But “Immanuel” means “God with us,” and it’s more appropriate now than ever. Standing on the mountain in His resurrection body, ready to go back to heaven, Jesus said something He’d never said before: “I will be with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
He is with you right now, as you read this. Fix your eyes on Him.
The light of Christ surrounds you.
The love of Christ enfolds you.
The power of Christ protects you.
The presence of Christ watches over you.
Wherever you are, Christ is. ~ Anne Ortlund, Fix Your Eyes on Jesus
His light, His love, His power, His presence – right where you are, right now. Wow!
One Saturday afternoon recently, after she’d outlasted all her cousins in some dancing fun, after she’d twirled and leapt and swirled and spun on her toes for over an hour and everyone else had gotten tired and moved on, Gemma breathlessly flung herself across the sofa for a moment and exclaimed, “Oh! I’m soooo tired, but this music just makes me keep on dancing.” And as if the music truly was in control of her, her body lifted and fatigued or not, she went right back to her energetic movement, dancing and frolicking about in full vigor. Music has that kind of power. :)
The Gavinators (he’ll be 11 in June)
“I call this ‘the wall of me,'” Gavin told me as he descended the staircase at my house, gesturing towards the Urbane Bronze (almost black) wall that nearly killed me last May. “Because,” he explained, “every time I look at it, I see another view of myself.”
It’s true. It is lined with framed mirrors and reflects my most valuable and beautiful treasures {the grandbebes} en masse. So much of a good thing!
Malakai {he turned one in January}
Did Kai, the newest family toddler come to me with tiny steps and a big smile on his face over and over when I spent the day with him last weekend? Oh yes, he did. It’s the cutest thing and the icing on the cake was when he came toddling my way saying “Nonna” for the first time and I got it on video! SO serendipitous! :)Be still, my fluttering heart!
Amelie {she’s 3, but almost 4}
Blessed-blessed-blessed Nonna that I am, I have gotten to do pre-school with each of the first 6 grandbebes so far. I’ll get to hang with Amelie until she goes to Kindergarten the fall of 2015 and wow, what fun we are having. She spent a lot of last Thursday hiding in closets and jumping out with the bold declaration “Let there be light!” It was in response to our pre-school day being “sponsored by the number 7” which seemed like a good time to talk about the 7 days of creation. Obviously the time we spent whispering in the dark hallway about the earth being without form and void and darkness covering the face of the earth made a bigger impact than the actual number 7, but I don’t mind that one bit.
Hunter {he is 9 1/2}
Kai won’t eat for me, which is weird because he is a great eater. But regardless of what I try to feed him – it’s a no. This is going to be problematic when he stays with me for almost a week later this year while his parents go to Paris.
Tara was pondering this dilemma at home when Hunter, who felt he knew exactly why Kai doesn’t eat for me, offered this insight,
“It’s too exciting over there! I’ve been there for nine years and I’ve still only seen 10% of all their house has to offer!”
Hahahahahahahahhha!!! That made me so happy.
Plus…
Guinivere (8 1/2)…Is she an astonishing beauty or what?
The K-kids just got to be photographed by a really cool photographer. You can read about it at Stephie’s blog and see his work there. They are fascinating photographs, part of a series the photographer is putting together featuring kids just…being. Gavin gave me the insider information that Gemma had a hard time not smiling and giggling the whole way through the session. Because Gemma is a happy, joyous smiler and giggler – all the time!
AND – Jovan is blogging more regularly again and those three cute girlies keep us giggling. We’ve determined that Bailey Sophia (9 months old) must be made out of marshmallow because though a little chunk-a-lunk she is, she is light as a feather and those fluffy cheeks are fun to smooch!
Pray for Averi who is a little under the weather today – on Kindergarten class picture day! Boooo… Surely for a girl so beautiful they’ll reschedule???
