn't hear the rest of the world, and I knew that were I to scream at the top of my lungs...they couldn't hear me either. I reasoned with myself that nothing was going to happen but I couldn't stay. I had to get back to the bustle of civilization. I rode hard and eventually shook off the shiver that had come to the back of my neck.

Last night I knew that I was there again. Out in the wilderness so to speak, I am somewhat alone there and the distance between me and normalcy is uncomfortable. I can see the danger of where I am and as I realized the similarity in my current circumstance and my long ago ride on the gulf I said, "God, bad things do happen to people in situations like that. People do have accidents, run out of gas, fall, and they even die." He said, "but you didn't." And He was right. It suddenly came to me that He is not trying to test my faith or help me overcome any fear, those are side items on His agenda. He is drawing me toward the adventure of stillness. How great is His presence when no other presence is available? How clear is His voice, when no other voice can reach me? How big are the opportunities that no one else is still enough to listen for?

Stillness isn't only a quiet place to commune with God, it is also the places we reach when we have dared to follow Him past our fear and pain. It is not the end of a journey, but it is definitely the most adventurous path to take.

Distaff Side Retreat, Session 1

2011-03-31T21:27:00.002-05:00

Session 1: Be Still and See
Exodus 14:13-14

Life doesn’t come with an easy button. We all face trials, questions and quandaries that leave us wondering if we heard God wrong, if we did the right thing or if we are going the right direction. How is it possible that after following God, clearly stepping out into whatever He has called us to, we still face truly (not imagined) insurmountable obstacles along the straight and narrow path?

“If God told you to take the job, why are the bills still piling up larger than the income, or why are you facing an ethical dilemma right out of the gate, or why has it brought a wedge between you and your spouse?”

“If God told you to buy the house, why did you lose part of your income and you suddenly find yourself unable to make the payments, or why can’t you sell the house you were in before, or why are you next door to the most hateful family on earth?”

“If God told you to have another baby, why is she sick ALL the time, or why isn’t your husband helping you with ANY of the responsibilities of parenting, or why is it impossible to find affordable childcare?”

Whatever the hurdle, it’s not always a result of mis-hearing God, sometimes it’s just…a hurdle.

Exodus 14:13-14
“But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by, (King James says “Stand Still”) and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today; For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you, while you keep silent.’”

Was there any doubt that God had led the children of Israel out of Egypt? NO! Moses didn’t sit down and have a committee meeting with Merriam and Aaron and start asking questions about who heard what from God and questioning whether they jumped the gun on their exodus. No, there were plenty of signs that God was in this, they’re known around the globe as the 10 plagues. What Moses did was genius and it shows he had more than just a superficial relationship with Jehovah. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God had led them OUT of Egypt and that God wouldn’t do that unless he were going to finish the job. So, what did he do? He told them to be still.

Here’s the line of thinking. “If God told us to leave, gave us the freedom and the open door to do it than it wasn’t because He wanted us to be slaughtered at the beach, or drown in the sea. He has something planned to make this work and I don’t want to miss it.”

I used to read stories like this, and this one in particular I pictured Moses so serious. I figured no matter what he was probably pretty nervous and anxious about how bad this was going to get. However, now looking at from a different perspective, I think of him differently. Here’s a guy who saw God in a burning bush, a guy who has realized his worth from a baby doomed to death to a prince, a guy who has just seen God perform 10 of the craziest miracles ever. He knows that God wants this exodus to happen, so he isn’t yelling out to the crowd HOPING God will do something. He’s trying to get them to calm down and so they won’t miss it!

He doesn’t leave them hanging either. There are three encouraging statements in this passage that shouldn’t be taken lightly. They are what we too should cling to when we face life’s hurdles. Look at these words:

1) …He will accomplish for you today…
The word accomplish is from the NASB, the King James says “show” but the original Hebrew word is “Asah.” The general meaning is to “do” or “make” in a general sense. It has the connotation of ethical obligation.

Moses was telling them, “look, keep your eyes open, God IS going to show you something, He IS going to do something for us because…well…He has to. This was HIS plan.”

God directed this whole story. He groomed Moses to be the leader of His plan, He showed up with the plagues and the Passover angel, He hardened Pharaoh’s heart and then broke it with the death of his first born son. If all the planning and preparation were up to God, so would the task of making it work. What would this scene look like if Moses had become impatient and tried to carry out the exodus another way?

He knew God wanted them to have their freedom and the plagues weren’t working out like he’d hoped. The wizards and prophets of Egypt seemed to be able to duplicate the things that God did through Moses and frankly that wasn’t cool. Let’s say Moses got the Israelite slaves to dig a huge tunnel out of Egypt they could all escape in the middle of the night. They are out and headed to the promise land when Pharaoh wakes up and finds his favorite Israelite butler isn’t coming with his coffee. He slips into his most comfortable military skirt, hitches his favorite horse to his chariot, having the entire Egyptian army at his disposal he gathers up the boys and rides off to fetch back his slaves. Now we see the same picture of army on one side and the sea on the other but we’ve got Moses going…uh, oh…maybe we left too soon.

*When we get ahead of God, when we aren’t able to hear from God, when we miss what God is saying…we lose our ability to walk through trials with the confidence that He has a way out.*

I also love that he says…”today.” For the children of Israel, there wasn’t much choice. Today had to be when God showed up with their miracle because they didn’t have any tomorrow if He didn’t. How often do we walk faithfully with God until we are down to the last minutes and then become afraid because God hasn’t “done something?” His timing is perfect. Even in Moses’ situation I’ve often thought how incredible it was that there was enough time to part the waters and get 3 million people to the other side and still be able to close up the water on top of the Egyptian army. They had to start their journey and the Egyptians had to start chasing them at just the right time or it wouldn’t have worked.

2) ….For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. …

The word “see” used twice in this phrase is what I find so encouraging about this.
The Israelites did SEE the Egyptian army chasing them. It was not an imagined terror. It was not an overreaction on their part to want to get away from them. It was death chasing them, cruel and painful death kicking up a cloud of sand in the distance and they weren’t coming for one last hug goodbye.

Our trials are from a real enemy. He isn’t trying to simply frustrate us or slow us down, and he certainly isn’t trying to teach us a lesson. He is a killer. The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.

Our trials bring a very real threat to us. Diseases come to rob us of life and abundance. Financial crisis comes to steal our security, our homes and our future. Relationship issues come to destroy our faith in people and even ourselves. We have a lot to protect, a lot to cherish and a lot to consider regarding what we see.
The wonderful declaration Moses makes here is that what we see is about to be taken care of so completely that we won’t see it again…ever.

3) …The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.
II Chronicles 20:15-17
He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”

II Kings 6:15-17
Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Again the II Chronicles passage and the II Kings passage use the word “see.” Stand firm and see.” II Chronicles 20:17 and “open his eyes that he may see” II Kings 6:17.

Our faithful Father is not obligated to show us what He’s doing, but in our stillness…in our resignation to allow Him to prove Himself He opens our eyes and allows us to SEE His mighty acts. Do you really think that God who has a host of heavenly warriors at His disposal needs your help? Really?

At the end of that phrase, the end of the verse says, “while you keep silent.” I think He meant that. The children of Israel were called children for a reason. Most of you know what a torture it can be to listen to questions you’ve already answered or about something you are taking care of, and no amount of explanation will satisfy the listener or help them understand any better the course you are taking. Can you imagine what it would have been like for Moses to have the people behind him asking him what God is doing? Even if Moses knew what God was going to do, they wouldn’t have believed him if he told them.

I could relate the Word of God to a recipe we follow. It’s written out for us and if we pay attention to each detail, work in order and believe that it will work as it is, we find we are able to produce something good with our hands. Well, have you ever tried to bake something from scratch with your kids right there at your side? It’s almost impossible to get through the whole thing without smacking someone down. “I don’t know why they need baking soda…I think it helps them to be fluffy…I don’t know why baking soda makes things fluffy…NO, there is no baking soda in your teddy bear!” Moses was listening to God…giving orders as he heard them and silence was important.

So, these three encouraging phrases: He will accomplish, You will see them no more, and He will fight for you! These are all the RESULT of our stillness. Now…how do we do that. What must we do to be still? What does that look like in our 2011 lives in Middle Tennessee?

Let’s look back to the beginning of the passage. His first words were, “Do not fear!
If there’s one thing that we do in those situations, it’s fear. “What if?” is our first thought. “What if we lose the house?” “What if our child is REALLY sick?” “What if I can’t even DO this job?” We immediately run through the scenarios of failure and pick our favorite to dwell on. Why did Moses say don’t fear? Because He knew God as FAITHFUL.

The next thing Moses told them to do was to stand still. Don’t fear, and don’t move. Let me handle this and don’t get in the way!!!!

It’s stillness that we’re after this weekend and we can’t get there unless we are able to do that first command of ignoring the fear. How do we get past the fear? We have to believe God to be faithful, truthful, loving and able. He IS all those things and more, but do we really believe it. It’s in those situations between a rock and a hard place, an army and the sea, that we reveal what we believe about God.

*Our next two blog posts will be stories from my personal blog that this lesson reminded me of.*

Brunch and Brushes

2011-03-16T07:38:00.019-05:00

I enjoyed our painting party last month. It was a lot of fun to see everyone jump in and get involved, enjoy each other and take something home that they had created themselves.

