The Gift of Hope

A new year has begun. Is there a dream tucked in the pocket of your heart, a dream so fragile that you refrain from taking it out to share, even with the dearest of friends, because – what if the dream crashes? It’s easier if it falls apart inside, isn’t it? Keeping hope hidden protects our pride, doesn’t it? The public mess of a dream deferred is spirit crushing, yes, but isn’t it also demoralizing? When the dream dies we must take ownership of what we believed would be, and accept the emotional, foolish mess we made boldly hoping. Shovel in hand we bend low over dirt and dig a grave. Do we dare ever hope again?

In the early 1950’s, America was still racially segregated. Black Americans were considered second class citizens, and not only in the eyes of white Americans, but also according to the current written laws. During this time Langston Hughes wrote a poem entitled “Harlem” in which the author posed this question. “What happens to a dream deferred?” This poem expressed the burden of the black American dream.

Harlem

What happens to a dream deferred?

 Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

 Or fester like a sore

And then run?

 Does it stink like rotten meat?

 Or crust and sugar over

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

To this very real and pervading human ache, Martin Luther King, Jr. replied on August 28, 1963. “…We cannot walk alone…I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations…. We cannot turn back…Let us not wallow in the valley of despair…I have a dream.”

Dr. King anchored his hope and secured his message to the Word of God. He referred to Scripture in Amos and also from the book of Isaiah, because Israel’s history, like American history, was also fouled by injustice and slavery. The prophet Amos called out for social justice, and the prophet Isaiah proclaimed God would rescue the oppressed and restore His divided nation. Some two thousand years later into the bleak circumstances of American history Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed this same message of God to those who needed to hear, needed to see, needed to believe: “…Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

He may have been called a fool for dreaming then, but he is most certainly respected and even honored for that powerful dream that changed the world then and is still changing the world today.

God, by His Word, will make all wrongs right.

So are you holding a dream close to your heart for 2015?

Is your dream anchored in the Word of God? Because if it is, there is good news for you and for me: “…no word of God will ever fail” (Luke 1:37). If you have a dream, and it is not born from God’s word, bury it with the other things of this life that fade away.

“For, all people are like grass, and their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” 1 Peter 1:24-25

Is your God-given dream being derailed time and time again by circumstances beyond your control? There is still good news: your hope will not put you to shame.

“Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus, Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5

The prophets and saints of God most certainly grew discouraged. Their trials are recorded throughout the Bible. Was God reluctant to fulfill the dream that He had given? No. This is his reply to those who long and have longed, who wait and have waited for what He has said that He would accomplish:

“Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40

What God has said already is, and will one day be seen (Hebrews 11).

Hope in God does not disappoint; let nothing defer hope’s purpose and power within you, and let nothing defer its purpose and power through you. After all, that hope is a gift of God (Jeremiah 29:11), for such a time as this. Trust Him with it completely, and change the world.

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” Jeremiah 17:7

For further study to encourage you concerning the faithfulness of God: 

http://www.bible.ca/b-prophecy-60.htm

To Santa or Not To Santa

A good friend of mine posted this article on Facebook. It's a controversial topic no matter what. You can't make it controversial. It already is. Like this issue of breast or bottle, t.v or no t.v., inoculate or not,  and do I dare mention discipline - yeah, probably not. Loving our children will always strike passionate chords. By God's grace we choose for them, and so they grow, and so do we.

I am grateful for social media in that it does pave a way for us to process together (I love processing with women!), and in the processing we learn from each other. Don't we? Thank you mom friends, for what you bring to the world with your heart and your computer and your moments between work, dinner plans, and loads of laundry. Humbly I pause with you a moment to join the Santa Clause conversation.

I love this blogger's heart for God (and my friend's heart with her), but I wonder about the impact her words have had on Gospel centered moms who did not withhold the wonder of Santa from their babes. I also wonder the impact her words have had on moms who are peering in our Christian Christmas windows and wondering about our perspective in light of their own. Do they feel condemned by us? Do they wonder if there are some secret beliefs held by the Church, scripted in some hidden book, possibly written by moms, that Santa Clause is wrong practice? And so, if they believe in Christ at all, would they come away from this blog feeling as if no matter what - when it comes to church mamas, they aren't fitting in the Christmas cookie cutter, because they're platter includes Santa and a reindeer or two.

While this blogger  beautifully expresses her heart for God, and does not object to Santa entirely, she left out one part that I would like to add. I hope she would not object, but agree with me. I'm sure I would enjoy her company, especially if she enjoys coffee and cookies while she blogs.

