Author Archives: Laurel

Who Knew Obedience was Radical?

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I keep seeing this same book title in the catalogs this month– whether it is just that popular, or whether the words startle me that much every time I see it– and it still catches me with that breathless, weight-in-the-stomach feeling you get when you peer over the edge of a precipice. A Year of Biblical Womanhood….”In a year-long experiment the author tried to follow the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as possible.”

Every time, my head wonders startled, “Is there any other way to get through a year?” And then I wonder which instructions she was looking at. “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience”? (Col. 3:12) Or maybe “…let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” (1 Peter 3:4) Certainly “do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3) Definitely “do not be anxious about anything…”  and “rejoice always.” (Philippians 4:4, 6) So much rich truth in there, for all of us who belong to Christ, and is it really that new an idea to put it into practice? What other model for womanhood would a girl want to live by in this year?

I suspect the book has nothing to do with any of that– it could be merely another fad diet plan that claims to be Biblically based– or maybe it is a call for Christians to get serious about their faith, give up some religious ideas for some radical obedience. We can only hope so.

It brings to mind the old classic In His Steps, written around the turn of the 20th century by Charles Sheldon, and ranking as one of the best-selling books of all time thanks to a publisher’s copyright mistake that was perhaps after all, divinely orchestrated.  In the book, a pastor and his congregation are confronted by a homeless man about their lack of justice for the poor, and they take up the challenge to put their faith into action– for a whole year they will face every situation with the question, “What would Jesus do?” and follow in His steps. In the century since, the phrase has become little more than a trite Christian slogan, but in its original form, and in the hearts of those who earnestly sought an answer, it had the power to change lives…to transform a whole town with the power of God.

For me, there is no question that hanging onto God for dear life is the best way to navigate a year.  So when we were looking for a new study for the Wednesdays this Winter, Becoming A Woman of Strength sounded perfect to me. I don’t consider myself a strong person– I feel like I have always known I cannot handle this life on my own. There will be a lot of days that will be too much for me, this year, but there is Someone who can show me how to best live as a woman here in this world.

Sarah Young writes in Jesus Calling that the way to achieve the victorious life is through living in deep dependence on God, and it is in our problems, weakness, and neediness that we learn to rely on Him. Another paradox of the Kingdom, that failures in life accomplish the real success. That’s the real Biblical model of womanhood maybe– to depend on God in our weakness and discover His strength.

So if you are poised on the edge of the precipice, wondering how to live in this year; or if you are challenged by the faith-adventure of following in His steps; if you are looking for a year of becoming the woman God designed you to be, join in our (lifelong) experiment of studying the Bible and putting it into practice. Radical?….possibly. Life-changing?…hopefully. But unquestionably the best way to find answers.

 

“Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess, but not more than is found in Thee, the divine Treasury in whom all fullness dwells.” (from The Valley of Vision)

“I will not show you what is on the road ahead, but I will thoroughly equip you for the journey. My living presence is your Companion each step of the way. Stay in continual communication with Me, whispering My name whenever you need to redirect your thoughts. Thus, you can walk through this day with your focus on Me. My abiding presence is the best road map available.” (Jesus Calling, Sarah Young)

At the Crossroads of a New Year

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The kids poke fun at me, but every Christmas Night since they were small, I have requested that we sit down as a family and watch Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s just Mom’s silly old Christmas tradition to them, but every year as “the most wonderful time of the year” draws to an end and the New Year looms up close, this message is one I need to hear and remember: that an ordinary life of self-sacrifice and love can make a difference in our home, our town, our world.

When you look back on the year past and see only the small everyday necessities of keeping everyone clothed and fed and getting along…when you wish you had more time to pursue your hobbies or read that pile of books… or when you long to see far-away places and accomplish something that matters in the world, like George Bailey did…maybe feel like life is passing you by… or maybe it isn’t even worth anything any more…this is when you need to see through God’s eyes, how one life well-lived has a ripple effect that only Heaven can measure. Like George’s guardian angel said:“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”

