Life Preservers

Billy and I are already ga-ga over our first grandson! It is our joy to imagine life with him and so we are already purchasing things to welcome his arrival. Things that will make him more comfortable and things that will prove to him how much he is loved and thought about - before we ever knew him.

Sound familar? God went to a lot of trouble to create a world to cradle his babies! He wanted our home to be comfortable and beautiful for us to enjoy. He wanted creation to teach us about love, joy, peace and beauty. And He created it in such a way that we would also learn to be grateful for the world He gave us and the Creator who designed it.

Our most recent purchase - ahem, as seen above - is his first little life jacket. We have a boat and spend a lot of time going out on it so we wanted to be able to take him out whenever he/we wanted to. Hence the life jacket. Pops was pretty specific about his life jacket. Not just anything would do. Had to have a flotation device that would keep his face and head out of the water in case of an accidental overboard. It has a strap that goes between his legs so he can't slide out of it and a flotation device that makes sure he turns to his back and that his head is supported out of the water. Pretty slick, huh? Gives a grandparent a little sense of security when traversing the high seas - well, Lake Ray Hubbard.

Anyway.....it's not such a big deal. We just love the little fella - already. And we want to keep him safe because the world isn't.

Just like our Heavenly Father. He loved us before before He knew us and prepared a place for us to live life and enjoy the beauty and wonder of His creation. He also prepared a life preserver for us. Jesus. He knew that we would fall. He knew that there would be no way back for us so He provided a life preserver for us in the form of a fully God/fully man sacrifice for our sins.

Baby K will have a life preserver for trips around Lake Ray Hubbard and a Life Preserver for his journey on planet Earth. His mom and dad and his grandparents will make sure he knows about Jesus.

Therein lies our greatest security and our ultimate safety. I pray that you are floating in the safety of His arms. O how He loves you and me.

HIS FAITHFUL LOVE ENDURES FOREVER

Psalm 136 was probably used as a responsive reading in the early church. The history of God's action on behalf of the Israelites would be read by the scribe and the people would respond "His faithful love endures forever." It was a reminder that in every situation in which the child of God might find himself (or herself) he/she could depend on this - God loves you!

It has been a particularly grueling week in my ministry. A precious 11 year old girl went home to be with the Lord after a valiant fight with cancer. My good friend Linda Cooper got a bad report on her PET scan and one last chemo is her option. My friend Virginia found out cancer has returned and one very young friend of Justin's - who is pregnant with her first child is facing lymphoma in her young husband. Grueling. Without a doubt, life is hard.

I suppose that is why Psalm 136 was like a balm to my soul. I have a prayer chain to get out this morning and it sometimes seems as though I have nothing to report but sorrow. And then I read - His faithful love endures forever. I need to know He loves me in sickness and in health. In richness and in poverty. In good times and in bad. He loves me. He loves you.

You can't pin your life on your health....or lack thereof. On chemo or radiation. On doctors or lawyers. On stocks or interest. You can depend on God's love for you. He is faithful in His love. And it is forever.

And His love is RIGHT. Perfect. Without error. You can take that one to the bank. In fact, I hope you do. There is an account for you in heaven. Jesus warned us to store our treasures there for there they would await us. Invest your life in abiding in His love for you. That knowledge - really, it is faith - will undergird your spirit in times of trouble and trial. And whether you find yourself on this side or heaven's side of life, you will experience abundant life.

One cold day in the winter of 2005 a deeply grieving mother stood at the grave of her youngest son and her spirit cried out to God and He responded, "Look around Sherrie. No one leaves this world alive." It was a wake-up call to me that I was not alone in this sin-sick world. Everyone will experience immense grief at one time or another. In the throes of pain, we often miss that truth. This is not all there is. This is not our home. We are simply traveling through.

Help each other. Love one another. Pray for everyone God lays on your heart. Store up for yourself riches in heaven. One day we're going home. Pack your bags now with prayer and faithfulness. With love and grace. With lots of forgiveness and tons of joy. There is a date on the calendar that is set (Psalm 139:16) and in His sovereignty, it is known only to Him. It is for us to prepare for that day today.

His faithful love endures forever.

BEING FOUND FAITH-FULL

I came across a list of principles for living in my study Bible this week and my heart kept being drawn to one of them - Be faithful. I have been thinking about this all week. When I think of the word 'faithful' I think about loyalty. And while I do believe God desires and deserves our loyalty, my heart kept pondering that faithfulness in this context is something different.

What if God desires us to be faith-full - as in full of faith? The word faith in its simplest form means to believe God or to trust God. So an important principle for living is being found FULL OF trust and belief!