So here is my response to Sarah Wallace's article: (Thank you, Sarah Wallace, for this thought provoking post! And thank you for Katie for loving God so beautifully as a mom, a wife, a friend that you would care to encourage all of us to do the same.)

I feel for the moms who read this article and think - "I failed". If your kids believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny - because you encouraged this belief, you did not fail them. You created a world of fantasy, one in which you hoped their innocence would thrive; one that can be easily distinguished from the Truth of the Word of God as they grow and understand the world, what is factual and what is fantasy. Santa Mama, you did not fail your babes! 

Teach them to seek God in His Word with you as they grow. You do not seek Santa's saving grace, his wisdom, nor his instruction in a book that he wrote. You seek the Living God. Teach them to pray with you - thanking God for all you have, making every petition to Him with thanksgiving. You do not pray to Santa. Teach them to emulate those who live for God and love as Jesus did. You are their very first role model. And with you - St. Nicholas was one of those people. No matter what - if you encourage Santa fantasy or not - God is faithful to shape the hearts of his people - our growing babes, and you and I with them. So Gospel Mamas, don't fret about what should you do now if you have already fostered the belief in Santa. Your kids will not worship Santa or forsake the truth God teaches them through you as they learn The Bible. They will do just what the rest of us did - they'll figure out the line in that song that says, "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Clause underneath the mistletoe last night", and they'll laugh about what that really means. 

So, when they ask you if Santa is real or not, you can tell them - he is. He lived, gave gifts to others, died, and we believe he is in heaven with God, because he loved Him very much - enough to spend his life giving to others with all that he had. And that kind of wonderful, secretive, mysterious, selfless giving is exactly what you wanted them to experience so that they could do the same thing for others. Give them ideas for how to do this kind of gift giving, so they can experience the wonder of Christmas - a selfless, humble kind of giving. Does this compete with The Gospel? No way!! It reflects The Gospel. 

Merry Christmas!!!
#thegospel

To my baby girl on 9/11/01

A Day of Terror

To my daughter: you are not quite seven months. Oh, sweet girl, such horror has occurred in the United  States today. Two commercial airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center Twin Towers. Moments later they collapsed. Two other planes crashed - one into The Pentagon - the other in Pittsburgh. This is an act of terrorism - by whom we do not know.

Daddy is in Pittsburgh, and I did not know of the crash there until Nana called and told me. I scooped you up and held you tightly trying to hold myself together - so as not to frighten you. I called Daddy's hotel and was relieved to get through. I left Daddy a message and waited with a prayerful heart to hear his voice. He did call, and he is on his way home. Baby, baby - for all I fear, for all I wish to protect you from - this tragedy is beyond a mother's reach. Only God can hold you- protect you.

I think of the lives lost. Precious life so easily disregarded. The children - somebody's mommy - somebody's daddy. The world is at war, baby. The United States has received a mighty blow. Peace and freedom here has been disrupted beyond all of our comprehension. Not since Pearl Harbor, which happened even before I was born, has our country known this kind of tragedy. Oklahoma City bombing was horrific, and the past bombing of the World Trade Center was horrific - but this - this is a devastation our home has never known.

Schools and businesses are closing. The military is on alert. The National Guard has been called to NYC - our next door neighbor is going to have to go. Uncle Tom's base is on high security alert. I am beside myself trying to comprehend all of this even to pen it for you.

You, little one, nap peacefully on the bed beside me. How blessed I am - our family is okay. We are safe. We have each other. Daddy will be home soon. My heart breaks for the little ones whose daddy - whose mommy - won't come home tonight.

The news coverage is unbelievable. It seems as if we are living a nightmare. But it's true, and I wish I could protect you from the ugliness of what is unraveling before us. I wonder about the nuclear arms that sit perched - waiting for an order. Will there ever be a world for you to grow up in - to play freely? Is it going to all end soon? Will the Lord return? Only God knows.

We wait on Him and as Christians we trust Him. I did not sleep well last night. Resorted to praying for family. How many other Christians were called to prayer in the wee hours of the morning? The new threat of the 21st century - terrorism. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Little, little girl, I am so sorry that the world can be so ugly. This is not our final home. I can assure you of this promise: Heaven awaits us - and for that I praise our Holy God who cradles us all. I pray the families of those victims can be comforted by God's faithfulness in the midst of evil, and His provision of eternity with Him. I pray if you are reading this when you are older, that you have given your life to Christ and are completely surrendered to Him. Never let go, never forsake. Believe. Believe.

