Receiving the Gift

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28 NIV)

It is so much easier to give than to receive.  I know this is true of myself and I know many people who have big, giving hearts that find it very difficult to receive when people want to give to them.  We want to be the great bestowers... not the humble receivers.  We want to give from our abundance. Not accept what we are in need of.  And because of our pride, we miss out on so much grace.

Ann Voskamp talks about Mary conceiving Jesus:

"Now here in this juncture of time and space, God chooses the inconceivable - grace.  

And conceives himself to deliver grace into the world.

Conceive:  it's not passive, but an active verb.  Its root in Latin means nothing less than "to seize, to take hold of."  When grace conceives in you, you take hold of God."

 Jesus was grace in the flesh.  And Mary took hold of that grace... received it with open hands.  Do we truly understand that that is all we need do to receive grace?  Open our  - empty - hands?  Our heads may know it, but what about our hearts? Don't we keep trying to earn grace... to make ourselves worthy of grace... to give God our gifts so that we feel better about receiving his?

I think an important part of Advent is emptying ourselves to receive.  Waiting for God to fill us though we have nothing to give.  Waiting for that most amazing Grace that was ever given... Himself, and allowing Him to be conceived within our own selves... and seizing and taking hold of that awesome Grace... the Christ Child.

On this Christmas Eve eve (as my son, Daniel liked to call December 23rd when he was little) empty yourself.  Put aside your giving long enough to truly receive... humbly... in awe... the greatest Gift ever given.

Lord Jesus,
You ARE grace.  Help us to know there is nothing for us to do but receive you.  Amen.

Behind the Gate

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 NIV)

I love the story of Esther.  In the beginning, it is like a Cinderella fairytale.  The king finds favor with the beautiful peasant and marries her.  And she lives happily ever after.... well... not quite.  But why shouldn't she?  She had a rough, poor childhood and suddenly she is surrounded by luxury.  Everything she could ever want is at her fingertips.  But her uncle reminds her of where she came from and what is about to happen.  She can cling to the wealth and security inside her gate of gold or she can step outside the gate and risk everything to help those who are helpless.

Wealth can be a really sneaky thing.  Most of the time it is not suddenly heaped upon us as in a large lottery win.  When something like that happens, it is easy... and fun!... to be generous.  But it usually doesn't happen that way.  We begin our adult lives and we struggle in our careers.  We get small increases in our income.  We figure out some money management.  As our wealth creeps up, we find ways we "need" to spend it.  A bigger house.  A better car.  More channels on the TV.  Finer clothes.  More frequent meals out.  A bigger retirement fund.

We are the people - like Esther - who live inside the gate.  We have the means to reach out.... or lock the gate of gold.  We can feed a hungry family.... or place another gift under an already overflowing Christmas tree.  We can help an uninsured cancer patient... or trade in the paid-off car for a new car payment.  We can volunteer at the soup kitchen or homeless shelter, or watch one of 500 channels on our 60 inch HD TV.

Ann VosKamp says it this way:

Esther hears her Uncle Mordecai's message and it does something to her soul. "You've got to use your position inside the gate for those outside the gate - or you're in the position of losing everything."

Like Esther, perhaps we have been given our wealth (yes, you are wealthy) or power or talent for such a time as this.  Whether it is to help the poor, or the afflicted, or the abused, or the enslaved, or the uneducated, or the hungry, or the homeless, or the marginalized.... whether it takes money, or time, or connections, or a specific talent... you have been given what you have for such a time this.  You can't keep it behind your gate of gold or you risk losing everything.

Take a small step outside your gate today.  You know of someone who needs something... who really NEEDS something.  You have the means to provide it.

Father,
We are among the wealthiest in the world, and yet most of us would say we are not rich.  Open our eyes to how much we have and how little 75% of the world has.  Help us to use what we have to help others.  Amen.

Light

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:2, 6 NIV)

"People walking in darkness."  It sounds lonely.  It sounds hopeless.  But, wait!  "They have seen a great light!"  "A light has dawned!"

The famous astronomer, Carl Sagan, speaking about the vast emptiness of space once said,

"In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."

I highly respect Carl Sagan's work, and I understand that science needs a kind of proof that faith doesn't, but we can find those "hints" everywhere we look.  And those "hints" work themselves out in our lives every day.  Maybe it is not evidence that we can see with our eyes and touch with our hands, but the evidence is seen and felt and heard and tasted by our spiritual senses... and by the unexplained events that answer our prayers and provide for our needs.

There are times in all of our lives when we feel the darkness closing in on us.  Advent and Christmas rescue us with their light.  Advent candles, Christmas trees, houses and lawns, city buildings, flashing Christmas sale signs in store windows..... Light! Light! Light!  All of it serves to remind us that "in a land of deep darkness a light has dawned!  For unto us a child is born, a son is given!"

No more darkness.  And yes, Mr Sagan, there IS a hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."  Hope in the darkness.  Faith.  Light.

Father of Light,
Thank you for hope.  Thank you for the flickering flame of faith that burn in each of us.  Amen.

Ugly/Beautiful

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV)

We are blinded by our eyesight.  Our eyes only allow us to see the surface and we have learned to judge things based on what we see on the surface.  It has gotten so much worse in recent years with the popularity of social media.  The bare surface of an issue is posted and the world rushes to judgement.  We see a beggar on a street corner and we think, "lazy."  We see a pregnant teenager and we think, "loose."  We see fat, we think, "no self-control."  We see someone arrested, we think, "guilty."  We see the surface and dismiss God's children without ever seeking to look below the surface.

In Ann VosKamp's JoyDare, I have been challenged to find joy and gratitude in three things each day in that day's assigned category. One of the most challenging categories has been "three things ugly/beautiful."  It challenges us to look beyond what things seem on the surface.... A messy house (because the grandchildren visited);  a rainy, cold winter day (a beautiful Spring ahead).  Those examples are pretty easy.  But the real challenge lies in learning to do that with everything we find ugliness in.  Think of it... God does not make ugly, so it must be our faulty eyesight.  Look deeper.  Examine that ugliness until you find God.  It's there.

Find three things today ugly/beautiful.  It will be difficult.  But do it again tomorrow... And the next day... And the next.  It will become easier.  And it will change the way you think about the world.  It will bring joy to your soul.

Father,
Nothing you have made is ugly.  Help us to see beyond the surface to your beauty underneath.  Amen

The End of Your Rope

You must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. (Joshua 2:18 NLT)

My Advent devotional reading today was all about Rahab.  I never realized what an interesting story it is!  To recap:

Joshua had sent spies to scout out Jericho.  They came upon the home of a prostitute by the name of Rahab.  The King of Jericho heard rumors about the spies and their whereabouts but Rahab hid them and helped them escape because she had heard about their God and had faith.  She asked the spies to spare the life of her and her family in return for her help.  The spies agreed and told her to leave the scarlet rope (from which they escaped) hanging out the window to identify them to the troops that would enter.

Ann VosKamp wrote:  "That is always the secret to the abundant life:  to believe that God is where you doubt he can be."

We've all been at the end of rope at one time or another.  And when we are there, it is so hard to believe that God can be there.  We feel hopeless.  Depressed.  Lost.  Friendless.  It would be so easy just to let go of the rope.  But that little mustard seed of faith stirs something deep down in our soul.  And where we doubted God could be, he appears and does amazing things.

A couple of interesting notes about the story of Rahab:

• The Hebrew word for Rahab's rope is "tikvah."  The same word is the Hebrew word for "hope."
• Rahab is the mother of Boaz, the husband of Ruth.  Rahab is the great-grandmother of King David.

A prostitute.  A life at the end of its rope.  Add a tiny bit of faith and a small cord of hope and we have an honored woman in Jesus' lineage.  God was there in the room of that prostitue.  He is there when you are at the end of your rope too.  Believe it.