I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Here are some of the pictures I took, I know a few others have been posted on facebook as well. You can click on the image to enlarge it.

This is a fraction of the pictures. My plan is to have all of them on a slideshow to play while we are hanging out for our retreat. Please let me know if you want a copy of any of these or if you want to see someone you are SURE I took a picture of but you don't see here. I just didn't publish all of them because of space and time.

There's Room For You!

2011-02-20T10:59:00.004-06:00

I copied this from another blog. I enjoyed it so much I wanted to share it with all of you. It was written by a friend of my sister's named, Lynette Carpenter. Lynette is a recently published author as well. She has generously allowed me to post her words of encouragement here for all of you, so please read this and let this minister to you. It inspired me. Good stuff!

Across America, Christians have a reputation. We are known as hypocrites. Uncaring, judgmental, unkind… Too many people have taken advantage of the gospel – using it to pad their own wallets and propel their own agenda (and themselves) forward – leaving the hurting, the lost, and the broken still hurting, still lost, still broken sitting in the parking lot of our churches – believing there is no room for them inside.

Too many people have told me, “I can’t tell you the things I’ve done!” Our past calls out to us at every turn, blinding us from anything but who we were and what we’ve done. There was that abortion… those drugs… that affair… Shame hangs heavily around our neck. It comes by the sins we have committed, the sins done to us by others… and sometimes it’s the shame we carry for another’s sin.

Shame and guilt… Two voices who persistently whisper lies, trapping, binding and ultimately crippling believers. We’ve accepted God’s love and forgiveness, but we refuse to lay aside the chains of guilt and shame! We tell ourselves it is the cross we must bear – after all, we deserve it! We resign ourselves to the harsh reality that God will forgive us, but sometimes the church won’t.

How many of us enter the sanctuary of our churches with those chains of shame and guilt tucked neatly beneath our well-pressed suit or silk scarf. We hope against hope that no one sees what lies beneath. We beg to God that no one hears the chains clanking as we walk by. In our desperation to keep from being found out, we sit quietly in our pew, unwilling (or unable) to reach out to those around us lest they see who we truly are. In all reality, we are so far removed from those around us we may as well be sitting in the parking lot as well, listening to the lies of the devil – “You’re too broken. You don’t belong here. If they knew half the things you’ve done…” That thought alone leaves us cold and afraid.

But here’s some good news from Matthew 21:

Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants.

He angrily removed the merchants – the self-focused, self-serving people who were taking advantage of Who God is to make a buck. Jesus knocked over their tables, threw their stuff and ultimately, put them out of business. He DIDN’T want them there!

So who DID He want in the Temple?

After Jesus removed the merchants it says, “Now there was room for the blind and crippled to get in.”

He was making room for us! The blind and the crippled! The lost and the broken! He didn’t want us sitting outside in the parking lot anymore! The Bible says, “They came to Jesus and He healed them.”

It’s time to get out of the parking lot! No longer should you be blinded by your past! No longer must you be crippled by the chains of guilt and shame!

Jesus has made room for you! No longer shall you stand on the outskirts wishing you were good enough. Because of Him, our guilt can be removed! Because of Him, our shame can be erased!

Let Him heal you of the past that blinds you and the chains that cripple your life! Then you can be as the children in this story who ran through the Temple shouting praises to Jesus!

Christ Above Circumstance

2011-01-26T14:24:00.002-06:00

Hello again! (It's Jana Dover) As I read your comments from my last post, I was elated to know why I felt led to share that with you all! God is so good! Sweet Mary has invited me to this party once again and to be honest with you, I kinda like the company here :) It's a difficult task for myself (major control issues) to know that I NEED to write something by a certain deadline, and yet wait on God to lead me. But my faithful Father didn't waste too much time this go-round, so, here we go!

Everyone has those moments when something is said that makes a light bulb go off. Maybe a sermon, maybe a song, maybe a conversation, or maybe just a word. Several months ago, our worship leader made an incredible statement that I will never forget. She said "Don't allow your problems to be exalted above what Jesus did on the cross." Wow. I believe it was this statement that led me to a thought that I will forever use in prayer...a thought that has since then become my personal family motto. It is this. "I will not allow what Jesus did on the cross to be done in vain." I will squeeze every ounce of Jesus' blood into every circumstance that life throws my way-it's too precious to waste. To fully understand this thought, you have to understand what his death (and resurrection) brings us! Look into his word! Sure, your first thought is salvation, but dig deeper than that. The word says that "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5) Jesus' death was not just for us to have eternity in our hands. It was so that we could triumph over the devil in every area of life! He died for our sins. He died for our sicknesses. He died for our peace. He died for our health. And that's just from ONE scripture! He died to give us the power we need in every situation in life! And the word confirms this over and over again! He didn't have to, he CHOSE to. That brings up a whole notha' topic that I am certain will get me off track, so I'll stay here :)

Let's just look at one thing we are ALL experiencing this season: What do you do when sickness rolls through your family? Do you disrespect what he did for us (and wallow in your pathetic pity party) or do you exalt the cross above that sickness? Do you speak his word over your sickness? Do you get mad at the one who is attacking you? I can't tell you how many times I tell the devil, "What Jesus did will not be overlooked in our home!" I refuse to exalt life's problems above his crucifixion anymore. I've spent too much of my life acting as though his death didn't even happen! I know that we don't do it intentionally, but it's time that we exalt God's word over our own problems. "God, I don't care what my body is telling me...your word says that I am healed!" "I don't care what my situation says, your word says... _______." (you fill in the blank!) I am typing this passionately as my husband has just been diagnosed with the flu, my 9 month old has a runny nose...possible beginnings of the flu, and my soon-to-be-30 year old 'temple' is feeling some flu-like body aches. I'm not a naive believer that denies life's problems but I'll be darned if I'm going down without a true fight for my King and what HE did! The truth is, I expect health and healing to flow through my household because I believe what God's word tells me more than what my circumstance tells me. God wouldn't ask of us "in all things give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:18) if we didn't have a cross to exalt above every situation that life (and that petty devil) throws our way. His blood is too precious to waste. Use it.

I Am SAHM

2011-01-12T10:10:00.004-06:00

Last night I watched a film with the boys about animals. It's called "Life" and it's made by BBC the same folks that made the series "Planet Earth." It's an amazing piece of art with camera work that is just astounding. The perspective given is sometimes breathtaking and I am continuously in awe of God's handiwork. His ability to create such diverse creatures and land forms and then to stage a balance in all of it.

The portion we watched last night had a segment on animal mothers. It was intriguing to see the work and sacrifice that some creatures go through just to bring their offspring into the world. One portion really struck me and the impression that landed on me first was, I think, a perspective from the Holy Spirit, maybe for some of you.

There is an octopus that lays her eggs in a small crevice or cave and never again leaves that space. She lives just long enough to protect and nourish her eggs, even maintaining her purpose in her last act as she blows water over them to help them hatch. She doesn't eat during this time and for as long as 50 days she guards her offspring. The narrator claimed that she doesn't eat at all during this period and therefore *starves herself to protect her young. As the eggs hatch, she lays dieing nearby and they leave the nest as fully formed, though very tiny, octopuses.

As I said, I was struck by this image of a mother sacrificing this way to bring her children into the world and I immediately was impressed that many women view the "SAHM" or "Stay at Home Mom" this way. She no longer gets out of the cave, she lives in the sheltered confines of a child driven home, full of only what it takes to raise cute little versions of herself. She never again lives with any thought for her own needs, but rather, she is wholly given to others. Not only are the tiny creatures she protects unaware of her sacrifice, there are no guarantees that they will ever appreciate it. They leave her. What is the point? Where is the reward?

I'm not going to spend a lot of time here saying you will have better kids if you stay home to raise them. I do believe that MY kids are better for having been home with me, but this article isn't about MY kids or even yours. This is about you.

I stay home as a mom because I believe it is the best thing for ME as well as them.

There are days it would be nice to drop my kids off with someone and spend my day in a well ordered work space that someone else cleans and maintains. There are days when I would like nothing more than to find a bit of satisfaction in a paycheck for what I do. There are days I would like to have a five o'clock. An end to my work day that signifies change and the ability to relinquish the bulk of the day's responsibility and drive to my home because home is where I relax, not where I work. But that is not what God has called me to and it is not typically what I want.

I have the great opportunity to see the moments my children are living. I see their wonder as they learn new things, I see their frustrations and their weaknesses, I see them at their best and I see them at their worst. I don't have all the answers, but I do have the perspective of knowing them best when their emotions get the better of them. I get to calm their fears, rock away their tired energy and join in their banter around the lunch table. I get to bandage their knees and put ice on their bumps. I get to play games with them and hear their songs and stories as they play.

I also get to discipline them. I get to ensure that issues are solved and punishments are dealt. I see first hand their shortcomings and their weaknesses and I get to teach them and build them up through encouragement, discipline and sometimes punishment. I get to weigh each situation they encounter, pray over it and be led by God in doling out the proper reciprocation. Yes, this is good for them, but it's good for me too. I don't wonder if someone else is leading my child astray, I don't question anyone else's judgment, I don't have to fear them coming home with unmet needs or confusion. They are mine and I am theirs and we deal with things as they come together.

