Appreciating Winter

Winter is not my favorite season.  I love it through Christmas and the New Year, but then winter becomes tedious.  It's cold and bleak.  I don't want to go outside.  The blue sunny skies often turn grey.  The grass turns a dirty tan.  The grey sky and tan grass blend into a dreary landscape.  Genesis 8:22 tells me that "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."  1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."  So I tend to think that I need to find a way to be thankful for winter.  

I also believe that people go through spiritual seasons, seasons of the soul.  They don't necessarily line up with the timing of the physical seasons outside, but similarities exist between what happens to the natural word and what happens in the world inside our hearts.  You might have an internal spring while the world is in winter.  Spring bubbles with joyful new life.  Summer is full of hard work while your character grows but you know in the end it will produce a harvest.  Fall is where all your effort to grow plays off and you see the fruit of your labors.  Then winter hits.  What is good about the winter of the soul?

The dreary skies can really dampen my soul.  Sometimes it's hard to remember that the sun will shine again.  But it does.  It always returns to cause the plants to spring to life.  No matter how long winter may seem, it doesn't last forever.  The cloudy skies may hid the sun for a while, but eventually its light and warmth fall on the grown again.  I experience this spiritually too.  Sometimes God's love and favor seems far from me, like they are hiding behind a cloud.  Sometimes I've caused this by walking away from Him, but not always.  It's good for me to remember that His love and favor are still shining even though a cloud might be blocking my view of it.  So winter causes my faith to grow - and that's a good thing. Hebrews 11:1 tells us "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  God's love and favor is there for me, even if He feels a million miles away and I can't see it right now.  

Winter is a time when the plants rest.  Growth slows or even stops.  Rest is a good thing.  When things slow down, I have time to reflect.  Winter's reduction in growth and activity allows me to ponder all the new things I tried in those seasons of growth and life.  Which new things help me to become more Christ-like?  Which new things need to become a habit?  Which habits need to become a thing of the past? Psalm 139:23-24 remind me that reflection is a good spiritual habit.  Soul winter gives me a chance to allow the Holy Spirit to make me aware of what needs to change.

Finally, some seeds require a cold snap to stimulate them to germinate.  This happens in my spiritual life too.  Sometimes I read my Bible but I don't really get anything out of it at the time.  Sometimes I pray, but my prayers are not answered.  I follow God's leading, but nothing changes.  I'm sowing spiritual seed, but I'm not seeing any fruit from my labors.  The seed's need for cold to begin to grow reminds me that sometimes I need to patiently persevere in doing good.  Galatians 6:9 reads "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."  Winter reminds me to preserver.  

There you have it: three good things about winter to encourage your soul.  Faith grows when I have to live on God's promises instead of what I see and experience.  Rest gives me the time to reflect on the direction I'm going.  Perseverance keeps me going until I see the fruit of spiritual labors.

How Embarrassing!

We visited the church I grew up in at the end of June.  Pastor Scott began his sermon by talking about sometimes we need to be reminded that we are sinners.  That struck a chord with me.  If you have been walking with God for a while and allowing His word to transform your life, you might start to forget who you used to be.  We would not want to forget how much we have been forgiven, because those who have been forgiven much love much, right?  Every once and a while an old memory pops into my head of foolish things I've done in the past.  Yikes!  How could I be so foolish!  Now, if God is bringing those things to my mind, He's probably doing it to heal me of some hurt or remind me of something I need reconcile with Him and/or others.  Sometimes I know that all business has been taken care of with a memory, but it still pops up.  Then I feel embarrassed and self-conscious.  I might not feel as free to take a risk or a leap of faith.  And if that happens, it's probably not from God, it's probably from the enemy, the accuser of the brethren.  So, what should I do when those memories spring into my conscious?  Well, as Kevin on our worship team reminded us at church on Sunday, we want to give glory to God; to use all things in our lives to magnify Him.  2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to 'take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.'  When those embarrassing memories come to mind, I've been taking them captive to Christ by silently thanking Him for saving me, forgiving me, throwing my sins into the sea of forgetfulness, loving me while I was still His enemy.  And it's helped me to move on instead of feeling self-conscious.  What do you do when those silly old memories enter your head?