"I (Jesus) have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart. I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Jesus wins.
I love you. Always.

Who Told You That You Were Naked

When Eve rocked the Garden of Eden in the image of God do you think she ever worried about the way she looked? Did she fix her hair, check her complexion, or try to hide her tummy? Was self-concern even a thought?

Could it be that confidence was once natural to the image of God in woman, because self-absorption was not?

Wasn't the lure of the original sin in Genesis 3 to consider self? All the enemy had to do was make the woman contemplate herself and feel inadequate. “…you will be like God…” Genesis 3:4b. Don’t you think she wondered, “You mean, I’m not? What am I like then?” Eve doubted her created image, and in her doubt she reached for worth apart from God, and in so doing fell.

I’m glad there are no visuals for what the first woman looked like. In spite of her sin legacy, she would have become an idol of the flawless woman. However, while Eve cannot be imitated, idols of external beauty reign. Don’t they? 

We are obsessed with the outward appearance. God-like is always reaching for the external. Our hair, skin, nails, clothes, careers, our children, and our homes: these are the things that matter most when we estimate a woman in our neighborhood or in the mirror.

We are no less guilty than Eve. We have bought into the lie that we are inadequate, and because we believe The Liar, we reach for the stuff of this world to make us feel complete. Nothing that we reach for apart from God will ever complete the image of God in woman, because God’s image in us is Spirit.

I will never forget my idol of beauty. I never knew her name or her life, I only knew her image, and to me it was perfection. The longer I stared at her the more I hated myself. While I lamented to my husband, “Why didn’t God make me like her,” I knew it was to God I had to go with my broken heart. So when I was alone I cried to my Creator, “God, why did you let me see that I am ugly?” And over my sobs and through the ancient garden blew a tender whisper meant just for me, “Who told you that you were naked?”

I was silenced. Consider the source of doubt. 

Doubt in my created image is always because of my sin, and there could be nothing uglier or more pathetic. Strength in my created image only grows as I discipline myself to look away from what I doubt in me to simply love someone else. Is that hard to do? Absolutely. Forgetting about my own insecurities requires the power of God in me to turn my head toward the one He has placed before me. Changing my mind about what I’m not and who He is in me demands strong intention. And opening my eyes to see the heart that is in front of me, without comparing her to myself, requires the healing touch that comes through the Word of God. Again, and again I pray, “God help me see her and not me.” And you know what? He does.

Our self-perception, like Eve’s, has been broken. We see inadequacy and perfection through a distorted lens. Only by looking at ourselves and others through His grace will true beauty be evident.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4

We long for the image of God on the earth. If it truly is beauty that we long for, will not find it – past lipstick and shoes - to the soul of a woman created by God to be His image on the earth? 

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when he appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.” I John 3:2

We are children of God. Tell me something. Where is the flaw in that? 

listen

It's not so much the opinion that I'm interested in. Although I am interested, so don't get me wrong. It's the passion that infuses the opinion that inspires me.

Opinions do not offend me, throw me off guard, insult me, confuse me, infuriate me, threaten me, or make me in anyway uncomfortable. I love the opportunity to hear what someone else feels and thinks. Even greater than listening to the opinion behind skin, and teeth, and eyes, is to be invited below the subfloor of thought and feeling to the heart.

Asking a question shows interest, and the opinionated beg to be heard.

Ideas are hearts beating toward a destination.
Questions illuminate every choice step.

Equally fascinating is the person who, when asked his/her opinion, hands it over freely with literally no conviction whatsoever. The sky is simply blue, and the grass green; barely a blink - simply an utterance, loosely attached - if at all. Attached to what? Life with no constraints begs a question. But who is brave enough to ask - to listen?

Indifference is encouraged while passion is chided - even before little hands can grasp at shapes to hold.

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre 

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst 

Are full of passionate intensity."

The Second Coming - William Butler Yeats

Passion is fading while apathy swells. Can you hear it?

Boston Marathon

I woke with Boston on my mind; people whose lives are changed forever because of hate. What has our world become keeps repeating over and over in my heart. But why do I think it has become anything that it hasn't always been? The world has been broken and ruled by hate for a long, long time. The difference is now I am living in it. What will I do with my fear?

I fear easily. Circumstances shake me to the core. I panic -and react  to situations before they even fully erupt because I can vividly imagine the depths of horror before they even unfold.