I believe being a stay at home mom gives me a stronger bond with my husband. He trusts me. That's something I hold very dear to my heart. I respect him and his opinion very highly and I am honored that he trusts me with the care of our children. More than that, I am blessed to share the concerns and cares of our household with him. Very few things interrupt that united desire to see our children grow and thrive in our home. His work concerns and stresses are a necessary part of being the provider in our home. My concerns and stresses are not foreign to him because they are a part of my role as his helper. I am the representative of our family that manages our home and it's occupants. What I do is not a lone responsibility, it is a shared and highly prioritized mission. Were I to work outside the home, I am confident that he would care about what I do, but it would never be the same deep interest that we share in my work as caretaker in our family.

Lastly, I am not dying here. I am growing each day in my interests and desires, not just for my children but for my own calling as a daughter to a loving Heavenly Father. I am able to attend Bible studies and pick up the Word of God throughout quiet moments, planned and unplanned, throughout my day. I am able to hear from Him regarding my children and my husband yes, but about myself as well. He is quick to tell me His great regard for me and my abilities, as well as His dreams and vision for my future. He does not see me losing my youth for my children, He sees me gaining wisdom for His Kingdom purposes. I am alive and I thrive on the time I have to soak in the experiences of being a mom to little ones. They teach me and I am better for being with them.

Do not take this as a judgment on yourselves if it is impossible to stay home with your kids. That is NOT at all my intention. I simply want you to see the benefits should God open the door for you to be ABLE to do it. Let Him lead you, let Him comfort you, and let His patience in all of it bring you contentment and joy in your personal every day life. I know that not everyone is called to be a SAHM. I just don't want you to let any preconceived ideas, clouded opinions or deceived talk show hosts rob you of the opportunity that could be the best thing that's ever happened to you.

Walk wisely ladies, you are incredible women of God, doing great things for His kingdom. I'm looking forward to our coming Distaff Side retreat and making plans to share some wonderful things God is planting in my heart.

*According to Wikipedia "They neglect to eat during the (roughly) one month period spent taking care of their unhatched eggs, but they do not die of starvation. Endocrine secretions from the two optic glands are the cause of genetically programmed death (and if these glands are surgically removed, the octopus may live many months beyond reproduction, until she finally starves).

It's Almost 6:30

2010-12-14T13:38:00.001-06:00

by Mary Kelso
December 2008

It's almost 6:30 and all through the house
Not a creature is stirring, not even my spouse.
The tree is unlit and the kitchen is still
In a quiet that soon all the cousins will fill
The gifts are all wrapped and the pantry is packed,
The turkey is thawing and cookies all stacked.
We've planned and we've planned yet who can predict
What oopses and ouches the day will inflict?
It's the day before Christmas and family galore
Will soon make their way to our wreath bedecked door.
There'll be yelling and screaming and fighting for sure,
There'll be chaos and dizzying action to cure.
The little ones terrorize every calm mind
While the older ones cringe and then turn as if blind.
The questions will come and the calls of "when's dinner?"
While the moms and the dads watch their patience grow thinner.
And we wonder each time what is this really worth?
Are we forcing a moment in search of some mirth?
But as turkey and dressing and taters are passed
And the last of the pie is eaten too fast,
When we rest for a moment and join in the fun,
Instead of just yelling 'bout how we're "NOT DONE!"
We find that the day and all of it's work,
Has more than the average list of great perks.
What the children remember will fill them with joy,
It's more than a tree, or a meal or a toy.
Their memories of love and of laughter and games
Will outweigh the torrent of tattles and blames.
And maybe, just maybe that's what this is for,
A day when the laughter and love should outscore.
Jesus didn't come here to teach us to cook,
Wrap presents, clean dishes or have a great look.
His gift was Himself and ours should be too,
But we have to forget all that we want to do.
Instead of a meal that bedazzles the eyes,
I'm cooking today for the kids and the guys.
Instead of a house that must be kept clean,
I'm loaning my walls to an unfolding scene.
It may not seem peaceful, and it will not be quiet,
It may seem like moments of absolute riot.
But quiet can happen without anyone,
We'll bask in it soon when the playtime is done.
Until then we know that our peace can remain
Despite any noise, any grief, any pain.
It's beyond understanding, but not beyond reach,
It's a choice that we make and hopefully teach.
We don't ignore problems, or let things run wild,
But we should approach life with the eyes of a child.
Expecting great things from the path that's before us,
Let's celebrate Christmas with laughter and chorus.
So bring in the children bring in the folks,
Bring in the stories and really bad jokes.
The turkey will roast, the table will fill,
The rooms will get messy the babies will spill,
But none of these things are a sin or a crime,
It will all be okay if we have a good time.

Considering Consistency

2010-12-06T10:52:00.001-06:00

Well hello! You don't know me (maybe) and I'm not sure I know you...but my sweet friend Mary asked me if I'd write a little something that may appeal to this precious group she spoke of so dearly. Because I love me some Mary and I recently gave up my hobby of blogging...I post!

Let me quickly introduce myself. My name is Jana Dover. I've been married to my best friend for 9 years (middle and high school sweethearts), and we have 2 precious boys that I absolutely adore. We've been at the most fabulous church in the world, Cornerstone, for 12 years now, falling more and more in love with my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. I don't have one of those scandalous testimonies of my salvation in Christ, but I can speak on stability, consistency, and obedience. Not because I'm always great at it, but because that is what each period of growth in my relationship to Him has required. I live a blessed life that I absolutely don't deserve, but certainly enjoy.

As I am writing this, I find myself being pulled in a certain direction, so I'm just gonna go with it. As a stay at home mom to a 3 year old and a 7 month old...I frequently find myself stuck in that dreaded, frustrating spot. You know the one. That spot where you feel like nothing you are doing is making your desired difference. And you may or may not be intentionally banging your head against the wall. (I see you nodding your head.) So you've been there too, huh? I guess if I really think back, this feeling would have started when I first got married and I wanted my husband to be a more Godly role model. I wanted ONE intense conversation (we call this a Come To Jesus meeting) to make the ultimate instantaneous difference in him. Or just one smart-allic remark that would cut him really deep to motivate him to want to change. (I should have mentioned that before, I'm kind of a passionate person.) Don't get me wrong, my husband is a wonderful, Godly man! He was before I married him, but I always wanted to correct every little spiritual imperfection within him in my ways, not God's ways. Something about "the log in your own eye" is coming to mind here. Anyways, my lesson of consistency here was that the only way I could influence my husband, the only way I was called to influence my husband, was by my life, my testimony, my prayers, and by being his respectful help-mate. That is a lesson I have learned, but still struggle with. I kind-of like to control things :)

Another lesson of consistency, a more recent one, would be with my children. Let me help you new moms. Consistency = EVERYTHING with children. Omgah! Whether it was/is teaching my kids the act of obedience through discipline, potty training, good habits, eating/sleeping schedules, (and etc. because I truly meant EVERYTHING) the successful formula seems to be consistency. It seems like such an easy answer, but it's always worked for my boys and I! My firstborn was quite stubborn, prideful, and rebellious for weeks on end (at times). When Mason would fall into one of these periods, I'd be consistent with my end of the deal and he would eventually straighten up and submit. When Mason was pooping on my frieze carpet (oh yeah, it happened), I remained consistent in his potty training schedules, rules, and disciplines. When Mason would wake up 15 minutes into his nap schedule for 3 days in a row, being consistent in his other routines would eventually straighten out his sleeping schedules. Consistency. It's like my key that opens every door. So when I find myself feeling at a loss, I remain consistent in what I know I should be doing to get my desired result.

Now for the meat of this post and why I'm feeling led to share. I can't think of a more opportune and rewarding area of my life that consistency has been more beneficial to me than in my spiritual walk. I can think of times that I have succeeded in this and I can think of times that I defeated myself in this. I say defeated myself because we have power over the enemy and God does't fail. Consistency requires a few things. It requires that you KNOW what you should be doing. Not always easy, but we are so blessed with God's word (his life guide), prayer (communication with God that works 2-ways), spiritual authorities and Godly counsel (the church family and authorities he's placed you within/under). I've used every one of these vessels to determine what I NEED to be doing at different times if I wasn't sure. And I've used these vessels to confirm what I should be doing. Consistency also requires discipline. Discipline always pays off, however, discipline is not easy. Spiritual discipline requires so much trust. Not in yourself, but in God. Doesn't it? When everything in life is screaming at you that it NEEDS to be tended to RIGHT NOW! When you feel like you can't get your keys in the front door without falling asleep. When you have so many stresses and responsibilities pulling at you from EVERY direction. God says, "Sit down. Spend some time with me." What?! That's where the trust has to come. Realizing that our personal strength will only go so far. Allowing him to re-fill us with His presence. Trusting that He knows what we need, even more than we do. Trusting that his words will breathe life and rejuvenation to our body, mind and soul. I have the tendency to make the obvious statement that 'God is smart!' I know this. But I am still amazed when He figures out something so complicated in my life. Something that I would have run around for days/weeks/years trying to figure out (and maybe did). It proves true that His ways are not my own and that He actually knows what he is doing! Trust. It makes no sense at times. But I've never regretted trusting him over myself. That doesn't mean that I always get that in the right order...yikes. There have been many times that I know what I should be doing, (and maybe did it) but I also had to pray that God would help me to continue doing it, and to have His heart and motives while doing it. Simple obedience is quite honorable. But to be consistent in your obedience, while having your heart in the right place and your attitude where it should be, is life changing. I can sometimes be a hot mess. Yet, I've found that as He looks at my tear stained face, mascara running down, nothing attractive about it...He tells me how beautiful he thinks I am. He loves me like that :) Always able and willing to look past my failures to see what He created me to be.

