This Wasn't What I Expected

Maybe it's the instant gratification, stay occupied with movies and video games, constant barrage of information, texts, posts, tweets..... or maybe it has always been this way.  Maybe since Adam and Eve men (okay, more women than men) have thought they knew what was coming, what to expect, how life was going to be.  The "Happily Ever After" fairy tale diet doesn't help.  The Photoshop, makeup covering, perfect way to take selfies environment feeds it, too.  Somewhere along the way most of us have come to think that we know what the future will look like, how it will be, what it will hold.  Yes, we make choices in life that have certain consequences, but there are so many things we can't "expect" (aka "control"!).

Recently I was blessed with a "reunion" of some very special Godly women who helped me through some tough times in life.  We shared young life - 14 month pregnancies (well, they felt that long!), sleepless nights with teething babies, potty training accidents and successes, how to teach math to very strong-willed right-brained children, when to participate and when to pull out of sports leagues, co-ops, play groups and churches, how to love on husbands who were sometimes very unlovable and how to forgive ourselves for sometimes being very unlovable wives, too.  Now, as our children approach their thirties and many in the group are grandmothers, we were all a bit shocked to realize that almost nothing went as we "expected".  We were not where we thought we would be at this point in life.

Broken relationships; strained or broken marriages (ours and/or our children's); prodigal children; grandchildren born out of wedlock; sexually, emotionally and physically diseased or dying children were not what we "expected" when we committed our lives, our energy, our love to have a God-fearing home.  And yet, there it was.  And in the center of the realization that nothing, practically nothing, we had planned and worked for had turned out as we had envisioned, there was such a sweetness and amazement that it was OK anyway.  For we shared - and still share even when we go years without being together in person - the hope, the unity, the peace, the love, the joy that only Christ can give to any of our hearts in this broken world.  And oh, the amazing joys and victories and blessings that we had never dreamed had come about, too.  For the sweetest and most beautiful eternal flowers are those unexpected blossoms pushing through this world's broken despair.  So thank you, Lord Jesus, that things are not what we expected.  And thank you for sweet and dear friends to help remind us that it is all about Your Eternal purpose.

Woman of Leisure

Leisure: "Washing dishes, clothes and floors; Grocery shopping with coupons and a budget, cooking with little time and discriminating 'customers'; planning, chauffeuring, cheering, nursing, encouraging, teaching, disciplining, and raising children; and multiple other tasks needed on an hourly basis". See - we ARE women of leisure :) [Note to self: It is all in the perspective!!]

Remind Me Again....

Remind me again what was so important
that I forgot to send my Mother a birthday card?
Remind me again what was so very pressing
that I didn't have time to call and talk to my Dad one last time?
It's hard to remember what was so significant to my career
that I missed seeing my son hit that home run.
And there must be something wrong with my memory
that the reason laundry and housework made me
miss some very sweet three-year-old giggles.
Is it a genetic defect that doesn't allow me to remember
the reason the payments on the big house and new car
were more important than sitting in a rickety rocker with Granny?
Or why worries over whether I would be in the next layoffs
made me ignore my daughter reaching for my hand when I got home late?
Remind me again of the books on the shelves
that were never read because there were other more "important" things to do.
Remind me of the reasons we ate dinner at different times
so that I could get the promotion... or you could be on the video game longer.
Remind me again why things take priority over people.
Because I keep forgetting.
And the older I get the
more I don't want
to be reminded
of anything
except
those
I love.

What's the big deal about profanity?

Three letter posts, texts, spoken "words" come at us constantly and have become so ingrained in our daily lives most of us do not even think about them.  I refuse to even put their letters here because they make me think the words that go with them.  They are not just innocent letters. Even now, I apologize if the thought of them makes you think those words.  Words matter.  

"Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders."  Matt. 17:17-19

Ouch.  I have used, abused, and spewed out words.  As I get older, I realize the intense power of those words.  And I ponder profanity.  My parents had "rules" - don't say this, always say that, etc.  Unfortunately I learned to obey the rules only, and didn't really understand the reason behind the rules.  It is the kind of thinking when I thought that the Ten Commandments were "don't"s and not understanding that they are all about the difference between our sinful nature and God's Holy One, and that only a loving God would give us rules so that we could find truth. 
and love. 
and joy. 
and eternal life.

Profanity - the opposite of sacred.  I don't want to be profane.  Actually, I desire holiness, sacredness, righteousness, Godliness.  That is the sad part about being surrounded by profanity, the sad part that we are not taught the difference between sacred and profane, respect and selfishness, courtesy and rudeness.  Our culture has trampled on the sacred under the banner of "rights" and "freedoms".  I am thankful for the rules my parents set - we were not allowed to say "dang it" or "darn" because they explained it was simply a more "acceptable" way of using a swear word.  They explained less (if at all) about why using the curse words was profane.  It has been only recently that this hard heart of mine has absorbed the full reality that profanity in any sense is the total epitomy of selfishness.  It does not consider the sacred nature of our own minds or hearts, the sacred in others, the sacredness of what our society could be if it was redeemed by the Redeemer of all.  The profanity of others dirties my mind and heart, but also makes me wonder at why I am not more careful with my words, too.  It reminds me that we are all in need of mercy.  
and grace.  
and redemption. 

"Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
    keep watch over the door of my lips!"  Psalm 141:3

What song does my heart sing?

A subject that I like to discuss is well stated in the blog below.  Personally, I have swung between all contemporary to no contemporary music just because of my personal preferences and lack of maturity.  At the end of the day, the music style is really a moot point - the lyrics and style should be Christ-focused, the congregation be unified and uplifted as they truly worship and visitors be drawn to the love, joy and unity of the body of Christ,  I have seen those truths clearly in both off-tune versus professional quality performances, the most contemporary rap/hip-hop versus southern-gospel banjo hymns, acappella versus full orchestra, and at the end of the day - it's all about the heart(s).

http://worshipleader.com/culture/why-should-i-play-music-that-old-people-like/

Special Babe

Millions and billions of babies are born,
Each one special - but only One we adore.
Why come as a babe?
Creator of the universe, galaxies and stars -
Orion You set; clouds come when You call.
But You came as a babe.
With beauty and glory arrayed
You tell the beasts of the field to play
Majesty and splendor adorn You
Who created the depths and mountains, too...
And came as a babe.
You tell the deer to give birth,
The seasons when to change the earth;
At Your word the horse is strong
By Your will the hawk flies long
All wrapped as a babe.
The dark spangled sky -
Did it ask why?
As it coldly shone on this tiny babe?
Fields which at your word bloom
Were they silent as tombs
When you cried as a hungry babe?
Your voice as a thunder clap
Your breath of whirlwind slap
In the voice of a tiny babe.

And yet the angels sang
And then the shepherds came
Knowing their voices would sing
To the glorious King of Kings
Who swaddled as a babe
For a moment left glory
To tell us the story
Of love coming down as a babe.
A brief time on earth
To show us our worth
A beautiful cuddly babe
Then a cross, then a grave
and now You are risen again - Hallelujah!
You came as a babe -
How precious the thought -
Your life and your death
Our sin has been bought
Because Love came down as a babe.

What do you think and feel when you see this picture?

This past weekend many millions of people around the world greeted each other with the phrase "Eid Mubarak".  Have you heard it?  Do you know what it means?  This is the traditional greeting of Muslims during Eid-al-Adha - also known as the festival of sacrifices.  It is a very solemn and universal celebration of almost all Muslims as they remember Abraham (Ibrihim) and his willingness to sacrifice his son.  Now we won't get into the discussion about which son (Ishmael versus Isaac) or why the Muslims call Abraham Ibrihim, both very deep and sometimes complicated histories of beliefs.  What I want to focus on is how we - Christian believers - those who claim the name of Jesus Christ - perceive and react to Muslims around us.

I am not a Muslim scholar or converted Muslim.  I do not live in a Muslim country.  But I do personally know (and previously worked with) quite a few Muslims - both Sunni and Shi'ite - from different backgrounds, countries and cultural and education levels.  This has made me ache for the missed opportunities.  You see, when I was in daily, almost constant contact with these precious children of God, I was not living for Jesus as the Lord of my life.  I heard them, talked with them and learned many of their perspectives in a sort of vacuum, not being in a heart position, or maybe just not being willing to step out, to offer them truth in place of error, hope in place of condemnation, joy in place of hatred, love in place of self-righteous works.

So now I watch the news and my heart breaks for people who greet each other with "Eid-Mubarak" - "Blessed Celebration".  How the evil one distorts truth with a slight twist to make it ring true in our sinful ears.  How very many are deceived to think earthly sacrifices are sufficient.  Some of my friends wonder how suicide bombers can think like they do.  We are all desperate for God, or totally making our selves into "god".  I get it.  They are desperate to win favor with their Creator.  Don't we all do ridiculous things with our hearts, minds and/or bodies to try to "please god"?  The true God, the true Creator, the Holy One of Israel, can never be pleased by any sacrifice, thousand prayers, rituals, "good" works, suicide bombs or anything else we humans can conceive or do.  So my heart breaks.  For they are so very desperate for the relationship we all want with the true God.

Does this photo make you angry?  scared?  worried?  sickened?  It makes me remember - "Suffer the little children to come to me".  Those were the words of Jesus.  They should be our thoughts and words, too.  Children of 8 or 18 or 80 who have never been able to mature into the truth because they have been deceived into thinking sacrifices are about rituals or prayers or good works or suicide and not knowing the price has already been paid.  Jesus, help us love. Then help us pray in love.  Help us look at this photo and many others like it and feel only love.