“God Bless the U.S.A”

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12

 

Independence Day is near. I decorated my house. My porch, too. Flags, pinwheels, stars ‘n’ stripes everywhere. Red, white, and blue abound. I readied the grill. Checked out the new sprinkler. Prepped the food – and remembered…

Sparklers, smiles, and sweets

Corn “on the cob”  (that dad always cut off the cob to eat)

Guys at the grill

Homemade ice cream

Porch swings and sprinklers and sunshine

Thanking God for our family, freedom, and faith

Ending the evening – loud laughter, claps, cheers; a fantastic fireworks display splashed onto the night sky

And daddy’s favorite “4th of July” song…

Have a blessed holiday weekend everyone!

Firsts

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 “And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross!” Hebrews 12:1,2

 

As a child I used to think grief faded away like scratches or scrapes as they healed. The person that experienced the grief would always know it was there but, as time went by it would eventually vanish altogether. Of course, as I grew and began to have my own personal experiences with grief I realized that although God is faithful to help us along the journey, it doesn’t completely disappear until we get to heaven. Yes, it  is a blessing and relief to know we won’t always feel that terrible shock and crushing weight every day, all day - the way we did in the beginning. However, no matter how many years have passed, there are certain times when it’s suddenly upon us. Like we’ve been swept onto the Grief Express, bulleted back in time and soul to those first days. There are various catalysts. Certain seasons, the holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, other special occasions such as births, graduations, etc., even particular songs, movies, or locations, but one that often goes overlooked… firsts.

I had a first in my life this past weekend. Perhaps a small, insignificant thing to some but, a wonderful, exciting, challenging, new thing to me. I ran my first race ever. Yes, it was just a little 5ker. No, I didn’t have the fastest time. But, it was all mine. Me and Jesus running along together. Making it up that ginormous, unrelenting hill. Wind in the face, sweat beading, shins aching we ran and ran. It was an amazing thing. I am a very new runner (only about 6 months) and I never thought I would be one. As a matter of fact, I used to tease my brother-in-law who has always been a runner (an awesome, super speedy one at that). I would tell him running for fun is nuts. “You run when you’re in danger or someone has threatened your life,” I would chide him. But, here I am – a runner. Not only am I running, I’m racing. God is so cool. Something I never thought I would do has turned into something I adore. I am looking forward to many more miles and many more races.

My running is not about anyone or anything but me and my Creator doin’ our thing. But, I have to say that on that June morning in downtown Kansas City at the Hospital Hill Run, something special happened. My brother-in-law, sister, mom, nieces, and nephew were all there. Billy and I had our bib numbers pinned on (he ran the 10k and came in first in his age division btw) and took a picture together. There were over 5000 runners and thousands more volunteers and spectators bustling about. The energy was palpable. The weather was perfect. Although I loved seeing my family cheer me on, sprinting across the finish line, and hanging that 5k finishers medal around my neck… my favorite part was the start.

The air crackling with elecrticity from all those runners. Music blasting, announcers calling out over the  loudspeakers, people shouting their encouragement, intensity oozing from our pores as we took our places at the starting line under the big blue banner. And right before the countdown begins, I hear a familiar tune blaring out across the sea of runners, flowing over the crowds. “The Eye of the Tiger.” Rocky music! That’s all it took. That one song and I shut my eyes for just a moment to see my dad. He loved that movie and of course, that song. I see him in my mind, shaking his clinched fist in the air, smilin’ big like all of Texas, cheering me on. For just a second I am overwhelmed. Feeling like I’m barreling down the tracks in that ol’ Grief Express and wishing so bad that my daddy was there for this first of mine. But, then the Lord tenderly reminds me that he is. Both my father’s, my heavenly Dad and my earthly one, the two of them, were there all along. So proud of me. So excited for their Melody girl. I feel wrapped up in joy, peace, love, and 5…4…3…2…1  RACE!!!

Looking forward to running with you on those heavenly streets of gold daddy Brad! I love you! 

Transformation

 

“…We went through fire and through water, but You brought us out to rich fulfillment.”

Psalm 66:12

I deeply desire to keep growing, serving, and obeying throughout my life. Hand in hand with Jesus, His fingers laced in mine. I want to be transformed. But, sometimes I’m gonna walk straight into raging “fires” along the way. As long as I live on this earth that isn’t going to change.  There is never going to be a point in this world where God says, “Okay, you’re perfect now. No more issues, sorrows, or fear. It’s all smooth sailing from here on out.” There’s a place for peaceful perfection and it isn’t life. It’s heaven.

