Jan 2, 2010 | Baby Photos, Stories, The Good Word
I was thinking of sharing an encouragement with you about the New Year, and perhaps challenging you to consider really really diving into God’s Word in a new way. Spending time in it every day, and allowing it to transform your life. But then for a couple of days I was struggling, not really able to put my finger on the source of it, but just ill-at-ease about life in general, and fearful awake and asleep. It took me a while to figure out what was really going on in my heart. I could see places where I was afraid when I didn’t need to be. I could see fear instead of faith leading my course of action. And I could see that I was ultimately struggling to trust God, and therefore trying to figure out how to move forward in my own strength.
But finally, this morning as I was reading, the true issue, the root, and the heart of the matter came to the surface. I was struggling to believe that God really loves me. Yes, we all know the words to “Jesus Loves Me” and we all remember that the Bible tells us so. But sometimes, when things are tough, when life gives you lemons, when things aren’t going your way, when your bank account isn’t pretty, there’s a snake in the grass ready to whisper in your ear…Does God really love you? And if you are caught unaware, little seeds of doubt can begin to produce big fruit — fear, mistrust, an unsettled mind, perhaps even a desire to throw out the baby and the bathwater.
But what good and glorious news I have to share with you this morning! What good and glorious news brought me to my knees, weeping in the shower? God loves me. That’s it, and that’s the truth. He really loves me. He really cares about what happens in my life. He really wants a relationship with me and He really wants what’s best for me.
It’s Greater Love than This
Do you have kids? I hope someday you do. Every day I have with the Bear inspires poetry in my heart — songs and music of thankfulness. I really, really love him. I really care about what happens in his life. And I really want to lead him and help him to learn how to live a life that will please God — where I know he’ll experience something greater than any other way of life available. But the point I’m trying to make is, I really, really love him. And the way I love that little boy, if you could put it on a calculator and add it up to some numerical value, absolutely cannot compare with the love the Lord has for me, with a thousand calculators. Just me. Little Caroline Collie from Washington, North Carolina — who has this many hairs on her head and has had this many dreams about chocolate on Tuesdays and has seen this many sunsets.
He knows everything about me. And He still loves me. And I am so glad to hold that truth in my heart in a fresh way today. It is absolutely glorious.
So if I could still issue a New Year’s challenge to you, I might encourage you to get into the Bible like never before. To spend time with your Creator and seek His face. But perhaps today, more than any of that, I just want you to know how much He loves you. No matter what you do. It’s unconditional love. He doesn’t need you. But He really, really wants you. You bring Him joy just being who He created you to be. You bring Him joy just being. His desire is for you. And He’s been chasing after you.
In the year ahead, I hope you let Him catch you. Let Him choose you. And let Him shower you with His amazing love. If you do, you’ll want to dive into His Word to know Him better and let Him change you. You’ll want to get up early and get away to be with Him. You will become a part of the greatest love story in history — the story of a loving God, and the generations and generations of people He has demonstrated His love to. In the midst of the billions, the God of the universe wants to know you. Happy New Year.
Dec 25, 2009 | Baby Photos, Stories
I hope you are having a wonderfully Merry Christmas! The Bear woke us up at 5:45 this morning and is already down for his first nap! We haven’t gotten everyone together to open prezzies yet, since he got up so early and then went down for a nap before everyone else was up and moving! Here’s a patiently waiting for prezzies face…
I hope that we’ll be making those bacon-covered cherries later this afternoon so that I can snap some shots and fill you in. And I hope to get a couple of pics of the Bear when he finally does get to open a prezzie or two, because I know his Stateside Grandma and Grandpa would love to see them! Hopefully soon!
In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying warm moments with family and tasty treats, and stopping every so often to thank the Lord that He came to Earth for you and me 2,000 years ago. What a reason to celebrate — God came near, and it’s the most incredible event in human history! Merry Christmas!
Dec 23, 2009 | Baby Photos, The Good Word
You remember the other day when I was talking about how I think sometimes it’s good to point out that something is a big, fat, yucky lie? Well I was mulling over another one I thought I’d share with you. Please let me know what you think.
Someone once told me … like ages and ages ago … that you’ll regret the things you don’t say more than the things you do. Is that just something someone once told me, or is that a common statement? Please tell me if you’ve heard it or not, seriously. I was just thinking about it as I was reading in Proverbs this morning…maybe I made it up. Anyway, Proverbs 17:27 says,
“He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.”
Lately I’ve found myself occasionally having not such a calm spirit. Wanting to do a jump-up-and-down-frustrated-groaning-grumpy-dance when a simple task is getting the better of me or something isn’t as easy as I want it to be. But on the adverse, I’m glad to say I have been doing a better job of keeping my tongue and thinking about the things I want to say. Feel free to send me a virtual pat on the back.
The truth is, I can think of a lot of things I’ve said that I regret saying, but there aren’t as many things that I’ve left unsaid that I wish I had. Maybe that’s just because I talk a lot. It’s an interesting balance I suppose, and you might find yourself in a different position. But perhaps because it’s the holidays, and sometimes your family can bring out the ‘old man’ like nobody else… or because somebody might grab that last thing off the shelf you were hoping for or slip into the parking space you were gunning for… or you find yourself with a string of lights already on the tree and out of order, take a moment to remember that “He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.†Take that extra moment to think about what’s going to come out of your mouth, and how you’re going to react if the mistletoe falls too far from the tree. And seize the opportunity to let love and peace season your words and deeds.
The Sermon in a Nutshell: Relax and enjoy the holidays! If that means holding your tongue here and there, praise the Lord who’s increasing your knowledge and understanding!