How much does my voice count, really?

Over 7 years ago, Toby and I tried something new.  It was a new church plant, or perhaps a church transplant.  We found ourselves as members of a smaller, new body of believers.  Now, when you are involved in a larger organization, your voice is just one in a hundred or more.  But when you are in a small organization, your voice can have more impact.  This is both exciting and terrifying to me!  Exciting because I have the opportunity to help build the faith traditions of a new church.  Terrifying because of the greater responsibility.  There was no denominational 'Statement of Faith' to guide us.  God was with us every step, but we had to learn to rely on Him more.  I needed to really figure out what I believe about Christian doctrine and why I believe it.  When I was in high school, my history teacher allowed me to explore the topic of world religions for a project.  I wrote a 35 page paper on it.  Can you imagine reading 35 pages of a 15 year old's ramblings on religion?!  What a good teacher.  This allowed me pick Christianity and know why I picked it.  It allowed me to pursue God in a Christian church for reasons beyond 'that's how I was raised.'  When I went to college and continued to pursue Him, God honored my desire and I began to experience Him in more real and exciting ways.  But finding myself with a teaching gift in a new church forced me to really dig into scripture.  And not just read it but think about how I interpreted the words I read and how sometimes other people interpret it differently.

This stack of books really helped me.  The Systematic Theology books by Wayne Grudem discuss a lot of topics.  Grudem is a true educator; he presents several sides to a discussion instead of only presenting one opinion.  It allowed me to read the passages and pray about which issues I felt were really vital to being a believer and which were small differences.  Spoiler alert: I concluded that many things I have felt strongly about in the past are still valuable to me but I don't think they define a true believer.  There's a lot of minor doctrinal differences out there.

A friend recommended Hanegraaff's The Complete Bible Answer Book to me and I have really enjoyed it.  I don't always find myself agreeing with Hanegraaff's application of scripture, but I love seeing how he applies Biblical principles to modern questions.  His understanding of scripture and literary elements is amazing.  The way he connects common themes from different books of the Bible; wow!  What an inspiration to understand my Bible better. 

The book on top is my most recent book finished.  The Allure of Gentleness encourages believes to prayerfully explore their doubt and allow others to do so.  Dallas Willard handles many topics with logical arguments.  He also drives home to importance of living out a Christ-like life and responding to doubts and questions with gentleness and respect (isn't that what Jesus did?).  Willard's discussion of hell was unlike anything I've ever read or heard.  I'm still rolling it around in my brain. 

Anyway!  If you would like to explore your faith more, I recommend any of these books.  As Willard says, leaps of faith are almost always based on knowledge of God.  No one can know Him fully but we are divinely invited to know Him more.  Ponder and pray and know Him more!

Planned Pooling Scarf!

Have you seen this new fiber trend?  It's so cool!  Yarn designed to develop a pattern as you work.  I just had to try it out.  Late last fall I made this scarf to test out the technique.  It is from Red Heart's colorway 'Fall'.  I used two Super Saver skeins to do it, making the project very affordable. It looks gorgeous in my lovely model.

If you would like to try the technique, check out these great links.  That's how I learned!  http://www.repeatcrafterme.com/2016/09/crochet-planned-color-pooling-scarf.html
http://www.glamour-4-you.com/blog/planned-pooling-with-crochet-made-easy-4-simple-steps

Happy Crocheting!

Home . . .

Home is where the heart is, right?

My 10-year-old son and I just finished reading Abandoned on the Wild Frontier by Dave and Neta Jackson.  This book is historical fiction intended to introduce 8-12 year old kids to the ministry of Peter Cartwright.  He died in 1872, but something in this book is as relevant today as it was 150 years ago.

I love this dialog.  God gives us each a hunger for the warmth and security of a good family life.  Why? Peter Cartwright suggests this longing is God designed; placed in each human heart to make us hunger for a reconciled relationship with Him.  Jesus makes reconciliation with God possible through His payment for our sins on the cross.  He invites you and me and all who would believe to enter into this relationships by faith and repentance.  Are you hungry for home?  

Anything new in your prayer life?