So, let’s see…am I missing anyone? Oh yes! Evangeline! She’s 2 months old now! And she came over and hung out with me yesterday afternoon (oh, her mom, too). And while it is true, she is not saying a whole lot quite yet, she seems to have dedicated her life {so far} to looking for any and all reasons to smile. And I applaud her sweet pursuit! And her leg warmers. :)
That’s 9. In case you have lost count (I sometimes do) I have 9 grandbebes. And I really thank God for them! I was born to be their Nonna! :)
Pictures of Gavin, Hunter, Bailey, and Averi by Stephanie. Picture of Eva by her mommy. Picture of Guini and the 3 Kelley kids by Steve Stanton Photography. Pictures of Amelie and Gemma and the toddling-Malakai vid: me.
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror…” 1 Corinthians 13.12 What if,regardless of the deep-seated belief that we are not worthy of the love of God, that we have gone too far in sin or been too much of a disappointment to Him; what if the torment of the accuser and the heaviness of self-doubt, the negative things we believe about ourselves (whether self-imposed or heaped upon us) and the things that so easily beset us and keep us imprisoned and afraid could just be wiped away by one glimpse of ourselves in the eyes of our Maker, our own true, most genuine reflection? What if it could change everything?
I wish my mind wouldn’t argue with my heart
It splits the day apart
Into time well spent and time just thrown away
I wish my heart would please make up my mind
I’m wasting so much time
Gotta catch a glimpse of how it’s gonna be
When finally I look inside Your eyes and see
Reflections of Yourself in me
The way You always said it would be
When finally, I’m loving You like You love me
It happened oh, so easily I looked at You and it came to me ~ finally
Backstory {mine, anyway}
This song by Gary Chapman was an early-80s hit for T.G. Shepherd and I never thought of it as anything more than a country love song with a great melody – until about a year and a half ago, that is.
I’d read some research disproving what we’d always been told, that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” meaning as we age, we’ve lost brain cells and the ones we have are set like stone. What a horrible prognosis to believe that whatever we are, have thought and believe based on life’s input so far is just it, as if we are in a trap we can’t escape.
It isn’t true! I was fascinated to learn that science now proves the neuroplasticity of the brain, meaning our brains are not static. Our brains can be retrained to catch up to truth. The neural pathways can grow and be renewed and the grooves and driven river of thought which has cut defined paths into the landscape of our brains, sometimes taking us down painful passageways again and again, can be changed and healed and our beliefs and responses can be re-routed. Our minds and hearts and souls can be healed and set free of negative emotion and erroneous belief. Science caught up to the Word of God in proving we can, without a doubt, be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12.2), which is incredibly good news!
So, as I pondered the mind-blowing, brain-healing, course-altering, change-potential, joyful-relief possibilities – I came across this YouTube video of Gary Chapman singing. And the words represented the dilemma so well ~ the battle between our perceived reality and the hope that something can be different and that we are wholly, deeply and totally loved and accepted. If only we could finally grasp what is the truth of God’s heart towards us, wouldn’t it just alleviate the fear, the battle in our hearts and minds – wouldn’t it just bring relief?
I may or may not have mentioned {quite a few times} that I am reading Staci Eldredge’s Becoming Myselfand it reminded me of that revelation and this song when she spoke of having a magnifying mirror that reveals all the things you’d rather not have revealed, but that the truest reflection is what we see in the eyes of Jesus, who He sees us to be.
Because you can just kick back and relax and enjoy the abundant life He came to bring so much more if you know you are everything God created you to be and are doing what He actually created you to do (rather than wrestling and clawing and scratching to try to do or be what you or anyone else thinks) and you just reflect Him like crazy – which is SO the point!
Finally!!!
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3.18 NKJV
Oh man – if we could just believe and receive His love. Wouldn’t it change everything?
…You’re my harbor in the storm I looked at You and the love in Your heart cut right through to me And my eyes can see ~ finally. -Gary Chapman
My prayer for you today, friends and familia~
“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.” Ephesians 3.18 Yes, may you be able to grasp it all…finally. Me, too.
TIP: Holy-guacamole! My best Kitchen-Tip-of-the-Week (or maybe the year…since I don’t actually ever share kitchen tips)
Because I may or may not actually be in the kitchen very much these days.
If you happen upon a 4/$1.00 avocado sale, you must take advantage, you just must! Even though avocados don’t “last,” they can be mashed and frozen for Guacamole at a later date. And you should be eating regular and copious amounts of guac. Really. You should.