We spend so much time asking God to save us from all our problems (not that there’s a thing wrong with asking – Paul did…). But, the hard truth of it is, God is more interested in walking with us through “the fire” than sparing us from the fires in our lives. True blessing isn’t just avoiding stress or pain. The real miracle is Jesus refining us. On our own, every trial in life feels like just another test. One more setback, heartache, or terror after another trying to burn our perception of  happiness at the stake. But, with Christ those trials become infused with Holy Spirit fire so the real joy that is Jesus in us can truly begin.

Have you ever seen a glass maker creating a beautiful masterpiece. Watched him skillfully turning the glass over and over as the flames swarm around. Instead of melting it into oblivion, the scorching heat stretches, shapes, and molds the glass into an incredible work of art. How does the master craftsman know when to remove the glass from the flame? It sings. A flick of his finger against it’s smooth surface and out chimes that pure, sweet sound… He knows when he hears it sing.

If we’re waiting to be at peace, to be happy, to be fulfilled… to sing, until the problems, disappointments, or losses of life are only faintly glowing embers – we are going to be waiting until we die. And waiting to live until your dead just doesn’t make much sense!

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Sacrifice

“And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” Genesis 22:10

 

In Genesis 22:1-19 we read how Abraham was told by the Lord to take his son Isaac, go to Moriah, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. God permitted Abraham to go through the ultimate testing. Incredibly, he obeyed. As a matter of fact, the bible tells us he got up very early in the morning, wood for the fire split, bundled, and ready to go. All packed, loaded up, and on the way with no delay. He didn’t sit around to argue about it with God nor ignore the directive nor play the ever popular “let’s make a deal.” He knew what God wanted him to do. He made his preparations. Then, he set about doing it straight away.

In verse four we realize that this isn’t just a jaunt down the road. It takes them three days to get to that mountaintop in Jerusalem. Three days to think about losing his son, his only son, whom he loves. Not just losing him, but offering him up freely with a trusting heart because God asked him to. His beloved Isaac, his miracle, whom he had waited 25 years for! God had promised Abraham innumerable descendants, that he was to be the father of nations. This promise was begun in the miraculous birth of his son Issac when his wife Sarah was 99 years old and Abraham was 100. For those 25 long years they had waited, hoped, and believed for his birth. Now it was to end like this?! Yet, still he took the wood and laid it on his son to carry up to the final place of sacrifice. Abraham carried the fire in one hand, the knife in the other and then..

Isaac spoke.  ”My father!” “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Can you imagine the pain that seized Abraham’s heart as he heard Isaac’s sweet voice? Confused, questioning, trusting his father completely. Still, in all this, listen to his reply. ” My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”  Then, Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood, bound up his son, and laid him on top of  it. Did you catch that? He had to bind up, tie down, lay out his own child. Such overwhelming agony he must have felt in that moment, but he kept continuing on in faith.

He stretched out his hand, raised the knife in the air, and prepared to slay his son…

(As we read the last few verses we’ll see that God stopped him. God did provide a substitute for the sacrifice and Isaac’s life was spared.)

Abraham kept nothing from the Lord – not even his own son - and God blessed him. ”Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your beloved son, I swear by my own self that I will bless you richly. I will multiply your descendants into countless millions, like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. They will conquer their enemies, and through your descendants, all the nations of the earth will be blessed – all because you obeyed.” (Gen 22:17,18) 

What is God asking of us? When He calls will we answer? Are we willing to stretch out our hands and “take the knife to slay”  in our own lives, trusting Him to the end?! 

 

What’s your #1?

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”          Matthew 6: 33

 

What’s your top priority in life? Right now. In this moment – this day, this week, this year. Okay, so how are you working toward it? Done your research? Got an action plan, a time line, a goal mapped out? Supplies and support to aid you along the way? How’s it coming? Have you paused to assess your progress lately? Looked around and taken stock of how far you’ve come or noted any adjustments that need to be made? Are there others on your “team” to encourage you, advise you, and promote accountability? You haven’t yet arrived, I know, it’s a journey, but are you closer today than you were yesterday? Even a little?

