What It Says

“The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem to buy back those in Israel who have turned from their sins,” says the Lord.  (Isaiah 59-20)

 I found this verse very interesting.  It doesn’t say someone is going to come and heal everyone of His children.  The verse doesn’t say that God is going to swoop in and be the Daddy Worbucks of the world and grant every material wish it may have.  And Isaiah isn’t saying that the Redeemer is going to tap dance His way into our hearts with sales slogans or begging.  “The Redeemer will come….to buy back….those…who have turned from their sins.”

 Jesus came to earth as man for one reason and one reason alone:  to be the perfect Lamb.  He showed us the way and then paved the road for us with His own blood.  Now, when you confess your heart to God and accept Jesus as your Redeemer you are promised an eternity with Him.  All the blessings that fall on you, all the trials that make you stronger, the people who come into your life to make it richer, and looking in a child’s eyes—your child’s eyes—is all icing on an already perfect cake.  The Savior came for you, to buy you and bring you to the Lord, and your eternity has already begun.

 “And the people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God.  And note this:  Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be the least important then.” (Luke 13:29-30)

Silence is Golden

“A time to hear and a time to mend.  A time to be quiet and a time to speak.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:7)

 For a time I thought I have been experiencing a complete and total burnout.  I thought I was tired from long hours of homework, car pools, house cleaning (or lack there of), driving back and forth to wherever the kids need to be, and training at work which involved many long hours of staring at documents and spreadsheets and trying to remember what each one says. School is over, car pool is over, the kids are home more to help around the house, but now I have joined the planning team for VBS at church and that is keeping me very busy.  I have missed writing every morning but I haven’t been getting up in time to do it. I have felt lonely and like something was missing.

 This week I realized that nothing was missing.  Two things occurred to me at the same time.  First, I promised myself I wouldn’t write just to write and, honestly, I haven’t felt like saying anything lately. Second, nothing at all has been missing.  My plate is most definitely full and it’s full of really great stuff.  My daughter is in an amazing musical that has been eating up my weekends but I love being down at the theater and to be able to share this with her has been a blessing for me.  I love my job and the opportunities that have presented themselves to me.  I feel slightly overwhelmed but I know I am where I need to be and it’s going to be all good.  Finally, I am excited to be a part of VBS this year.  It’s crazy, stressful, and a blessing.  I am anxious to see the kids and the leaders walk through those doors Sunday night.  So, nothing has been missing.  God just helped me lighten my load a bit so that I could find balance.

 My relationship with Jesus may have changed a bit in the last couple of months.  I guess if I were to try to explain it I would say that up until May I was sitting down and having coffee with Him as we talked about life (thank you Sally).  Now, I feel like we aren’t talking to each other as much as we are building something great together.  He has never left my side and its okay that someone isn’t always talking in any relationship.  Silence is golden, or maybe silence is me going nuts from mixing too many things together.  So, if things seem crazy or you feel kind of off take a step back and try to see the bigger picture.  I am sure that you are in the midst of an opportunity and you will enjoy it more if you see it now than if you have to constantly look back on it later.

 “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it give us assurance about the things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Smarts

“Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:9)

 

Disciplining your children is so hard.   Actually, being a parent is tough in a lot of ways. You want your kids to be happy and enjoy being a kid but then you have to balance that out with making sure you give them structure and correction at the same time.  When I woke up this morning the first thought in my head was asking God to help show me the way.  My prayers were swimming in questions of guidance and understanding as a parent. Coincidentally, I also read 1 Kings 3: 1-15. I love it when God lets me know He is there and He is listening.

 

Parenting is interesting. We have done things right and we have done things wrong and as we enter into the their teen years it’s not so much about how much we work to make our kids great, it’s about how hard they work to help make their own lives better.  I feel like we are in gridlock some days.  We are constantly, not in a pushy way, giving our children the tools they need to be independent, responsible, and community oriented adults.  We try really hard to live by example.  They may be successful, they may rebel, or they’ll probably do a really kid mix of the two. That’s just our three children. Imagine being the Parent of all of creation!