Father,

Thank you for the uncommon stories of common people that give us hope.  Amen.

Incline Your Heart

Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! (Deuteronomy 5:29 NIV)

I'm reading an Advent devotional book by Ann VosKamp called, The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas.  In this morning's reading, Ann likens the Ten Commandments to wedding vows.  Very appropriate if you think about it.  God has wooed us throughout time and the Church is the Bride of Christ.

Traditional wedding vows ask the couple to be true to one another in sickness, in health; whether rich or poor, forsaking all others.  And because we love our soon-to-be spouse, we have no problem promising these things with all our hearts.  God's Commandments are also meant to be kept by our hearts.  These are not 10 Super Challenges that we should have to force ourselves to be victorious over.  They are fairly simple guidlines for living for anyone who loves God and loves who and what God loves.  The verse above points out that God simply wants our hearts... and for our own good!

If any husband or wife broke their wedding vows as often as we break the Commandments, there would surely be a divorce!  But Jesus came to bring it all together... to bring our heart into the vows and make them easier to keep and to cover our slip-ups and bring us over-and-over-again forgiveness.

Live today with your heart close to God.  It will make keeping your vows to him nearly effortless.

Father,
When we fail to keep your commands it is because our heart is elsewhere.  Help us to keep our heart close to you so that we may easily follow your word.  Amen.

Choose to Find the Grace

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20 NIV)

My favorite story of forgiveness in the Old Testament is the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers for selling him into slavery.  Maybe it's my favorite because I come from a large family and my siblings and I did our share of selling one another out for our own selfish reasons.  But the story of Joseph and his brothers is a good one no matter what kind of family you come from.  And I think the best line in the story is, "What you intended for evil, God intended for good."

God is always using evil committed by his children for good.  Look at the cross... an instrument of evil used by God to give the most incredible gift ever.  And he still does it in our lives today.  Every single time, if we only allow ourselves to see it.  We can miss it.  Joseph could have missed it.  He could have used his God-given good fortune to take revenge on his brothers.  He could have had them killed.  But Joseph chose to find the grace.

That's the thing.  We have to choose it in order to receive it.  No matter what evil is going on in our lives right now... disease, divorce, unemployment, or any other of the myriad possibilities, we need only to look for the grace.  It doesn't mean that the evil won't affect us or hurt us.  Joseph was hurt, no question about it.  But the grace raises us above the hurt.  And it is that grace that gives us the ability to forgive.  And then that ability to forgive turns around and pours out even more grace on us!

Why, why, why do we so often choose to remain mired in the evil rather than choose the grace?  Look at the evil that is holding you down in your life today.  Choose to find grace... and you will.

Father,
I choose grace today.  Amen.

War on Advent

Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord. (Psalm 107:43 NIV)

This is a very difficult time of year for those Christians who observe Advent.  It's hard eough that the world is already screaming "Merry Christmas" when Advent is not Christmas, nor is it suppposed to be merry.  The really hard part is the that the world is on fast forward - shop! party! bake! wrap! decorate! entertain! - but Advent calls us to slow down, pray, worship, study, ponder.

If we are honest with ourselves, we know what the better choice is, but come on... if we wait to do Christmas from December 24 through January 6 we will be partying those last six days by ourselves. The best we can do is to try to fit our Advent into the world's Christmas.  Choose a day... or two... to just do Advent.  No shopping, baking, parties, etc.  Wednesday would be good if your church does Wednesday Advent services.  Take the day to ponder, pray, worship, study and slow down from the madness out there.

War on Christmas?  No, I think the war is really on Advent, and Advent is losing.

Lord Jesus,
We know we have it all wrong, but we feel so powerless to stop it.  Thank you for loving us anyway and for knowing that we truly do love you.  Amen.

I'll Be Back!

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. (Revelation 22:20, 21 NIV)

The last two verses of the Bible.  What an ending.  I can almost hear it in Arnold Schwartzenneger's thick Austrian accent:  "I'll be back!"  If you ever watch movies at all, you can see that God left plenty of room for the sequel:  "The Holy Bible, Part II."

And so we wait.  Waiting means we haven't given up.  It means that even though the world seems to get scarier and scarier, we still see hope.  Through masacres in elementary schools and cancer epidemics and wars that never seem to end and natural disasters that wipe out whole cities... we haven''t given up.  We still see hope.  We still see a happy ending to come.

I've always had the notion that we are still living in biblical times.  God just hasn't chosen anyone to write it down yet.  God's story cannot just end at the cliff-hanger of "I'll be back." God's story continues in our waiting and in the works his children accomplish as we wait.  And I suspect that even when Jesus fulfills his promise to return, the story will just be getting started!

Come, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

Where Are You?

During that day’s cool evening breeze, they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God in the middle of the garden’s trees. The Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:8, 9 CEB)

"Where are you?"  That is the first question asked in the Bible... and God asks it.  It seems an appropriate question for us in this first week of Advent.  If God asked YOU, "Where are you?"  What would be your answer?  Are you hiding from Him?  Are you seeking Him with all your heart?  Are you in the same place in your relationship with Him as you were 5 years ago?

Ask yourself, "Where am I?"  And answer... as honestly as you can.  If you can honestly answer that you are seeking God with all your heart, that is good!  It means you are growing in your faith and learning and giving and serving and praying.  But most likely, like me, you have much room to improve.  If you are hiding, come out from your hiding place and open your heart to the One who always knew where you were anyway.  If you are stagnant and have been unwilling to see God in new and wonderous ways, open your eyes!  God is always doing something new!  And He wants you to come along and not be left behind!

This Advent make it your daily practice to pray, study, worship and give thanks.  Find something new  in the world and find God in it.  Climb to a high place, reach up with your arms and shout to your Heavenly Father, "Here I am!"

Dear Father,
Here I am!  Please take me along on one of your new adventures today.  Keep my heart open so that I will not miss it.  Amen.

Eager Anticipation

18-21 That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens. -Romans 8:19-21 MSG

Advent is about waiting in expectation... waiting in eager anticipation.  Do you know the feeling?  It is the 12-year-old waiting for summer vacation from school.  It is the young army wife waiting for her husband to come home from deployment.  It is falling in love and awaiting that first lover's kiss.  This kind of waiting is the kind of waiting that makes the desired thing feel so close and yet so far.  So close you can feel it, savor it, almost hold it in your hand; but so far that you have an aching yearning that won't leave you alone.  This is Advent.

We don't get that kind of Advent when we just think of it as waiting for Christmas... waiting for the Christ who came to us as a baby in a manger.  We have to get the "whole" of the waiting of He who Was and Is and Is To Come.

This first week of Advent typically focuses on "hope."  Hope is about what is yet to be and that yet to be is Jesus coming again.  Now is the time that the self-proclaimed prophets might raise their signs that say, "The end is near."  But our God... the God who BEGAN the world... the God who BEGAN new life in CHRIST... the GOD who BEGINS a new work in each of us... is a God of BEGINNINGS, not endings.

So I say to you that it is NOT the end that is near, but a beginning.  A beginning full of hope and dazzling wonders.  It is so close that we can feel it and savor it.  But just far enough that we continue to yearn for it with an aching longing.

We don't know exactly what this new beginning is all about.  But we do know that it is good.  Because God is good.  All the time.

Father,
We wait on tiptoe in eager anticipation of any new beginnings that you may have for us.  Open our hearts and fill us with hope.  Amen.

On Being Humble

“Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5 CEB)

Humble.  Every time I hear that word I can't help but also hear the song in my head, "Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way..."  Funny song, but a little off the mark.  I don't think God wants us to not have good self-esteem and self-confidence (although our esteem and confidence should always first be in God).  I think it is more about understanding that we are no better or worse than anybody else and finding the surprise that we should be as blessed as we are.

