memory monday…or tuesday…no, wednesday

My bloggy friend, Joanne at The Simple Wife hosts Memory Monday…and every Monday I think to myself 'I would sure like to join in the fun.' So, even though it is Tuesday {ok, now Wednesday!} I am going to join in with my verse for this week…and next Monday (if all goes well) I will come back and type it in from memory.





For me there is always the temptation to complain about my situation, then in an effort to dig myself out of the whiner's pit I try to earn favor with God and man through actions or works. However; to the astute observer, my efforts are disingenuous at best, pure hypocrisy at worst. So, as I endeavor this week not just to memorize this group of words, I pray my heart would be transformed by them and my words and actions would reflect what His word has done inside.


Well, that sounds all fluffy and spiritual, doesn't it?


Let's put some modern day meat on this scripture …what does this look like today, NOW?


Wesley's commentary expands on this verse quite well…[modern girl application in brackets]

To do justly - to render to every one their due, superiors, equals, inferiors, to be equal to all, and oppress none

[Easy application: drive courteously on the streets of Lincoln, yield the right of way when applicable.]

[Challenge application: Oppress none…thinking on this one, much less applying it would keep me up for d.a.y.s. No wonder I need Jesus.]

To love mercy - to be kind, merciful and compassionate to all, not using severity towards any

[Easy app: snuggling with my children after school and listening to them talk about their busy day.]

[Challenge app: Not using severity towards any…does that include politicians? No wonder I need Jesus.]

Walk humbly with thy God - keep up a constant fellowship with God, by humble, holy faith.

[Kind of easy app: daily prayer and quiet time, reading scripture and journaling…I love to have my QT with God, but sometimes it seems life gets in the way and I am off and running for the day.]

[Challenge app: Walk humbly with thy God…this means I have to trust Him with everything, doesn't it? No wonder I need Jesus.]

Oh, and this verse is from a cute scripture memory packet from a very creative artist, Jeanne Winters. Her gift collection, simply inspiring
is featured at Hallmark Gold Crown Stores. You can read more about Jeanne at her blog here.


For the joy!


ab

i'm not who i was...

as we get older we all change in one way or another...we get shorter, taller, greyer, sadder, happier...you get the picture. but for me, the most significant change in me occurred in the fall of 1993 when i made the decision to walk away from a former lifestyle apart from Christ into a journey of which i had no idea how it would look or what the experience would be.

so far, i can tell you i am so very glad Christ pursued me with such vigor and persistence as to send His own into my path that i would meet Him in the pages of Scripture over and over again. when i didn't know what to do or what to believe, His people, my new friends would point me to Scripture. there were no long philosophical debates, no deep unanswerable questions posed, no esoteric what if's...just the Truth of the Bible to meet me where i was in the fall of 1993. where was i? i was a single mom with no college education, a checkbook with about $150 and a minimum wage job at the college rec center. i lived in student housing and rode a bike around my college town because i didn't own a car.

clarity...in a moment of clarity i began to understand without God my life would essentially remain the same, even if I had a college degree, my own car and $15,000 in my checking account...i would still be without Hope. so i bent down on my knees, for the first time in my life and spoke to God, confessing every sin i could remember and asking Him to remind me of the ones i had chosen to forget. after what seemed like hours i rose from my knees, and climbed into my bed, exhausted. the next morning i woke early and opened my Bible, sat with my journal and wrote out my first prayer as a new Believer in Christ...the evidence was there...i realized...i'm not who i was.

A Special Birthday Celebration…

Works for Me Wednesday…BACKWARDS Edition!


Here's how it works…The tables are turned and instead of me giving advice or resolving a problem I get to ask you to help me with a question or problem! And just in the nick of time, too!

Here's the mission: Help me plan a memorable 16^th birthday celebration for my firstborn daughter!





The vision: A fun celebratory event that marks her passage from girlhood to young womanhood.

I've been brainstorming and here's what I've come up with so far:

• The whole event could actually stretch over a weekend…her birthday is on Sunday.


• Friday evening I have given to her to plan…she is thinking of going to the high school basketball game with her friends and then maybe out to dinner, home by 11pm curfew.


• Saturday at noon I am going to "kidnap" her and two of her closest friends and we are going on a surprise road trip to Kansas City for a girlie weekend…but what to do, where to go in KC…on a fairly limited budget? Maybe I'll splurge for special hotel accommodations, like on the Plaza or Crown Center…but what else could we do?