So the question becomes - how do I fill my cup? How do I trust Him more and believe that He is and can do all that the Bible says He can do? It comes from a relationship. We are created for relationship. God desires more than anything else for us to spend time with Him. To think about Him. To talk to Him. To enjoy Him. To worship Him. To love Him.

The only way I have found to trust and believe in anything or anyone has been the test of time. There is no substitute for history with people. You know who you can trust by your history with them. By the way they conduct their business, their pleasure and their family. God has recorded His history in His word - and you better believe, it is good and bad and ugly!! He doesn't try to cover up or airbrush a thing!

So being faith-filled comes from a relationship with Him. By sticking with Him through all the trials and wonders because He is worthy. But the benefits to you and me are much greater.

If we lived faith-full lives, we will have peace in trial. Joy in times of sorrow. Calm in calamity. Gentleness in times of harshness. Love instead of hate. Most importantly, we have HOPE. This is not all there is. This world, this body, this life, this relationship......we have a hope that defies the consumerism and commercialism that this world tries to sell us. IT - whatever IT is - will never happen here. But IT is coming! And when we fix our eyes and our hope on that "IT" - the coming Christ, Our King of Kings, an eternal Jerusalem, the redemption of our bodies - we are full of faith.

Colossians 1 says to "set our minds on things above." He is talking about heaven. Set your mind there. Set your hope there. You will become full. Full of a faith/belief/trust that will hold you until that day arrives.

A word of warning: we are leaky vessels. We will have to return to the fountain that never runs dry for refilling. He made us that way. Not to punish us or to remind us of our fallibility. He did it so we would come to Him regularly because He loves us and desires us. So if you can't find me in the days to come, I am probably at the Fountain of Living Water getting my daily fill-up. Hope to see you there!

Happy Mother's Day TO ME

After 28 years someone is having a baby at our house - and it isn't ME! Brandon and Kylie gave me this (see left) for Mother's Day and our precious little baby will be delivered on Thanksgiving!!! We were totally shocked. Totally taken by surprise. Totally overjoyed. What a gift!!! Mother's Day and Thanksgiving have taken on a whole new dimension.

Since most of you know that my family is totally insane - I will share some of the shenanigans with you after the news was announced. Matthew (our precious middle child) went into a deep FUNK. He loudly bemoaned several GIVENS:

1. He and Amy's gift of a darling pink purse for my gift was hammered.

2. He, Amy, Brandon and Kylie were toast on the favorites list now, and last but most importantly:

3. Christmas for all of them was OVER!

Yes, he is mature and totally NOT materialistic or anything.

The next day he came over to play golf with his dad and told us that he had REALLY been thinking about 'the whole baby thing' and thought we should reconsider Christmas since they weren't messing things up by having the baby so they shouldn't be penalized. In his defense - he is the middle child.

Anyway......we are so stupidly happy. Truthfully, I was getting a little sick and tired of hearing about everyone else's grandchildren. (This is where Matt gets it!) So now I can be as idiotically silly and monotonous as everyone else. I am a real trend-follower. :)

I am going to be MiMi and Billy is going to be Pops. Delightful names, don't you think? Anyway......you are all so precious to put up with me - be excited with us and pray for us. We have had some tough and refining years but looks like we have some fun coming. Just like the Lord, don't you think?

I am working on some of those fancy stencils for the nursery: Dial 1-800-MiMi, If Your Parents Say No, Call MiMi, and Who Needs Parents? I Have a MiMi. Catchy, don't you think? Your thoughts and ideas are appreciated (by me, anyway).

I guess I better get off of here. I only have six months and I have a lot to purchase!!! I love you all and prepare to be bored as a gourd. I'm having a grandbaby!!!!

PS Brandon and Kylie - thanks for making me a MiMi!!!! I love you.

Matthew and Amy - I want a whole lot of them. :) I love you too.

BETTER THINGS ARE YET TO COME

In Psalm 78, the psalmist reminds the children of Israel of their rich heritage in the Lord and of His fierce anger at their faithlessness.

They were complaining about the lack of food when God was preparing to pour out manna from heaven on them.

They were complaining about living in tents when God was preparing to give them houses filled with good things that they did not build or buy.

They were complaining about the wilderness when He was preparing to give them the promised land - a land flowing with milk and honey.

They were complaining about what they could see instead of focusing on what God had promised them.