I remember several years ago when I first started doing devotions.  Two other people and I were writing daily devotions and shared them with only each other.  At the end of the devotion we would share some things we were thankful for.  After a while, our gratitude lists got pretty predictable:  morning coffee, beautiful sunset, family, etc.  But one day, after reading news about genocide going on in a far-off country, one of my friends wrote that she was thankful that she had never been forced to watch her child tortured and killed.  Wow.  So much for my morning coffee.

But why is it you and I have never had to endure something like that?  Millions of people... no better than you or me... have had that kind of agony.  We should even be surprised that we are not in like circumstances... and be very grateful.  That is an extreme example, perhaps.  But our humility should teach us to be grateful... not just with our words, but with our heart and soul... that we are not homeless or hungry; that we have people who love us; that we have dependable vehicles.  And we should be surprised.  Maybe we work for some of those things, but for some people, no matter how hard they work, they will never have what we have.  And they are no better or worse than we are.

With this kind of humility, we can be easily and deeply grateful for every can of food in our pantry, every book on our bookshelf, every pair of shoes under our bed.  We can be amazed that we have so much and wonder why... why am I so blessed when my brother or sister is in need.  This kind of gratitude opens our hands to give, not because we think we are so great and should give to those who are beneath us, but because we can't understand why we have and they don't.

And then, when we are humble to that point, God does one of his incredible God-things and exalts us.  When we make ourselves low, God lifts us high.  And he gives us the world.

Father,
It is mostly by accident of birth that I live where I live and have what I have.  Help me to be constantly amazed and grateful.  Amen.

Find Joy

People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. “Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” (Luke 18:15-17 MSG)

Grandparenting.  There is simply nothing life has to offer that can top it.  Can I get an AMEN from you other grandparents out there?  I just love the squeals of laughter that come from 14-month-old Emma when we play peek-a-boo, or when her Uncle Daniel lifts her high in the air or when she plays on the floor with her daddy.  I love the joyful jumping from 5-year-old Cecelia when she beats her daddy at a video game or she plays Hide-From-Kaymee with Opah.

Small children get so much pleasure out of the simplest things.  They laugh and giggle and dance and squeal with delight over the wind blowing a leaf in a circle or a ball rolling towards them or a Christmas tree with lots of blinking lights.  When do we lose that?  Is it when we discover the "how" behind the miracle?  Do we stop laughing at peek-a-boo when we suddenly understand that the blanket didn't really make us disappear?

Jesus tells us that we should have the faith of a child.  I don't think that means we shouldn't try to grow in our faith, but I think we need to retain a certain amount of innocence.  The kind of innocence that makes us stand in awe of even the miracles that don't seem like miracles anymore.... a sunrise, popcorn, fireflies, Autumn leaves, Spring blooms....

Gratitude brings back that sense of awe... that delight in the simplest of things.  Ann VosKamp puts it this way:  "How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it!"  Just hanging out with your grandchildren for an hour can bring so much joy.  And not just because you love your grandchildren, but because they know how to find joy and they give it to you.   You don't have to wait until they come again to be that joyful.  Find it yourself in the most simple of things.  Then you can share it with them next time.

Father,
Help us to find the joy in the simple things again as we look through the eyes of a child.  Bring us the wonder and awe of this amazing and beautiful world.  Amen.

What Is It?

He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness. (Deuteronomy 8:16 NIV)

Do you remember the story of the Isrealites in the wilderness and the manna?  Out of food and starving, God's children complain and he answers them with this bread from heaven.  If you recall, the manna came each morning.  The people could only gather up enough for one day... any extra would rot overnight.  So they literally had to trust God for their daily bread.

Something I did not know... the word "manna,"  literally translated, means "what is it."

Every day we collect our own manna... our "what is it."  If we trust God and give thanks we will recognize each gift as nourishment for our soul.  There is so much manna we fail to recognize, and our souls go hungry.  Sometimes we are too busy complaining of hunger to see it.  Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by hurt that we have forgotten how to trust and how to give thanks.  Sometimes, we have an overabundance of fake manna... the stuff that feeds our ego, but not our souls and not our spirits... so we don't bother to look for the true manna.

This manna really is a miracle.  It feeds us in ways we can't begin to imagine until we pick it up, wonder "what is it" and give thanks.  It strengthens us.  It revitalizes us.  It helps us find joy when we thought joy had dried up.

Maybe you didn't find the manna yesterday for whatever reason.  But look for it today.  It may be right under your feet.

Father,
Thank you for feeding us each day... not only our bodies, but our souls.  Help us to find that miraculous manna today.  Amen.

And so it begins...

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20 NIV)

I'm going to take a break today from the Thanksgiving devotions.  20 days in and I am finding that there are a limited amount of ways to say, "It is good to give thanks."  I probably have a couple of more in me, but today I want to focus on something else.

Already... before the season has officially begun... I am hearing the complaining and reading the whining on Facebook and blogs from well-meaning Christians:  "It's Merry Christmas; not happy holidays!"  "Keep Christ in Christmas; it's not Xmas."  "My faith is being persecuted because my town hall won't put up a manger scene!"  Christians?  Really?  All I here is... me, me, me, me... it's all about me and what I want... and what I believe... and how I want to celebrate.  I've heard about religious groups that try to make whole countries act according to their beliefs - Richard has spent the last 10 years helping to fight against them.

I stumbled upon a blog by someone who calls himself "fat pastor" the other day.  He wrote about "11 Ways to BE Christ at Christmas."  Number one was great and I am pasting it here.  And then I hope you will go on to read the rest of if by following this link:  http://fatpastor.me/2013/11/15/11-ways-to-bechristinchristmas/

1. Don’t get mad at people when they wish you “Happy Holidays.”  I’m not sure who decided that anger is the right Christian response to a polite greeting from a stranger.  I say “Happy Holidays” all the time.  Is it because I’m a politically correct, overly emotional, too-sensitive, mamby-pamby, liberal pinko who hates Christmas and wants to hang an Obama Tree in my living room?  Maybe, but I’m only a few of those things (I’m not telling which).  I just think it is a nice thing to say.  People that are looking for Christ at the check-out register of Target might be looking in the wrong place.  Frankly, I’m not too interested in finding Christ at my daughter’s public school either.  Check that.  I can find Christ anywhere, but I find it in the heart of my neighbor, not in slogans, signs, or songs.

Lord Jesus,
Sometimes in our love for you, we forget exactly who you are and how you would handle these same situations.  Help us to BE you this Christmas and share your love, even with those who don't believe the same things we do.  Amen.

It's About Trust

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The lament of every teenager that is told they can't stay out late or they can't date a certain person or they can't stay by themselves while the parents are away for the weekend.... "You don't TRUST me!!"

Trust is something that doesn't usually happen immediately in any relationship except the trust a child has for a parent.  We have to get to know the person.  We have to experience their honesty and reliability.  And if they mess up... we may be able to forgive them, but there will be a trust issue there for a long, long time that might never get mended.  One time.  That's all it takes.  Building someone's trust is hard, but rebuilding it is 100 times harder.

God gives us the seen and the unseen.  Seen, is the world around us and how it works.  We see creation and relationships and events.  The unseen is the things of faith... God's existence and his love for us and a purpose to life.  The seen can be good or bad or even somewhere in between.  But if we look, we can always see God's hand in it; whether it is in the thing itself or in the goodness of the response to something not good.

It is our practice of gratitude that helps us see the beauty of the seen things, even if they don't seem so good at first glance.  And it is that gratitude that teaches us that God is good... ALL the time.  And we can trust God to be good no matter what.