We gather around the table with my sister’s family after Christmas, and share a goal for the coming year, tell the others how to pray for us. I wish I could say I was working on a graduate degree, writing a book, traveling halfway around the world, opening a Bed & Breakfast, or really any significant goal at all, but I’m coming up empty right now. It’s a strange place to be, for a person who sets goals and makes plans as naturally as setting the table. But life continues to present a maze of unpredictable circumstances and chaotic detours into the necessities of the everyday, and I feel like I am still waiting to discover who I am going to be when my kids grow up. So I tell the truth, that in the coming year I am just living and listening for God’s voice, and I need wisdom and direction. And I think of George Bailey and the reminder that not everything worthwhile is exciting or even visible. And the Spirit whispers,  “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.” (Matthew 25:40) The apostle Paul takes up the refrain with “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.” (Colossians 3:23-24)

Fact is, in this New Year, whether you are a planning goal-setter, or a big dreamer, only God knows what will fill up the hours and days to come. And only He knows what is worthwhile and meaningful in the long run. I will carry this annual reminder from the old classic film, as I go into the coming year, to keep on doing what is right and good in my little corner of the world, for Jesus’ sake, and let Him make of it what He wills… wait to see what unexpected doors of opportunity He will open in 2013.

 

“Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.” (Clarence in book inscription, It’s A Wonderful Life)

 

“But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28

 

For Unto Us A Child Is Born

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The Christmas Story became earthly-real to me the year I gave birth to my first child, a son. By Christmas he was only two months old and neither of us knew what we were doing yet. But I understood what it is to grow a child in your own body, and how you know him after nine months in a way without words, and how your life is intertwined with his in ways you barely understand yet.

I thought about Mary traveling in her ninth month, knew the heaviness of her body and the discomforts of her burden, but any mother would bear those willingly for the sake of the little one to come. The delivery of a child in the stable became startling fact, and the making do with little in the cold rough night felt the ache of a mother’s heart to provide for her child. Was she hungry? Was she tired? Did she wonder if she would survive the delivery, alone in a cave? Shepherds, animals, straw, the night-time pastures, the crowded streets of the rural village– all lifted right out of the gilt-edged storybook and into this created world of dirt where it could be touched and smelled and remembered by a mother’s heart.

And in the night, when I was awakened yet again by the cries of a newborn, in the dim light of the nursery we would rock, and I would look at the tiny face and think of the Savior who came like this: so small and weakly dependent on someone to care for every need, to love Him. And I understood how Mary’s heart poured out to her baby as only a mother’s can, and how those tiny fingers entwined with hers day after day. A child, innocent and dependent, who would carry His mother’s heart and her sin to the cross someday– something no mother should have to face, and yet earthly grim and unflinchingly real. A Child dependent but so desperately needed here: innocence in exchange for our guilt, grace poured out from heaven for our wrenching pain and chaos. As the prophet foretold hundreds of years before, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful…Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

This is the miracle of Christmas, new again every year in its mystery and wonder, that God came down a Child. That the Eternal entered into the flow of time to be with us from the beginning of life to the end. That the omnipotent God became a fragile and needy newborn. How can a mother’s heart help but worship at Christmas-time, when she sees her own children and thinks of the Christ-child? How can a mother’s heart help but make sure there is room for Him in her home, and call her own children around the manger to see the Child that is born for us?

 

“The God who needs nothing, came needy. The God who came to give us mercy, was at our mercy. And He who entered into our world, He lets us say it in a thousand ways– that there is no room at the inn.” Ann VosKamp

 

“Who, oh Lord, could save themselves,
Their own soul could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea;
Your grace is deeper still.

You alone can rescue, You alone can save,
You alone can lift us from the grave;
You came down to find us, led us out of death–
To You alone belongs the highest praise.” Matt Redman

The Light of the World

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It was just another kids’ Christmas program with barely-audible childish voices tumbling over rehearsed lines, and last-minute melt-downs among the nativity figures in the back, when they caught a glimpse of the crowded auditorium.  A stray baby in a stiff red dress escaped from the manger scene and toddled around in the aisle beneath the fond gaze of the audience.  And when the music played, enthusiastic little voices joined in the song, not always with the correct words or notes, but with the appropriate amount of gusto to please the director and delight the assembled parents, friends, and grandparents.

