I’ve begun watching American Idol again after taking a couple of years’ break and am enjoying it. It seems a little kinder than before and there are still plenty of good singers in America, yet undiscovered. Last night John and I watched an episode in which the last contestant to audition, Ramiro Garcia, had a remarkable story: he was born without ears.
His parents were told he would never speak or sing. While baby pictures of him were shown, he explained how he underwent many surgeries to reconstruct ears for him, even creating ear canals. The doctors found ear drums inside, so he had the mechanisms to hear! We were curious to hear what he sounded like and were amazed to hear Continue reading →
Have you ever eaten lots of “junk” and sugary stuff to the point that the next time you feel hungry you crave real food – meat and potatoes, home cooked, hot, delicious and nutritious real food?
That’s a pretty good description of how I feel (the feeling seems to have grown in the last few years) when I watch some of the Christmas shows and movies on TV or hear some of the songs that are played over the Muzak at work. Not bad, not offensive, just no real substance. There is that one song that for some reason makes me want to shoot the speakers with a BB gun. You may have heard it, “last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next day you gave it away. This year to save me from tears I’ll give it to someone special…” It kind of sets my teeth on edge.
For me it’s not enough to say Christmas is about children, snow, cookies, Santa, shopping, giving gifts, or about family, or about being kind, or about helping homeless or needy people. Those are all good things but there’s so much more.
I feel a suppressed frustration, almost anger, that the meaning of Christmas has been diluted so much by some in our culture. To cut Jesus out of Christmas for me is like asking me to survive on a diet of nothing but marshmallow fluff. Continue reading →
With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 The Message
Guilt is described as a sense of remorse or responsibility for some offense or wrong-doing, whether real or imagined. It plaques every one of us at one time or another and can become oppressive causing us to trudge instead of walk freely, to feel low and even worthless. It’s like wearing a stack of lead aprons, the kind the dentist lays on top of you when you’re about to have an x-ray.
Where does it come from? From other people? After all they can be judgmental and have certain expectations of us, or we can value their opinions of us far too much. Maybe sometimes. From ourselves? Each of us is probably our harshest critic and with help from our enemy, the devil, accuse ourselves ruthlessly. From God? Continue reading →
“The Afters” sing a great song about how it’s a good thing we’re not God, we’re not the Savior of the world because we couldn’t do, wouldn’t do all that He does for mankind. He shows mercy when we would just as soon write someone off for ticking us off. He loves even when we turn our backs on Him, spit in His face in anger or shrug in apathy. He forgives when we tend to hold grudges. He gives second, third, fourth, fifteenth, and hundredth chances when we give up on people after a few offenses.
Thank God, I’m not the one! The world would be in trouble with such a fickle, weak, limited deliverer. There is a God and it’s not me. Or you. Continue reading →
There’s an old Audio Adrenaline song I love called “Jesus Movement” that’s about how in America we tend to think, even subconsciously, that we’ve got it goin’ on as far as following Jesus. We’re the ones to take the lead from, we know what we’re doing. I think it’s an American way of thinking that’s seeped into our spiritual lives and thoughts. It’s easy to forget about the billions of other human beings on the planet when we can only see physically the home and town where we live. Of course, with the Internet we can see much more and interact so much more easily with people all around the world.
For some reason I’m still ignorant when it comes to the number of people in other countries and on other continents who love Jesus just as much as I do and are doing their best, like I am, to live for Him and make Him known.
In the Audio Adrenaline song, the lyrics go like this: (below the video) Continue reading →
It’s the reason I don’t sew my own clothes, or refinish furniture, or knit, or sew quilts. It’s the reason I love my short haircut, my fast computer, and convenience stores. It’s hard for me to have the patience needed for time-consuming, detailed tasks because if you want a good result, you have to take time to go through lots of steps and do each one carefully. Or you have fewer steps but you have to do them over and over and over and over and over and…you get the idea. I like to see progress more quickly, like when you paint a room or change shoes. One step and voila! Change and results! Our fast-paced, want-things-in-an-instant society only contributes to this mentality of mine. Maybe you struggle with it, too.
I remember as a little girl feeling impatient while my mom put curlers in my hair on Saturday nights or when I went to the orthodontist as a teenager and nothing ever seemed to be simple or quick. Just finish and let me out of this chair! I’ve got places to go and things to do, people.
I suppose I could sew clothes and all those types of projects and rush through but I’d probably get shabby results and ultimately be dissatisfied.
I was driving around this morning in the snow listening to one of my favorite worship artists, Phil Wickham. One song in particular struck me and I think I’ll make it our family theme song for this year. It’s called “The Time is Now” and it speaks of how it’s time to make a change, time to step out, time to march or dance into what God’s been preparing for us and preparing us for. God has been working on us for a while now and when in the midst of things we feel like it will never end – the constant testing, chiseling, honing, refining, rebuking, and training.
I see now how it has all been to get us ready for the next chapter in our lives and it is so worth it. I’ve learned, actually am still learning, to not complain when the process of being made more like Jesus takes so long. After all, look at the raw material God is working with. There’s a long way to go. The beautiful truth is that God has all the patience needed to keep working on us, to keep lovingly drawing us back when we slip off the stool and try to wander away, to keep making us ready for what’s ahead.