In Ann VosKamps gratitude calendar that I am following, she asks one day a month to list three gifts that are "ugly/beautiful."  It's about finding joy in the mess... like a child's drawing on your freshly painted wall... ugly/beautiful.  Your spouse's battered and bruised - but not mortally injured - body after a car accident...ugly/beautiful.

Full trust in God is about finding the beautiful in the ugly.  No matter how ugly, it is there.  It's a matter of opening our eyes.  It's a matter of practiced gratitude.  It's a matter of trust in a God who is good... all the time.

Father,
Help us to see the beauty in something we would have thought to be ugly today.  Amen.

Well of Joy

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. (Genesis 21:19 NIV)

Do you remember the story about Abraham and Sarah?  God told Abraham that he would have a son and instead of waiting for God, they made arrangements for Sarah's handmaid, Hagar, to have Abraham's son.  After Isaac was born, the result... of course... was jealosy.  And Sarah demanded that Hagar and her son leave.  Stranded in the wilderness, Hagar had given up and was ready for her and her son to die of thirst when God showed her the well that was right there near them.

Now, Ann VosKamp says it so well:

"In the wilderness, I keep circling back to this:  I'm blind to joy's well every time I really don't want it. The well is always there.  And I choose not to see it.  Don't I really want joy?  Don't I really want the fullest life?  For all my yearning for joy, longing for joy, begging for joy - is the bald truth that I prefer the empty dark?  Prefer drama?  Whey do I lunge for control instead of joy?"

The well is there even in our deepest wilderness.  Is the only way to find that well of joy to give up on life and give up on joy so that God will show it to us?  I don't think so.  I think that if we expect joy, we will find it even in the most unlikely places.... in the cancer wings... in the funeral homes... in the tornado-devasted communities and typhoon-destroyed island nations.

God has placed the wells where we can find them on our own, but if we are not looking for them, we won't see them.  If we think we have the answer, we won't even look for them.  If we give up, maybe God will reveal them.  But sometimes our heartache is so big that it closes our eyes even to what God tries to show us.

We need to find those wells before our wilderness times come.  That way we will know exactly how to find them in the dark.  Practice joy.  Practice thankfullnes.  Practice, practice, practice!

Father,
Help us to choose to see the well of joy that is right here, right now.  Amen.

UNfocus

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. - 1 Corinthians 13:12

In at least one of my devotions from the last couple of weeks I talked about the need to focus on the moment.  But sometimes, focus can be the problem.  We can be so focused on providing for our family, that we fail to notice the real needs of our family.  We can be so focused on creating a healthy body through exercise that we fail to enjoy the simpler things a healthy body can enjoy.  We can be so focused on religion, that we completely miss Jesus.

If you have never taken this selective attention test, please follow this link and take the test now before you continue reading.  It takes less than a minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo

The first time I saw this, I was blown away.  How could I miss it?  I really thought it was a joke in the way it was edited.  But no... when I restarted the video from the beginning, there it was, big as life.  We really believe we won't miss the really important things in life, but so many of us label the wrong things "important."  And our focus is skewed.  We become comfortable, but not joyful.  We become healthy, but not happy.  We become smart, but not wise.

The gorillas dance in front of us every single day... and we miss them because we are so concerned with the stuff that really doesn't matter.  We don't just discount it... we are completely and overwhelmingly blind to it. Unfocus today... from all the stuff that usually keeps your attention.  Take notice of a gorilla or two today... and give thanks.

Father,
Keep us from being blind to the really important things in life.  Show us the gorilla that is dancing right in front of us.  Amen.

The Mundane Challenges

Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” (Matthew 14:15 ESV)

So, we've talked about "hard eucharisteo."  Being able to find grace in the most terrible trials of life.  But, you know... I think any person of true faith has learned to do that.  What else can we do when our world is falling apart, but look for something to sustain us?  And when we look, we find.

I think the real "hard eucharisteo" comes from the mundane challenges of life:  the kids are constantly fighting; the car breaks down and we know it's going to cost a lot more than we have to fix it; the gossipy co-worker has targeted us; gas prices and grocery prices are going up... again; our spouse has been moody and argumentative; a miscalculation in our checking account has bounced a check and now we face the resulting and seemingly endless bank fees; the grandchild tug-of-war with the in-laws.  And you really have to love when all of this happens at once!

No death... no life-changing injury or illness... no divorce or job loss.  Just the nit-picky stuff that happens in real life.  How do we give thanks in the midst of this?  How do we even remember to look for the grace when we are balancing all this stuff?  I freely admit it... when my car won't start and I need to be somewhere, the last thing I am thinking is "hmmm... where do I see God here?"

Two things can help:

1.  If we are truly practicing thanksgiving and acknowledging each gift of God as it comes and really articulating why we are thankful for it, maybe the first thing we think of during the mundane challenges WILL be "where do I see God."  It will become second... no, first nature to us.  It will have become more natural for us to find the grace than to curse the situation.

2.  Christian community.  If we have a group of Christians friends to whom we can vent about all these things, they can help us remember to look for the grace.  They might even be able to point it out for us.  I arrived late to work the other day and complained to my co-worker that everything that morning seemed to be against me getting to work on time.  She said, maybe I avoided a car accident by being late.  She pointed out the grace that I didn't even bother to look for.

Jesus took the mundane challenge of people over-staying their welcome and instead of complaining, gave thanks and the miracle of the loaves and fishes occured.  You will haave a mundane challenge today.  When you find yourself stressing about one of these situations, stop.  Breathe.  Say a prayer... of thanksgiving.  And find the grace... and maybe a miracle.

Father,
Help us not to get so sidetracked by our day to day problems that we forget to give thanks.  Help us to be so practiced at acknowledging you that looking for grace will come naturally even in the mundane.  Amen.

And I Was Not Aware...

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” -Genesis 28:16

40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him,41 “What do you want me to do for you?”-Luke 18:40-41

You have to wonder about Jesus' question to the blind man... "What do you want me to do for you?"  Uh... duh... Jesus.  In case you didn't notice, I'm blind!  

I don't think Jesus was being obtuse. God knows what we want and he knows what we need.  It's us who really get confused between the two.  And quite often, we don't even know what we really want, especially in this "gotta have it" society in which we live.  Our tendency is usually to want what someone else has.

When God asks us what we want, it is because he wants us to figure it out. He's leading us to put it into words.  Do we really want a bigger house?  Or do we want to learn how to appreciate the house we already have?  Do we want to make more money?  Or do we want to learn how to live within our means?  Do we want to be healed?  Or do we want to learn how to bring God glory through our infirmity?

That's where deepening our gratitude comes in.  It's not enough to just say, "I'm thankful for my job."  We should try to articulate exactly what it is about our job we are thankful for.  Think about the work you do and those who benefit from your job.  Think about the people that you interact with each and every day and how they bless your life.  Think about how you are compensated... paycheck, benefits, etc.  

And instead of complaining about each of these things, find a way to be grateful.  What if you didn't have clients/customers?  What if you were physically unable to do what you do? What if your pay was suddenly cut in half?  When you think about it this way, you will find yourself saying, like Jacob did, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

God is everywhere and in everything and every circumstance.  We just are seldom aware of it until we take the time to look... really look.

Father,
Make us aware of what we already have so that we might curb our insatiable appetite for more, more, more.  Amen.

Look For the Grace

For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. (John 1:16 ESV)

"Who would ever know the greater graces of comfort, perseverance, mercy and forgiveness, patience and courage, if no shadows fell over a life?" -Ann VosKamp "One Thousand Gifts Bible Study Guide"

In my last devotion, I talked about "hard eucharisteo" and my belief that those things that cause us hurt do not come from the hand of God, but that He works in and through them.  The way we see God acting in those times is through moments of grace.