 

I woke up this morning begging God for guidance.  He gave it to me.  God knows better than anyone how frustrating it is to raise up children who, at times, make bad decisions and don’t get it no matter how many times it is explained.  I was one of those kids!  And I don’t know what path is laid out before my children but I do pray about it everyday.  Most of what I do is to help the kids and to encourage and build them up.  I love being a mom and I have absolutely amazing children.  The smarts I want my children to embrace in life (hopefully sooner than later) come from the ultimate wisdom of God.  Even as old and used up as you may think the Bible is, everything is found right there:  love and live; get rich quick doesn’t work (Proverbs 22:8), laziness doesn’t pay out well either (Romans 12:11), be smart with your finances (Proverbs 21:20), forgive often (Matthew 6: 14-15), and much MUCH more: respect your parents, parents love your children, husbands and wives love each other and adore each other, give give give!!! It’s all right there.  I just hope I am listening as God helps me help them.

 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

Just Another Day

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

 

It’s my husband’s birthday today BUT before anyone goes rushing to their Facebooks, email accounts, or cell phones STOP! He doesn’t want birthday wishes because it’s “just another day”, which of course irritated me enough that it’s all I can think about, hence the subject matter of the day: him. If you wish him happy birthday he may not join me for “just a regular day” lunch at work. So, if I don’t eat it is your fault (wait until after lunch).

 

On this incredibly normal day I will share with you how very irritated my husband can make me. In fact, I am pretty sure he can irritate me more quickly than anyone else on the planet and he is proud of how good he is at doing this. On the other hand, the better one, one smile and my husband can make me laugh and end a fight, which irritates me again! Our friendship, our marriage, and our love is not without its emotional roller coasters but I am blessed every moment he is with me. He is the man I never I knew I needed. He is my lover, my best friend, a wonderful dad, and, I believe, my soul mate.

 

He will always be the first to say that I helped him stay the course. However, I wonder if he will ever know how much his strength and love have helped me put one foot in front of the other. Those few times when my faith gets wobbly he is right there with an infusion of guidance to get me back into place. He would say I am the strong one but it’s when I am not, and I feel like everything is falling apart, he gently walks me back to the Lord’s feet. So, on this incredibly normal day I want to praise and thank God for the man He has so graciously given me to walk with on earth. I am blessed, I am loved, and I am….probably in a bit of trouble!

 

“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it.” (Song of Songs 8:6-7a)

The Cell Phone Devotion

“After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the might things he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:10)

 

Have we forgotten that we are parents? Has there been some event that happened, which I missed, where children had the right or privilege to do what they want when they want to do it?  I am just curious because on the radio yesterday the DJ was talking with a mother who was so grateful that the cell phone could block times in the day when her daughter could not text because the daughter was texting at dinner and this would stop that. Of those of you who know me personally, you know exactly what I thought of that. Maybe it’s because I don’t like cell phones. Maybe it’s because I think it is ridiculous how many children have cell phones with no appreciation for the cost or the reason to have them and if I offend you, I am sorry. If it makes you feel any better I don’t like my cell phone either and use it as little as possible.   

 

It’s not only cell phones though! It’s clothes, nails, prom dresses, 16-year old temper tantrums (I did do that), and a complete lack of respect. As parents we have all this pressure to live up to society’s standards of what our children “need” and if we let them our kids will play us on that.  I will be the first to admit that I was a spoiled brat but I paid for my own gas and if I wanted my nails done and I paid for it because I wouldn’t have asked my parents for that money because I was forced to work. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I suddenly decided not to work. I paid for my prom dresses and my own car insurance. I didn’t balance my books well but I balanced them. I have seen so many teens steamroll their parents and I sit back speechless.

 

In a time when parents want to blame the culture and society for the angst happening amongst our young it’s time to remember that the schools, radio stations, televisions, and even the churches are not who need to be raising our children. It is us. We can use many avenues to train up our children to the responsible adults we want them to be but they have to be tools and not babysitters. And, I am not denying that we can do all the right things for our kids and they may still make bad choices but don’t let the world convince you that you might as well give up! Let us not lead a generation to fall away if we are not around but a generation who wants to snag God’s torch from our hands because they are simply that strong in Jesus, in faith, in responsibility, and in leading. We are the parents, we are the leaders, and God has given us a job let’s make sure we do it right because we won’t get a second chance.

 

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)

Made to Love

“Understand, therefore, that the Lord your god is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.” (Deuteronomy 7:9)

 

I have felt jumbled lately, which makes it harder to write. With so many things spinning around in my brain I have a hard time focusing enough to write. Writing has become such an unexpected blessing in my life that I feel incomplete when I can’t do it but if I don’t know what to say it’s better not to say anything. This morning I am going to let a book say it for me.