And – when it is time to cut them in half all at once during that 3-minute window of perfection and you have a mountain of avocado halves in your biggest bowl to smash – attack with your handy-dandy pastry blender. In just a few seconds, no kidding – seconds, you’ll have perfectly prepared avocado. You can leave it chunky or blend until it’s creamy smooth, but the pastry cutter works so fast you’ll wonder what happened!
And speaking of avocados, I saw this hilarious thing on Pinterestlast week and I actually for real LOLed!
TIP: Hanging up now.
I always {at least try to} turn my phone notifications completely off when I am in a meeting or with anyone who means anything at all to me. At least I believe in that.
But lately, I’ve been getting really sloppy at this, because – well, isn’t everyone else checking their phone round-the-clock these days?
The truth is, I have found I can actually turn it off or put it away for 90-minutes and it’s a proven fact I am not really that important anyway. The universe goes right on spinning and the world doesn’t fall apart and the few texts and calls I may miss without my eyes on my phone haven’t been life or death.
I don’t mind turning my phone off and just leaving it off for people who warrant my time to begin with. And I really feel warmly towards people who do the same for me ~ a surprising sweetness to my heart.
TIP: My Favorite TED Talks
First of all, I super-duper love TED Talks. I have been exposed to some really fascinating ideas and seen things in the world I didn’t even know were happening, buildings I thought were only fantasies, possible solutions to world problems that have awed me – what a time to be alive!
TED “is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan ‘ideas worth spreading’.” – Wikipedia
The talks were meant to bring together people from the three worlds of Technology, Entertainment and Design, thus TED.
The problem with TED Talks, according to Professor Benjamin Bratton, who actually used the TED Talk platform to slam the TED Talks, said TED more likely stands for “middlebrow, megachurch infotainment,” and he believes that the 18-minute or less talks are way over-simplified and are “making our best and brightest waste their time—and the audience’s time—dancing like infomercial hosts.” Yes. maybe.
To me, though, they are like magazine articles or short papers. I learn maybe a little something, get my mind expanded, discover valuable information I can use.
I watched the whole Chew on This Ted Talks series twice on Netflix and found it fascinating, as the various speakers sometimes even contradicted each other on the topic of food, supply, world hunger, the moral issues for carnivores and vegans. I liked that it made me think about what they were saying and helped me form opinions about food issues in the world in these disconcerting times.
I admire intelligence and thoughtful propositions. And even though I totally believe and see life much differently than many of the speakers do, most of them manage to enlarge my awe of God and confirm my delight in His Word and all He is and will ever be. Because ideas come from the Father of Lights!
So here is a list of 7 TED Talks I like in no particular order.
This one is seriously one of my favorites! It’s barely over 3 minutes long, but has been viewed by almost 3.5 million people. I got such great understanding about the strength of what I bring to organizations I work with by watching this. I love innovative, courageous, visionary people, I’m drawn to them. And when I spot them, I want to be on their train, breathe the air they breathe and bleed the blood they bleed! :) And I bring courage for others to hop aboard, too. I am a Deborah to a Barak, I’m Barney Rubble to Fred Flintstone, I’m the Lone Ranger’s Tonto. This video actually helped me see that my leadership role in being a first-follower is vital, not secondary. I love cause and vision and being in the middle of creative chaos. Visionaries are the most exciting people on earth and getting to be a propeller as a first follower, I am finally understanding, is my life’s work.
This guy can tell a story and this talk just makes me laugh, a really fun watch! He is a psychologist exploring the idea that instead of working get happy, happiness will actually increase our productivity. The idea of “Escaping the Cult of Average” that we’ve been creating through science is awesome!
This is one I just watched recently. I knew it! We do things, we believe things, we buy things, we give our lives to things from the inside out. This is about the heart and soul of WHY. I don’t live by reason alone (though I use my brain fully), I follow my guarded heart…
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4.23
We know body language is “readable” and you can tell so much about a person’s frame of mind from it, but I love that the research shows it isn’t just about reading what is, we can actually power-pose to create a completely different reality, encouraging ourselves through our own body language. And it is very simple!