So here we are, I have no idea what your situation is and you have no idea who I am. All I know is that I feel led to share a simple message of consistency here. The storms of life are daily for some of us, and others of us get through life with just a few cloudy days. I'm not sure why that is. But I know that consistency is mandatory for both: those that feel like they can't stand the pressures, and those that are so distracted by the blessings in life. Both seem to struggle with the same thing: Keeping their eyes on Jesus. Keeping their minds in His Word. Seeing life through His desires and His heart. All of these things come with spending quality, consistent time with Him. Every day. Because His simple answers, that you would have never considered yourself, will guide you through life's toughest challenges. But you can't hear his counsel, if you aren't spending time with Him. And you'll be running on 'E' very quickly without his renewing presence.

There are several scriptures that came to mind as this was written and I'm going to share them below. They are very simple scriptures, but I want you to understand that I'm not writing all of this based on my simple (unworthy) opinion. Thank you Mary for this opportunity. I hope I didn't run off all of your readers!!

Matthew 7:3
Proverbs 10:25
1 Peter 3:1
Genesis 2:18
Proverbs 18:21
2 Timothy 3:16
Proverbs 11:14
Matthew 7:7
Matthew 11:28

Living Even Keeled When Your Ship's Run Aground

2010-07-28T08:38:00.003-05:00

Do you notice people who seem to always have it together? Do you see people who are going through negative circumstances beyond their control, yet they are smiling as if they just fell in love. Do you think they are in denial? Do you secretly think to yourself..."idiot."

Those things are a possibility. There are people who do not allow themselves to see the negatives in life, and live in a fantasy world where clouds drop candy and rainbows come and visit them in their backyard. However, there are people who are fully aware of the devastation that is approaching them or has already run them over and they still have a peaceful countenance. That is the kind of person I want to be. That even keeled individual who does not waver in their attitude or direction.

This morning I was observing how one day it can seem like everything is out of place, dumped out and messy and in one night you can wake up and it all falls into it's proper place again. That's an example in the short term of the way life is for a child of God.

A ship run aground or put in at a point too shallow will cause the boat to lean one way or another. Boats are not made flat, they have a rounded or pointed bottom to balance well in the water.

sometimes life has us lopsided and it feels that we cannot get straight. It may be any number of reasons that we find ourselves there, but it happens to everyone. At one point or another you find yourself aground and uneven.

How do we remain even keeled when there is no level place to stand?

Do not: adjust your life to "un-even" circumstances. That would be like straightening all the pictures in the boats cabin when it is sitting un-even. Or rearranging the furniture to accommodate the incline of the floor. If you do this, you'll end up having to adjust all over again once the tide comes in and evens out the boat.

Do: Live today, knowing that your circumstances are not directing your life. Instead, your circumstances are subject to His direction, His will for your life and His great love for you. The tide has never stayed out...it always comes in. The sun has never refused to rise...it always comes up. God's will for you is going to happen but you will have no appreciation for it if you have adjusted your life to defeat instead of victory.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.

Honor the LORD with your possessions,
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.

Proverbs 3:5-10 NKJV

Live knowing that these words are true and will be evident in your life:

"He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps."

Psalm 40:2 NKJV

Challenge:
Look around your home, office or even your car and consider things you have purchased or moved or in some way adjusted in order to accommodate defeat. Then, adjust it for victory. This is a step of faith that requires you to look at your future as a promise of good things. You will see the tide come in and the less you have to adjust back the easier it will be to see and understand God's great work in you and for you.

Then leave a comment to encourage others. Your sisters love to hear about your victories.

Get In Your Seat and Buckle Up

2010-06-25T11:01:00.003-05:00

Ivan can be a challenging boy. He will go his own way, walk his own path and sing his own song. Getting him to cooperate requires either a quick reminder to the backside or a very long and patient battle of reason. Sometimes both are needed.

Getting into the van and getting buckled is one of the battles he likes to engage in and I really think it is because when the whole family is buckled in he knows, subconsciously or not, that we are going to coax him instead of directly deal with his hinder parts because of the hassle of getting unbuckled, getting out of the van, walking around and pulling him out of the van and spanking him. It prolongs the entire process of leaving and then we have to all sit in the van and listen to him cry (loudly) for a while. Completely unpleasant.

Recently I just started backing out of the garage without him being buckled. He wasn't even in his seat and I knew it. I put the van in reverse and hit the gas so that when I stopped in the driveway to close the garage door it would jerk him to his seat. It worked. He was so mad and he hurt his foot a little in the process. (Don't freak, it was just a scratch and I didn't leave without him being fully secured.)

I talked to him about it and used my least merciful voice to explain that he knew what he was supposed to be doing and the consequences were his own choice.

As I was driving away I thought...hmmm. Isn't that how we are with God sometimes? We know where were supposed to be, what we're supposed to be doing or not doing and who we're supposed to be doing it with but we insist on control of our lives. We tend toward stubbornness because we aren't yet convinced of God's best intentions for our lives.

How often do we hear the words, "if God is so loving, why did this happen to me?" I think Ivan was asking that same question about his mom, as he picked himself up off the van floor the other day. The answer isn't a spiritual reckoning of our souls to God's just ways. Sometimes (NOT ALWAYS), bad things happen to good people because they aren't meeting the basic and simplest demands of kingdom living.

God has an agenda. He has a kingdom He is caring for and a world of lost souls He wants to show His love to. Sometimes He patiently coaxes us to work with Him, but sometimes His Kingdom work just needs to get done with or without us. When we as Christians are seeking first our kingdom instead of His, we're going to find ourselves stumbling a bit as the church takes off before we get our commitment securely fastened.

When the Christian road of life starts getting uncomfortable the first thing you need to do is not whine and moan about Satan's attack on your life...the first thing you should do is check your seat belt. It may not be so much that your God is driving recklessly, it may be that you aren't as committed as you need to be. Putting yourself in a position of submission may seem like you are tying yourself down, but it is the best way to get where you are going safely.

Have you ever sat in church and wished a friend or relative were listening to the word of encouragement or even conviction that you know could be the exact answer they've been needing in their life? Have you ever reversed that thought and as you were sitting at home on a Wednesday night because of a horrendous day at work, wondered if maybe the frustration you can't shake might have melted away with a good worship service? You really should ask yourself that. I can't tell you the number of times I've dreamed up some really good excuses to stay home, but went anyway only to find that my fatigue and irritation were no match for the Word given.

Constant exposure to the sun will slowly make a tone change in your skin and constant exposure to the Word will make a tone change in your joy. When we make excuses to stay home from church, watch TV instead of read the Word, talk to friends instead of kneel in prayer, when we put ANYTHING, even the good things in front of God...we are refusing to take the road we're on seriously. We are refusing to do our part, refusing to take seriously the great commission God has given everyone who names His Name.

When Kris and I face a challenge, be it financial, physical or otherwise, one of the first things we do is make a security check. Is there anywhere that we have allowed ourselves to unbuckle the safety harness God has offered us? Often times it's nothing to do with our actions, it could be a spiritual attack or it could be just a mingling of unfortunate circumstances, but sometimes it's a loose seat belt. When we realize that, we make every effort to repent and correct the issue at hand. As David so eloquently said in Psalm 139, "see if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."

That "way everlasting" is the direction God is always headed. Nothing He does is temporal or careless. If you want to see the greatest adventures life has, than sit down and buckle up. He has more for you to see, hear, experience and share than you can ever imagine.

Critical Comforts

2010-05-20T11:50:00.005-05:00

When we think of comforts we usually think of material things. A house with plenty of room, the latest technology to keep us warm, cool, fed and at ease. Plenty of food, plenty of time and plenty of choices. A comfort may be as simple as the right pillow or as complicated as the most appropriate digital reading device.

But have you ever considered the comfort of truth?

I have been doing a little thinking about a lady many of you have heard of and many of you probably haven't. Fanny J. Crosby was an American woman born in 1820 who lost her vision as a very young child due to illness and a doctor who was unqualified to treat her. Many young people would grow bitter and callous after such circumstances but Fanny drew a strength from her family and her education that caused her to become one of the most prolific hymn writers of all time. In her lifetime she wrote over 9,000 hymns, poems and ballads.

Her life at a glance isn't remembered for it's comforts. The thought of going through life without the ability to see is a horror to some of us. Yet her story continues to resonate with millions of souls who share her love of God's grace, mercy and truth.

In reading the words she wrote I am often struck with the absence of any loss of experience or joy. She seemed to have an abundance of supernatural joy and comfort.

One of the many interesting things that I have read about Fanny Crosby is that she was raised by her grandmother who felt it imperative that Fanny learn Scripture. Possibly due to her blindness and the inability to pick up a Bible from anywhere and skim it's pages for truth, I don't know what her entire motivation was but the point is that she understood it's importance to her granddaughter. Fanny Crosby memorized entire chapters and books of the Bible. She was saturated in the Words of God and had an intimate knowledge of their truth, their joy, their comforts and their passion.