 

I am reading The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. My Bible study group is going to be doing this study in a couple weeks and my girlfriend gave me a copy for my birthday. I don’t usually enjoy reading when I am told to do it. I think it forces me to text book mode. Anyway, I was reading it yesterday as I waited in the carpool line. Listen (or read) this: “You, on the other hand, were created to be loved. So for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way

around.” (p. 97). I have been thinking about this line ever since. I guess you could say I am meditating on it.

 

Have you ever noticed the hurt and anger in someone’s voice when they talk about their anger toward God? When someone questions the evils of the world and can’t make sense of a god when there is so much terror, genocide, and violence in a “perfect, God-made, world” can you feel their disgust?  I learned a long time ago it usually takes loving someone very much to get to the point where you are disgusted by them. Faith in this world is a tough thing and it takes acknowledging that you will not always understand everything, things will not always go your way, the road will almost never be easy, and pain will come in the same waves as joy.  

 

I wondered around long enough, living in my own world and my own pleasures and my own selfishness that I can tell you that once I learned to love God and receive His love I felt whole.  I didn’t understand anything any more or less par se. But I realized that I was loved unconditionally, something I didn’t understand until that moment and that made a bigger difference than I can describe. I am sure other people had tried to show me that unconditional love but I didn’t get it. I get it now and in turn I try to love in the same way. It’s a bumpy road but I want my children, my husband, my family, my friends, and my family of faith to know this love and to live in it; not making the world any easier to live in but making it a life worth living.

 

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Embarrassingly Naked

“I tried to relieve your fears: ‘Don’t be terrified of them. God, your God, is leading the way; he’s fighting for you. You saw with your own eyes what he did for you in Egypt; you saw what he did in the wilderness, how God, your God, carried you as a father carries a child, carried you the whole way until you arrived here. But now that you’re here, you won’t trust God, your God—‘” (Deuteronomy 1:29-31 The Message)

 

I am overwhelmed with family. I am overwhelmed with school. I am overwhelmed with a special needs child. I am overwhelmed trying to be the wife and mother I am called to be. I am overwhelmed with busyness but then overwhelmed when I can’t think of what to do. I am overwhelmed trying to be healthy and lose weight. I am overwhelmed with our finances. I am overwhelmed trying to keep a house and I am overwhelmed trying to keep my faith in line when there are days when it feels like the balls I so precariously juggle are bouncing down the road and I am overwhelmed keeping chasing them down. And what is it again that I try to teach over and over again? I shout out constantly that God is good, when we hand everything over to God we will find peace, and (my favorite) God has a beautiful and perfect plan. Once again it is easier said than done.

 

With all that you may find it incredible that I have peace and reassurance in my faith. In spite of being terribly overwhelmed, some days anyway, I can usually go with the flow fairly well. God has found ways to remind me that I am where I am and, honestly, I couldn’t and wouldn’t change a thing. I love my husband and so I love being his wife. I adore my children and so even the hard days are a joy. I love accounting so work is a reward. I believe I am a student by nature and so school is something I look forward to. And, as far as the juggling….I have never been very good at balance so it’s no wonder that I drop the ball quite often.

 

My point is that everything is about perspective. Yes, I will be the first to admit that there is a lot going on but we have a home, we have food, we have power, we have jobs, we are healthy, and we have an amazing family and circle of friends. God is good. In the chaos of it all I take a big deep breath in and I breath out and I put one foot in front of the other and I smile because, even on the cloudiest day, I am still standing in the Sun.

 

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your hear to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalm 62:5-8)

Your Red Sea

“The Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into try land. So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry land, with walls of water on each side!” (Exodus 14:21-22)

 

I was walking with my brother-in-law to McDonalds®. My sister had finally been placed in a room after her stroke and everyone else had left. Troy and I were hungry and ironically enough, a renowned heart hospital has McDonalds® on its ground floor. On our way down I told him that I would have the entire state of Iowa praying by the end of the night, that I would have friends across the country praying and even prayers being lifted from England by the next day. On the short walk down he mentioned that he had thought about getting back to church. He had been thinking life would get easier if they were going to church. I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud. I said that is the inside joke of Christianity. For some reason the people looking in think that Christians have this easy cake-like life. However, the reality is life gets harder when you decide to walk the narrow path. It was then he remembered doing an alter call in his teens. “It was like as soon as I did that the girls flew down on me.”

