Poison in the Pantry

A gallon of milk in our fridge tasted strange. In spite of the future expiration date, it was "off" and tainted everything it touched.  We forgot to mention this to Nick who thought we'd bought a box of bad Fruity Pebbles (healthy because of the word "Fruity").  Nothing ruins a good bowl of Fruity Pebbles or a chocolate chip cookie like bad tasting milk.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Philippians 4:6-7 mentions a couple of bad tasting ingredients in our prayer pantries. Number one on the list is anxiety. Anxiety both doubles the punch of crisis and negates our prayers and peace. Fear-filled prayers and efforts to control the outcome don't please Him because these prayers show no trust in Him, no faith.  He wants us to pray from the calm assurance that He can, He will and He wants to intervene with peace and protection. He calls us to take the time and energy to de-tox from busy-ness, anxiety, worry and fear as we pray to Him with gratitude. 

As a matter of fact, the second poison in the pantry is ingratitude. Apparently, God knows  it's impossible to over season lives or prayers with sincere gratitude. God loves to hear thanksgiving pouring from His children's hearts and lips. Gratitude reshapes our prayer as we remember how God has blessed us in the past.

Spring cleaning means it's time to clean out the poisonous and stale ingredients in our prayer pantries.  Time to toss the expired faith, artificial joy, and traces of anxiety and to  refill with the gratitude, trust, and peace that touch God's heart and open the way for the fresh fruit of  answered prayers.  

Moving My Tent

"Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain,

and he remained on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights." 

Deuteronomy 24:18

What is it about kids and tents?  I remember making tents from bed clothes, carving out crannies, hiding in nooks, curling up in a corner, leaning against a tree- anywhere I could create personal space and sanctuary. Even in high school and college, unseen forces pulled me to the same booth or table in the cafeteria, and I had a favorite study carroll in each library for concentrated concentration. 

Peter must have been a kid at heart because his Plan A was to build tents: 

'Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

"Then Peter said to Jesus, 'Lord, it’s good for us to be here! If You want, I will make three tabernacles (also translated shelters) here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.'

While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said:

'This is My beloved Son.

I take delight in Him.

Listen to Him!'"

Matthew 17:3-5

A shelter becomes a prison when designed to hide us from trouble, responsibility or even God, but tents we build as tabernacles, where we hide in God rather than from Him -nourish us with His Presence, Peace and Joy. 

Most days, including today, I set up my tent, my tabernacle, at my desk, because this is where I need to be.  This is where I draw down the curtains and allow God to speak to heart and soul. Computer keyboards and the copier provide background music. Calendars, post-its, and memo pads serve for stained glass. If Paul and Silas could sing from a jail cell, Jonah could praise from the belly of a whale, David could compose prayers in caves, Daniel could rest in a lions' den, and the people of Israel could move the first, physical tabernacle from one sandy spot to another, I can certainly plant stakes where I am here and now and hear God now.

“The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And He will be called Immanuel.”  The name Immanuel means “God with us.” Matthew 1:23

Lord, remind us again today, that You are wherever we find ourselves.  Help us joyfully take up the challenge of finding You in the most unlikely places, of listening for Your Voice in the din around us, of putting You first when other duties call.  Time in the tabernacle is never wasted.  Your Presence fills us to do the rest with purpose. Thank You that we don't need frills to worship and commune and dialogue with You.

In the Name of Jesus, our Immanuel  

For My Music Director, My Husband

"For the director of music. A song of the Sons of Korah. For alamoth.

God is our place of safety. He gives us strength.

He is always there to help us in times of trouble."  Psalm 46:1

 

Friday night Tom and I sat in the holding area of a restaurant waiting for lights, sounds and vibrations to erupt from our handheld device announcing a table was ready for us. We heard two young couples to our left discussing adventures in parenting young children. To our right a senior adult man and his wife, wearing an oxygen tube, shared an ottoman and waited quietly to be called.  Appropriately, we sat between them,  parents of a teenager, enjoying our status as new grandparents, and seasoned in marriage. While I was entertained by humorous tales of childhood mischief coming from the left, Tom spoke with the gentleman to our right. They discussed their favorite restaurants and where to get the best meal deals. Soon, Tom discovered the man and his wife were celebrating their wedding anniversary, too. He said, "Congratulations, we're celebrating thirty years! How about you?"

"Sixty-one," said the man smiling. "And she deserves the congratulations for putting up with me all these years."

Sixty-one years together and still "putting up" with each other. In spite of fading health, they were up and out, celebrating each other and togetherness. God used this sweet couple to provide a new goal for us "seasoned spouses."  They became a carrot in our run to keep us going, to stay the course, to stick together and sing together for thirty more years, for better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. May God use Tom and me one day as the carrot to spur other couples to stay in the race.

Below is my prayer for my Music Director, husband, and best friend:

"May the God who gives hope fill you with great joy.

May you have perfect peace as you trust in Him.

May the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope." 
Romans 15:13

A cool carrot: my parents celebrated 55 years of marriage
on Christmas Eve, 2012.

There's some ham in this carrot:
Tom's folks, married 56 years.

