A big pot of chili,
Fresh baked bread
Iced tea & salad...
Friends arriving, familiar faces. cheerful greetings.
The blessing spoken, plates are filled and spots are found.
Ah the sweet comfort found in these scheduled gatherings!
I am blessed beyond measure to have friends like these.
All ages gather and community is built, friendship enjoyed.
"like oil poured out"... this unity brings pleasure to Him as well
Precious, precious lives, each one unique, oh so valuable.
The desperate desire to be accepted, loved and valued is nurtured in this ritual.
Listening to stories, laughing together, sharing pain.
God has created a place here and we love to celebrate the ordinary.
Simple, profound and life giving are these shared meals and evenings.
The load is lighter when we gather to eat and play.
Community.
We come away filled and refreshed and so thankful.
Thank you, kind Father.
Such extravagant blessings you heap upon us!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Hopefully Hopeless
The sun is shining today!!! (Thunderous applause, hooting, hollering, and general merry making ensues...)
That may not seem like the biggest deal for many, but we have just gone through the longest, darkest, coldest, cloudiest bout of winter weather. At the moment there are lovely splashes of sunshine and light reflecting off my mirrors and onto my walls. My beloved bedroom is glowing with the warmth of afternoon sunlight and I can see blue sky and white clouds outside my window. It is helpful that I could turn the heat up and warm up my little wheat bags to enhance the illusion of warmth on this sunny January day. Outside the temperatures are hovering somewhere around minus 10, but I will not complain!! The sun is shining and I will rejoice in this day that the Lord has made!
I bundled myself off to church this morning and was engaged in glorious worship and surrounded by the loveliest people. All of us on this strange sojourn, trying to make sense of our lives and our various pains and disappointments and bravely trying to keep believing that this will all be worth it one day...
The message came straight from the throne of God and poured over us like fresh water on desperately thirsty ground. Allastair Petrie spoke of the great power that is unleashed when God's people admit their helplessness and hopelessness and finally lift up their eyes declaring that we can't but GOD CAN!!!! He actually had us bow our heads while those of us who felt hopeless in different areas of our lives raised our hands. (Getting rid of the whole religious bondage that would even keep us from admitting that!!) 90% of us admitted to hopelessness and it felt so good to do it!
I have felt so weary and have found it difficult to even know how to pray. There is such need and such apathy. The church slumbers on and I don't even know how to rouse myself. So the message from Isaiah 57 was about obtaining, humility, holiness, hunger for God that trumps over every other hunger we have and admitting hopelessness. All this so that we can allow God to reign in and through us, bringing transformation.
I can't even begin to do the message justice here, but I can surely say that God had a good reason to tell us not to "forsake gathering together". There is the manifest presence of God that is released when saints gather in humility to worship their Creator and to be reminded of His promises through the spoken Word.
I'm so glad that I could admit to hopelessness. What a tremendous relief not to have to try to fix my broken self nor my broken world. I can't, but God can. And God will. As His people, humble themselves, turn from their wicked ways and pray.
Apparently there are amazing miracles of transformation taking place in areas all around the world. Where children stand and pray for their countries for hours every day, where prisoners accept the Lord en masse, where societies are turned around by a sovereign move of God on behalf of the prayers of His people.
So I will continue to lift up these hands and pray.
THY KINGDOM COME,
THY WILL BE DONE, HERE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN...
Yes Lord, You can and You will!!
That may not seem like the biggest deal for many, but we have just gone through the longest, darkest, coldest, cloudiest bout of winter weather. At the moment there are lovely splashes of sunshine and light reflecting off my mirrors and onto my walls. My beloved bedroom is glowing with the warmth of afternoon sunlight and I can see blue sky and white clouds outside my window. It is helpful that I could turn the heat up and warm up my little wheat bags to enhance the illusion of warmth on this sunny January day. Outside the temperatures are hovering somewhere around minus 10, but I will not complain!! The sun is shining and I will rejoice in this day that the Lord has made!
I bundled myself off to church this morning and was engaged in glorious worship and surrounded by the loveliest people. All of us on this strange sojourn, trying to make sense of our lives and our various pains and disappointments and bravely trying to keep believing that this will all be worth it one day...
The message came straight from the throne of God and poured over us like fresh water on desperately thirsty ground. Allastair Petrie spoke of the great power that is unleashed when God's people admit their helplessness and hopelessness and finally lift up their eyes declaring that we can't but GOD CAN!!!! He actually had us bow our heads while those of us who felt hopeless in different areas of our lives raised our hands. (Getting rid of the whole religious bondage that would even keep us from admitting that!!) 90% of us admitted to hopelessness and it felt so good to do it!
I have felt so weary and have found it difficult to even know how to pray. There is such need and such apathy. The church slumbers on and I don't even know how to rouse myself. So the message from Isaiah 57 was about obtaining, humility, holiness, hunger for God that trumps over every other hunger we have and admitting hopelessness. All this so that we can allow God to reign in and through us, bringing transformation.
