Snipets

Some random thoughts that probably don't belong together, but it's my blog, and I'll put them together if I want to. :)

The spoken word is extremely powerful. In the beginning was the Word...(John 1:14) There is life and death in the power of the tongue. (Prov 18:21) If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.(Rom 10:9)
Why isn't it enough just to believe in your heart? Why do we have to say it out loud, too? One reason I heard lately comes from John Eldredge: The enemy cannot read your mind. Only God knows what you are thinking.
If you want the enemy off your back, tell him so! Out loud! The louder, the better, although whispering does seem to work.

Which came first: the cultural attitude of entitlement or the fact that we do not require our children to say "please" and "thank you" anymore?

The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) does not necessarily mean your body will be in a coffin momentarily. It might be the death of a relationship. The death of a dream. The death of a ministry. Of integrity. Of opportunity. Of respect. (major paraphrase of Beth Moore)
It also might not be immediate, but slow and painful. And death is pretty hard to come back from.
Of course, in the great wisdom of The Princess Bride, "There is a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive." If you're still breathing, you (and your situation) are only mostly dead. God can bring anything back to life.

Processing...processing...

It's amazing to me how God sets things in your life at the perfect time, in the perfect way, for the perfect effect.
You may have read about my kayaking adventure. How utterly taken I was in the moment, in nature, in the water (of all things). I was a bit disappointed in my description of the event, but well, it is what it is.
I've been processing everything over the last week. Why do I feel this way? What was it exactly that I connected with? God showed up with (of all things) a vocabulary lesson. Had this lesson come two weeks ago I doubt I would have made this connection. God's timing for God's effect.
John Eldredge of Ransomed Heart Ministries and "Wild at Heart" fame has been looking for some words to really capture the Christian life (besides Love, of course). The words he came up with are Epic and Intimate.
The grand, sweeping story arc and the tiniest detail of the manuscript. The resplendent mountain vistas and the delicacy of one flower. The dramatic annunciations of the orchestra and the gentle whisper of the guitar.
John is an Epic kind of guy. I find myself to be more affected by the Intimate. But as someone familiar with theatre, I understand the Epic also, and it certainly moves me as well.
Kayaking was not Epic for me. It was not Intimate, either. For me, being out on the kayak was a moment in which both Epic and Intimate joined together. Here, one plus one equals a lot more than two.
Kayaking feeds a place in my soul I did not know existed.
I love watching my sons growing up partly because I love to see who they are becoming. Watching them discover their strengths and weaknesses, interests and passions, is beyond thrilling. It seems to me that it's not that these aspects of their personalities are being created so much as uncovered, brought out and encouraged. I get to play a small part in helping my boys discover their layers.
Kayaking is one of my layers. Now that it has been uncovered, I plan to continue to bring it out and encourage it.

Trading in my Chevy for a...

It is always, in my experience, the very last thing you think you'd enjoy doing that brings you the most fulfillment.
"Are ya kidding me? Not only 'no' but 'heck no!' I'd NEVER do that!"
And God smiles.
I enjoy being God's comic relief. Most of the time.
Who else but God, the guy who parts seas, makes donkeys talk and sends His own Son to be crucified for me, could come up with this stuff?
For instance, I never thought I'd meet a farmer. Today I'm married to one and loving it. (Not just loving the farmer-who-was-not-a-farmer-when-I-married-him but also the lifestyle)
I never wanted to live in the country. A loft in the heart of downtown was all I needed. Today I believe the old adage that a day in the country is worth a month in town.
I grew up in the Chicago area and have never been an outdoorsy girl AT ALL. I don't do bugs, lots of sun, heat and humidity, and I especially do not do cold water. At heart, I'm more of a hot-tub kind of gal. But suddenly, my newest passion is...wait for it...kayaking.
There. I said it. It's true. Kayaking. As in, outdoors. On the water. In the sun. God smiles.
Earlier this week we went camping at a local campground that I originally thought I would not enjoy. Each campground has its personality, and this one is all about fishing.
We do not fish. Or at least we didn't when we first pooh-poohed the idea of camping there. God smiled.
Matthew went fishing earlier this summer with the church and got hooked (pun intended). Then we were invited by some friends to join them at this campground. Matthew was thrilled because Fred is a fisherman and could teach him a lot.
The camping area is right on the water surrounded by tall pine trees. The view across the lake is spectacular. Lovely to look at, but that's it. No way for me to be out in it. Not that I really wanted to be out in it. I did mention the cold water and the bugs, right? And as I don't fish, I didn't get to go on the boat with the guys. Poor me. I'll just stay at the campsite with Marcia and chat. I'm good at that.
A few spaces down from us was a family and some of their friends. They had their fishing boat and 2 kayaks with them. Marcia and I watched in fascination as the friends' 8 (or so) year old daughter got right in one and took off. Ah, to be young and fearless, we thought. We could never do that ourselves. We'd be tipped over before you could say, "Look at me go!"
But later we got talking with the wife and she explained how easy these sit-on-top kayaks were to use. Then, for real, she offered to let Marcia and I try them out.
I know. Yes, there are still nice people in the world, to even think of letting two strangers just take off in their kayaks. We looked at each other and it was a no-brainer. We put on life jackets and jumped (or gingerly stepped) right in.
We got the hang of turning and going forward and back very quickly and,boy, we were off. Our first voyage was to The Point where Matthew and Marcia's son Max were fishing. We thought they would freak out when they saw us. We didn't get quite the reaction we were looking for, but we pressed on.
It was truly amazing. Out there on the peaceful water. Feeling the oneness with nature. The stillness. The quiet. Well, quiet except for the two of us laughing and gawking at how much fun we were having. There were no motors to distract, just the simple dip of the paddles as we luxuriated in God's creation. We embraced the exhilarating freedom and peacefulness. Unlike anything I have ever experienced.
Of course, we had to go back and let Matthew and Max have a try, and they enjoyed it as well.
How many days until Christmas?

What You've Been Missing

Yes, it has been a looonnnggg time since I've posted anything here. God has indeed been working in my life, but recently He's been addressing some very internal issues with me. Things I'm still processing. Things He is cleansing and things I'm still learning about. I may not even share these with you directly, but I hope and pray that you will see in me a deepening in closeness to Christ.
How's that for obscure?
Let me put it this way: I listen to the 1 Year Daily Audio Bible podcast every day. Brian Hardin, the founder and leader, sought the Lord for the community at the beginning of the year and the Lord gave him the phrase, "Complete and Release" as sort of the theme for the year. Um, wait, it might be "Release and Complete..." Ah, well, either way, it works.
In my mind I thought God was speaking of responsibilities. Complete that project/ministry/season of life and release it, embrace freedom from it and move into the new thing God has in store.
Not so for me.
For me it's more internal than external. It seems to mean getting the full picture on issues I've been dealing with for a while and getting rid of them.
The process hasn't been so much painful for me as eye-opening. "Oh, okay, now I get it. Yeah, that needs to go. How do I do that? Oh, I see. Let's do that, God. Thanks!" As a bonus, the freedom is coming, and I must say, it is fabulous.
Thankfully, the process continues.
A side benefit to all this spiritual cleansing is that it is making its way outward. Tomorrow we should finish purging Matthew's room and hopefully move on to the basement.
I don't think this is exactly what God had in mind when He started this whole process, but it seems to be making the trash man happy. :)