She is a gamer. I didn’t think I’d get much from this one, but she makes a great case for the good in games and relational connectedness through them. It gave me great hope for my grandchildren’s futures, as we watch interaction becoming more and more digital, or cyber or whatever it is? :) This talk comes with a bonus – potential to find healing through a game AND you get 7 1/2 minutes added to your life just by watching her talk! No kidding!
Mama mia!!! This one is fascinating! This is a woman who is actually a real-life brain scientist and who got to experience and study her own massive stroke as it happened.
More than 10 years ago God began to reveal to me how wholeheartedness, a characteristic I loved reading about in the life of Hezekiah, was not another word for workaholism, but actually the antidote to working oneself to death. I bet God wishes I had wholeheartedly pursued more understanding about it. I do. But I never forgot and wondered…I use the word “wholehearted” a lot (as a user name on many websites, and it’s even my personal email name), but it still seemed mysterious to me. In the middle of the night earlier this year, I felt compelled to discover something new about wholeheartedness, just sensing it was time to flesh out the next thing about it, and ran across this woman {what a delightful surprise}, this TED Talk and wow – LOVE! Brene Brown says all the things I am still trying to find the courage to say. Shame sucks. Being wholehearted is being courageous and having the courage “To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.” This TED Talk, well, it has helped my daily existence on the earth. I’m even in a book-club reading Brene right now. :) WATCH!
That’s enough TED Talks for today. But there are more. Oh yes, there are! :)
Brene Brown on being a wholehearted person of “ordinary courage” from her book, The Gifts of Imperfection
TIP: How to get dancer’s legs
Amelie spent the night here last weekend with her big sister, Averi, and her cousins, Gemma and Guini. And the girl can plie like there is no tomorrow. So can Gemma. Where the rest of “us girls” dance and giggle and maybe are a bit silly, Gemma and Amelie are serious dancers and have the muscular control and beautifully proportioned legs to show it! We danced last weekend! Gemma said, “Oh Nonna, I’m so tired, but this music just keeps me dancing!”
Last night Amelie Belle stayed here all by herself for the first time ever, because, as she told me, “I’m a big kid, now.” Soon to be four and fiercely independent, yes – she is a big kid now.
For over an hour, all the way until she said, “I’m sleepy, Nonna,” she danced and twirled and plied and swooned and swished. She loves getting to go to the record player, which happened to have a Perry Como album in place, to lift the arm and set it carefully down. She finds having control over the volume of the surround-sound quite intoxicating, too.
And so she dances. And dances. And dances some more. And in between dancing, she walks about on her tip-toes and maintains her dancer’s form, a ballotté here, a cabriole there and those little, tiny 3-year old legs are stronger than strong.
Blurry, because that is how dancing is. :)
First thing this morning, after a pancake breakfast with Poppa my Tiny Dancer asked, “Can I put the music on?” And Perry crooned to his band while she, up on her twinkle-toes, stretched and swirled and penchéted about the room and her strong, little muscle-y legs lifted her in a fancy-flight of joy.
Do you want to know, now, how to have dancer’s legs? Dance, my sweets. Dance and dance. Dance before bed and the first thing upon rising. Walk on your tip-toes and pretend you are the best that ever was, because soon you will be. And with strong, beautiful dancer’s legs, too.
I told Dave this yesterday, but in case he forgets and because a written contract is always better, I have made my decision.
I do not want to (ultimately) die with anything that requires me being unable to breathe for months or days, or for even a few seconds, really.
The following is a list of ways I don’t want to die and includes, but is not limited to:
I don’t want to have bronchitis or pneumonia or any combination thereof.
I don’t want fluid in my lungs.
No lung disease.
No lung cancer, please.
I don’t want the air permanently knocked from me while sky-diving, mountain climbing, repelling or falling down the stairs.
No shortness of breath due to some unknown disease or deadly allergy, please.
No killer sneaking up from behind and covering my mouth and nose with his hand, nor a pillow smothering me.