One situation that was hard for me was shortly after the attack on the Twin Towers.  Since Richard was a reservist, I knew it was only  a matter of time before he was called to active duty.  This really was very difficult for me.  I had boys in middle school and just beginning high school at the time.  How could I finish the job of raising them without Richard?  But there was grace after grace.  Richard wasn't called away until after Daniel got his driver's license.  This was a big help to me.  Richard was between deployments when it was time to move Daniel to a college dorm room.  He was home when Daniel "suprised" us with the news of his becoming a father.  And more grace... technology that made frequent communication easy.... a quick rise in rank to help us out of a life of financial struggle... and many more things.

Another situation was the unexpected death of my mother.  It was an emotional time for me and my 3 sisters and my brother.  But we found the grace, beautiful and even miraculous... a very real gift from God in a song that was very reminiscent of our mom that played again and again at the most appropriate times and in unexpected ways.  It was so comforting and let us know that God was right there with us and had it all under control.

When the hard things in life hit... and they will... look for the grace.  It will be all around you, but you won't notice it unless you look.

Father,

Thank you for the many moments of grace in the hard times of life that make us able to give that "hard eucharisteo."  Amen.

Hard Eucharisteo

"Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”  (Job 2:10 NIV)

Day 7 of gratitude.  If you have been reading my devotions daily, you know I have decided to take the whole month of November to focus on being grateful.  I have been using a calendar from Ann VosKamp which suggests different catagories of things to be thankful for and posting the on Facebook and I am enjoying that.  But I have also been keeping a gratitude journal by my side and jotting down the little things all day long.

And God is good.

But what does that mean, "God is good?"  Does it just mean he is good when I find wonderful, feel-good, fuzzy-wuzzies to write down in my journal?  In my journal I wrote:  "a warm home on a cold day with the touch of a button."  What if that button had not worked?  What if the heat was on the fritz?  Would that mean God is not good?

I wrote: "the first sip of morning coffee."  What if the coffee had tasted bad?  Would that mean God is not good?

And then there are the huge things... school shootings, war, starvation, slavery of the worst kind.  Does this mean God is not good?  Or are these in some way also good gifts from a good God?  Ann VosKamp talks about "hard eucharisteo."  Giving thanks for things when we do not feel the grace, the joy, the thanks.  Giving thanks to God when our devestated hearts want to curse him instead.

Ann talks about needing to look through a different lens... God's lens.  But I only partly agree with her.  I don't think these things that hurt so many people are from God's hands.  After all, we are not all puppets on heavenly strings.  We have free will.  But I do think that God works through and in tragedy and evil  I think the hard Eucharisteo is in finding God's response to the terrible things that happen in our lives.  God is good in spite of the bad that happens.

But then... couldn't the good things I am thankful for come from the free will of people as well?  Yes! But the good that people do is in response to a graceful and loving God... even if they don't realize that they are responding to God.  And we give thanks to God that he brings out this response in his children.

Hard Eucharisteo.  I don't ever see myself giving thanks for things that hurt others.  But I can give thanks that God will move to comfort that hurt and bring good out of it.

Father,
Help us to see you when it looks like you are not there.  And when we find you, help us to help others to see you too.  Amen.

Slowing Down Time

“We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing” (Psalm 39:6).

Every Monday I see the posts all over Facebook:  "Ugghh Monday!"  "Hurry up Friday!"  And the rest of the week:  "Is it really only Tuesday?"  "Yay, hump day!... Friday is nearly here!"  We begin all of our weeks wishing them to be over.  I'm guilty.  Who wouldn't rather be spending time with family... cookouts, sporting events, traveling?  But the fact is, the five days in between each weekend contain a lot more minutes than the weekend.  And we rush them.  We wish our very lives away!

Being thankful and living a life of Eucharisteo is mostly about slowing down time by living in each moment.  From Ann VosKamp:

"They say time is money, but that’s not true. Time is life. And if I want the fullest life, I need to find fullest time."

When we hurry through life, going from one thing to the next without ever pausing to experience the moments, we are not saving time, we are really just throwing it away.  We are not experiencing the time.   God gives us Eucharisteo moments even at work, if we will just watch for them.  And it's not enough to just acknowledge them in passing.  Open the gift by writing it down.  We can't always write it down in the moment, but if you are truly thankful for it, you can hold onto it for a more opportune moment.

Make an effort today to slow down your week by finding the joy in it... the interaction with coworkers or clients or customers.  Using your talents to the fullest.  Successes.  Lessons learned from mistakes.  The view from a window. Write it down.  Slow it down.  Give the thanks.  Unwrap the joy.

Father,
As we go about about our work week, show us the joy.  Help us to stop throwing away time and live in each beautiful, miraculous moment by giving thanks.  Amen

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:11, 12 NIV)

If you skipped over the scripture above, go back.  Read it.  Ponder it for a minute or two.  Did you notice a word used twice?  "Learned."  Paul had to learn how to be content whether in plenty or in need.  It wasn't something that came naturally.  There is a secret to it... and Paul learned that secret.  The "secret" really isn't a secret at all.  It's just that we don't take the time in our busy lives to practice it... gratitude.  That is the big secret.

I'm sure you heard the one about the tourist in New York City that asked someone on the street, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"  The answer:  "Practice, practice, practice!"  Practice is how we learn just about anything.  Practice gives us experience.  Every employment application asks us to list our experience.

How much experience do you have using that "secret of contentment"... gratitude?  Do you want to be more content?  Do you want to be able to take joy in your life as it is right now?  Practice, practice, practice!  Get out a pen and a little notebook or open your Notes app on your phone.  Carry it around with you all day and list everything you can think of to be thankful for... the sunrise, the person who let you in front of her in traffic, the fact that your office computer didn't crash when you turned it on, your job, your coworkers, coffee breaks, a delicious lunch.... and on and on and on until the sunset and your warm home and comfortable bed.

With practice, practice, practice, you will one day even be able to be grateful for the hard things, knowing that even those come from the hand of God who knows the end of every story... who knows the good that comes from the heartache... who knows that there is beauty even in death, for it means the end of pain.

I hope to one day get to the Carnegie Hall of gratitude.  I plan to practice, practice, practice.

Father,
Make me grateful even for the hard things in life, for your grace abounds even in these.  Amen.

Kicking the Bucket List

“It’s the praising life that honors me. As soon as you set your foot on the Way, I’ll show you my salvation.” (Psalm 50:23 MSG)

Bucket lists... I get the idea.  They are meant to urge us on to do greater things... to reach for the stars... to break away from the humdrum... to stir a little excitement in life.  But they also do something else.  They make our everyday lives feel unimportant.  A long bucket list with few check marks can make us feel like we have accomplished little in our lives.  It makes us feel unfullfilled.

Don't get me wrong.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to sky dive or climb Mt. Everest or go on an African Safari or travel to Antarctica.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to do the extraordinary as long as it doesn't make you ungrateful for the ordinary.

Think of it... When Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist he didn't use cavier and 40-year-old scotch... things rare and extraordinary.  No.  He used ordinary bread and ordinary wine.  And he gave thanks.  When we are at the end of our lives, and unable to participate fully in life, the things will will miss most are the most ordinary things... watching a sunset, tending a garden, cooking a meal... even brushing our teeth or standing under a hot shower.

When our hearts are filled with gratitude for these ordinary, daily gifts, the bucket list seems so much less important.  And these gifts are so easy to find when we make the effort to live in the moment and experience each gift AS a gift.  And then write it down.  The writing it down is so important.  Ann VosKamp writes, "This writing it down...it's sort of like... unwrapping love."  I have found that when I write down something simple that I am grateful for, it makes me smile.  Because I have found the joy in it.  I am thankful for the grace I have received and it brings me joy.  Thankfulness, grace, joy... all ideas found in the Greek word, Eucharisteo.