Just another adorable Christmas program until the very end, when a clump of children lined up at the mic, and the littlest one stepped out in her red-knit hat with the flower on it, and piped up in her tiny voice: “We praise You, Jesus, for being a light in this dark world.” As clear and perfectly enunciated as that truth could possibly be, and suddenly it was worship. Hearts hushed as rosy cheeked innocence announced that Christ was come to shine in our darkness, the darkness that has overtaken those grieving families this week before Christmas, the confusion and fear of every parent’s nightmares that rise up in the dark when least expected. The auditorium stilled and the little voice rang out like a bell, and spirits lifted in prayer, knowing how desperately our world needs the light of a Savior. We praise You, Jesus– “Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing. O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord.”

In the face of tragedy and war and abuse and violence that affects the littlest and most innocent ones, we celebrate the birth of a Baby who is named Prince of Peace. Amid a society so carefully made independent of age-old beliefs, we declare the Advent of Emmanuel, God with us. “Come and behold Him, born the king of angels…Oh, come, let us adore Him.”

And when we hold our candles on Christmas Eve, passing the light from the Christ-candle throughout the darkened auditorium, till it glows with hundreds of tiny lights, our hearts will weep and rejoice together: “We praise You, Jesus, for being a light in this dark world.” Not just at Christmas-time, but forever and ever. “Highest, most holy, light of light eternal, born of a virgin, a mortal he comes…O come all ye faithful…let us adore Him.”

 

“Lord God, as Your plan of salvation unfolds before me this Advent, may I be still and silent before the miracle of the Christ Child. Amen” (Branches of the Tree, Jeff Stone)

“…how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding….those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:27-28,31)

What We Need This Christmas

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Bits of thought have been muddling around in my head for a couple weeks now; it wasn’t till after I had eaten two pieces of chocolate cake with my fingers, mid-day, and announced that I couldn’t wait any longer to get the live Christmas tree for the family room, that the restless push started shaping into words. I need Christmas, and I need it to be wonderful– that’s the bare bones of the thing.

See, I love everything about Christmas and I always have this feeling that there is so much celebrating to do in a month that it will never fit. I don’t want to miss any part of this magical holiday because it won’t be back for another whole year. This year especially it feels important to get it all in, because our family is changing shape and we are letting go of familiar traditions, and the whole Christmas season is rocking on its pedestal.

 Beauty….. Joy….. Meaning…..Miracle….. Wonder….. Peace.

That is Christmas in a nutshell and one of the few times and places on Earth that they all come together for more than a few moments. No wonder we all want to capture it, hold onto it, get as much of it as we can. After another year of pushing on and persevering in this Faith-journey, with death and disease and financial need in the world right down the street, the heart needs a month to contemplate the beauty of Christmas, revel in the sights and sounds of this holiday, hear echoes of the angels’ song: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.” It is a grander story than we could have imagined ourselves, that God would come to dwell in the skin of what He made; that God Himself would come down to bind up our brokenness, declare hope to the whole world.

At Christmas we get a glimpse of glory, get to remember the miracle-story and anticipate all over again– “unto us a Child is born!” We get to look beyond the everyday into the extraordinary and celebrate. “We are no longer lost; He has come down for us. We have a Savior…we have a Savior!”  At Christmas-time it is all on display, and everyone joins in the party whether or not they understand why.

But like many good things the harder we try to grasp it, the more elusive it becomes, and our very striving gets in the way of the experience.  I need to slow down enough to enjoy the holiday festivities. Look at people instead of projects. Keep the food and decorations simple enough that they remain fun and don’t become an overload of stress. Wonderful can turn into overwhelming in the space of a few hours, if I am not mindful.

The best part of it is that I could Keep It Simple and know that I am not missing out on anything, because Christmas is here to stay, a year-round truth not dependent on the accessories of the season. Maybe different this year, but never ruined, as long as we remember the reason for the party. “His love will reign forever…We have a Savior.”

 

“A child has been given,
King of our freedom;
Sing for the Light has come–
This is Christmas.” (We Have A Savior, Hillsong)

Waiting for Christmas

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We didn’t celebrate advent when I was growing up, didn’t know anything about that centuries-old tradition, and when I became a mother and heard other mothers talking about making an advent wreath it seemed like just one more thing to do in a busy season. Later when we started celebrating Advent as a church it was a way to unify the church family’s celebration, focus on the meaning of Christmas and spread out our joy over a whole month.