I don’t wish to choke alone, unable to manage the Heimlich on myself. Worse – in a room full of people who cannot remember how to do the Heimlich Manuever.
I don’t want a rib (or any other sharp instrument, knife or bone) puncturing a lung.
I don’t want my alveoli poisoned by emphysema.
I refuse COPD.
I don’t want pulmonary hypertension, and no advance in the asthma they try to pin on me now.
I do not want blood clots in my lung arteries. Not. even. one.
No epiglottitus or blockage of my air passages in any way, shape or form, please.
Keep the croup away from me, too.
I have a pretty high pain tolerance. And I realize we cannot always just die peacefully in our sleep (or soaking up the sun on a beach in Maui) without experiencing some discomfort on our way out. But if I can put in an order and have it come true, well – this is mine. I want to be able to breathe until I can breathe my last. I need air.
Disclaimer & prayer: I am being a little silly. But sometimes, I don’t think we realize how important good oxygen is {in the form of a good, deep breath} to everything about our health and how being able to breathe, really breathe, is such a gift. It’s a GIFT! It seems like too many people we know face breathing problems and lung sicknesses when they are already otherwise sick or suffering, maybe even battling cancer and it makes it all the worse. Let’s not take even one breath for granted.
{breathe deeply here…thank God you can}
Today, I am praying for everyone I know who is experiencing breathing problems. May the Breath of Life {Himself} bring you deep oxygenation today – an intense concentration of O2 be released in you throughout your bloodstream. I pray respiratory relief as you breathe in and out, and may you experience peace as your pulmonary function finds its rhythm. I pray the *ruach-life-giving-breath of the Creator into your body, in Jesus’ Name.
The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. – Job 33.4
*Ruach: the active power of the Spirit of God in the life-giving breath imparted to us.
In her book, Becoming Myself ~ Embracing God’s Dream of You*, Staci Eldredgesays that on our journey to becoming who we were really created to be, we get lost now and then. I know that is true, because I have been lost several times. Each time I gather my bearings and get set back on track, I think it will never happen again – I’ll never be that far away from where I should be again.
“The road of life is filled with many tempting parking places.” – seen on my high school music room chalkboard…I may have been the person who wrote it there
I thought that was a hilarious quote when I was a teen-ager. But it hasn’t been the parking places that have gotten me off-course so much as my need for speed and the desire to get a move on – even before I know where I am really supposed to be going.
I got lost in the late 80s, then again in the early 90s (really lost). I got slightly off course in my late 30s and ended up in outer Siberia in 2006! And {true confession} I have been trying to find my way back to civilization in this most recent year or so. I got lost. Again.
And so – I LOVE this, yes, I do.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19.10 NLT
And I think of those paintings of Jesus with that one lost lamb in His arms and I realize I have always thought that meant He’d come for you before you were one of His actual followers, but then – you better stay in the flock. I thought each sheep got one pass for being found. Now I know – He comes and finds us every. single. time.
click image for source
His eye is on the sparrow – and I know He watches me
Not too long ago, in a time of deep soul-searching, pain and regret, I was questioning the love of God at all for me. Why would He, how could He (?) when I can make such a terrible mess of things, hurt people I love the most and somehow manage to ruin His entire plan of salvation for the whole earth by my ineptitude? (ego, anyone?)…I was having one of those snot-filled, Bible-clutching, for-such-a-worm-as-I moments declaring my utter worthlessness to God. My thought was – well, He is surely finished with me now. I won’t have more chances, He’ll discover what I always knew – I wasn’t worth saving to begin with. I have let Him down, for good.
Oh, it was ugly.
Suddenly, a very clear picture was in my mind. I won’t say it was a vision, except that I can still see it vividly and I do feel the God of the Universe imprinted something into my heart for good. I like to share it so my friends can remind me when I start feeling melancholy and sorry for myself – when I go off-track again.