Consider kicking the bucket list... out.  Focus more or what we have right here, right now.  Find the extraordinary in the ordinary.  Write it down.  Unwrap the love.  Feel the joy.

Father,
Help us to take more joy in the life we have rather than continually chase new and bigger experiences.  You have already given us so much.  Grow us in gratitude.  Amen.

A Month of Thanksgiving

For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, (1 Timothy 4:4 NIV)

I usually don't do a Friday devotion since I meet with my reunion group at 7:30 in the morning, but I wanted to get this out for the first of November, so I am sending it out tonight.

These days, Christmas starts so early.  We prepare and celebrate for a good two months.  Even Halloween is getting a whole month.  But Thanksgiving gets a day.... maybe a long weekend for those with large families.  I think gratitude is more important than that, so I am dedicating the month of November to thanksgiving and gratitude.  I hope some of you will join me.

My devotions will be from my readings which will include rereading a wonderful book on gratitude called, "One Thousand Gifts," by Ann VosKamp and using the study guide as a private bible study.  I will also be reading her blog at aholyexperience.com.  Part of the blog is a challenge to list 3 things every day that you are grateful for within a specific category she suggests.  There is even an app for that!  If you would like the app, search your App Store for 1000 Gifts.

Another thing I am going to do is a 21 Days of Gratitude meditation that you can register for (it's free!)  at mentorschannel.com that begins Monday, November 4.

The experts say that a true sense of gratitude can improve your life in many ways, including giving you an improved immune system, sense of well-being and a higher sense of social connectedness.  It can help you sleep better, improve your love relationship, lower your blood pressure and helps you cope with loss.  Who doesn't want all of that?

I hope you will join me in at least one of these things.  If nothing else, keep a gratitude journal for the month of November.  You will be surprised at how your outlook changes... even if you are already a generally happy person.

Father,
Help us to be truly and deep-down grateful for every gift that comes from your hand, whether directly  or through the hand of another.  Amen.

A Matter of Focus

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10 NIV)

C.S. Lewis said:

“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.“

One of my favorite spiritual authors, Ann VosKamp wrote in her blog yesterday:

"...stillness with God is always a matter of focus, not of circumstances."

and:

"the only thing that God ever asks is that you answer no long enough to the loud to have time to be out standing in this field where real yield is found in the yes to His proposal of intimacy"

Every answer to life is found in time alone with God and yet we still choose to be too busy.  Too busy to receive peace.  Too busy to receive comfort.  Too busy to receive true joy... real happiness.  We would rather hold on to our precious too-busyness and struggle with every bit of life.  It's just plain crazy!

Being busy is like the new "keeping up with the Joneses" thing.  When we speak with an acquaintance our small talk is likely to be be a one-up-manship about who has been busier.  Oh, we say it like it's a burden, but we are secretly enjoying our martyrdom.  And besides, our friends are truly impressed with how much we manage to fit into one week.

But the thing is, even busy people can manage to spend plenty of time with God.  As Ann VosKamp wrote, "(it's) a matter of focus, not of circumstances."  Even in the middle of our busy-ness we can shift our focus from the noise and activity around us to intimate time with God.

It is the only place to draw strength and peace and everything else we need to make our busy-ness productive.  If we don't have that focus, it is all in vain.

If you like being busy, be busy.  But don't forget to keep your focus on God.  Take time to break away from the loud to find the real yield.

Father,
Forgive us for how we run around our lives doing things that often don't matter.  Help us to shift our focus from trying to out-busy our neighbor to a real connection with you.  Amen.

The Feast

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 25:6-8 NIV)

Have you ever been to a really extravagant buffet?  I don't mean like at Golden Corral... but a buffet of the finest quality foods.  I remember a Mother's Day Brunch Buffet I went to many years ago.  It was fabulous.  The finest cuts of meat sliced to order in front of me.  Fresh vegetables cooked to perfection.  Breads and bakery items with aromas to make one swoon.  And the dessert line!!  Not to mention Mimosas and Sangrias and Bloody Marys.

I remember feeling overwhelmed.  There was no way a person could sample all of it.  What to choose?  I also remember thinking how wasteful it all was.  Though there were many people there, a tremendous amount of fantastic food would go to waste.  What about those who could not afford to attend such a fabulous buffet?  What about those who could not afford food at all?  I remember that those thoughts really put a damper on my experience.

One day though... one day God promises to equalize it all.  The age to come is often depicted as a great feast.  And we are ALL there... from the least of us to the greatest.  Only once there, there is no least and no greatest.  And there is plenty for everyone.  No lines.  No envy over someone getting better or more.  No guilt over having more or better than another.  And then there is the fabulous fellowship that goes with a fine feast.

For now though, we need to share our better and more with those who have less.  And we need to create that fellowship with "the least of these."  As I write these words I can't help but think of Holy Cross and our annual Project Matthew that puts groceries for a Thanksgiving meal into the hands of over 100 families each year.  I love being there when we distribute those groceries and meet the families and welcome them and serve them refreshments and pray with them over the life circumstances that brought them there to begin with.  It's a little taste of that feast to come... I'm sure of it.

Father,
Thank you for the little glimpses on earth that foretell the feast to come.  Amen.

Love is...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV)

I have been receiving C.S. Lewis daily devotionals through Bible Gateway.  C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" had a huge influence on my Christian development.  He just has a way of making spiritual matters make sense.  Here is an excerpt from this mornings devotional:

"The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he ‘likes’ them: the Christian, trying to treat every one kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on—including people he could not even have imagined himself liking at the beginning.This same spiritual law works terribly in the opposite direction. The Germans, perhaps, at first ill-treated the Jews because they hated them: afterwards they hated them much more because they had ill-treated them. The more cruel you are, the more you will hate; and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become — and so on in a vicious circle for ever."

I will never forget one of my first adult Sunday school classes at Holy Cross when we were discussing loving your neighbor... I asked, "How do you love your neighbor, when you don't?"  A wise person suggested, "Act as if you do!"  Once we "act as if" we love someone, before long, we find that we actually do love them.

The story is told of a couple who went to a marriage councilor to no avail.  When divorce seemed like the only solution, the man - bitter from hurt - privately asked the councilor how he could most hurt his wife back.  The councilor said, "This is very unprofessional of me, but I have seen how badly she hurt you.  What you should do is make her love you again.  Then, the divorce will devastate her."  The man thought that was a great idea, and wooed his wife and won her love.  The man went back to the councilor to tell of his success and the councilor asked, "So when is the divorce?"  The man said, "Divorce?  We have never been more in love!"

Of course we all have those "toxic" people in our lives... those who just drain us emotionally.  How do we love them?  Love does not mean allowing others to emotionally (or physically) abuse you.  I have discovered that it simply boils down to deciding to love these people for who they are without trying to change them or point out their flaws while always drawing firm boundaries.  In extreme cases, this may mean limiting or severing contact.  Prayer (the listening kind) will help you know where and how to draw those boundaries.

Hate is one of those emotions that harms ourselves much more than the one we hate.  It is a cancer whose only cure is love.  It is so hard to hate in the face of real love.

Father,
Help us to act as if we love until we really do.  Help us to dig down deep in our hearts and look honestly at our relationships and our prejudices and begin to love more.  Amen.

Being Grateful to One Another

 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people,  I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. -Ephesians 1:15-16

I read a devotion this morning that talked about Newton's Third Law of Motion:  "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."  You know... like the recoil of a gun.  The author went on to say how this isn't only a law of physics, but it is an emotional and spiritual law as well.