I can't even begin to do the message justice here, but I can surely say that God had a good reason to tell us not to "forsake gathering together". There is the manifest presence of God that is released when saints gather in humility to worship their Creator and to be reminded of His promises through the spoken Word.
I'm so glad that I could admit to hopelessness. What a tremendous relief not to have to try to fix my broken self nor my broken world. I can't, but God can. And God will. As His people, humble themselves, turn from their wicked ways and pray.
Apparently there are amazing miracles of transformation taking place in areas all around the world. Where children stand and pray for their countries for hours every day, where prisoners accept the Lord en masse, where societies are turned around by a sovereign move of God on behalf of the prayers of His people.
So I will continue to lift up these hands and pray.
THY KINGDOM COME,
THY WILL BE DONE, HERE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN...
Yes Lord, You can and You will!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A Brand New Year
It's a brand new year! And, unlike other years, I let this one slip in without my usual seeking God for a verse and asking Him for all kinds of good things. Somehow I think and hope that He will be faithful to me even when I haven't been so faithful to seek Him... I think I've read a verse about His faithfulness which is immensely comforting. And, who knows...I'm thinking that all of a sudden I will feel a fresh wind and will be inspired to get that 2009 verse or chapter and know just what God wants me to ask for these next 12 pages of my new calendar!
I'm so grateful for the gentle going out of the last year and the uneventful entrance of the next. The holidays were just wonderful. Even though I work so little (four part mornings a week) it still gives me structure and routine which is so healthy for me right now. And that way I actually look forward to breaks - like two weeks worth of being able to lounge in bed in the mornings and lazily start my day!
I'm grateful for many wonderful family gatherings which were enjoyed over the holidays and...
* for evenings spent with friends, laughing, eating and sharing stories
* a cozy home filled with lights and the Spirit of God
* Daniel came home from Peru!!!! and had Christmas with all of us
* I have a beautiful daughter who still lives at home and hangs out with me
* my mom and dad and Tante Hilda who are that solid generation that holds us together
* God's tangible presence landing on me Christmas Day while driving through beautiful snow covered hills and listening to Handel's Messiah
* our family - little and big, young and old filling up a whole pew at church Christmas Eve for the candle light service
* singing German Christmas carols at mom's on Christmas Eve with four generations
* delicious pea soup and fresh bread at my neice's home with the family - followed by fireside carols
* a delightful New Year's Eve here - the annual BINGO extravaganza, good food, games, and sparklers in the snow
* my wonderful brother arrived cheerfully and went from house to house bringing help and joy
* my delightful sister who was shopping for salad fixings on Christmas Day is alive and well hallelujah!!
* God's amazing grace that keeps us all together and loving each other and Him!
So, through the piles of snow that kept falling out of the sky and changing the landscape into a winter wonderland, we celebrated and enjoyed the great blessings of God. I never want to stop thanking Him!!
MAY HIS KINGDOM COME
MAY HIS WILL BE DONE,
HERE ON EARTH, IN MY HEART, IN MY HOME, IN MY FAMILY, IN MY CHURCH, IN MY CITY, IN MY NATION
AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
AMEN.
I'm so grateful for the gentle going out of the last year and the uneventful entrance of the next. The holidays were just wonderful. Even though I work so little (four part mornings a week) it still gives me structure and routine which is so healthy for me right now. And that way I actually look forward to breaks - like two weeks worth of being able to lounge in bed in the mornings and lazily start my day!
I'm grateful for many wonderful family gatherings which were enjoyed over the holidays and...
* for evenings spent with friends, laughing, eating and sharing stories
* a cozy home filled with lights and the Spirit of God
* Daniel came home from Peru!!!! and had Christmas with all of us
* I have a beautiful daughter who still lives at home and hangs out with me
* my mom and dad and Tante Hilda who are that solid generation that holds us together
* God's tangible presence landing on me Christmas Day while driving through beautiful snow covered hills and listening to Handel's Messiah
* our family - little and big, young and old filling up a whole pew at church Christmas Eve for the candle light service
* singing German Christmas carols at mom's on Christmas Eve with four generations
* delicious pea soup and fresh bread at my neice's home with the family - followed by fireside carols
* a delightful New Year's Eve here - the annual BINGO extravaganza, good food, games, and sparklers in the snow
* my wonderful brother arrived cheerfully and went from house to house bringing help and joy
* my delightful sister who was shopping for salad fixings on Christmas Day is alive and well hallelujah!!
* God's amazing grace that keeps us all together and loving each other and Him!
So, through the piles of snow that kept falling out of the sky and changing the landscape into a winter wonderland, we celebrated and enjoyed the great blessings of God. I never want to stop thanking Him!!
MAY HIS KINGDOM COME
MAY HIS WILL BE DONE,
HERE ON EARTH, IN MY HEART, IN MY HOME, IN MY FAMILY, IN MY CHURCH, IN MY CITY, IN MY NATION
AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
AMEN.
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