If you have the opportunity to read more about Fanny Crosby you will encounter a soul with vision far beyond mortal eyes. She could not deny light and color just because she could not see them. She chose to dwell in the shadow of the Almighty and her soul was given rest in the comforts that her body could not provide her.

I cannot help but believe as I think about a life like that of Fanny Crosby, that there is a comfort far more critical to us than our mortal bodies can imagine. The comfort of the truth is a warmth when we have grown cold, a cool breeze when we have been overwhelmed, a shade when we have been exposed and a light when we have been deceived. The comfort of truth will outlast any experience and can be drawn from to dispel any myth, temptation or distraction. Truth will blanket us when we need comfort and will free us when we are bound. But Truth will not invade us, it will only be available if we make the effort to invite it in.

Col. 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

Take the time today to let the Truth of God's Word sing inside you. Give comfort a song by feeding your soul the Words of Truth from God's Word. Let Truth be the source of your joy and then shout it back to the Lord with your whole heart.

Psalm 33:1 "Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful."

"Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God.
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angles descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love."

~Fanny J. Crosby

UpRooted

2010-05-15T00:48:00.003-05:00

I have the privilege of having a heritage that has allowed me to draw from a well of honorable spiritual examples. I have the pleasure of recounting a wealth of wisdom and common sense passed down through tradition and practice from well respected men and women of faith. I was planted in good soil, fed by faithful streams and abundant sunshine and watched over carefully by a diligent Shepherd. This history is like a web of roots deeply embedded into well fertilized ground that has fed my soul throughout my life.

This security is a blessing I do not discount, however it does come with it's share of issues. My history is like a warm quilt on a cold day, and asking me to change is like asking me to drop that quilt and suffer the shock of being exposed. I like the security and the warmth it provides, I'm perfectly happy here, why would I want to change? Yet consistently over the years God has moved me. He calls me up from my slumber, out of the warmth, into new paths, new ideas, new vision and exposes me to the risk and intolerance of broken tradition.

Pastor Davis has talked about change a lot lately. We are changing the way we worship, the way we do ministry, the way we present our message and even the way we save seats in the sanctuary. Of course the gospel is unchanging but our expression of truth sometimes has to be adjusted as our listening audience hears in a different language than we have spoken in past years. For some this is so difficult. I understand that. I know what it means to feel that you are abandoning the sweet words and wisdom that first comforted your weary heart. I know what it is to worship for the first time without the security of the voices and melodies of support that have always held you up. I also know what it is to grow into that new song and find that God has not changed.

As I listened to Pastor Davis' plea for change recently I questioned my own response. I wasn't shocked or dismayed by any of it. I was in fact, excited about it. Not because I like the new ways better, but because I want to see the Gospel work for sinners. My lack of shock is because I've done this before.

I was raised singing hymns out of books on wooden pews with only a pianist and a chorister to lead us. I was raised in a small church in the middle of nowhere with a Pastor who was also employed doing masonry work on the side because the church couldn't pay him enough. Things were simple and pure and truth was uncluttered. I have fond memories of those times. I can remember realizing the truth in the songs I sang. I remember how it settled in my heart and found it's way to the firmest places of my soul and took root. I love those hymns. I love the deep and poetic way they communicate God's grace, love and compassion for mankind. I love their melodies and the sound of four part harmony ringing inside the walls of a country church. Those things are not just a love of tradition for me. They are a love for the way God ministered to me, the way He introduced Himself and secured my heart forever. He is my Anchor, my Champion, my Hero and my Salvation. He used those same hymns to bring me security when I left home and found myself lonely and small. His Word and the detailed memory of those songs was a stability that carried me through those months and years.

My heart hurts when I hear people say, and I have heard this, "I hate hymns!" To them they are archaic disciplines. Unnecessary print that turns off the young and hides truth. I have learned not to be angry with those people, I have learned to understand their perspective and to realize that my experience was in some ways unique in that I was taught to actually "worship" as I sang from a book while others were simply taught to sing.

Yet, I have for years gone to a church that rarely leads our people in hymns. I questioned this and how I can still say I have roots in such a different soil but I'm firmly and happily planted in new ground.

I think the answer is the root ball.

Kris bought me two trees for Mother's Day. We took them home and planted them immediately. I don't know where they were planted as seeds and I don't know how they were fertilized or cared for, but I know that all they were given is still with them. We did not peel back the burlap sack around the roots of the tree, we simply cut off any plastic and put them into a new hole. The process will inevitably weaken the plant for a short time, but it will eventually continue it's growth. The roots are still wrapped securely in the original soil and will push through that burlap to grip the new earth around it.

Traditions and family heritage are not my salvation or my future, but I still carry the good soil they supplied for me. My roots are now extended beyond that history and as I have grown I have found new life and greater security in the new ground that God chose to plant me in. I do not have to worry, I am like that tree in Psalm 1, planted by the rivers of water who bears it's fruit in season and whose leaf does not whither.

There is argument as to God's desire to transfer everyone's life to that river with their root ball attached. What if my heritage was one of abuse, neglect and evil? What if I had little to look back on with affection? I believe God is in the business of redemption. He knows exactly what is in that root ball and He will work all things for our good (Romans 8:28). Leaving our history in tact is not leaving our sin, it is removing us from sin and planting us in new ground. That history is there but it doesn't have to dictate our growth or our fruitfulness. As long as we seek the water of His Word, stretching those roots into that new ground, believing that we are exceedingly valuable to Him or He would not have troubled Himself with asking us to change. He has great things He desires for us and through us. Things that require us to stretch, to seek His face and rest in His security.

It is not just change in our church's methods that cause us to move to new ground. There are many areas of life where change is necessary. Career and family changes, changes in direction, changes in ministry, whatever it is that God moves us to He has the water available to keep life and joy flowing in us. He will prepare us, nurture us and ensure that we are truly ready for all that He has in mind for us.

Kris' lesson this past week was about the fear of failure. That is another area that keeps us from moving forward. We grip our secure ground with fingers of steel and refuse to be pliable to God's will, because we cannot imagine the ground He's called us to being a welcome place. It's not the kind of soil we're used to, it's not in an area we are familiar and it's not among others who are like us, whatever it is, we are afraid to go.

As God leads you into new things, remember that being uprooted is not a call to leave your appreciation or your history behind. It is not a sentence to struggle and fail the rest of your life. It simply means that your fruit is needed in new places. It is an opportunity to take all the good, the bad and the ugly of your past soil and allow the good soil of the Word of God to enrich it and make you even more fruitful for the Kingdom of God.

Rivers change, the recent flooding has changed the geography of Tennessee in certain areas. Sometimes the path of the river moves to ground that was unable to receive it before. To remain well fed and fruitful, we must allow God to plant us in that new ground as well. Those who refuse to change may find comfort in the security of their tradition and familiarity but will soon lose the ability to grow for lack of living water.

Higher Ground - Johnson Oatman, Jr., 1898

I'm pressing on the upward way,
New heights I'm gaining every day;
Still praying as I onward bound,
"Lord, plant my feet on higher ground."

refrain:
Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith on Heaven's tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

I want to live above the world,
Though Satan's darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught the joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground.

I want to scale the utmost height
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I'll pray till rest I've found,
"Lord, lead me on to higher ground."

He will not disappoint. Do not settle for what is comfortable. Find the usable parts of where you are, the joyful things, the Godly things and allow them to encourage you to move forward.

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6 NASB

Abundant Redemption

2010-05-10T16:08:00.006-05:00

Recently I went through a rather rough day. I got a traffic ticket for failure to stop at a stop sign. To tell you the truth, that's the extent of it. That's all it took to take an otherwise good day and make it a rough one for me. I hate that. I look back on that day and pretty much all of it fades into oblivion except for that ticket. I do remember that it was a Wednesday and that I was on my way to church when it happened.

Church was just right for me. Turns out Pastor Davis shared a lot about grace. Probably because he got a speeding ticket that morning. As silly as it may be, that made me feel a little bit better.

That night on the way home Owen kept insisting that we look for the International Space Station. I told Owen to ask his dad to look it up for him. Kris knew that the Space Station typically flies over our area of the world during the wee hours of the morning so he was surprised, once he obliged Owen, to find that we were mere minutes away from it's scheduled orbit. He called to me upstairs where I was just getting the boy's pajamas out and said we should go outside to see it. So the whole family scrambled for shoes and stood out in the middle of the street in front of our house and looked to the western sky.

Kris said, "There it is!" and it wasn't hard to pick out the moving light that appeared out of nowhere. The boys were uncommonly quiet. I held Aron whose favorite position is to rest his cheek against mine while I'm holding him. He and I stared at the sky as I pointed his eyes in the right direction with my finger. Owen and Ivan were standing at their daddy's feet with their eyes wide and their mouths open looking at distances they have no way of fathoming. I was content. I was almost emotional as I shared that moment with my little family. I stood there and thought to God and to myself. This ought to help redeem this day.

He responded.

I guess I was a little surprised that He was listening, though by now I shouldn't be. And I did get emotional when I heard, "How much redemption do you need?"