Here is what I saw, in full-color:
A mom with a toddler entering a Target store. She puts the toddler on the floor for just a second with the instruction to stand right there while she gets the seat ready and cleaned and hoists her bag into the back of the cart. The toddler looks at her and down the aisle. And of course – that baby girl takes off down the main aisle between Health and Beauty and the grocery side. The mom calls out, the little girl looks back, but keeps going, passing aisle 6. I see the mom disentangling her hand from the straps she had been preparing in the seat for the little girl’s safety. I see customers strolling nonchalantly in front of her as she tries to break free and go. The little girl looks back, passes aisle 7, then aisle 8, then darts to the left. But the mommy knows exactly where she is, for in spite of all going on in that store, even though people were in her way – her gaze never lifted from her tiny treasure who was running madly down that store aisle. That was her girl, her baby and she pursued with gusto.
And I saw that scene in my mind’s eye and with it came the understanding. She had told that baby girl to stay right near her. But when the little one took off, she did not say, “Well – that’s fine. If she is not going to obey she can just go then. I am going home. I don’t need this.” No – the mom watched, and stayed focused, never losing sight and went to get her daughter. I think of the old hymn,
“O Love that will not let me go…”
Sometimes we do run out ahead. Sometimes we take off like a bat out of hell to go do good things, things we think will please God and we have darted to the right and then to the left and then when we crash we think we’re alone, but the loving gaze of the Father has been on us all along.
He imparted to my heart that day – where are you going? I’ll go there. If you turn right, I’ll turn right. If you go left, then I’ll follow you left – I am not going to lose sight of you. I have got you in my sights regardless of which way you go. Where do you want to go, Jeanie?
Scandulous, I thought!
Even if I make my bed in hell
My heart was pounding with this image of a small girl and her mommy in Target – wondering if I had concocted some imaginary view of Almighty God to make myself feel better, but His word confirms this for us:
Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139.7-10 AMP
I love how the NKJV translates verse 8, “If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” Talk about a love that does not let go!
So, be encouraged…
Feeling lost? Did you get a great idea and take off down the aisle trying to move mountains for the Kingdom and finally end up in a place you can tell you don’t belong? Are you through trying to justify how you got here and willing to admit that your personal GPS failed you and you need directions? Can you admit you are desperately, wholly lost and need rescuing?
I have so been there. So just stop for a minute, and listen. He has not wiped His hands of you. The scar remains – the signifying mark of His dying and undying love for you. He has not cast you into utter darkness for disobedience and He totally, completely knows how to get you back to the narrow road. You are just lost. Listen:
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” Isaiah 30.21 NIV
And just like that! *snap of the fingers You are found. And that is some pretty amazing grace.
{{Learning to trust Jesus, learning to love Him because He first loved me, Jeanie}}
Oh, my goodness, sweet-pea – I have loved you like crazy for 6 whole years now! You have gotten sweeter and more lovely each year.
You are such a wonderful big sister to Amelie Belle and Bailey Sophia! Aren’t they so blessed to have you? And you are a fun cousin to the K-kids and the Powers boys and to baby Eva – how lucky are they? And I love that you are such a wonderful daughter for your mommy and daddy and look for ways to honor them. Goodness, you are a delight!
But wow, oh wow, oh wow! You are my grandbebe, my sweet six-year-old grand-girl. You were the 5th of all the ones I will ever have and I just think you are turning into one of the most amazing little women ever born.
I love you my darling, beauty queen. I love your heart and your spirit and face and those eyes. You have my heart forever.
Now I bless you ~
May you continue to grow in the grace and admonition of the Lord. May the source of your life always be Jesus, for He is your righteousness, your sanctification, and your redeemer. May you always walk in the freedom that comes from knowing Him and be full of the joy He has promised for you. And remember – His presence is where you will always find the fullness of that joy! Stay blameless and innocent no matter what the rest of your generation does, Averi Jadyn, because you were born to shine as a light in this world. So sparkle and shine, sweet girl, for Jesus all the days of your blessed, beautiful, whole and holy life! I bless you in Jesus’ Name! And I seal it with a kiss. :)
Kiss*-Kiss*, Birthday Girl! {Love, Nonna!}
NOTE: Averi had a Disney’s FROZEN party, in case you couldn’t tell. Her mommy posted a bunch more pictures and ideas on her blog, if you’d like to take a look. {CLICK HERE}
We have already used up the first 41 days of this “new” year. We have 324 left. I have 8360 goals on my to do list and haven’t even written down my resolutions yet…
When I think of time in chronos-mode, I freak out a little. *!*!*!*
“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Ps. 90:12
I don’t want to just live in some crazy pre-occupation with my own goals and dreams or New Year’s Resolutions and self-imposed disciplines to the point that I miss something simple and sweet, or that I end up just zooming past the things of real importance. I am a crazy list-maker and I hate the thought that I could make thousands of lists of admirable things to do and to be and totally miss the sweetness of the life God actually planned for me before I was even one day old (see Psalm 139).