Think about it... when we lash out in anger, we are certain to be responded to in the same way.  Negativity begets negativity.  Violence begets violence.  So why not start breaking the law?  If someone lashes out in anger at you, return kindness.  Be positive and uplifting with a negative person.  Be gentle in the face of violence... yes... even turn the other cheek.  It is not weakness, it is world-changing strength.

More than that... sow the emotion you want to receive.

Last week, my family and I were the recipients of an act of gratitude.  Richard is currently stationed at Fort Bragg in the Wounded Warriors program.  While there, he is given therapy and treatment for any injuries incurred while serving in active duty.  The Currituck community of the northern Outer Banks of North Carolina has a program to show their gratitude to Wounded Warriors and my family was a recipient of that gratitude.

We received a week in a beautiful beach resort community home... plenty of room for me, Richard our two boys, their wives and children.  And that is all we expected.  That in itself was a gift worth probably $2000-2500 or more.  We were thrilled!  What we didn't expect was all the gift baskets and gift cards from local businesses!  We had deeply discounted or free tours, gift cards for grocery stores, restaurants, movie theater, wine shop... a gift basket filled with beach needs and another filled with snacks. And each time we redeemed a coupon or a card, we were told, "thank you for your service."
 
Our reaction to all this gratitude?  Why gratitude, of course!  An equal and opposite reaction.  Serving our country was Richard's job.  But people recognized the importance of his job and reached out in gratitude.  Isn't everyone's job important in some way?  If it weren't, the need for the job wouldn't be there.  When is the last time you showed real gratitude to a teacher, pastor, police officer, fire fighter....or even a banker or a business owner or someone who works a line in a manufacturing plant?  Perhaps we thank our own pastor or our own child's teacher, but they ALL impact our communities, don't they?

What would happen if we really treated one another as though we really appreciated the job they do?  And that we really care about them as people with something to contribute?  Maybe we would get better service from the service industry.  Maybe we would get better products from the manufacturing industry.  Maybe we would get honest and ethical handling of our finances from the banking industry.  Maybe all our children would come out of schools well-prepared for life.

Criticism and blame beget defensiveness and counter blaming.  Gratitude and kindness beget loyalty and a desire to do our best work.

November... a month for gratitude... is almost here.  Make it a point to show your gratitude to someone each day of November.  Watch what happens to your life!

Father,
Thank you for all the incredible gifts we receive from your hand.  But help us to be mindful and grateful of the gifts we receive from one another each and every day.  Show us ways that we can show our gratitude.  Amen.
 

Prayer Gift Registry

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15 NIV)

Gift registries are great, aren't they?  Go on line.  Check the items in your budget range... and click.  Gift bought.  Even wrapped if you so desire.  The recipient gets what he/she wants and you don't spend a lot of time and effort trying to figure out what they would like.

But... it also takes all the fun out of gift-giving.  There is joy in thinking about that person and what they like and what would bring them joy.  Then there is the "hunt" as you shop for that idea that sprung to mind while thinking about the person and then more joy as you watch their reaction as they open it.

And it is also more fun for the recipient.  I've been to some showers where gift opening time seemed like more of a chore than anything else.  They knew what they were getting and the people in attendance didn't even really pay attention because they knew what was on the registry and that's what was being opened.

Occasionionally, however, there is a surprise.  Someone strays from the list to give something more personal... more meaningful.  And you can tell the one opening the gift is suprised and appreciative.  It is probably something they would never have thought of for themselves, but it's just the right gift.

We all have our own prayer "gift-registry" too.  We have this list we bring to God with the color, size and shape of the things we think we need and want.  We don't give God much "wiggle-room" to be creative.  And we miss out on the most amazing gifts!  Pray this prayer today:

God,
I open my hands and my heart to whatever you want to give me today.  Help me to see it when it comes for the miracle it is and let me receive it with joy knowing it is better than anything I could have asked for.  Amen.

Moving Mountains

So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20 NKJV)

Faith is a strange thing.  Individually it is so inconsistant within us.  Sometimes our faith is so strong, we are sure it can never be shaken.  Our hands are touching His garment.  We see His movement all around us.  Our spiritual senses are so strong we have no doubt that God is here... working, moving, acting, speaking.

But other times, we have trouble even remembering when our faith was strong.  We feel alone.  We even wonder if there is any truth to this "God thing."  Our prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling.  The world seems to be cold and we see evil winning.  Where is God?

I guess most of the time, most of us hang in the middle of the two extremes.  We have our moments on both ends of the spectrum, but for the most part, we have a general sense of God's presence and just hold on to trusting that He is there even when we don't feel it.

The thing is, each of us are at different places along that spectrum at any given time.  This is why community is so terribly important.  We need our brothers and sisters to have faith when our own faith fails.  And they need us for the same reason.  It is what keeps faith alive.

Have you ever recited the Creed at church with the rest of the congregation and thought..."hmmm... not really sure I believe that part."  Well, someone else in that congregation DOES believe it... and you are believing for someone else the parts they aren't completely sure of.

It is our faith as a community that moves the mountains and can handle whatever God gives or doesn't give.  It's our trust in God's goodness as a community that makes us know that whatever happens, it is all going to be okay.  Our own faith just cannot get us through the death of a beloved child.  But the faith of a community can.  Our own faith cannot see beyond the divorce or the layoff or the cancer diagnosis.  But the faith of our community can.  It is not the mustard seed of MY faith that moves that mountain... it is the mustard seed of OUR faith.

Without a community of faith, we risk losing our own faith with ever twist of life... with every breeze of doubt that crosses our heart.

Father,
Thank you for a community that holds my faith when I can't and for opportunities to hold up that faith for my brothers and sisters when they struggle.  Amen.

1,000 Gifts and 10,000 Reasons

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. (Luke 22:19, 20 NIV)

Yesterday at church we had a really interactive sermon on thankfulness.  Pastor Chad asked us to share those ministries and things about Holy Cross that we are thankful for.  And people shared... deeply.  It really was very moving.  And then we sang, "10,000 Reasons" and that made me think about the book "One Thousand Gifts," by Ann VosKamp.

During the sermon, Pastor Chad reminded us that the word "Eucharist" meant "thanksgiving."  Probably my favorite part of the book I mention above are these passages:

"The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning "grace."  Jesus took the bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks.  He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks.  But there is more, and I read it. Echaristeo, thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for grace, charis.  But it also holds its derivitave, the Greek word chara, meaning "joy."
Charis.  Grace.
Eucharisteo.  Thanksgiving.
Chara.  Joy.
A threefold cord that might hold a life?  Offer a way up into the fullest life?
Grace, thanksgiving, joy.
Eucharisteo.  A Greek word...that might make meaning of everything?"

I just love the thought of thanksgiving, grace and joy all wrapped up together in one word...one idea...one action...one purpose for life.  If we could only fully grasp this concept, how beautiful life would be!

Father,
Fill our hearts to overflowing with thanksgiving, grace and joy.  Amen. 

Death and Ressurection Opportunities

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19 NIV)

It's hard to read this story of the ten lepers and not get out our two sorting boxes:  good and bad.  Clearly the one who returned to give thanks would be sorted into the "good" box, while the rest would go into the "bad" box.  Jesus praised the one that gave thanks, but is it because he did what he was "supposed to do?" Or was it because Jesus saw spiritual growth in him?  I would bet that every one of those 10 healed lepers were happy and grateful, but only one realized that there was a spiritual connection and he went to find out more.

Faith is not about being good or bad.  It is not about doing what we are "supposed to do."  Would it have been any great thing if the healed leper had said the words, but not really felt them?  Faith is about change.  It's about death and ressurection.  It's about connecting our day-to-day-experiences with something greater.

