I'm excited to say I just finished getting the file for my painting "Beautiful" ready for reproduction. Prints on canvas, prints on paper, etc. I am so excited. Anyway, just wanted to shout it out. So all of you who asked this summer about purchasing one, they are now available! Yippie. Good Times.

No More!

Romans 5: 1-6.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

When does this verse apply? When we are going through trials, right? Is it that every trial we endure is a method of developing our character? Is it that God's got this ultimate plan for us to learn to persevere, so He is on a mission to drag us through the ringer? Could we possibly be forgetting about the "hope" part of this verse. Is our character and perseverance more significant in our trials than our hope in Him?

Never! He is how we survive because He is hope. Sometimes life keeps dealing out trials, right? And sometimes we might think to ourselves, "I sure am sick of developing my perseverance and character. I just don't think I can persevere anymore." Maybe people have encouraged you with saying, "Press on, God is refining your character. Persevere! These words are necessarily wrong, but have you ever been the one going through the trial, wishing for just one day with good news? Deep inside you probably don't know if you can muster anymore strength to "push on".

So, maybe we should stop pushing. Maybe we should let go, and hope. Is the character we want inside of us, or do we want to be like Him? Do we want to rely on human strength to persevere, or His? Maybe the best thing we can do is let go and hope.

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Life disappoints. Sickness disappoints. People disappoint. This world will always disappoint us, but He never will. If we are ever disappointed with God, I am convinced our perspective is distorted because His Word is true, and it says He does not disappoint! He can't because it's not within His character.

If we become disappointed with God because of the trials in our lives, we need to refocus and pray, "God this life is full of frustration and I am weary. I know You bring hope. I know You do not disappoint, so please save me. Give me hope. I need Your power to live through this because I'm at the end of mine. I am depleted. I need You or I cannot make it." When we stop trying, His love takes over. He's given us the Holy Spirit who is the perfect gift for our weakness. When we have nothing left and don't know what to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for us with words and utterances we cannot understand. When life conquered us, remember Christ died and lives. Somewhere in the darkness of life, He offers life, but we have to find it in Him and nothing else.

Was this verse was written solely to encourage us to become "better people" through trials? I don't think so. Perhaps it is an admonition that only He has the hope and strength we need to get through a trial. As a result, we realize He is the foundation of character and perseverance in our life, not our efforts and sacrifice.

Conversations of the Week

We were in the car, when Joseph said, "When are we going to ride a jet"

Me: "I don't know honey"
Joseph: "When are we going into outer space?"
Me: "Probably never."
Joseph: "Why?"
Me: "Because we're not astronauts."
Joseph: "Yes we are!"
Me: "What? We're not astronauts."
Joseph: "Yes we are, we're Christians"

Again, we were in the car when Joseph said, "I think all the birds have gone somewhere."
Me: "Yep, did you know that when it gets cold, birds fly somewhere that it's warm for the winter?"
Joseph: "Yeah, cause I just saw some flying, and then they flew to cold, and hurried and flew where it was even colder, and switched to somewhere it was warm."

Brilliant!

Give Up?

Giving up is so important. Not in the sense that we are no longer motivated, but in the sense that we are striving to make something happen. We haven't really given something to the Lord if we are still trying to make it work. Giving something up means that we pray and walk away. We wait on Him instead of trying to figure out how to "make it happen". Only when we've really "given up" does he have true permission to take over, to receive the glory for answering our prayers, for ruling and running our lives.

Until we let go of the reigns, FOR REAL, we are not really trusting. It's like we're letting Him drive, but we still set the GPS to make sure He makes all the right turns. When He takes a turn we don't understand, we recalculate. AMEN?

How much do we really trust if we secretly distrust God's intentions? In Psalm 27, David confesses his only safe place is in the shelter of God's tabernacle. What does this mean? I think it means that when things aren't going the way he hoped, he imagines himself in the presence of God, in the tabernacle where there is safety. In the Lord's presence, He feels safe, high on a rock, where no one can touch him. The Lord is his refuge, a place of hiding.

Can he stay in hiding forever? No, so he asks for God to deliver him from his enemies and not to forsake him. Is David confident his enemies will not get to him? Is he sure the LORD will answer his prayers the way he wants? No. But, whether his enemies come after him or not, he knows he will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!!! He will still trust God's decision and look forward to the day he will be in a safe place with the LORD forever, with no enemies to hide from.

David says, so Wait! Wait, be strong, take heart, stand and wait. He urges us not to walk away from the only one who will never forsake us (vs.10). Be strong and wait. Keep running with Him because He is the only one who can keep you from weariness (Isaiah 40:28-31).

I confess I have not suffered and feared in my life as David. In fact I have probably not suffered as much as many of you, but I am confident this is a sure principle in the Word of God. I am challenged. How 'bout you?

Misinterpretation

(Picture from our 12 miles bike ride in Anchorage, AK)

So, tonight I sat with the boys on the couch to read our nightly Bible story. It was about the resurrection. Jacob said he couldn't wait to read and they were really paying attention. The story went as follows, the ladies went to the tomb and no body was there but there was a cloth still in the tomb so he hadn't been stolen. Then they see two angels, and next Mary thought Jesus was the gardener.