“For David, after he had served God’s will and purpose and counsel in his own generation, fell asleep [in death] and was buried…” Acts 13.36
Obviously, I am past the halfway mark in the days I have left in life. How far past that mark, we don’t really know. I’m not being morbid-just realistic. But what I do know is that I wish to possess, before I am gone forever, a heart of wisdom, some lasting treasure I can leave behind that will bless the people I love who remain. And geez-Louise, I HOPE part of my eternal epitaph will be that I served God’s will and purpose for my generation while I lived – not my own or anyone else’s!
“One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.” Psalm 145.4 NKJV
Coca Cola made this commercial.
Wow. They did a good job. You have to read the subtitles, but do. Watch. Listen to an old man with fresh wisdom. I’ll add the script below again.
This is a true story. In these hard times we bring together the oldest man with the youngest baby.
Hello Aitena. My name is Joseph Mascaro. I am 102 years old. I am a lucky guy. Lucky…for having been born. Like you. For being able to embrace my wife. For having known my friends and for having been able to say good-bye to them. For still being here.
You will ask yourself what is the reason I have come to visit you today. It’s because most people will say to you what a bad moment you’ve chosen to come in to the world. We’re in crisis, that’s not a good thing…Well, it’ll make you stronger. I’ve lived worse moments than this one. But in the end, you’ll remember only good things.
Don’t waste time with nonsense. There’s plenty of it. And go and find what makes you happy while you can since time slips away very quickly.
I’ve lived 102 years and I’ll happily live a few more. Because I promise you that the only thing you won’t like about life, is that life will seem too short. You’re here to be happy.
And while, yes, we live for much more than the fleeting happiness an ice-cold Coke can buy us (does my churchy-upbringing roar as loudly in your ears as it does in mine?), I think the observations of a man who has lived all the years he was promised and then some ring pretty similarly to the writer of Ecclesiastes. The “teacher” in the Bible concludes that life isn’t about the pursuit of contentment through what we accomplish career-wise or through the accoutrements of wealth and fame. It doesn’t come through pleasure-seeking, and there is even futility in seeking knowledge. We just try so many things and in the end, there is so much of all we have toiled and strived over that just doesn’t matter.
He seems to suggest we should go, before we’re too old. to enjoy life (the word “joy” is in there). And eat, because bread was made for laughter, one translation expresses it (and feast for strength not for drunkenness, btw). Drink, enjoy, do, work hard (whatever work you do – do it with all your might) and give generously, open-handedly. Ecclesiastes says to always be clothed in white and always have your head anointed with oil (the anointing of the Holy Spirit) which is a reminder to strip off the black clothes and ashes of mourning and sorrow. And to wear the clothing of celebration and new life – that is how to live!
Good things I want to do everyday
I really want my everyday list to be so lofty that it is actually, physically impossible. Yes. I admit it. If I told you what I really always try to put on the list (and fail so miserably at), you’d see, like I am finally seeing, it is too much. I am only human, with limited hours in a day. You, too. But maybe I could manage a list like this, every day:
Be kind.
Sing my head off.
Love deeply – because why else?
Worship God with all I’ve got.
Dream big.
Smile like crazy.
Laugh ’til I cry.
Encourage a friend.
Give grace.
Share joy.
Create beauty.
Pray without ceasing.
Cultivate courage.
Work hard.
Rest easy.
Enjoy life.