• After church on Sunday and a delicious breakfast…but where?


• This is where everything gets fuzzy…I want to have a special family time birthday dinner on Sunday evening when we return home…but maybe that's too much.


• Kaylie is the first of three girls…so I want to establish some sort of faith centered tradition with this birthday. I didn't do so hot with 13…it was pretty lame.


• I would like to make a special memory book. This week Birthday Girl is to compile a list of people who she feels have thus far influenced her life in one way or another…either spiritually, academically, athletically or even artistically. These are people she knows and who know her…teachers, mentors, fellow students. I plan to scan the list and will be sending letters to these individuals to write a special birthday note of encouragement and wisdom to Kaylie. Some of these individuals will have a strong faith, others not so much but have loved her and walked with her in some way…it's just that I am not sure what to write in this letter of invitation. Should I just email them or snail mail? What do I do with them when I receive them? Should I make a special scrapbook with them?


• Gift ideas: a hope chest and/or a charm bracelet. Both could be utilized as external signification of this milestone.


• Another idea: writing a special prayer for her and presenting it with the letters and scrapbook.


• 
  
  Finally…how do I organize all these thoughts and prioritize them…then how do I actually implement the plan!
  
  
  
  
  Help! Do you have any ideas to share? Were there special moments you created for your daughter or maybe that you remember from a special birthday?
  
  
  Shannon and other bloggers at Rocks in My Dryer could use your creative insight into the many problems and dilemmas that plague the internets…find them here.
  
  Oh, and I vote that Shannon tosses the empty DVD cases in the trash…call it a 27 thing Boogie and move on girl!

Advent Conspiracy…

There's a conspiracy underway…and I don't think it will end anytime soon.

I think we could agree we are all on a journey, searching…and it seems the holiday season exacerbates this searching feeling inside.

Unless the searching feeling has been satisfied. By the One who satisfies.


The One who satisfies came to us as a babe in a manger over 2000 years ago; today we celebrate His birth as Christmas. Maybe it's me, but somewhere along the way celebrating Christ's birth (aka Christmas) was hijacked by the searching monster. In the United States the "holiday season" begins at Halloween (or before), is punctuated by the Big Feast (aka Thanksgiving) in which we gorge ourselves on scandalous amounts of food and ends with the grand finale on Christmas Day. For many, Christmas Day has become a fest of consuming…of spending scandalous amounts of money on stuff we don't really need in search of something we really do need. We make our lists, check them twice and head out to Wal*mart in search of…something.

Christ's birth (aka Christmas) was meant to transform the world…not our credit rating. Why all this consuming during the holiday season? And it's not just about buying gifts, either. There's the new pots and pans to be purchased to cook all the extra food we are cooking, the new furniture for the people who are coming to visit…there's the new clothes to buy for the parties we have to attend…there's the wrapping paper and tape and ribbons to buy to wrap all the gifts we've purchased. And the $29.99 gallon of peanut oil to fry the $10.00 turkey. But you can use the oil over and over. Who fries food these days besides McDonald's?

Now, I may be preaching to the choir…or maybe I'm just talking out loud to myself…you may have all this figured out. But way back in early October, I was shopping the local *big box discount store* for Halloween candy and I noticed Christmas décor and stuff in the aisle next to the princess and fairy costumes. The confused look on my face must have mirrored that on my children's. "What's the Christmas stuff for Mommy?" "Oh, it just wouldn't be Halloween without a few Christmas decorations, would it, honey?" I decided I had had enough of the whole holiday consumer scene.

What if, as followers of Christ we would treat the holidays as the Holy Days they are? What if we would consider stopping the busyness…to slow down and listen to the One who satisfies? What if our transformed hearts would focus out on others, sharing the Hope that satisfies? This sounds great; you say…I want something different this year…but how?

Advent Conspiracy is a great place to start. Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshipping Jesus through compassion, not consumption. This page has some specific ideas for relational giving.

What Would Jesus Buy? is a secular docu-comedy about the commercialization of Christmas. It's from producer Morgan Spurlock ("Super size Me") and has received very positive reviews from Christianity Today and Beliefnet.com among others.

Catalyst Church in Kent, Ohio has taken the Advent Conspiracy to a new level…check out Christmas in Kent.org.

Rick McKinley's blog (Imago Dei Community) is here…read The Baby is Coming and check out Imago Dei's site.

Darryl at DashHouse.com has posted his column from Christian Week.