True gratitude is a very spiritual thing.  It is knowing that we can have nothing... that we ARE nothing... without God.  Jesus did not praise the grateful leper because he DID the right thing.  He praised him for realizing where the gift came from and knowing how amazing it was.  Jesus praised him - not because Jesus was insulted that the others did not give thanks - but because this one man had a death and resurrection experience and he had grown a little closer to God and his life would never be the same.

Father,
Our faith should be a continuing series of deaths and resurrections... those epipany moments that help us to see you more clearly and grow closer to you.  Help us to keep our hearts soft that we may greet every death and resurrection opportunity that comes our way.  Amen.

Things We Take For Granted

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. (Psalm 9:1 NIV)

Our lives seem to be getting harder and harder every day these days.  The economy, crime, natural disasters, epidemic cancer striking our loved ones if not ourselves...  It's so hard to remember to be grateful.  But the fact is we take so much for granted. 


When is the last time you thanked God for the everyday miracles in your life?  Things like sight and hearing and the ability to walk?  I remember seeing a video of a young woman who was deaf since birth and received a cochlear implant.  The video shows her hearing her own voice for the first time in her life.  It was ver emotional to see her gratitude for something most of us take for granted.

Oh, the things we take for granted each and every day....  We have so much and yet it is our tendency to focus on what we do not have.  If we have our health, food on the table every day and a roof over our head, we have much more than a great percentage of the rest of the world.  

The thing is, it's not about appearing ungrateful before God.  Gratitude changes our own hearts.  When we live gratefully, we can't be negative. When we live gratefully we become so much more generous. Gratitude is just another tool God gives us to find the joy and abundance in our lives.


Spend some time today thanking God for things you haven't thanked him for lately... the things you are used to having... the things that you have taken for granted.  You will have a great day if you do it.


Father,
Thank you for the incredible miracle of sight and hearing.  Thank you that I can walk.  Thank you that both my husband and I are employed.  Thank you for dependable vehicles, food on the table each day and a comfortable bed to sleep in at night.  Thank you for air conditioning to help me through the summer and heat to get me through the winter.  Thank you for these things and the hundreds of other things I just assume will be mine each day.  Amen.

Barriers

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:1-7 NIV)

Why was it difficult for the paralyzed man to get to Jesus?  Because of the crowd around Jesus.  But look who made up the front of that crowd.  It says that "some teachers of the law were sitting there."  If they were sitting there, you can bet they were front row.  The way I read it, it means that those who interpreted the law and the scriptures were keeping others from getting close to Jesus, especially those who needed him the most.

It still happens today.  Those who need Jesus the most are kept away from him by self-appointed interpreters of scripture.  They are a huge barrier.  They tell othes, "If you want to know Jesus, you have to be just like me."  Those who need Jesus just don't have the strength to get past this wall.  So it is up to us.  We must make friends and be friends and bring our friends past the self-righteous crowds to show our friends who Jesus really is.

A popular quote from Ghandi:  "I like your Christ.  I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."  We cannot attract anyone to Christianity by showing them other Christians.  We can only do it by showing them Christ himself.  And it helps to bring them to Christ through a community where the barriers aren't quite so thick... a community that is more about following Jesus than interpreting law and scripture... a community that loves more than criticizes... a community that values grace over judgement.  I'm so blessed to be a part of a faith community like that.

Lord Jesus,
Help us never to be a barrier to those seeking you.  Help us to lead our friends directly to you.  Thank you for Holy Cross and other Christian communities that really try to reflect your love.  Amen.

Lessons Learned From My Granddaughter

Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. (Proverbs 17:6 NIV)

Today is Cecelia's fifth birthday.  It is a birthday of sorts for me as well.  Five years ago today I became a grandmother.  It has changed me.  My heart has become softer.  And it is so much easier to share grace.  Once you have loved as a grandparent loves, you come much closer to understanding how God loves.  Completely.  Absolutely unconditionally.  Forever.

Here are some things I have learned from Cecelia over the last five years:

1. If you feel like dancing, then dance!  Cecelia has danced in church, at stores, in restaurants and on the soccer field (when she should have been chasing the ball!)  She doesn't always even need music... there is an endless supply of music in her heart.  I am convinced that the pharmaceutical industry would lose a lot of money if only we all would dance more.
2. Everybody can be your BFF; just find out what you have in common.  I was so proud when Cecelia told me I was her best friend... until she told me everyone was her best friend.  She has since elaborated:  The little girl who wore braids when Cecelia wore braids is her "hair BFF."  The person in the store wearing a blue shirt while Cecelia wore a blue shirt was her "shirt BFF."  Wouldn't it be a lovely world if we all focused on what we had in common, rather than our differences?
3. Keep your prayers short and to the point; and the most important prayer is telling God you love him.  Asked to lead the closing prayer at Vacation Bible school, Cecelia prayed, "Dear God, Thank you for the food.  We ate it.  It was good.  Amen."  Cece made a picture prayer book in Sunday school.  When she sees it, it reminds her to pray and she always picks the page that reminds her to tell God she loves him.  Our "wish list" prayers don't really matter.  God knows what we need.  The best way to open our hearts to God in prayer is to just spend quiet time loving him and listening to him and feeling his love for us.  Fancy words are not necessary.
4. Children should be included in Communion.  Cecelia has been taking communion at Holy Cross ever since she was old enough to hold out her hand for a wafer.  Once, going to another church with her mother, she was by-passed for the bread and wine receiving only a blessing from the pastor.  On her way back to her seat, she exclaimed in her no-so-quiet three-year-old voice... "Hey!  Where's MY Jesus?!"  It is not up to us to limit the means of God's grace.  Even Jesus broke the rules when something more important was going on.
5. Our gifts are meant to be used to bring joy to the world.  If one moment stands out in the last five years with Cecelia, it is when she spontaneously decided to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" at her Daddy and step-mom's wedding reception.  She grabbed the microphone and held the room in rapt attention.  Her sweet little voice brought joy to many hearts that day.  How can you use your gifts and talents today to bring joy to someone else?

I could certainly go on, but I would end up with a book.  Even if you are not a grandparent, there is probably a small child in your life.  Watch them.  They are closer to God than you might realize.  They have a simple wisdom that Jesus talks about when he tells us to have the faith of a child.  Emulate their faith and their joy for life.  The world would be a much better place if we would.

Father,

Help us to find our childlike faith.  Help us to love more easily and share more joyfully.  Amen.

Nothing

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. (Genesis 1:1, 2 MSG)

Nothing.  It's a word most often used in dispair or boredom or weariness.  "What do you have?...Nothing."  "What are you doing?...Nothing."  But "nothing" is actually a pretty exciting word.  Nothing is what God works best with.  God created the universe from nothing.  God placed babies is barren (nothing) wombs.  And God used a few (nothing) loaves and fishes to feed 5 thousand.  "Nothing" is full of God possibilities.

I think that too often our problem is that we try to come to God with too much.  We have the work half done and then ask for God's help.  We know what we want and then ask God to help us achieve it.  We think we can't come to God until we fix our own brokeness first.  We have it wrong.  God wants our "nothing."  He wants our emptiness and brokeness and start-from-scratchness.  I have had my greatest ministry successes when I didn't have a clue what I was doing and had to rely totally on God... teaching Sunday school as a new church goer...starting a drama/clown ministry and writing scripts.  I came to God with nothing, and he filled me with everything.

When Jesus tells us we must die to ourselves and be born again he is telling us that God wants us to become nothing so that he can recreate us.  We must empty ourselves and let God start from scratch.  It's powerful and exciting stuff!  We just need to let go of what we think we already have and let God give us what we need.

Father,
Help us to start from nothing each and every day so that we may live the exciting and abundant lives you want for each of us.  Amen.