It wasn't a sarcastic question. There was no admonition or conviction. It was an offer. As if He were just waiting for someone to ask Him for it. As if He was excited that I had asked Him for something He has so much of and is so willing to give.

I just stood there and wept. "I don't know," I thought. I just knew I needed it.

Over and over again, I need it. We talked about restoration and redemption at our weekend retreat and I get it. I mean, I know that He can do things in me and through me that on my own I'm incapable of. I know that He can fix what's broken in me and that He can make me more than just acceptable, He can make me desirable. I guess what floors me sometimes is not that He changes me, it's that He changes everything. He doesn't just forgive me and lead me to the right path. He makes the path a little bit heavenly. He has unending resources of comfort, peace and security that redeem not just the life I've controlled and failed at, but the tomorrow I should have had is turned into a tomorrow He had planned all along.

I still have to pay my ticket. It's sitting right here in front of me. Those consequences do not change, but He wants to get me past the humiliation, He wants to give me daily proof that I am not someone who deserves to be humiliated. He renews daily, as I die daily.

Salvation came to me as a little girl on my knees. I accepted it and haven't doubted it since. Redemption is an endless supply of mercy that salvation purchased for me. It is a well I drink from as often as I choose. It never runs dry, it never gets stale, warm or bitter. Living water is sweet, cool and refreshing. It is constantly renewing and available.

So often though, I choose to attempt redemption on my own. Little comforts and distractions get me through for a while but nothing refreshes like God's mercy and forgiveness. I am realizing more and more the freedom we have in releasing our hurts, cares, mistakes and blunders to His abundant mercy.

I read Psalm 40 last night and found a lasting comfort, redemption if you will, in these words:
" 13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
O LORD, make haste to help me!
14 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who seek to destroy my life;
Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor
Who wish me evil.
15 Let them be confounded because of their shame,
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

16 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let such as love Your salvation say continually,
“The LORD be magnified!”
17 But I am poor and needy;
Yet the LORD thinks upon me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God."

The Psalmist is so aware of His position. Like him, we are constantly in the eye of our Deliverer, constantly within reach of His mercy. We do not receive it though, unless we are willing to look up from the slightest care and say..."I need you."

"I lost my temper with the kids again Lord, I need your redemption."

"I did nothing but complain to my husband today Lord, I need your redemption."

"I haven't got the strength to get through another day of discouragement Lord, I need your redemption."

"I can't take another outburst from these people, I need your redemption."

"This child will not be listen to me, I need your redemption."

"My husband is unwilling to surrender to your will, I need your redemption."

"I can't change this! I need your redemption."

Sometimes God's goal in our lives is not to provide a green pasture for us, sometimes His desire is for us to trust Him through the dark valley. His redemption is not just for our mistakes, it's for our circumstances our offenses and our pain. He can redeem wasted time, harsh words, fallen dreams and ruined relationships. But He can only do it with our permission.

Realize what the Psalmist wrote: "Yet the Lord thinks upon me." He's watching, waiting for your request, your vulnerable plea and your trust in what He can do.

I love this verse: "Also draw out the spear, and stop those who pursue me. Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” " Psalm 35:3

He's asking God to be his hero. We don't do that enough. We don't look to our God and just tell Him what we want. The Psalmist isn't just asking God to show up, he says, "convince me!" He wants God to do more than just stop the enemy, he wants a lasting conviction within his soul, that there is nothing else that can save him. "I am your salvation." How desperately God desires to tell us those words.

The next time things don't go your way, don't fret, don't whine and don't complain, listen for your Redeemer. When you need redemption don't be shy, He is asking you with an eager heart and a generous love, "How much do you need?"

The Power of Presence

2010-04-28T09:50:00.001-05:00

"Here!"

Remember shouting that as your teacher took roll in class? When you are "here" you are present, accounted for, visible and accountable to whatever is being shared in the situation at hand. If you are in class, you should have some idea of the information your teacher gives. If you are at a party you should have some recollection of things that happened there. Your presence is often requested at events and required at certain activities. Sometimes we are asked to be present because we are important to someone, and sometimes it's simply because there is something we can gain from being there.

Sometimes, your presence isn't required because of what you can gain from a situation but rather what you can be in it.

I remember how things changed in the choir when pastor Sarah became our minister of music. I was in the choir at that time and though I had enjoyed the way pastor Dan led us, I was very excited about this new leader and the talent and approach that she brought to our church. She taught us something about worship, she led with an authority that drove us to something deeper. Not just in our understanding of worship, but in our relationship to Christ and how worship accentuated it. She made us comfortable with praising out loud. She taught us to talk to God from our heart, out loud and in the midst of a crowd. We became unashamed to speak our unabashed love for Him with people standing right next to us.

When I left the choir just before Ivan was born I remember standing in the church sanctuary and as pastor Sarah gave her familiar phrase, "Is that your best praise?" I was alone in my response. Being in the sanctuary with people who weren't used to praising God the way I had been taught didn't change my desire to praise out loud, but it did make me very aware of who may be listening. I had to make a quick decision about who I really was and if my praise was meant for my God, or for those around me. I decided to join the choir again, but this time from my seat in the tiered section of the sanctuary. As I pushed those words of worship and adoration out of my chest I did not try to fool myself into thinking that I was alone. It became apparent to me that I needed to be an example of praise right where I was. I could encourage others to praise because I was present and active in the place where I stood.

When you sing out loud it encourages others to let down their guard and feel the freedom to sing out loud too. When we show up to events it encourages others to feel at ease, to be comfortable with their choice to be present as well. When we stand in the sanctuary at church, we are one in a few thousand individuals, seemingly insignificant to what is happening around us. Yet, if we weren't there...not only would we miss out...we could be lessening the experience for someone else. In smaller crowds this is even more important. When Kris and I first began teaching our class there were literally two or three people that would show up regularly. Couples would step into the room and then back out again because there was not enough of a group to make them feel comfortable about staying. Each week, your presence in class is important. Not just to the number we jot down on the roll, but to the comfort and ease of the other class members. Each person makes a difference, even if they don't comment, even if they don't do anything beyond "show up," at least they were present.

Have you ever been invited to a party and wanted to go, but made two or three phone calls first to see who else would be there before you showed up? Have you ever been to a party that could have been great but so few were present it diminished the effectiveness of any games or activities that were planned? We want to be involved with things but we often wait to see who is actually committed to being present before we jump in.

Just a few moments ago I was washing Ivan and Aron's faces and hands after a little snack. I asked Ivan what he was going to do next and his response was so appropriate to this post. He said, "I'm going to do whatever you do." My boys are classic examples of the need to be present. If I don't sit down with them to clean their toys up, they don't clean their toys up. If I don't lead the way with brushing teeth, taking baths and picking up their dirty clothes, it doesn't happen. A lot of these things they are totally capable of doing on their own, but if I am not present with them, encouraging them, and doing it with them, they fall short.

Remember, that you are that encouragement to someone. You may not even realize it. They may not even realize it, but your presence makes a difference to those around you. You can be that one more "body" in the room that made the visitor stay. You may be the one more voice in the crowd that encouraged someone to sing. You may be that one more smile that made someone decide to stay. Your presence makes a powerful difference.

I recall my college years when I was desperately hungry for a greater purpose in the Kingdom of God. I wanted to be used. I wrote songs about walking on water and removing myself from the stillness of the church pew. I wanted to be a significant part of whatever God had going on. Can you guess what He called me to do first? I remember so well...it wasn't to be a missionary in Africa or a soloist for the church choir. It wasn't even a call to be a soloist at the local nursing home. It was so simple. He said, "smile when you see someone on the sidewalk." Being "in God's will" is not a call for only those who wish to be thought of as spiritual and important. God's will is every moment. Being present with Him to hear His voice and heed the calling He gives for EACH STEP YOU TAKE.

As women we exemplify the heart of God. We are relational and suited for interaction and communication. Let's take the initiative to be present and accounted for in the things God has called us to. Don't wait on anyone else to be present, you make the choice to be in the right place in your home, your group, your job and your church. There are so many, maybe you used to be one of them, that need to see you as present and available to them. You don't have to be in a "ministry position" to be needed. You are invaluable to the people God has placed around you.

To Be Known

2010-04-19T17:59:00.004-05:00

We are, in our deepest parts, much the same. We were created in the image of an almighty God so our parts are similar. Our make up is subtly different, yet parallel to one another. It is not hard to generalize, stereotype and group ourselves or others into one class, race, creed or another. We fight against these things and we do this for a reason. We are individuals. We each have things that make us different, that cause us to stick out precariously from the mold that others might try to fit us into. The ironic thing about our uniqueness is that each of us has the same general desire: we all want to be known in our individuality.

That is not to say we all want to stand out in a crowd, but we don't want to always be lumped into one in regard to our opinions, our strengths and weaknesses and our desires. It is a God given desire within us to be known, understood and treated with respect and love.

In the book "Intimacy: The Longing of Every Human Heart" Terry Hershey talks about our need to be known as a need for significance and belonging. "...these needs are common to all of us. As they provide us pictures of our souls, we see both our desire and our capacity for intimacy. We see both the joy that comes with affirmation and the fear of failure and rejection."