Delivering the Good In Spite of Wasted Contractions

"May the God who gives hope fill you with great joy.
May you have perfect peace as you trust in Him. May the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope."  Romans 15:13

My firstborn just before she med her firstborn.

I remember the day our firstborn entered the world. It was a day procrastination didn't pay. My water broke at 4:00 a.m. and we were completely unprepared as Julie would make her appearance a month early. We had no suitcase packed, no gas in the car for the hour drive to the hospital, and to top it off, we hadn't attended the last two birthing classes.  Don't ask me why because this gal and her non-morning husband didn't know nuthin' 'bout birthing babies. Picture me in the car at dawn cramming for this upcoming final exam, studying the "How to Breathe" section of the brochure from the class. Between my squeals of joy ("We're having a BABY today!!") and cries of fear (We're having a baby TODAY!!"), not a bit of the information stuck and there was no going back. 

As I lay on the hospital bed 13 hours later, cluelessly contracting, the doctor I had hoped would be in Hawaii when our baby was born, walked through the door.  He stared at me writhing at the mercy of my body and told the nurses in disgust, "She's wasting contractions. It will be at least another 45 minutes," and left.   

So many emotions knotted in me at that moment.  
1) Anger at this man who showed contempt for my plight and hadn't bothered to tell me how to do it better.  Idiot! Saying what he did in THAT tone to a woman in labor! If I had known how to control my body I would have rolled after him and bitten his ankle. 

2) Frustration that pain, nausea and the bizarre out-of-control feeling wouldn't end sooner.

3) Fear that this process would tear my baby or my body apart.  

4) Humiliation that I was failing as a birthing mom.  

5) Joy hovered quietly in the background since we would see our baby's face sooner than later - maybe even in 45 minutes.

6) Peace slipped in, since billions of moms had historically (albeit, hysterically) birthed babies without the benifit of classes or brochures.   

Kind nurses gave me a crash course in focusing better and flailing less. Julie Dove arrived and we rejoiced at her sweet red, squalling little face, ten fingers and ten toes. All my negativity melted into a stream of thankfulness as I heard myself repeating, "Thank You, God!"

Today, we may find ourselves stretched to our limits to bring forth good from first-time challenges and possibilities before us. Nay-sayers and humiliators will step in to distract us from trusting God, but somewhere in our believing hearts hover joy in God's presence and peace in God's purpose. 

Lord, we ask Your mighty help in learning to focus on gratitude and in replacing our natural reactions of flailing, blaming, and biting ankles with simple trust in You.  Deliver us from anxiety, worry and pride and deliver us into Your joy and peace.  Whatever character traits and fruit You're developing in us, may we rejoice that the trials come and go with purpose.

In the Name of Jesus, Savior Who faced Nay-Sayers and Humiliators to Deliver Us 

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - Remembering Our Place

     A good book creates a "cone of silence" in which other voices fade into white noise as characters unfreeze and proceed with their lives. I've taken Jane Austen's Mansfield Park everywhere with me to snatch moments with Fanny Price and the Bertram family. Fanny Price lives in her own "cone of separation" and silence due to the "kindness" of her wealthy uncle who rescues her from a life of poverty to live at Mansfield Park. Her comparatively lower station, however, only serves to underscore her poverty by barricading her from certain activities and society enjoyed by the rest of the family. A neighboring aunt never lets Fanny forget her "place" and finds pleasure both in ignoring and humiliating her niece in the name of charity. On the other hand, Fanny's high moral standards and tender conscience separate her even further from her self-serving relatives. Their tensions and schemes often cause her to retreat to her attic room where she finds comfort and peace in her own simple surroundings. 
     God promises the Peace our hearts long for when we snatch moments to seek His Face rather than what's in His wallet. Letting Him envelop our thoughts and fill our hearts lowers the volume of the world's reminders of our alien situation. God calls us to "live radiantly" (Sarah Young) in His Presence by receiving all we find there with gratitude. His Kindness and Love draw us into His Presence to bless us from a heart of Love instead of obligation. Our poverty in spirit opens space for Him to unload treasure after treasure from His vast wealth Peace, Blessing, and Satisfaction.  
     Lord God Almighty, we can find You in the strangest places when we look for You: in the darkness of loneliness, separation, anxiety, sickness, alienation. Teach us to seek Your Face with excitement and anticipation as well as in difficult times. We want to rise above always having to be "driven" to You; we want to desire Your Presence in every circumstance. Create a thirst for Your Presence in us that overcomes our selfish nature. Please, teach us to empty ourselves  so You can fill us with the desire to seek Your Face. People have died searching for temporary treasure. Help us live to search for the treasure of knowing You as God of our  personal lives and may we live in gratitude for the blessings that come with knowing You. 
     

"As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, 

and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him." 

Genesis 15:12     

"My heart says of You, "Seek His face!" Your Face, LORD, I will seek." 

Psalm 27:8

"You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." 

Jeremiah 29:13

"And the Peace of God, which transcends all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." 

Philippians 4:7

Inspired by My Utmost for His Highest, Jesus Calling, and Mansfield Park
Photo from Photobucket