I Love Him

I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy.
Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!

He hears.

He listens.

I love Him.

I called on the name of the Lord: "Please, Lord, save me!"

How kind the Lord is!  How good he is!  So merciful, this God of ours!

The Lord protects those of childlike faith;

I was facing death, and he saved me.

When darkness threatened to suffocate my soul

and despair tried to choke the life out of me,

I remembered His kindness, His mercy, His love.

He hears my prayers and rescues.

I love Him.

Let my soul be at rest again, for the Lord has been good to me.

So good, so very, very good.

My soul is at rest.

I love Him.

What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me?

His love is so great.

Gratitude overflows into a song of worship.

I love Him.

Psalm 116:1-7.

Real Life Promises

I almost forgot this morning in the dark hours when awake came to my brain.  My mind began to organize and shuffle all the to-do's of today and tomorrow.  Overwhelming, but if I just put my head down, get 'er done, and survive until Thursday, it'll be okay...it feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest, but I can handle that for another day or two.

"Seriously, are you willing to settle for that?" the still, small voice whispered.

How do I forget so easily?  So quickly?  I wasn't made to "settle" for anything..."get 'er done" sounds so competent and reliable, yet is less than my birthright.  We're created for glory, but we miss it all when our heads are down and we're just surviving.

The promises of "good plans...a hope...that you will prosper" don't come with a disclaimer of "except for on the really busy days."

What good is the promise of being "armed with strength" to "scale any wall" and "stand on any mountain" except for on days containing walls and mountains?  These verbs are strong and full of energy, not limping along in survival mode.  Thriving and victorious.

The busy days hold gifts too.  I miss them all with my head down and an elephant sitting on my chest.

I can receive them all with face up, arms lifted, and a shout of praise on my lips.

I'm tired, but there's no elephant sitting on my chest.  Still looking forward to Thursday, but today was a  good day.

Thankful for grace, for gentle reminders in the morning darkness, and for promises that apply to real life.

For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;

I will sing praises to your name.

Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 18:29, 32, 33, 49

Forgiven and Blessed

She said, "You said..." and I said, "I didn't say.."  But it didn't make any difference so what do you say?  Sorry.  I never meant for you to feel that way.

It rankles and burns.  Sometimes you just can't make things right no matter what you say.  When you don't want the poison to sour your soul what do you do with it?

Take it to the One who knows, who's been misunderstood a thousand ways.  Tell Him how much it hurts and then forgive.  What is the forgiving but giving up my right to vindication?  Surrendering it to the One who sets all things straight some day in some way.  Giving you freedom from my revenge, giving me freedom from bitterness.  Giving what I've already received in abundant measure.  Grace.

He's given one more instruction...after the forgiving, bless.  What better blessing than to pray that the offender would sense the incredible love of the Father?  That peace and calm would come...that they would discover rest in the Father's arms.

Extending grace is a God-sized job.  Thankful for the abundance of His grace toward me...thankful that I am free of a debt I could never repay...thankful for His Spirit within that makes the impossible possible.

You're familiar with the old written law, "love your friend,"

 and it's unwritten companion, "Hate your enemy.

I'm challenging that.  I'm telling you to love your enemies.

Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.

When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer,

for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.

This is what God does.  He gives his best--

the sun to warm and the rain to nourish--to everyone, regardless:

the good and bad, the nice and nasty.

If all you do is love the loveable, do you expect a bonus?  Anybody can do that...

In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up.

You're kingdom subjects.  Now live like it.  

Live out your God-created identity.

Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.

~Jesus

Matthew 5:43-48 MSG

Five Senses of Christmas

The kids are decorating Christmas cookies.  They're pretty independent about it and only want my help on demand.  No unsolicited advice, thanks.  Yesterday the dough was mixed and rolled and cut and baked.  Warm ones were sampled and given an "ummmm" of approval.  Unsolicited advice is required at this point to keep them all from disappearing.  Now it's time for the really fun part.

I love listening to their conversation...they're having fun with the design, but the best part seems to be anticipating how much our guests will enjoy them.  I'm reminded once again that love looks like something...a baby in a manger, a man on a cross, and little hands decorating cookies.

Love sounds like something...  A young woman whispering, "Be it unto me according to your word."   Angels singing, "Glory to God in the highest!"  Children saying, "They're really going to love this one!"

My son thinks love smells like food cooking and that it tastes like caramel corn.