Dec 19, 2009 | Baby Photos, South Africa, Stories
If I’m learning anything these days, I’m learning that every moment can be a learning moment if you’re paying attention. If you check out this blog every-so-often, you are probably aware that I am in South Africa. And I’ll be here for a while. And I won’t be heading home for the holidays.
I’ve been honest and said that this wasn’t my first choice among options, since we were here with Mark’s family last Christmas, and this year was (in my mind) supposed to be a North Carolina Christmas. But, as I’ve also mentioned already, it seems clear that we’re actually where we’re supposed to be. And that’s a good thing. And I’m glad to be back in Bloemfontein. The sights and the smells are more and more familiar every time we pull into the drive and the gate closes behind us. It’s becoming a wonderful home away from home.
Just the other day, as I was thinking about being away from home at Christmas, the story of Christmas suddenly clicked in my mind in a whole new way. Sure, I’m 7,000+ miles away from home…but what is the story of Christmas? It is the story of God, leaving all the comforts of His infinitely better and more glorious home in heaven, to submit Himself to the humiliation of becoming human, to live the life He lived and experience the death He died, and then the glorious Resurrection that is a promise of the life we have to come in Him. The Creator stepped down into His own creation, and the story of our amazing rescue began.
Far, far, far away from home, lying in that manger, I wonder if Jesus yet had cognitive abilities — was He aware of where He was or was He like other babies? Like, did He have the mental capacity to realise He was going to have to trust someone else to feed Him when He was hungry, and change Him when he needed changing? Did He lie in the manger and think for a moment, even if a brief one– What the heck did I sign myself up for?
While it’s occasionally uncomfortable to be somewhere other than where you’d like to be sometimes, in comparison, I don’t have a holly jolly lot to complain about! How glorious and amazing and challenging it is that the Lord stepped down into this world for you and for me. And He stepped into it for real. Full on. Messy, dirty delivery amongst animals in a stable full on. Travelling preacher without a place to lay His head full on. Healing blind touching lepers people wanting to kill Him full on. To bring us back into right relationship with Him. I’m so thankful that Jesus wasn’t home for Christmas a couple thousand years ago. That’s where the story of us finding our way back home began.
The Sermon in a Nutshell: Whether you’re where you’d like to be this holiday or not, take a moment to be thankful for the God who left it all and surrendered to those humble beginnings in Bethlehem. Remember that in appearance it wasn’t as ‘pretty’ as your church nativity scene might make it out to be. But remember the beauty of this love story — the greatest love story ever told — God came near, and it all started at Christmas.
Dec 18, 2009 | Stories, The Good Word
Does a song ever get in your head that you don’t know the lyrics to? It happens to me all the time. And a lot of times it seems the songs that I don’t know the words to are the songs that are hardest to get out of my head. Can anybody remember a song with some lyric in it that goes, “Cos Breaking Up is Hard to do-ooo…â€? Please help me out. I’d really like to get rid of this skipping record in my head.
As a result of a conversation the other day, or something, I started thinking about that lyric. And I came to the conclusion that, in a way, it’s kind of a big, fat, yucky lie. Sometimes I think it’s a good idea to point out the fact that something is a lie. Sure, ‘breaking up’ is difficult sometimes, but if we’re honest, I think staying together is a lot more difficult.
There’s this brief mention in Philippians 4 of these two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Paul is encouraging them to “be of the same mind in the Lord.†And he continues by urging other people in the church to help them sort their mess out. Apparently they were diligent leaders in the church, setting examples and serving God with passion, but when they had a disagreement, it threatened to tear the congregation apart. Breaking up might be hard, but sticking it out and sorting through your differences is a lot harder.
Why are so many churches splitting these days? Why are so many marriages ending? Why are life-long friendships getting dropped cold? Why are awesome rock bands calling it quits? I think it’s because breaking up is a little easier to do than staying, fighting it out, and working it out. Paul’s solution was pretty simple. He had previously encouraged them to avoid foolish disputes and those things which were unprofitable. He encouraged them to work it out, so that they could be of the same mind, in unity and purpose again. And he asked other people in the church to step up and help them work through their differences. (How beautiful does that sound? For people to step up as blessed peacemakers instead of sassy side-takers!) He went on to speak about rejoicing in the Lord, and went so far as to repeat himself: “I will say it again, Rejoice!â€
What was all that about? I think perhaps if we remember the positives, and all the things we have to rejoice about — our lives, our salvation, the goodness of God that has been displayed in our every waking day, and in our fellowship with one another — we might realise that even though there may be some significant issues to be worked through when we have differences, in the light of the goodness of God, and in light of the forgiveness we’ve received, we have so much cause to be forgiving of others, and to make every effort to work through our differences and find peace again.
As he continues, Paul admonishes the Philippians to trust God with all their concerns, by prayer and supplication, with thankfulness, and to receive God’s peace, which can give our minds and hearts rest, even when we don’t have all the understanding we would like to have. And before he concludes this section, he makes the wonderful encouragement that we focus on the things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely and of good report. Instead of mulling over the things that are bothering us, we should count our blessings. Instead of recalling old situations to try to remember if we should take offense, mull over the goodness that God has displayed toward us. If we meditate on the good, Paul says the God of peace will be with us. In our own hearts, and bringing unity to our congregations. And that sounds like something worth fighting for.
The Sermon in a Nutshell: There’s so much ‘breaking up’ in the world today. When you next find yourself in the midst of disagreement, I hope these thoughts can provide you with the encouragement to stick it out, talk it out, fight it out, and eventually work it out. The path of most resistance is often the one we ought to take.
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