Have you ever felt like your lack of faith is impeding your prayer life?  You ask God to work in your circumstances or your character, but you experience doubt that you are even asking for the right thing?  I recently read this paragraph in Everyone Gets to Play by John Wimber.  It's in a section on corporate intercessory prayer, but I tried it in my own personal prayer life.

It makes my prayers longer.  It won't work for those urgent "I'm about to lose my cool.  Lord, I need your gentleness for this kid right now!" type of prayers.  To make it easier for me to understand, I broke the paragraph down into a list.  

1. Praise God for who He is.

2. Thank Him for what He has done in the past.  

3. Recall or pray any applicable Bible Verses.

4. Consider how God moved in the earthly life of Christ.

5. Tell God about the circumstances and ask Him for the need at hand.

I'm a big believer in simply asking God to show me how to pray and going with what the Holy Spirit lays on my heart.  I found this to be a great addition to that method of supplication because it got historical in a good way.  Considering who God is and how He has acted in the past gives me more confidence to pray in the present.  It also helps align my thoughts and prayers with His will.  Let's do an example.:

1.  Praise God for who He is.

God, you're a good Father.  I praise you because you are the wisest and most faithful parent.

2.  Thank Him for what He has done in the past.

We asked you for kids and you gave them to us.  Thank you for this children.  We love them.  And we enjoy them, most of the time!

3.  Recall or pray any applicable Bible Verses.

Proverbs 22:6 "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

4.  Consider how God moved in the earthly life of Christ.

Jesus, you embraced children with open arms.  You encourage even the youngest people to know you.

5.  Tell God about the circumstances and ask Him for the need at hand. 

God, our kids need to develop some independence and work ethic.  Please cultivate this attitude within them.  Please show us how to parent them in such a way to take pride in doing a job well.  

Try it and see if it helps you.  Don't feel like you have to pray every step for every prayer.  Take what is helpful for your relationship with God and leave the rest.  

The Legend of the Poinsettia

What is your favorite Christmas decoration?  I just love poinsettias.  Do you?  Have you ever heard the Legend of the Poinsettia?  I'll sum it up for you, but I really recommend an artfully crafted retelling of this story by Tomie dePaola.  You can read my summary or you can click on the link and hear the story.  I know what I'd do.  I'd listen to the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s0C5V4OB18

Lucida is a little girl living in Mexico.  We all have Christmas traditions.  In Lucida's village on Christmas Eve, everyone in the church brought a gift to lay at the figure of baby Jesus.  Lucida's mother had the honor of making a new blanket for the figure.  Unfortunately, she became ill and couldn't complete the project.  Lucida tried to finish the blanket on her own, but all she accomplished was making the yarn tangled.  Lucida had nothing to give the baby Jesus.  On her way to the church service, she encounters a mysterious woman.  The mystery lady assures Lucida that her mother will soon recover.  At her encouragement, Lucida picks some common weeds to take to the church and lay at the figure of baby Jesus.  When Lucida lays the weeds at the manger and prays to God, an amazing transformation takes place.  The weeds turn into beautiful Poinsettia flowers.

Now I'm sure you're wondering why I love this Christmas symbol so much.  I'm not Hispanic.  This isn't my cultural heritage.  I find this story full of symbolism.  I can relate to little Lucida.  At Christmas we celebrate the ultimate Giver.  God gave Jesus to the world to live a human life.  Jesus gave up His life to die on the cross as a payment for our sins.  The Holy Spirit gives us God's presence.  We are the recipients of these lavish gifts.  Because I am created in the image of the Giver, I want to give also.  I want to give something of value to this little baby lying in a manger.  Like Lucida, I find I have nothing to give.  I come before Jesus and offer up the only thing of value that I truly possess.  I offer Him my life: my time, my energy, my choices, my praise, and my material possessions.  Just like Lucida, I worry that my gift will not be good enough.  Surely I have made a tangled mess of things in the past.  Good news!  No tangled mess is beyond His redeeming touch.  Our lives might be like the weeds that Lucida picked: common and ordinary.  But in God's presence, they can be transformed into a beautiful work of art.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT "So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.  and the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."