Our desire to be known is truly a desire to find a real and honest intimacy. We want to know God and we want Him to know us. We say this, believe this and even pray toward this, but most of us do not have what it takes to get there.

One of the most important tools of intimacy is vulnerability. But we see vulnerability as a weakness, it is synonymous with fear for us, fear of being rejected, fear of failure, even fear of being known and loved because of the disappointment we might be to someone else. So we go through processes as we grow up to protect ourselves, we fashion masks, we build walls, we produce emotional muscles that can carry great weights of sorrow, pain and shame and we do this so well that no one else is even allowed close to our burdens. We smile and say..."I'm good...I got it."

But we don't.

Again from Terry Hershey's book: "I believe these fears are rooted in a more basic fear: our fear of God."

What? I thought we were supposed to fear God, isn't that the beginning of wisdom and understanding and all that? But we don't have a healthy fear of God we walk in an unhealthy understanding. We don't fear missing out on what He has for us, we fear that we won't like what He has for us. What did the serpent say to Eve in the garden?

"Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'” Genesis 3:4-5

Our temptations to lock up vulnerability behind bars is the same temptation Eve faced in the beginning. She wanted control. She wanted to be the master and dictator of her own life and direct her own steps. She wanted to be her own god.

Once we have established ourselves as god we can no longer allow ourselves to be given anything, we must get for ourselves. Instead of relying on God for our provision, we are competing with Him and others in the harvest. Taking as much as we can and hoarding our bounty for any approaching drought. As a person who cannot receive, we are unable to enjoy grace, redemption or any other gift that Christ provided for us. In that sense we are banking our good points and hiding our bad. We become religious instead of relational and calculating instead of content.

Most of you are probably reading this thinking, wow that is so true, I'm glad I'm not like that. Stop and read this again. If you are incapable of applying these things or questioning your success or failure, you are probably a prime example of what I'm describing here. Vulnerability requires you to examine yourself and more importantly it requires you to allow God to examine you. It requires you to do this regularly. I am speaking as someone who has to be reminded of these truths regularly. I don't write these things because I've arrived, I write them because they are fresh from recent application.

David on the other hand, was a beautiful example of intimacy with God. Look at Psalm 139 (edited for length):

1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?

13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;[b]
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

He pleads with God to know him, to search him out and to try him. To know his fears and his deepest and most hidden faults. Why? Not so he can make a list and apply 10 principles of perfection. He does it because he wants to be led. Nowhere does it say, fix me. It says lead me! Lead me! If a man, even a king can say those words...by golly we girls aught to be able to say them.

David understood that all that darkness that may still be lingering in the depths of his heart was not his obstacle to being known, it was his obstacle to being perfectly positioned in the great plan God had for him. Are you struggling financially? Are you baffled by the thought of where you belong in ministry? Are you frustrated in your marriage? Are you confused as a parent? Stop trying to fix it, stop waiting for God to count your points and give you your deserved blessing. Instead, begin confessing the truth.

I am not God. (no really...say it out loud..."I am not God.") I need God. I am a child of God. Children depend. Children are led. Children need a hand now and then.

Just this morning I was reciting the words of Psalm 1 as I prayed over my husband and my sons. These few words brought tears to my eyes as I realized a greater significance in them. "for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish." Ps. 1:6

Don't let that speak to your need to be righteous. Let it sink in as the truth that YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS. He knows what you need, He knows where you are, and He knows how to lead you in the way everlasting. The way everlasting is your ticket to freedom. It's your straight and narrow avenue toward peace and prosperity as your relationships are healed and your destiny is brought into clearer focus. The way everlasting means what you do matters. It will last. It will have value beyond a paycheck.

Take time to worship Him this week. A few of you will be single parents while your husbands are off camping. Use those quiet evenings to meditate on His great love for you and tell Him who He is to you. Read Psalm 139, Psalm 18, Psalm 84 and read them with fresh eyes that are looking for the opportunity to be vulnerable with your God. You will not regret it!

Until you can be vulnerable with perfect love, a love that already knows you and continues to love you regardless, you cannot be vulnerable with the love of any human. Start here!

Followed By Mercy

2010-04-13T11:49:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the backhand of criticism and the forehand of encouragement took their shots. In a matter of minutes I was presented with two scenarios, I am either a poor example of protection and security over my children, or a rich one.

I was literally greeted at my door by a stranger who chastised me for allowing my children to play "unsupervised" in the street. I thanked him without defense and called my children inside for lunch. My hands were shaking with the rage I felt upon this incident. I will defend myself here. I checked on them, I instructed them, I knew where they were, I prayed over them and I live on the end of a dead end street. My children do not have a back yard to play in, so I occasionally allow them to play out front where there is minimal traffic and ample room for them drive their little car around. My inclination to defend myself to this stranger felt futile and my other inclination to instruct a fool on his choice of words felt like a waste of energy. Like I said, I thanked him and then watched my kids playing well together while he continued wasting my time. I did question it. I did wonder if my entire street of neighbors were looking out their windows wondering what sort of mother would allow her young boys to play in the street while she is inside clipping coupons. I did not take it lightly, but I did not allow it to burrow under my skin either.

Moments later, mercy showed up. Within about 10 minutes of that incident my phone rang. It was the librarian from Owen's school calling to thank me for a note I had sent, calling attention to the content of a book Owen had brought home from school. It wasn't a big deal, just an innocent oversight in which a new age, American Indian spiritualist philosophy was disguised in the context of a children's story. It said "Disney" on the cover and showed a couple happy cartoon bears smiling at each other. A common mistake and I wanted them to know because I knew they would want to know. I trust Owen's school like that. The librarian on the phone talked for about 10 minutes, while Ivan and Aron ate their lunch. She brought mercy to me, in her heartfelt thanks and approval of my involvement in my child's well being.

How interesting, I thought. How oddly contradictory these circumstances are. To be presented with opinions and to have the opportunity to choose what I believe about myself in such an obvious forum made me smile a bit. Maybe, I thought, I should be taking notes here. These things don't happen like this every day. So I am.

This morning it became even clearer to me as I read from Psalms 13:3-6

"3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me."

The words of verse 5 spoke especially strong to me, "I have trusted in Your mercy." I hadn't thought of the words of encouragement I received yesterday as "mercy" but isn't that what they were? Mercy, then, is something to trust in, to have faith in, to rely on. Mercy is more than compassion, it is a benevolent understanding from the God who knows my best and worst. It is a gift of His grace as He chooses to treat me with tenderness that only righteous motives deserve. I wrote in my journal:

"To be humbled by a fool is no humility at all, it is a mockery of truth. To be encouraged by the righteous is a blessed embrace. A brick in the ever strengthened wall of character God is building in us, and a clearer identification of God's great intent to enrich His Kingdom."

Then I read these words in Psalm 43. They are a beautiful reminder that when criticism is valid and correction is necessary, God will be the judge and His judgment will come in a way that will build up, not humiliate.

"3 Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!
Let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your tabernacle.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And on the harp I will praise You,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God."

I looked up a few more Scriptures on mercy, as the thought of His mercy being something so strong and trustworthy was digesting in me. I wanted a New Testament confirmation of it's value.

I found 1 Timothy 1:16 "However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life."

Paul was explaining to Timothy how ignorant and completely wrong he had been and how God did not judge him by destroying him, rather, He was shown mercy. It was not a hard core display of God's righteous strength that was used to show the great power of Christ. No, indeed it was the gentle encouragement of mercy that showed His loving restraint and patience. This, Paul explained, is a pattern for those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

Again in 1 Peter we see mercy's role in eternal life. I Peter 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"

From these words I gained a little more perspective on yesterday. Taking a look at the messages and the messengers, it is easy to recognize the judgment that is unproductive against the mercy that produces hope and life.

As I was about to close up my concordance my eyes fell on the reference "Ps 23.6." I didn't have to read on to know what those words meant. "surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life..." Yes, I thought, mercy followed.

We do not have to waste our time punching holes in the arguments and opinions of fools. These are shallow judgments with no life in them. When we are accosted by these critics and their lifeless words we can smile, look away and wait with confidence. We can trust that whatever judgment is thrown our way it will be soon overshadowed. If we wait for it, if we look for it, if we trust Him to bring it to our hearts, mercy will follow and with it a greater hope and deeper understanding of His great love and the eternal life He is bestowing on us daily.

The next time the co-worker belittles, the teenager rolls his eyes, the friend carelessly speaks and the acquaintance unconsciously corrects, do not argue with foolishness. Instead, smile and look over their shoulder for truth to come your way in the form of goodness and mercy. They are promised to follow you all the days of your life.

Practicing Our "Hate Walk"

2010-04-07T21:54:00.004-05:00

We all know we're supposed to practice our "Love Walk." If you've been to the Cornerstone Women's Conference the past two years you heard Pastor Sandy bring that term to life and make you realize it's power. If we don't walk in love we set ourselves up for failure, if we do walk in love we cannot fail.

But have you ever thought about the importance of your "Hate Walk?" Until this morning I hadn't given it much thought either. I'm beginning to see it's importance though and I thought this might be something you'd like to know about.

Hate is an ugly word. I encourage my boys to use it sparingly. It's become unlawful in certain circumstances and is completely incorrect politically. However, hate has it's value in certain arenas. The word hate, like many other politically incorrect words or phrases, is in the Bible and God doesn't shy away from it. In fact He encourages it, even commands it of us. Never toward people, but always toward sin.