 

God brought the Israelites to a new destination in an incredible way. They may have been free from 400 years of slavery but that didn’t mean that the rest of their lives were a picture of leisure and ease. It was hard. It was long. Many didn’t make it through. It brings me to the testimony I am giving this weekend. I had an amazing experience, a God-moment if you will, and I was refreshed, renewed, on fire, and alive in a totally new way (that is the jest testimony if you aren’t going to make it to church this weekend). I kid-you-not, within two days my world was crashing around me. I was on my knees and I didn’t know how I was going to get through.

 

We all have some sort of Red Sea in our lives. It’s that moment when we are walking with God and we reach a point where it seems impossible to break through or cross over. God is telling us to trust Him and to put one foot in front of the other and know that He will provide the dry ground. His Word is our staff and our church family, friends, loved ones, prayers, the sermons we hear, missions we are involved in, and circles we live in are His pillar of fire and smoke guiding us and pulling us forward. We know that He will always bring us through. We may not understand it. We may not see it. But we know that our Heavenly Father loves us and will us guide us Home.

 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

It is cold!

“Our God approaches and he is not silent. Fire devours everything in his way, and a great storm rages around him.” (Psalm 50:3)

 

This winter is Iowa has been plagued with lots of snow, icy roads, and now freezing temps. I guess freezing temperatures would be simplifying what some people will experience as they head out to work today (schools are all closed). Right now it is about -20 degrees out. Skin will freeze in under 10 minutes and you really need to make sure your car will start and warm up before you leave for wherever you need to go. Iowa hasn’t faced these kinds of temperatures in almost 31 years. I did the math super fast when Channel 8 said so this morning because the date was significant. The last time it was this cold was on February 4, 1996. That is significant because it was my birthday, my senior year in high school, I had just found out I was pregnant (yeah, happy birthday), and I wasn’t in Iowa….or I was on my way out.

 

My dad and I drove to San Francisco and we did it in 26 hours. We only stopped to fill up and empty out. I got to see the Rocky Mountains for the first time (that I remember) and we got a great picture of Lake Tahoe. I remember that, in San Francisco, the grass was green in February. We visited my great-aunts and looked at some communities. My family was considering a move out there. Obviously we opted for below freezing temperatures and corn instead of fog and congestion. But it was a good trip and I enjoyed the time with my dad. The scariest part was telling my dad I was pregnant and, more than likely, that I was alone.

 

In a moment of true fear I experienced the love and grace that I thought never existed, although I am sure my parents offered up plenty of grace as I grew up. I didn’t get yelled at. I wasn’t called names. I wasn’t evicted. It was worse and better than all of that. I could see the disappointment and fear on my parents’ faces and then they simply shrugged their shoulders and said they would be there for me as I moved forward. I am sure that God doesn’t shrug but I know that He has more grace than anyone could imagine. In your moments of worst fear, in those extremely cold places of your life, God is waiting for you to bring Him into the folds of your problems so that He can help you get out and get you warm.  As you face your fears He is there to bring you through. And as we stumble, He is there to make us right again and carry us as we rebuild our strength.

 

“No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 Message)  

So Frustrated

“I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King! And I will bless your name into eternity.” (Psalm 145:1 Message)

 

This was not the way I wanted to start my morning. We have been scolding our oldest son. It’s hard for me because I feel sorry for his self-inflicted problem he is in but it is so hard to go over the same things over and over again and feel like his anger is preventing him from really hearing anything we have to say.

 

I wonder how often God feels that way. Many of our life circumstances, good or bad, are a result of our own choices. He tells us, He shows us, He gives us grace over and over and over again and here we are…still in the same rut. Even the things I know I need to change about me and my lifestyles are so extremely hard to change but I know everything I need to know and I make my mistakes anyway. Why is that?

 

We need to trust God enough to make the right decisions. We need to follow His ways. Have you ever noticed that we say God has a perfect plan but we don’t want to do it His way? And then, when you realize you were going the wrong direction and feel the peace of following that narrow path, you may steel veer off into a different direction because it looked pretty good? How can I raise a child when I am such a wreck some days? What has God given me that I am not using to push through these obstacles? All the answers are right there.

 

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30 The Message)*

*thanks Suzanne!