If we all wrote down our top priorities at this time in our lives do you think we’d get various answers? I’m wondering if maybe everybody’s #1 would be different. Not a single one the same as another. “My career change,” says one person. “Graduating – yes!” “Continuing my education or completing my higher degree,” reads the next. “The promotion, the raise, the management position I should have had how long ago.” “Making more money.” “A new vehicle.” “A new home.” “A new job – PLEASE.” “Definitely my health.” “Losing weight, ugh.” “Getting out of debt.” “Starting a business – growing my business.” “Healing my marriage.” “Finding someone to share my life with, where are you ?” “Adopting a child.” “Having more children.” “A long overdue vacation!” “Retiring…finally.” “Getting through chemo.” “A successful surgery.” “Surviving grief.” “Going into ministry.”  ”Completing my dream…” and on and on the priorities go.

You know what though? I’m sitting here, reading through Matthew chapter six and it’s like God taking a red Sharpie and slowly, methodically crossing off the priorities on my list. .. { Do good to please Me, not men. Pray and approach life as My Son Jesus did, not in accordance with your own desires ‘n’ plans. Your “treasure” better be Me or it’s just gonna disintegrate anyway. Stay focused on The Light and your body, your spirit, your very being will be aglow in Me. You can’t serve Me and money or Me and your family or Me and your own way, one has to come first. Is your life not more than food, clothing, shelter, and the like? You worry and stress over these things like I don’t know what you need to live! Most importantly, seek first… ME. My kingdom, My righteousness. Put G O D first! }

Wow. Looks like everyone’s #1  should actually be the same. Now wouldn’t that be something?!

After Affliction…

“I know, O Lord, that Your judgements are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to Your word to Your servant. Let Your tender mercies come to me that I may live; For Your law is my delight.”

Psalm 119:75-77

After the terror or grief of free falling over that “ledge of affliction,”  the tender waves of God’s mercy cleanse and comfort like nothing else can. I don’t pretend to enjoy pain, sorrow, confusion, or despair, but I do marvel in seeing how God’s love shines out brightest as our world grows dark, our spirits dim. When in our desperate need we drop to our knees and wail longingly into the night, hearing nothing at first but our anguished soul reverberating back to us. A sad, sick boomerang of our broken heart. Yet, the passage of time cascades like a waterfall of His healing rivers, rushing and swirling down, the mist spraying up, eventually settling into more serene pools, still fluid, but less turbulent. The surface settles and we see again with the clarity of renewed hope.

With affliction comes a realization - we can’t do this on our own! We need God. When trials come… seek God and then, set your eyes on Christ and His word, not just on your life’s present circumstances. Pray and obey. No matter how long the road, how hidden the path. Don’t stop. Crawl on your hands and knees at a snail’s pace if you must, but keep going towards Him and His will (even when you have no clue where it’s headed).   When your soul sinks or you burn with anger or sorrow chokes your very will to live… remember. Remember that God is the creator of the universe. He made you. You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. You are not an afterthought. He knit you together in your mother’s womb (Isaiah 44:2) and He numbers the very hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30). He loves you! He has a plan and purpose for your life.  There is nobody else like you. And all the pain, all the turmoil, all the heartache leads you back to Him. To fall into His arms, to be gathered unto Him, embraced in His perfect will. After affliction comes ~ faith, hope, and love endure!

Illuminate

“He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”

Psalm 112:7

When the dark places of the world sneak out of their shadowed corners to envelop someone we love – it is terrible to behold. Those truly evil things that turn our stomachs, sicken our minds, and stab at our hearts with the blade of wickedness…they are real. It’s not just in the movies or on the pages of a far away land. It isn’t just the indigent or ignorant or immoral. Pain is a predator that does not discriminate. When it is a child cloaked in night… there are not words.

Yet even there, in the sinister shroud that strips innocence and suffocates purity and peace – the light can shine. The Light cannot be snuffed out by Satan’s twisted treachery. In Christ, everything is illuminated. And when we want to run in terror…wait.  And as we scream and cry, hang our heads and cower- all at the same time…endure. When we wonder if perhaps we could  just close our eyes, not speak the truth of it aloud, dig and work and shovel dirt to bury it deep away…hope. But how? How can we wait? How can we endure? How can we hope amidst THIS?!  We cast our trembling bodies into the arms of Jesus, hand Him our bleeding hearts, turn our shocked, crippled minds over to Him… and together we look the sickness, the horror, the grief  – whatever it is, right in the face. Then, open our mouths. Speak out the truth, even if all we can first muster is a whisper!  Not the world’s “truth,” not the devil’s “truth,” not even just the “truth” of our pain, but His unshakable, incorruptible truth. 

Do not set up permanent residence in the murky lands of fear. They are not meant to be our dwelling place! We belong to God. His light is ours. No evil is too strong. No darkness too thick. There is nothing more powerful than Jesus!