In Proverbs 6:16-19 we see these words: "These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren."

Psalm 97:10 says: "You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked."

There is a simplicity to the gospel in these words. Love the Lord, hate evil! There is a solid promise to those who do this. The souls of His saints will be preserved and delivered.

We could meditate and digest these words in Proverbs as lists and as detailed instruction and we should. We should know what God hates and make the effort to eradicate these things from our thoughts and our actions. I think most of us do a good job of keeping ourselves from doing the things which God hates, but do we stand up beside Him and hate with Him?

This hate is a challenge reaching far into the maturing lives of Christians. It's not just something to keep our hands out of, it's something to stand against. To show a staunch intolerance toward.

There are several things that come to mind in recent circumstances one of them is entertainment. Kris and I started watching a new show and liked the writing, the characters and even some of the message of the show. It's pro-family and that's great, but it got careless. The writers chose to incorporate several ungodly (even unlawful) actions being portrayed as innocent, funny, acceptable and normal. We had to make a decision. Do we hate what God hates, or do we tolerate what God hates? We decided not to watch that show anymore. Not because it would tempt us to do those things, but because by watching it, bringing it into our home, we are allowing it to live out loud around us and how can we expect God to be present with us at all times when we are slapping Him in the face with our tolerance of what he hates.

Another instance happened recently on facebook. I was reading through some updates of "friends" and saw a statement that wreaked of gossip and rebellion regarding someone in our church. There were no names but the ministry involved was mentioned and people who aren't from our church were responding in harsh words. I simply commented this way: "Do you think this is a good topic for facebook?" I was of course reamed over my cyber head and digitally chastised for my kool-aid drinking faithfulness to my pastors. I was de-friended, I was made to feel ignorant and consequently lost some other relationships connected to this person. I was bothered by this at first and painfully questioned my own actions. I thought maybe I should have kept my nose out of it. But you know what? I've come to be glad for what I did.

I exposed what God hates. It wasn't my goal to show myself as more righteous, in fact I simply thought this other Christian would be glad for the reminder to not air other people's dirty laundry. My goal was to help, not hate. But indeed...I did hate. It wasn't her that I hated, it was the sin she so eloquently spouted.

Hating what God hates is increasingly unpopular and more and more difficult to act out. But it is a necessary part of our relationship to Him and a bold witness of His great authority and righteousness. Practicing our "hate walk" is not a call to shout out "You Sinner!" to the unrighteous around us. It is simply drawing a line and saying "not in my house, not on my watch, and not with my blessing." We cannot keep other people from committing sin. We can keep sin from becoming acceptable to us.

This week, I encourage you to make the words of Proverbs 6 a standard. Not just for your own actions, but for what you allow into your home, around your children and near your heart. There are good things waiting for those who will not compromise to the world's standards.

I love the words of Psalm 37:1-11

1 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the LORD,
They shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

The answer then to the schemes of the wicked is to hate what they do with a passion that causes us to walk in love with abandon. Trust in the Lord and do good. To hate sin is not an arrogance of righteousness, it is a meekness toward righteousness and a result of our affection for God. What great joy is ours as we walk in that meekness of verse 11 delighting ourselves in the abundance of God's peace.

Identity Protection

2010-03-29T12:58:00.006-05:00

Tuesday, after the ladies Bible study at church, I had lunch with a friend at Burger King in Madison. I paid for our lunches and sat my purse down in the booth, with Aron and my friend, and took Ivan to the restroom.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when we returned. My friend was getting our food at the counter and Aron was in his seat. We chatted through lunch, gathered up our things and I drove my friend home and then made the rest of the trip to our own house. Ivan fell asleep on the way and Aron was exhausted.

When we got in the house I laid them both down and looked in my purse for my wallet. I wanted to get some cash out and put it in an envelope for Owen to take to school to pay for some upcoming events. Only...my wallet wasn't there. I searched and searched, pulled everything out, ran to the van looked all through the area up front. No wallet. I felt the color draining from my face. I immediately e-mailed Kris just to prepare him for the worst. I felt sure that our lunch at BK was to blame but I wasn't sure when it happened. I pulled up two websites. One for Burger King, so that I could call them, and one I googled, "wallet lost what to do" and centered the page on the list of numbers to call. Before I started calling authorities I wanted to make sure it wasn't at BK anymore. I couldn't get through. I tried calling 4, 5, 6 times. Busy. Busy. Busy. Ugh. I was falling into desperation. I couldn't even imagine a scenario where my credit card, my social security card and my cash were going to be back in my purse within any reasonable time. I totally believed that it had either been stolen, or it was dropped and cleaned out by now. I felt tears coming. Not today I thought. I just had a bad day yesterday...it's not fair to have two in a row.

I started to really feel sorry for myself, but as I was bowing to it I was reminded that I was losing my joy. Hmmm. What was it that our teacher said? "It's a choice." I guess it's time to start choosing. I sat up a little straighter, took a deep breath and started talking. I told Satan he can't have my joy and then I asked God to step in. I prayed protection over my identity and my assets. I felt better. I picked up the phone again and GOT THROUGH. The very helpful voice on the other end of the line was able to find my wallet in mere moments and locked it in an office until I could get there. I got the boys out of bed and drove back to Madison, to retrieve my wallet, claiming it's complete contents as I went. When I got there, the young man who had taken my call handed me my wallet and as I opened it I was all smiles to see my cards, my license, everything...even my cash was still there.

Wednesday morning I was praying about some issues that seem to want to linger in my heart and mind. There was a circumstance recently that caused me to feel offended and hurt by someone who isn't a particularly close friend of mine but her actions and words hurt none the less. I realized how the two situations, the lost wallet and the offensive friend, parallel. When I lost my wallet I was afraid. I wasn't afraid I would never see my wallet again. I was afraid that I would lose what was in it, my identity and my assets. When another person chooses to abuse us or think ill toward us it isn't our outer flesh that is hurt it is something inside. We become fearful. We don't fear a scar to our flesh...it is something far greater that we are afraid of. We fear losing the face of our identity and the access to our assets. What if we aren't the person we thought we were and instead are the person they seem to think we are? What if we lose our ability to hold the trust of others because of what this person thinks of us?

The pain of someone's false accusations, deceptive words or unnecessary vengeance toward us is hard to bear. It may be the result of a misunderstanding, an ill timed joke, a seemingly harmless comment that struck a chord with someone and brought offense. It could be real dislike, jealousy or an inability to find common ground with someone that produces a rift and regrettable actions. Whatever it is, there will always be people who do not like us, who refuse to think well of us and who sometimes tell other people what they think of us. We can't change it, believe me I've tried. I don't like it when people don't like me. I'm a nice person dog-gone-it, I work hard at being nice. If they don't like me, they need to try harder. It doesn't seem to matter that I don't like them...as long as they like me, that's what matters.

But it doesn't matter. Just like my wallet story I'm trying to protect my identity but it's already protected. My true identity is IN CHRIST. In that identity, I am completely sealed and my assets are untouchable. I cannot be lost, stolen or misunderstood and in Christ, when I am spoken ill of, it is against Him that my adversary must take up their offense.

Wednesday morning I read these words from Isaiah 54:17
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."

My true value and my worth is in the potential of my identity, which as a Christian is now His identity. My position and assets are completely and totally the sum of what He has brought into the relationship. I am a child of God and a joint heir with Christ, therefore my value is protected by an all loving God because I am identified as His. Anything that comes against me, is coming against the Lord Himself and must be condemned.

You too, are a completely chosen, purchased, redeemed and desired child of God. You have immeasurable value because of your untouchable identity in Christ. You have assets and blessings that cannot be contained or counted because your Maker is your abundant supply. He has you covered. Don't let one person's words, or actions cut into your opinion toward yourself. Allow God to show you who He is and then remember how deeply cradled in that identity you are. No weapon, no words, no anger, no bitterness, no thoughtlessness or judgment, formed against you can prosper because you are securely identified as a servant of the Lord and your righteousness, your value, your goodness and your potential is of Him.

Now, we need to live and love like we believe that.

The Distaff Side

2010-03-28T14:16:00.001-05:00

This weekend we took a look at our feminine selves. We did not require mirrors, make-up, fashion or shoe shopping to embrace this creation we are realizing and we did not require anything of anyone else in the process. Not one man had to be emasculated for us to be realize our worth. Not one model had to be scrutinized in order for us to see our own beauty.

We stepped up to the foot of the cross and once more accepted the gift, and this time, we're keeping it.

A few summary thoughts from the weekend:
We are created to exemplify the heart of God.
We were not just formed, we were beautifully fashioned.
We have a purpose as women that only a woman can fulfill.
Vulnerability is a strength.
Cleaning under the hinge covers on our toilet seats is gross, but a good idea.
A tube sock on a yard stick will clean under the fridge.
Husbands are gifts that don't need fixing.
Children need fixing.
Gentleness and condescension in us, can produce greatness in our husbands.
Our souls have been restored.
We should pray more.
Our dreams should come from the dining room, not from the basement.

I'm sure there are more thoughts that could be included. These are the ones that most impacted me. Your comments should include what most impacted you.

Love you all.