Here in my town three churches have formed Christmas on 84^th Street…here's the site for inspiration.

Inspiration for Celebrating Christ in Your Home:


What about Santa Claus? We began celebrating Saint Nicholas Day many years ago. Pastor Ralph Wilson at Joyful Heart Renewal Ministries has written a lovely article about Nicholas, find it here. Many of you may already know the story, I had never heard "the truth about Santa" until I was a Christ follower! For details on our family St. Nicholas celebration see Treasured Traditions.

And this link to Simpleliving.org is a wonderful Epiphany resource…a great way to signify the close of the Christmas season.

Joanne at The Simple Wife has an Advent Countdown with daily treasures to share with her children. The project page has the how-to. I love the simplicity and the message…this project reminds me of Resurrection Eggs…but that's for another special Holy Day!

A Season of Gratitude

Over the past weeks I have been writing down what I am giving thanks for this season…

I am thankful for God and all that He is…I am thankful for His gift of grace and mercy to me… for family and friends He has provided…my husband and our daughters…a healthy holiday for our family…our home…for financial provision to pay off debt…for my calling as a mother and wife and nurse…for being part of a church home here in Nebraska…I am thankful for the friendships we have made along the way and praying for new, deep friendships to walk along the road with…I am thankful for the first snow! and the firewood we were able to gather this summer to enjoy this winter…for being able to work part time so I can be home for the kids as much as possible…for the few days we were able to spend at Disneyland just before Christmas last year (before Emily's surprise surgery)…and for Christmas Day '06 with caring staff, nurses and doctors at Children's Hospital Orange County taking care of Emily (and us)…and for the love and warmth we received from Orange County Ronald McDonald house…I am thankful Emily has recovered fully from surgery and she has remained free from any further complications from the tumor…I am thankful we have had the opportunity to give to others in need…and I am thankful this season of gratitude is not just a day or moment or calendar event, but an attitude of the heart. It is a heart attitude that's not "gutted out" or from following the latest three step self improvement plan, but a heart attitude graciously provided by a loving God who lives in me.

Check out these promises…

 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean;I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.And I will put my Spirit in you and move youto follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.You will live in the land I gave your forefathers;you will be my people, and I will be your God.”Ezekiel 36:25-28

The Truth About Me…part 2

The first time I learned The Truth About Me was the fall of 1993 and I was a single mom and a student at Colorado State University. I had made friends with Allison, who other than her annoying habit of bringing every conversation back Jesus, was on all accounts "normal". Our personalities seemed to click and we often sat for hours chatting while our children played together. Over the course of time, however a significant contrast between us became apparent. She had something I did not and I could see the difference lived out in her life and family…and on her face. Allison radiated Christ. Something happens when an unbeliever (me) spends time with someone who has the living God dwelling inside them (Allison). Either you are drawn the presence of the Holy Spirit in that person or the Presence is so uncomfortable for you that you find ways to avoid them or even end the relationship. I was drawn into His Presence.


Unbeknownst to me, God had been preparing my heart and He began to reveal Himself through my conversations with Allison. I had begun an inward journey and was searching for answers to the Big Questions. I was able to understand a lot about God but I had a hard time understanding on a deeper level I was separated from God. I knew I wasn't perfect, a quick survey of my present circumstances revealed that quite well, but understanding my "goodness" wasn't even close to being good enough for God…was disturbing.


My search led me to scripture and I was met by a holy God. Since I did not grow up "in the Church" reading the "great stories" of the Bible were fresh and new for me. Yet, I wanted to know why Knowing God made Alison so different from me knowing about God.


God met me in my little apartment in the evening hours as I read His Word. I remember the very moment when I realized I would one day give an account of myself to God…it was if time stopped. Every moment, every decision, every s.i.n. would be laid before me and I would be held accountable. I'm no mathematician, but on a deeper level I finally understood [my sin] > [all the good stuff I will ever do]. I was broken. I was afraid. I cried. I could feel my heart aching because I could see there was no way I was going to be able to fix the situation I was in.


It was Romans 14:11, 12 It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.'" So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God
that brought me to my knees. I was absolutely powerless to remedy my situation. There existed a chasm between a holy God and me I was powerless to cross. There existed no action I could do to change this Truth and there was not one person on the planet that could help me. And in that moment I sensed I was alone with God.