Tonight love feels like sticky hands and the warm spot in my heart that's filled with gratitude for these gifts...

The Light

The countdown to Christmas is on now and slowly the decorations are coming out and the baking has begun.  There is a lot of bah-humbug around Christmas and I get it that the commercialism is nauseating and the pace can get out of control, but none of that can steal the sacred joy for me.  The season is full of poignant symbolism.  Everywhere you turn there are reminders of Truth.

Today we put up a little greenery with twinkling lights.  When the sun went down and all was bleak and gloomy at 4 p.m. we turned on the lights.  Ah!  Gloom was gone.  Suddenly all was cozy and comforting and the room looked like a refuge.  Those little lights were beacons drawing everyone in close.

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.

For those who live in a land of deep darkness

a light will shine.

The Word gave life to everything that was created,

and his life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.

For God who said, "Let there be light in the darkness,"

has made this light shine in our hearts

so that we could know the glory of God

that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

For those who live in darkness a light will shine...the darkness can never extinguish it...this light shines in our hearts...so that we can know the glory of God.

Thankful for the Light.

Isaiah 9:2; John 1:4-5; 2 Corinthians 4:6

Awesome Kids

Sometimes I rhetorically say, "I wonder what should I blog about today?"   Inevitably two of my kids say, "Blog about how awesome I am!"  I smile and think that I could definitely do that!  If you're a reader lucky enough to know and love my kids you might read and smile indulgently...  If you know my kids, but don't feel the love, you  may just find it downright annoying..  The rest might think I'm just bragging...

Instead, I'll tell you a couple of ways that parenting awesome kids has given me a glimpse into the Father's heart.

First, I absolutely and unabashedly do think my kids are awesome!  No one is more aware of their flaws than their dad and I and no one loves them more than we do.  That's how your Heavenly Papa feels about you!  There's a sneaky little lie that tells us that His love is lessened by awareness of our shortcomings or that He somehow love us less on our bad days.  Not true!  When you love someone enough to give your life for them...that's exactly what you do.  You give your life for them, committing all of your self and your resources to help them be the best they can be.

Having said I think my kids are awesome, I have to tell you that they definitely don't always act that way.  I hate it when they make bad choices... 

...I'm human so sometimes my reaction is impatience or anger--this is when God reminds me that He's never reacted to me that way.  His love brings conviction and He always gives grace to help with the mess I've made.  I need to do that with my kids. 

...Their poor choices also break my heart because they bring painful consequences.  This pain in my heart gave me a whole new perspective on the heart of the Father.  How many of us grew up with the notion that God had an awful lot of rules and most of them were to keep us from having fun?  It's distressing to me when my kids don't trust that my rules are to protect them!  How much more, the guidelines from a perfect Father?  All He has in mind for us is for our good.  Oh, how He loves us!  The more we grow in His love, the more we understand that He is worthy of our trusting obedience.

I'll wrap up this thankful week by expressing gratitude my for the amazing kids I've been given.  They may have taught me more than I'll ever teach them!  Also, I'm more thankful than I can say for the grace that has been given to make up for my learning curve in the whole parenting process.  Love and grace.  That's what He's given.  Thankful, so thankful

And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love,

you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. 

Reach out and experience the breadth!

Test it's length!

Plumb the depths!

Rise to the heights!

Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

God can do anything, you know--

far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us,

his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Ephesians 3:17b-20 MSG

100

My blogger dashboard tells me that this is my 100th post.  Seems like there are so many clever and witty things I could do with that, but all my heart wants to do is sing Psalm 100...

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!

Odd how easy it is to raise our voices when we're five minutes late already and none of the kids are in the car...but how culturally or socially awkward we find it to randomly shout for joy.  Try it.  Shout with joy!  Feel the atmosphere around you change--it will.

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before him, singing with joy.

My heart is singing for joy!  All this intentional focus on gratitude and worship has totally changed the dynamic of this jam-packed week.

Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us, and we are his.

We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

He made us and we are his.  Beloved.  I love being one of His sheep.  I have felt His care for me this week...so thankful.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

go into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

Perhaps the writer was recommending an attitude of thanksgiving and praise when entering the courts of the Temple?  I have discovered that it is through thanksgiving and praise that I enter His presence...the place of joy.

For the Lord is good.

His unfailing love continues forever,

and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Love the promise that I can count on His love never failing me.  Ever.  It will never fail my kids either.

Keep counting...

Blessings!