But somewhere along the way the meaning of the word seeped into my heart and became a lifeline in that mad push to make Christmas picture-perfect (because it only comes once a year and somehow it matters so very much), a still whisper running beneath the season: coming. All the decorating and the baking and the bright wrappings and the music are only preparation for that one special day, and when it comes it might even seem a disappointment, unless you are looking for the right thing….prepared for what is coming…waiting with all the world for a Savior…He’s coming.

Advent is really just a way to make visible the words of the prophets, the collective longings of people in darkness, the long centuries rolling on, the hopes and cries of the suffering. We light the candles and see it..He’s coming…the Christ-child is coming to set everything right in the world…and the flame is burning brightly and nothing is impossible any more because God is with us.

So we light this first candle and our hearts quiet to listen for His voice: “A voice cries ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low…and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'” (Isaiah 40:1,4-5) And we count the days, pull out the boxes of decorations, trim the tree and the windows, deck the halls of our homes with hope; we rejoice in this month of preparation as we wait for Christmas, that one special day when we stop the world to remember His first coming and wait for His second coming. When the presents and trimmings are gone the promise of this day will remain…“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8)  He is coming!

 

“A child has been given,
King of our freedom,
Sing for the light has come:
This is Christmas…”  (Hillsong)

This Our Prayer

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And so our journey into Becoming Women of Purpose comes to an end…or maybe it is just a beginning of exploration. Because this process of growth and discovering God’s will for us continues day by day…and “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

May this be our daily prayer of commitment:
“Lord, thank you for the unique package you have so carefully put together in my life. I give it back to you today and every day to use as You intended from the moment You created me. I will not be afraid. I will not make excuses. I will say yes to the purposes You’ve designed specifically for me.”  (Ruth Haley Barton)

“You never give up on us, You never let go or turn away. We’re holding onto You– Our God is strong, our God is good.”  (Beth Croft)

The Best Thanks

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We share around the table as we do every year, telling what we are thankful for over dessert and coffee, from youngest to oldest. The cousins have grown up with this and their thanks giving has grown with them, from coached one-word answers to heartfelt sacrifices of praise. Someone throws out the prompt: tell something you have learned in the past year that you are thankful for. And the youngest one starts right out and quiets the room with her statement of faith…patience through pain and the ability to find joy, and the next one picks up the thread of finding strength to make hard choices and learning to labor in prayer.

Around the table the words fall thoughtful, sharing uprooting life-changes and struggles met with grace and provision, and others respond, come alongside, with words of encouragement. From youngest to oldest we lay out our thanks offerings from these faltering lips, and God’s faithfulness weaves a covering over this family, hushes our hearts; we worship around this feast of thanks giving. A hard year of life, an abundant year of grace– and isn’t that the way it should be on this day of remembrance, to look back into the wilderness ways we have walked and see the presence of God leading us through?

It was here the Israelites failed in their own desert wanderings…“Our fathers…did not remember the abundance of Your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.” (Psalm 106:7) It was the forgetting that was offensive, because how do you take life and breath and blessing from the hand of the Almighty and not think it a large enough gift to warrant trust and thankfulness? It was the First Sin all over again, in different colors, but in essence the same. “…they soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel…they had a wanton craving in the wilderness. and put God to the test in the desert…”  (v.13-14)  In the desert it is easy to feel alone under the weight of desperate need, but the Musician-King David knew, and Hagar knew, and Moses knew, and Elijah knew, and even Jesus knew– they knew that in the wilderness you can see God at work and hear His voice more clearly than anywhere else, when you pour out your heart to Him and listen hard, wait for Him to answer.

The youngest cousin has lined the walls of her room with the cries of her heart: “Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy….Let me hear in the morning of Your steadfast love, for in You do I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:1,8) And she waits for Him to deliver her from debilitating pain, so she can return to the children of Honduras. But in the meantime she gives thanks for lessons learned, for patience and choosing joy, and that He hears her. This is the best Thanks Giving of all, this going around the table considering God’s wondrous works, remembering the abundance of His steadfast love in the desert times we have walked through, in the past year. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 106:1)

Amen.

 

“Giving thanks is only this: making the canyon of pain into a megaphone to proclaim the ultimate goodness of God.”  Ann VosKamp

 

“Great is Your faithfulness, oh God.
You wrestle with the sinner’s heart;
You lead us by still waters and to mercy,
And nothing can keep us apart.