Then comes "THE MOMENT". Joseph asked his question. "What's that on Jesus' hand?'

Jacob was pleased to take this opportunity to teach Joseph. He went into a sincere and detailed explanation about how they were blood marks from when the nails were put on his hands from the crucifixion.

Joseph responded by saying, "Oh, I thought someone drew a CRAYON on his hand." I also then explained more about the crucifixion and Joseph got a weirdly somber look on his face (not his normal jovial self). I thought he might really be having some deep feelings about Jesus' having his hands nailed to a cross, so I asked him what was wrong.

He said sadly, "I just wanted to be right." I asked, "What about the crayon?" And he said, "Yeah, I just wanted to be right."

Ha. So while I was thinking God is moving in his heart, he's actually deeply disappointed that Jesus didn't have a crayon on his hand. Silly Me!!

My Soul

I just started a bible study with some women in our church. We are discussing how a lifestyle of worship is one way we can develop greater intimacy with the Father. This weeks’ lesson prompted me to theologically reflect. Our study pointed out that many people’s view of worship is narrow because they limit it to singing once a week during Sunday morning fellowship. This is true, but I also believe it comes up shorthanded when we become too comfortable with “our style” of worship, be it song, meditation, prayer, poetry, writing, etc. There are so many different ways to praise the Savior, but it’s easy to get stuck in a rut, Amen. If God wants us to worship in another way, it’s easy to become apprehensive or scared we may not “do it well”, or we may not “get it right”

I get stuck in a rut, but the question remains, “Will I allow myself to be handicapped in worshiping my King because I've let something else define the method by which I’m allowed to praise Him?” Much of our society has limited worship to a few three-minute songs in a church building, or perhaps on a radio, iPod, or stereo. However, I feel a call to be more open to worship in ways I have not "practiced" on a regular basis. Why? Because when I’m uncomfortable, it's not about how well I DO IT, but about how worthy He is. If we allow Him to stretch us, I believe we’ll become more aware of His creative character, thereby causing us to recognize His presence more completely in life.

Have you ever worshiped alone, without the guidance of a choir or praise team? Maybe He wants to capture your attention when you’re all alone. Has our Bible study become a duty, a way to figure out who God is, or an act of worship? Could worship be noticing someone He created in His image in a coffee shop and praying for them? Maybe worship could entail sitting outside on a cool evening admiring the stars and listening to the animals. Perhaps instead of moping when we feel down, we decide to imagine Him holding us in a loving embrace, just as many of us do with our children. Maybe we even end up crying with Him.

I think worship happens when we shift our attention from ourselves to Him. It's amazing how we become edified when we focus on Him instead of ourselves. He created us to need Him. We are filled when He is worshiped. Some have contrived that our God must be an egomaniac to be jealous of our worship. However, what they don't know is that we are hard-wired for find completion in His perfection.

Consider these Psalms.

Psalm 62: 1 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.

5. Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.

Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

⁸ My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

As I read these verses this week, I was impacted by the Lord’s effect on our souls. I love the phrasing of verse 8, "My soul clings to you." The older I get, the more I see the pain a sinful world brings to the people around me. The sting of death and the raw nature of evil will weigh down my soul if I am not careful. It is easy to become disappointed and disillusioned, wanting to lock all the doors to my home and not let anyone I love out until it’s all over. This is why my soul has to cling to Him and is also why His right hand of strength has to hold me up. This is why my rest is only found in Him. I cannot live a life of light if my soul is not leaning on Him, worshiping Him in the everyday. He alone is the source of water in this dry and weary land. May we learn to worship you in new ways causing our habits and minds to become dependent on your strength and not our own. Only then can we live like Christ in this crooked and depraved world.

The Day Spa at Nantahala Village

For Labor Day, we traveled to see my family at the Nantahala Village. It was Jacob's birthday. We had been saving and were able to get the boys a Wii. However, I think we had as much fun as they did with the game. You should have seen children, parents and grandparents yelling at the Mario cars as they kept driving to the right. Then, finally Jacob figured out we all had the remotes turned the wrong way. So, we were humbled.

We had a great time hanging out with the Fam, plus Clayton and I received a little pampering at The Day Spa. I was so excited to see the place. It is located on the back side of the resort in a quaint house with a wrap around porch. Chase did a good job picking out relaxing wall colors and it even had that soothing spa smell. Clayton and I got a couples massage and I was really impressed because the pressure was perfect and she hit all the right places. I've had continual back problems since 17 because I was run over by a Suburban in my high school parking lot. consequently, I've gotten about 10 massages in my life at some well known places, but I have to tell you that the massages at their spa were perfect because they really listened to my trouble spots.

I also got a facial, and back facial, if that's what you call it. Elisabeth did a great job and I can tell my skin really needed it. How great is it that I can visit my family and they have a spa right in their back yard. So thanks guys. I feel really lucky to have gotten to enjoy the luxuries of the resort with you. I can't wait to bring some friends next time. Mom I know you've gotten a facial, but you have to stop and get a massage. Take a break and you won't regret it! I'd love to see you relax a little. Love you.