If you’re in the midst of God working on you, feel like you’re getting an exhausting, comprehensive extreme makeover and it’s taking a long time, be encouraged! When God finally lets you hop off the stool for a while because you’re ready for the next thing He has for you to do or be a part of, you’ll see it was worth the wait, the patience, the surrender and more.
I know we will always be getting back up on that stool from time to time, clay pots never really finished until we get to heaven someday, but for this next phase of life I hear God saying, “Ahh, you’re ready. It’s time!”
I sat there listening to her sing her heart in phrases and heard God talk to me, as well, “I’m showing you again that I have the power to influence this young lady’s heart. I made her, you know. I have planted more in her than you could dream of or design. As precious as you are to me, you are not the author of this young one’s soul and faith. I Am.”
Thank you, God, and forgive me for doubting, worrying or trying to orchestrate. Thank you for hearing my deepest heart prayers for her (and for all my daughters) – that You would draw her near, that You would comfort her and give her the strength to surrender to you. You can handle the angry cries, the stubborn thoughts, the questions and more. You keep painting beauty over those things and then giving me glimpses of this tough and tender work of art that is my daughter.
How I’ve underestimated all my girls at times, in many ways. Don’t let me do it any more. Why would I think they are any less complicated, any less deep thinkers and ponderers, any less in tune with God than I am? Why would I not think You talk to them the way You do me, that You relish every moment they sit with you, read Your word, sing songs to You? I’m simply a few years farther down the path, but we’re on the same path following You, “I Am”, our incredible Savior and Creator.
We harmonized together on some familiar tunes and I was drawn into worship as I sat in sleepy comfort. You were sitting right there, Jesus. The only thing I can do is bow down in my heart, my thankful, peace-filled, humbled heart.
This song will hold more meaning for me from now on:
You stood before creation Eternity in your hand You spoke the earth into motion My soul now to stand
You stood before my failure And carried the cross for my shame My sin weighed upon your shoulders My soul now to stand
So what could I say? And what could I do? But offer this heart, Oh God Completely to you
So I’ll walk upon salvation Your spirit alive in me This life to declare your promise My soul now to stand
Getting healthier after some turmoil last year when pastor left.Facility is really nice and new.Upward basketball – 200+ kids.Pretty good sense of mission, awareness of the need to be missional.Recently changed to a governance leadership structure – significant tool for next pastor.
Still some unresolved longstanding, systemic unhealthy conflict. Mortgage – income that comes in with which they pay the mortgage is usually about $4000 a month short.They use cash reserves right now from the sale of their old building to pay the shortfall but that won’t last forever.Still some division from the conflict last year that is healing but isn’t over.
I have been listening to Chris Tomlin’s Christmas album from last year the last few mornings as I drive to work. It has lifted my heart and drawn me close to God in praise. It seems whenever I hear Chris lead worship, especially live recordings, I am ushered right into God’s embrace. He is gifted and humble and I’m thankful for him and his ministry.
Anyway, this morning one song really stuck out to me and resonated in my heart. “My soul, my soul magnifies the Lord…He has done great things for me, great things for me!” Those words of Mary’s spontaneous outpouring of wonder and gratefulness when she learned of how God planned to include her in the greatest event of all time became a cry of my own heart as I really listened to them and thought about them. God HAS done great things for me, for us, for everyone. When I’m caught up in awe and thankfulness, my soul responds like I imagine Mary’s must have.
Can you stand it? More beautiful?? (3rd post in a row with “beautiful” in the title for those who wonder what the heck I’m talking about)
I’m thinking of a song I love tonight as I’ve been listening to God tell me that there’s no need to panic when those I love make choices I wouldn’t want them to make or seem to be struggling a little to “find their feet” on this path. He is able and He is watching. He’s never distracted or bewildered as to how to help them or draw them near. He loves them, so much more than I do, which is hard for me to grasp when I feel it so deeply from my insides out. Right now, though my first impulse was to talk and try to control I feel God telling me to be quiet, to watch and see. I’m praying and trying to stay so close to Him so that I can hear whenever He prompts me to speak and help, but in the meantime I can almost see him wave his arms out in a flourish with a big smile and say “Watch what I can do! Out of the ashes, out of blunders, out of missteps, I will bring beauty, healing, and wholeness.” I’m watching, Papa. Please handle with care. You know how much she means to me.
I’ve been a fan of a crazy band called “Five Iron Frenzy” since my early 30’s when we lived in New Mexico. They’re a SKA band: kind of a punk, hyper sound with brass and lots of zip. One reason I really like them is because the lead singer sings with such incredible passion – he really belts it out! Some of their songs are nonsensical and funny but there are a few really poignant ones like the one entitled “It Was Beautiful.” I think it was written 6 years ago when they were breaking up as a band. It’s about wrapping up their career, thinking back to those moments when God was especially close while they sang, performed, and traveled together. If you have a few minutes listen and follow along with the lyrics below. When I hear it I feel happy and thankful and in awe of our God who truly is the One who makes things sweet, good, and beautiful.
Along the Narrow Path 