So remember Your people,
Remember Your children,
Remember Your promise, oh God…

Your grace is enough…Your grace is enough for me.” Chris Tomlin

Thankful to Be a Sheep

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So much of what we have learned about becoming women of purpose is just a matter of living as Christ-followers– responding to God as creatures should, and being transformed as believers should, walking in newness of life as agents on a mission, partners in His plan to restore creation. If we find a calling specific to us within that purpose, all the better, but we could live a whole life of shining love and doing good, and fulfill His purpose beautifully.

Something stood out to me in one of King David’s songs this week; as many times as I have read the short 100th psalm, I never noticed the connection between belonging to God and thankfulness. Right in the middle there the king tells us to “Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His….”  It is short and direct, something every creature needs to know: the Creator is God and you are not.

Get that much clear and a whole lot of other things in life straighten themselves out too. Remember this, as we prepare for the holiday where we give thanks…while we organize people and plan meals and arrange transportation and vacation time…that there is Someone who made all this, owns all this, rules all this, and the holiday is precisely about giving thanks for what He has provided, even when we make a lot of fuss about our own makings. “We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture….” who truly need a Shepherd to take care of them, because there are some things we can control in this world and so many we cannot. Good thing He is always taking care of us, whether we stop to recognize it and give thanks, or not.

But when you do stop and recognize that He is God and you are not, that it is He who rules over creation and provides for every small living creature, including yourself, thanksgiving is the only proper response.

The king sings it out in the next lines, flowing from one thought to the next so naturally that praise becomes the obvious overflowing of a person who knows his identity: “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!”

It’s easy to forget sometimes that all this is gift and grace. Easy to take life for granted because it’s all we’ve ever known, and easy to wish we had something different, when we compare ourselves to others. Except that we could just as easily compare ourselves to the starving, and the naked and diseased, to see how very blessed we are. David paints it rightly, that our worship comes in full knowledge of our dependence on His goodwill and kindness. And we bless His name for who He is, because “the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever….”  We are the Found Sheep who belong to a loving God, and it is our purpose to give thanks.

Come, ye thankful people, come…

 

“I am thankful for right now. God, I AM is in this moment, and in His presence is fullness of joy .” (Ann VosKamp)

Following even There?

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It’s interesting how whenever we read the apostle Paul’s impassioned statement of purpose in a group, no one ever mentions this one phrase. The paragraph starts out so well, and we can talk all around it and applaud the willingness to give his life for the gospel: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” (Philippians 3:8) We discuss his passion for Christ and how we might gain his perspective on the things of this world…“I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him…” but we never quite seem to manage talking openly about the sentence that follows. Maybe if we can read it in context it goes down easier; just treat the passage as a whole, never really have to deal with the shocking details of what it actually says. One modern version puts it this way:

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…” (Philippians 3:10 NLT)

So this is Paul’s life goal, to grow so close to Christ that he can experience the cross with Him, both the suffering and the victory. It’s hard to look that in the eyes squarely and honestly…it measures up just how far short my commitment comes…something in me starts hedging about Paul’s life being exceptional as an apostle and of course I want to know Christ but couldn’t I do that from the relative safety of a peaceful small town life and the comforts of home and family? Why does suffering have to be part of the picture? And death…seriously?

Or maybe it’s one of those things that doesn’t make sense until you’ve been there, because in the wilderness you are stripped down to the bare essentials of living and you hunger and thirst for God because survival depends upon it. And when there is pain all around, that is when you most need to know the power of the resurrection, cling to the hope that the dark of the tomb is temporary and already overcome.

In the end, though you would never choose it for yourself, you know deep down that you are better for it: faith stronger, distractions cleared away, heart more fully His, joy and peace flowing over in spite of pain. And Paul understands that this is part of the walk of faith, that if we are committed Christ-followers we will walk where He did, in the footsteps of suffering. Even death, because Self must die if Christ is to live and rule in us.

Someday I hope to be able to echo Paul whole-heartedly, that more than anything else in life, I want to know Christ in His sufferings and in His glory, and I am willing to give up everything here for the sake of achieving that goal. For now, I will keep taking baby steps and trusting God to lead me on.

 

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11)

“But God is the God of the waves and the billows, and they are still His when they come over us; and again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm. Once more by His interposition deliverance came. We were cast down, but not destroyed.” (Amy Carmichael)