How do people continue today? How can we joyfully bring babies into this world of war, confidently rear our children in unpredictable surroundings; send them off to school where security is a false hope, board our destination planes with sobering uncertainty, and drive to our office buildings as if they stand indestructible. We are a people who must run into danger and not from it; people who must continue to publicly assemble where danger is not supposed to hover, and yet how? How can we live this way? Who can deny that indeed evil does lurk, scheme, and premeditate wicked acts upon humanity? It always has!

This inner conflict is a churning, tearing reaction of my flesh. I cannot live there. Life cannot be there. This grip of fear is cold and ugly, and dark, and it suffocates me.  Life's breath is choked by fear. People were meant to know full life - eternal life - life that cannot be threatened by anyone or anything. My soul aches to touch this reality, but I am wrapped in flesh.

Fear is a reaction of the flesh to which faith in Jesus Christ has an answer. Jesus is the only answer. I look to Him, by faith, and I ask.

What could you possibly say to this God?  And I felt as if He asked me, "Are you ready to listen, you of little faith?"

I began to read:

I said in my haste, "I am cut off from before Your eyes"; nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to You. Psalm 31:22 

I sit in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. Psalm 69:2

The waters flowed over my head; I said, "I am cut off!" I called on Your name, O Lord from the lowest pit. You have heard my voice: "Do not hide your ear from my sighing, from my cry for help." You drew near on the day I call on You, and said, "Do not fear!" Lamentations 3:54-57

Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?...And I said, "This is my anguish; but I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. Psalm 77:7-11

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him. 
Psalm 91:15

Today will continue as every day always has - with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is with us, and for us, and the only One who can deliver us from our enemies and from our fear.  What can man do to us? No evil can touch the soul that belongs to God - by faith. 

"Fear not for I am with you, do not be dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Praying - with you - for those who have been affected by this act of terror - for the glory of our God in every one. The battle isn't over yet. He will be victorious.

The Redeemer is strong. Jeremiah 50:34

Here Comes the Bride

Do you cry at weddings? I always do. When I was single I would cry selfishly because I was watching someone else's dream coming true. Now I cry because I realize how very much we willing brides and daring grooms do not understand at the alter, and yet in those sacred spoken vows I realize how bold the grace of God who seals and accomplishes our covenant in spite of our blissful ignorance. God alone makes a marriage.

I joke to the single women in my life that I made a better girlfriend than I do a wife. It is true if you consider the focus of that statement: I. I made me what I wanted to be. I could be exactly the kind of girlfriend I wanted to be. It was all about me, and what I believed I was supposed to be in that role - what I wanted to be in that role. That idea - being what I believed I was supposed to be in the role of leading lady - imploded when I became a wife. Why? Because God makes a marriage. Any other image of that design will self destruct. And we are seeing that happen in so many marriages, aren't we? Be it in the daily conflict that our friends commiserate about or the divorce that eventually results in unresolved selfishness - marriages are suffocated by our grandiose dream of happily ever after.

Unless we seek God - the covenant designer and sealer - we will not succeed. The pictures of bride and groom all looped in love and lace will corrode in mildew ridden boxes of cardboard, and hearts will break under the weight of them. The bride's heart - the groom's - the children of the marriage bed who innately long for security in mom and dad - the fathers' who gave their daughters away - the mothers' who longed for their baby to be loved - scarred hearts forever. Does anyone consider that before they say, "I do"? If we did consider the weight of our commitment would we make such a vow? Because truly - how are we ever capable of such dear responsibility? That's just it: we are not.

Only when we surrender our script for this love life to God  - only then - are we able to not only live out our marriage covenant completely - but ALSO - oh dear, dear, dreamer's heart - only then will we know true joy. Because JOY is only ever the work of the Spirit of God.

If you are married, love your spouse not by yourself but by every word that comes from the Word of God. You will be blessed. His Word cannot fail.

If you are single, delight in the gift that you are given today - to be yoked to God alone as you live for Him.
You will be blessed. His Word cannot fail.

~ The wife I envisioned is not the wife I am becoming. Because the one that I pictured through a dreamer's eyes moved in purposes of self. God has undone that design one gentle stroke at a time by His living Word, and He has trained my steps to dance to the tune of Follow Me. As a wife, I have no idea what I am doing. He does.  Self not required.

Teach me your way, Lord. Psalm 27:11

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Psalm 32:8

Good and upright is the Lord, therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way. Psalm 25:8-9

Grateful to learn with you! Grateful He is faithful to us all.