 

 

Prayer request – Please pray for my oldest daughter Jade

God bless~

New

“He has put a new song in my mouth – Praise to our God…”

Psalm 40:3

Christmas has crept back into it’s boxes. New Year bells no longer peal. Work and school and service again turn the wheels of our days. And what of our spirits? Do they sink, sulk, damper already? What a melancholy lot are we.  The stroke of midnight rings full of vim and vigor. As followers of Christ our hearts set ablaze in anticipation of the plans He has for us in the upcoming year. Where will He lead us? How shall we serve? What’s His purpose for us in the next 12 months? It is nearly intoxicating, the expectancy and hope of it all. A fresh start. New beginning. Only one thing drops off faster than the lines of new attendees at the gym as January progresses… our attitudes. How quickly our chants of  “Show me Your way ,” “I wait patiently for You,” “Lead me in Your paths…” and so on, fade.

This is a new year. God delights in doing new things. “Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (Isaiah 43:19).” Newness. If you’re not big on change then, new may not seem so nice to you. But, the Lord loves doing new things, so expect the unexpected this year. Remember too, that when we cling and claw to hold onto something (whether it be to a job, a hurt, a relationship, a ministry, etc) past God’s timing, we clutter up or crowd out God’s new plans. And, new isn’t synonymous with perfection nor ease. “I will even make a road in the wilderness…” Some of us may be  in the wilderness right now. Lost, wandering, searching but God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit promise to bring their crew even way out there to clear a new path for us. What about the desert? Perhaps we know exactly where we are, even where we’re going. Yet our skin scorches, our lips crack, our throats burn from thirst, and each step we take fills back in with sand the moment our heel lifts. We turn ’round to see no footprints. No tracks left behind. The blowing winds, shifting sands erased them all. Even there – in the parched places of our lives – Christ comes anew to supply us, to guide us for the months ahead.

A real new year promise for you, for me. One that’s truly worth taping to our mirrors, sticking on our car visors, saying out loud every morning…

“Behold I will make all things new…” – God

Rest in Release

“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”

Psalm 37:5

What is the it that you really want? Or more likely, the it’s ? I have mine. And not only do I really want it, need it, pray for it… I believe it ’s from the Lord. My longing for it, my soul wrapped ’round it – all orchestrated by Him. Yet, it remains a desire unfulfilled, a hope deferred, a whisper in my dreams. I have noticed that so often the closer we feel we are to it, the tighter we grasp. The smoke and mirrors illusion that by our own concentrated effort, plans, labor, or even love we have power over it by clinging to control. 

Self-sufficiency (control) has no place in our spiritual journey with Christ. There is no better support. No sweeter love. No richer life. No deeper joy… than Jesus. The God who formed every cell, every tissue, every fiber of our being is the same Lord that shapes the moments of our days. He feels every heartbeat, He sees each tear, He knows our most precious intimate yearnings. And He knows how to get us there.

When we are searching for our way, seeking it out in faith and circumstances erupt, snatching away our spiritual, physical, and emotional strength our gut reaction is not release. But that is exactly what God wants us to do. RELEASE! Release it all to Him. He holds eternity in His hands. He carries our concerns and ultimately controls the consequences of our lives.  Does release constitute the death of it ? No. In relinquishing it to Him the blessings are birthed anew – pure and miraculous. Letting go of it is the beginning, not the end.

Swept away

“O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places…”

Psalm 16:5, 6

The “lines” of my life in pleasant places… yes. Though admittedly, not always have I thought so. Many a time in my life I have begrudged “the place” I was in. Be it the locale, the relationship, the mental, emotional, or spiritual state of my being. Asking God why – crying or yelling that this isn’t how it was supposed to be. Not nearly how I saw it all playing out. Yet every time, no matter what, He answered me. He held me. He taught me with the utmost patience. Always wrapping my lessons in His perfect love. Oh, how I am overcome just thinking of it. In those moments, I feel Him. He brushes back my hair, lifts my chin in His hands, and our eyes meet. Locked in His gaze I see myself, my life, as He does – be it only a momentary glimpse. All the twists and turns, the detours and dead ends, each path sketched out over the canvas of my days. Singularly, they seem erratic. But, with painstaking care He’s crossed each one at just the right place, and together as a whole their beauty and purpose are evidenced. They have indeed fallen in pleasant places.

I am so in love with you Lord. How is it that You yearn for me, my affections, my desires, my all? I am swept away in Your love.