I'm feeling overwhelmed by my prayer chain requests this morning. I am reluctant to even place on 'paper' the huge needs that are out there. Children dying with cancer, a 6 yo recovering from his 6th open heart surgery, mothers miscarrying babies, cancer, cancer, cancer, a childhood friend who lost his son in a car accident, job loss - it is truly mind-boggling the amount of pain that is out there. And if we choose to focus on what we see instead of what God has promised, we too will begin to complain - will begin to lose faith - will run the risk of God's fierce anger.

If I had the ability to go back in time, I would go to the children of Israel and say, "Hold on! Unimaginable riches are coming. Better things are yet to come. He who promises is faithful to bring them to pass." You and I know it's true because it has already happened and is recorded for us to read. But more than read it - we are to learn and to grow in our own faith because of their living it out.

So that is what I want to say to you today - "Greater things are yet to come." Not because I have seen them but because He said it. It is recorded for us to read, to grow, to understand and to believe. The end of your life story is not yet written. I want mine to be one of great faith. Believing God for His best. He has a plan. It's HIS plan. It is for good.

I believe. Do you?

"In this world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!" Jesus

USE IT OR LOSE

I would like to take credit for coming up with that saying but alas! I did not. I'm speaking of my muscles. I have noticed over the last few months I have been achy and keep getting pulls and strains in my muscles/joints. I mentioned it at my recent physical and instead of the comment about aging - which I expected, she asked if I had been exercising. Ahem. That's a little personal. Wasn't it enough that she weighed me? Anyway - she reminded me that if I don't use my muscles I will lose them. Have I mentioned that I hate/loathe/despise sweating? Nor do I like doing things that are boring and I equate exercise with boredom plus the added detraction of sweat. So I bought myself a bowflex treadclimber on Craigslist. Pretty proud of myself. Got a great buy. Thought if I put the thing in Billy's study, under the ceiling fan, IN the air conditioning and in front of the TV I MIGHT do something to 'use it' and avoiding 'losing it.' Anyway....

I came upon this passage of scripture in my daily reading:

"God arms me with strength, and He makes my way perfect." Ps. 18: 32

It reminded me that God gives us strength in order that our ways become perfect. Looking at the great loss of my life I need to know that God is using that loss and the grief that ensued to make my way perfect. Just as physical exercise makes our bodies perfect so do trials and tribulations exercise our spiritual bodies to be conformed into the image of Christ.

The wonder of it all is while my treadclimber can sit in that study without so much as a thought in that direction, the God who loves us, created us, has a plan for us and is working in us to perfect that plan will bring things into our lives that will force us to flex our spiritual muscle.

I love knowing that He has my life in His hands. I rejoice to know that as big a mess as it may seem from my side of the veil, His side is working it all out for perfection. Not just good. Pefect. I like that.

Let's flex some muscle this week.

TOO BIG TO MISS

In my daily reading I was studying the story of David and Goliath and the commentators made an insight I had heard before but pondered anew. He said that the Israelites saw an opponent who was too big to defeat and David saw an enemy who was too big to miss! Isn't that true of life? It really is all about perspective.

As the proprietor of a weekly prayer chain I am profoundly aware of the size of the enemy that wages war against us. It sometimes seems as though followers of Christ have a big bulls-eye on our foreheads. David was the anointed king-to-be of Israel. He was already called a man after God's own heart and yet God let him stand alone against a nine foot giant. Sometimes we make a mistake by knowing a story too well and David's is a prime example. We skip right to the end - where a young boy single-handedly kills a giant with a slingshot and one stone. WHOA - back up.

He stood up against a giant while the entire army of Israel stood down and watched. He spoke against his enemy - not by taunting, whining, complaining or manipulating. He spoke about the God who placed David in the position to fight. And while Goliath lumbered around in his hundreds of pounds of (probably frightening looking) armor, David quickly ran forward, slung a stone and sunk a giant! THEN the army of Israel was emboldened to run forward and fight!

The body of Christ is waging war against a giant enemy today (by the way - that is nothing new). God allowed it. And He is the same God who stood with David. He is unchanging. Whatever your enemy - be it financial, physical, emotional, relational - it needs to be faced in the perspective of the God you serve. You see - your enemy is too big to miss! I love the spunk of David. He said, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who dares to defy the army of the Living God?" In other words - "Enemy! Who do you think you are? Have you see my God?"

Friends, scrub off the bifocals. Take a fresh look at the God you serve. If He put a young boy before a giant, who is to say He didn't allow the enemy facing you today? Perhaps the watching world needs to see your bravery. Perhaps the church needs to hear a rousing reminder of the God we serve. Whatever your opposition today - it is no match for the God we are in covenant with. He has your back, your front, your sides. He goes before you and nothing is too big for Him.

Ready, Aim, Shoot!