But ~ the conclusion when all has been said and done – is to love God and keep His commandments. {Ecclesiastes 12.13}
It is really the final word on the matter of this little thing called {abundant} life. The BEST question I ever ask myself, the one that keeps me on track is not, “What time is it???” but rather: “What is this time for?” Try that on for size.
Go. Read Ecclesiastes. In one sitting. Because it will only take about 35-40 minutes at pulpit-reading pace. And there is wisdom there.
It is like we are living in the Disney Frozen movie! Perhaps partially because today I’ll be fashioning a 3-foot “Olaf” combination cake/Rice-Krispie-Treat for Averi’s 6th birthday celebration and there just happens to be a 4′ backdrop painting of Olaf here, too, courtesy of Grand-poppa! So besides actually being beyond-believable COLD, Olaf is hanging around my house.
And I don’t like football anyway – how did I get sucked in to that horrible game? But Payton Manning seems like an honorable athlete. Here is a win, though – my friend Pearl carved a snow sculpture in her front yard before the game. Cool, huh?
So Donald Miller opened {this} can of worms the other day
“I Don’t Worship God by Singing. I Connect with Him Elsewhere.
“It’s just that I don’t experience that intimacy in a traditional worship service. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of sermons I actually remember. So to be brutally honest, I don’t learn much about God hearing a sermon and I don’t connect with him by singing songs to him. So, like most men, a traditional church service can be somewhat long and difficult to get through.
“So, do I attend church? Not often, to be honest.”
And when I read it, I thought, “You crazy guy – do you know what you’ve done???” Because it doesn’t matter how many years of perfect gold star attendance pins you’ve earned, if you’re not showing up regularly now, there will be trouble!
His post got more than 400 comments , a follow-up post from Mr. Miller, himself and several other bloggers chiming in on the topic. These two are thought-provoking responses I read (but oh my goodness – there are many more out there):
“…Miller, like so many others, has said, “No thanks. Doesn’t work for me.” And in this sense, I don’t blame him. But his solution is no less tragic. His new liturgy will orient his life around himself or around his work, and these masters will be as cruel and disappointing as any mega-church or celebrity pastor has ever been.”
Jonathan Leeman (The Gospel Coalition) wrote an open letter, “Dear Donald Miller” and made some strong points without just launching an attack, thank-you!
“And here’s where the rubber meets the road: I don’t know how we can say we love and belong to the church without loving and belonging to a church.”
I will tell you I have stood firmly on both sides of the topic, depending on whether I was full-time church staff, honestly. Yes, honestly. I can make a great case for the importance of the Body of Christ not neglecting the regular gathering and meeting together for the purpose of encouraging each other (Hebrews 10.25-26). But I have also been a part of local churches that could have been summarized, when I finally got honest with myself, with Paul’s cutting words to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11.17)
“Your meetings do more harm than good.”
Now you know I was born a church girl. You know my very first sentence, spoken freely and repeated with glee hundreds of times was, “I’m gonna go to church!” And I think we (me, too) especially, us Western-Church types have botched it so badly. We have made a law of church attendance, idols of pulpit-people and rock stars of worship bands, practically enacting a shunning if some one doesn’t thrive on a steady diet of programs and personalities. We’ve beat people with the church-attendance-is-the-test-of-righteousness bat or we’ve produced slick services meant to entice and lure them in with our “cool.” And maybe we have missed the point completely of the gathering – meaning we may actually be doing things wrong to begin with?
“His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church…
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4.16
Nonetheless, while I find myself in a church-search currently, these words by Anne Ortlund in her book, Love Me with Tough Love, compose a life-guiding question (one I have asked myself many times over many years) in light of the way the New Testament describes what the Church was, and how it worked at its’ inception. And the answer to it is important – way more important than just where you are on Sunday mornings at 9 o’clock!
“Have I placed myself so deeply within a living, functioning local body that I myself am functioning in all these ways, and so living as a well-rounded, healthy, contributing member of the Body of Christ?”
Something to think about, yes?
Retweeted by Jeanie Rhoades 02.03.14
T. S. Harris?@T_S_Harris· Feb 3 “The animated Church inhales God’s power and presence and is then able to exhale the embodiment of the risen Christ.” @lensweet #mrinow
