Have you had a bad day?

Have you had a rough day?  Did things not go your way?  One frustration after another?  Did you put your coffee on top of the car, then drive off without it?  Maybe you should try something that Phoenix does so often.  She’s four and she’s made a big decision.  She’s too big for naps.  Most days she still really needs one.  Many afternoons end in tears and tantrums.  When Daddy gets home from work, she crawls up on his lap and tells him all her troubles.  He listens while she cries.  He offers hugs.  Sometimes it’s just what my sunshine girl needs to make it to bed time.  

No, I'm not suggesting that you sit on Toby's lap.  Remember you too have a Heavenly Father.  He invites you to be His little child.  When you’ve had a bad day, tell him all your troubles.  It might not change anything about your day.  All those difficult circumstances will probably still be there.  But it might change you.

Romans 8:15 NIV ‘The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.  And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”’

Bird Watching at Sedgwick County Zoo

Today is a fabulous day because today we began our Summer Bucket List!  Our local zoo just reopened it's jungle building as the Tropics Exhibit.  It seemed like the perfect place to cross 'bird watching' off our list.  Horticulturalists added lots of beautiful orchids to the exhibit's collection of exotic plants. 

Phoenix is making her best orchid impression in the above photo.  Besides tropical birds, we also observed penguins and bald eagles.  It was a great opportunity to discuss the distinguishing characteristics of birds.  Greg and I even made an acrostic poem to help us remember what makes a bird different from other animals.

·       Beak or bill instead of jaws and teeth

·       Is hatched from an egg

·       Runs with two legs (aka bipedal)

·       Doesn’t have fur, covered with feathers

Photo Albums and Mercy

I love looking at old photo albums, don’t you? At least I love it if the photos don’t contain some of my awkward middle school years. I’d like to forget the school pictures documenting my 4-inch-tall bangs. Why do I love looking at old photo albums? They show me how much my parents cherish me. My whole childhood is recorded on those static cling pages: the day Mom went into the hospital 9 months pregnant, the Christmas when I shoved popcorn into my baby brother’s mouth, the morning I stepped onto the bus for my first day of kindergarten. When we reminisce, I know the moments of my life are among their treasured memories.

This same treasured feeling strikes me when I read Psalm 139, especially verses 13-16:
     For you created my inmost being; 
        you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
     I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 
        your works are wonderful,
        I know that full well. 
     My frame was not hidden from you
       when I was made in the secret place,     
       when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
     Your eyes saw my unformed body;
       all the days ordained for me were written in your book
       before one of them came to be.
When I read the above passage, God’s gaze towards me seems to be laced with warmth. I find the faith to believe that He really does love me enough to pay the penalty of my sin with His own blood. Secure in His grace, I need not run from Him or hide my weakness. Just like a loving parent, when He disciplines me He desires to teach me a better way to live - not to vengefully punish my sin.

It’s easy to read the Old Testament and see a vengeful God, ready to punish offenders with death. But when I read it carefully, I can’t help but notice His abounding mercy. He would have spared the whole city of Sodom for the sake of only ten righteous people (Genesis 18:16-33). He sent a reluctant Jonah to Nineveh to bring a city to repentance. He commanded consideration for the poor in the Law (Exodus 22:22, Leviticus 19:9-10, Deuteronomy 26:12). Yes, God is Holy and righteous, but He is also merciful. Just as disobedient children can draw near to a loving and concerned parent, we can come close to God. Thank you God for sending us Jesus, who perfectly personifies your mercy and righteousness!

Oaks of Righteousness

Very early on Good Friday, an impressive storm blew through the Wichita area.  It flicked off the lights in our neighborhood for several hours.  Other homes in the area lost power for a few days.  It snapped rows of electrical poles, causing the lines to trail in the streets.  This storm also blew over a couple of tress.  When the kids and I examined these trees, we noticed they had very little roots.  Their trunks were tall and supported many branches, but their roots were small.  A little research quickly revealed root damage is a common cause of tree loss during a storm.¹  All this tree imagery reminds me of something from my Bible.

In Luke 4:17-21 (NIV), Jesus goes to the temple of His home town, Nazareth.  He read a passage from Isaiah, telling His listeners that He is currently fulfilling the prophecy. 

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 

Wow, what a precise statement of Christ’s ministry before the cross!  If you flip back to Isaiah 61 where our Master read, you can read the remainder of verse 2 and 3.  These verses describe the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believer who repents of his (or her) sin and seeks to follow after Him.²  Notice how we are described at the end of verse 3, “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”  What a vision for our lives!  We distinctively display His righteousness (not our own) and in doing so reveal His splendor to all who pass by us. 

Oak trees have distinctive root systems.  Many people are familiar with the oak tree’s tap root.  It develops early in the sapling’s life to provide necessary water.  I liken the oak tree’s tap root to our personal connection with our Lord and Savior.  He is our Rock and Foundation.  Our source of strength when it seems like nothing is going our way.  Once we taste the living water, we desire more of Him just like an oak tree needs a continual supply of fresh water.  Often, I am so enthralled by the reality of fellowship with the Divine Creator that other people tend to fall into the background.  But the oak tree has more roots than just the tap root. 

Within the top 6-18 inches of soil, an oak tree sends out a vast network of roots that stretch horizontally.  This expanse of roots reaches 4-7 times the width of the crown of the tree.  I visualized the roots to look like an inverted version of the tree hanging underground with most of the roots traveling downward, but this simply isn’t true.  The tree develops a wide network of roots stretching laterally, like a wine glass (tree) resting on a plate (underground roots).³ In some tree varieties, including oak trees, these roots intertwine with the roots of other trees.  They can even grow together through a process called grafting.  Imagine the roots of the trees like people shaking or clasping hands.  Through grafted roots, the individual trees can pass nutrients to each other.⁴

God doesn’t call us to a purely vertical relationship with Himself.  Peppered throughout Old Testament Law and the teachings of Jesus is the idea that love for God overflows into a love for other people (Matthew 22:37, Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:9-18).  The Apostles urge us to become part of a community of believers, not to exist as an individual tree standing against the storms of life alone (Hebrews 10:25, Galatians 6:2, Acts 2:42-43).  One tree sends nourishing sugars to another through their grafted roots.  We find this in the community of believers also.  Need an ounce of faith?  I might have some to spare.  If I’m low on joy, someone else may have an abundance to share with me.  Ultimately these spiritual nutrients come from God, but we can cultivate them and then share the abundance with each other. 

Let’s make this practical.  Trees can only exchange nutrients if they are connected.  I invite you to comment with specific ways that you connect with other believers in the body of Christ. 

Works Cited
1. Nix, Steve.  “Tree Storm Damage – Dealing with Stem and Limb Breakage.”  About Education. Web.  18 April, 2015.  http://forestry.about.com/od/adverseweather/a/storm_tree_brk.htm.
2. Pfeiffer, Charles F. and Everett F. Harrison. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.  Chicago: Moody Press, 1977.  P. 651.
3. Randall, Jesse.  “Roots In Depth.”  ISU Forestry Extension.  Iowa State University, 11 January, 2012.  Web. 18 April, 2015.  http://www.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/tree_biology/roots.html.
4. Waller, Sarah.  “Scientists Peek Into the Hidden World of Tree Roots.”  KUOW News and Information, May 30, 2013.  Web.  18 April, 2015.  http://kuow.org/post/scientists-peek-hidden-world-tree-roots