I continued to read, flipping pages from Old Testament to New Testament…hoping to find something in the pages of scripture that would soothe the very real ache I held in my body. I quickly scanned Psalms and Proverbs. Nothing. I looked in Revelation…it was if it was written in Spanish. I read a little in Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah. It was fear that gripped me…the chasm could not be navigated by my good deeds, self-improvement techniques or promises to straighten up. I feared I was too late…and I feared God was too holy and I was too sinful.


With breathless hope I turned to the first chapter of Matthew and began to skim the pages. And then I read "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." I read it again. And again. And once again. I knew a moment of decision had come and I agreed with God about The Truth About Me. It was settled the chasm was closed and I ran to Him for the rest He promised. The ache was no longer there, it had been replaced by a sense of peace I had never before known. I was experiencing the unmerited grace of forgiveness from a holy God. I rested there, on the floor of my apartment for hours, in complete silence and awe.

The Truth About Me…part 1

In our small group we are reading a book that is having a rather profound impact on my heart and my relationship with Christ. It's called True Faced: Trust God and Others With Who You Really Are. This post won't really be a book review, but rather how God is using this book to teach me the Truth About Me.


In addition to reading Scripture, I can sincerely tell you I have read every "how to be a better Christian wife/mother/sister/hostess/football fan" book ad nauseum since I decided to follow Jesus in 1993. I am a full on kind of person and when I pursue something it is with passion and intention, thus the extensive reading list. But over the last couple of years, beginning probably around 2004ish I began to sense there must be something more, something I am missing…my relationship with my God seemed…distant. I wanted change, growth, maturity, holiness, godliness…to be like Christ, to be Godly, to live the disciplines…I wanted to please Him above all else.


For those of us on this journey of following Christ, the journey is one of choices. At some point between 1993 and the early 2000s I made a choice. I made a choice between two divergent paths in this journey with God: on the left-- the path of Pleasing God and on the right-- the path of Trusting God. There is no third choice; no "door #3" and one cannot jump back and forth between the two paths. These two paths represent the inner motives of the heart, the purpose behind the practice. Ultimately, motives become values and values become action. I chose the Pleasing God path. For me, the Trusting God path seemed so esoteric, so "out there", so intangible…and kind of scary. But the Pleasing God path is one of action, it is about experience, to many it's the sold out for God way to go! Passionately, I set my foot on this path and the journey began.


True Faced describes the Pleasing God path as one that leads to the Room of Good Intentions. Over the entrance to the room a sign reads "Striving to Be All That God Wants Me to Be" and to enter this room one must turn the knob of Effort. From the beginning of my walk my deepest desire has been to be the person God intends me to be, to be the person He has called me to be. It makes sense I would grab the Knob of Effort with gusto and walk right in. …I will be all He wants me to be…whatever it looks like, whatever it takes…I want to please Him! My walk with God will be just like in the books I've read, it will be like Paul and Peter, Ruth and Naomi. My goal is to be godly, I will persevere, I will be disciplined, I will fast and pray and do Bible Studies…and we will have this close relationship I have always wanted with God. And I became comfortable in the Room of Good Intentions…at least for a while. Then I got tired. Real tired. There seemed to be this rather uncomfortable, but permanent mask adhered to my face and on the faces of others in the room. When we inquire among each other "How is it going? How are you doing?" a pained "Everything's fine, just fine, we're doing good, yup, pretty good" echoes among us all in this Room of Good Intentions.


I lived in the Room of Good Intentions for quite some time…a looong time. I invested in relationships that seemed to go beyond the mask, but in Truth the masks remained. My experience in the Room of Good Intentions was littered with half used homeschool supplies, Bible Studies left incomplete, futile attempts at perfect tea parties, gallons of mismatched paints and fabric for decorating, scratched up mediocre Christian music CDs and multiple copies of the Bible in the search to find the most accurate version to carry to church. I began to feel stifled…the mask was on pretty tight. And I claimed to be authentic. I was tired. Very tired…of myself, of the others in the Room and of feeling like I was never doing enough, never getting it quite together. There always seemed to be this cloud over me, this nagging feeling I will never be the person God intends me to be. The intimate walk I thought I would experience after choosing Christ seemed to have faded into the pages of the well intentioned books I had read and placed upon the dusty bookshelves in the basement. All the concepts and strategies I had read about had ultimately left me…unchanged.


NOTE: Over the next few days/week I will be working through The Truth About Me….and I won't not post for months, I just need to process stuff a little…this is too exciting to keep inside, just getting it out in a coherent manner is a longer process than I thought… Jab