Grass and weeds....

It's that time again....the yard is turning green.....

....green with grass and weeds....

Sometimes it seems that the weeds are taking over and just will not go away! 

We spray them....we pluck them....yet they still return....

To invade the "perfect" sea of green grass we all long for....

Sometimes our lives as Christians may seem like a blade of grass...

....growing in places that have weeds to our left and to our right...

We feel outnumbered and wonder if we can keep up this difficult walk....

The mighty prophet Elijah felt overwhelmed and outnumbered...

....as the feelings of defeat consumed him....

1 Kings 19:14 - He replied again, "I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too."

The LORD then told him of 7,000 others that still served the living God. 

1 Kings 19:18 - "Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!"

So, fellow blades of grass.....never give fighting the good fight! 

1 TImothy 6:12 "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

For when we stand together....

....firm in our faith....

...shining God's love by the actions of our lives...

...we can overcome the weeds and spread the Good News to all around us....

Labor of Love....

Baseball season has begun....

 

The pitcher throwing his heart out....for the sound of the ball 

hitting the catcher's glove....STRIKE! 

How sweet the sound!

A new band of brothers....all together fighting for a victory....

After the hard-fought battle, there are stains....

....grass and orange dirt rubbed deep into the uniform pants... 

....WHITE uniform pants....

I love the color white...but on baseball pants....

...what a labor of love to scrub out those ugly orange knees after every game. The sick, imperfect look of the dirty pants...stained and soiled...

They remind me of how imperfect and dirty I look 

in my sin to my heavenly Father.... 

....His perfect creation....made in His image...now dirty...

...Oh how far from glory we fell...

.....I don't really grasp just how far until I gaze upon these dirty pants.... 

....the glory I once had, never to return without a sacrifice....

....The love GOD poured out to wash us clean again....

...through the blood of His son are my sins washed as white as snow....

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let's settle this," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow."

His patient and tireless effort to continually make me clean again each day....

 Lamentations 3:23 "Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning."

And so, I scrub...

...and feel so grateful that though I am a dirty sinner, 

my Redeemer loves me enough to wash me clean each and every day!

Unplugged....

It's the fourth commandment....

"Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy."    Exodus 20:8

A day of rest and worship...to be set apart from the other days....something different....a day to be refreshed again....a day to do no work....

But how can a modern-day family observe the Sabbath in a world of totally busyness and distractions?

How can they "meditate on God's Word" when the Internet is so readily available in the palm of their hand....just a click away from everything....and yet nothing of high importance....

How can they "be still and know God" when their phone/iPad beeps for their attention whenever someone posts a new status on Facebook or a sports team scores....

How can they "practice hospitality and build others up" when the stores have so many good sales going on this weekend....

A family can do it if they chose God over the world. 

But this choice and this life are a battle....a fight to follow God and His commands. 

The world and your enemy does NOT want you to win this fight. 

...he wants you busy....

...he wants you distracted...

...he wants you shopping for more and more earthly stuff...

...none of which will satisfy....

So, our family took a Sabbath "unplug" afternoon to try it out. All electronics (iPad, iTouch, Wii remotes, xBox controllers, TV remotes, cameras, Leadpad, Ninendo DS, etc) were put inside a plastic tub on Sunday afternoon from 12-6pm. Everyone was to first work on their weekly Bible lesson. Then everyone could listen to music, play outside, hang out with family, read books, play games, listen to the Twins on the radio or hang out with your pets, etc.

Without all the interruptions and distractions, the whole family seemed to get along better (less fights for attention) and one of the kids even mentioned at the dinner table "Everyone seems happier today". Not bad for the first attempt!  The interesting part was getting back into the week on Monday and noticing how often we used the things just the day before we weren't allowed it. Funny how this might creep into something more....

So why rest one day a week anyway? Why does God command us to do this?

First off....God did.

"On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work."  Genesis 2:2

Second....God blessed it.

"Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."  Genesis 2:3

Third....it sets you apart from the world and you will be refreshed.

"It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.'"  Exodus 31:17

Fourth...it passes on your faith and shows the importance of the Sabbath to your kids.

"Tell the people of Israel: 'Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy." Exodus 31:13

Finally...you will strengthen your relationship with God and He will grant you great success.

"Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don't pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD's holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don't follow your own desires or talk idly.Then you will find joy in your relationship to the LORD, and I will give you great prosperity...."  Isaiah 58:13-14

So, are you up to the Sabbath Unplug challenge?

I encourage you and your families to give it a try....unplug and be refreshed!

It is well.....

Oh the waves they crash....

This endless sea of turbulence and trial seem to never end.....

It was Easter weekend....a time to rejoice in the new life Jesus has given me....yet I failed to lift my eyes from the troubles all around me....

A severe lack of sleep did not help....

5 days of nausea, dizziness and intestinal discomfort had put me in a weakened state as the weekend approached...

And yet...someone was whispering to me....

...like a lighthouse shines through the fog....I had just to look and listen.

Monday morning

I had heard a song in my dream....."It is well with my soul...."

....I woke to an answered prayer. She had slept through the night! It has been weeks....

Then I checked out the lyrics to the song that was in my dream....

...I wept as they filled every piece of the puzzle that is going on right now...

...I had begun to miss my old house and the comforts we had there....

...the quiet, familiar surroundings that I no longer felt....

...I was clinging to comfort and forgot I need to be clinging to Christ....

...oh, such a slow learner I am....

But today I say....."IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL"

The sound of laughter and the power of music....

The sounds of laughter in the house again....

...oh, how sweet the sound....

...when cries of frustration, envy, self-pity and anger have raged in this house for too many days .....

...her spontaneous, contagious giggles are so beautiful as they reflect off the walls and fill the hearts of those that hear them...

...my spirit soars at their sound....

The only other way that I find that instant "pick-me-up" is through music....

....lately it's been either Matthew West or Chris Tomlin....

....but it usually only takes about 3-4 measures and I'm taken away.....

...away from my problems, my stress, my current crisis....

...my soul dances with the notes as they speak to a deep part in me that LOVES to sing....

...the part that my heavenly Father made special....

....connecting my soul to His presence....

....AMAZING....POWERFUL....INTIMATE.....

...oh, how sweet the sound....that saved a wretch like me....

...I once was lost...but now I'm found....was blind but now I see....

Character Development.....

Okay....I think I need a break from my character development for awhile.....you know those mornings when you wake up and want to crawl back into the covers and not face another battle. Just to have a break from the challenges for just a day, okay maybe a week...a month perhaps...?!!

And yet, it is in those hard, dark moments that the whisper comes. That sweet song of love that picks me up and carries me through the storm yet again. Oh, how I have come to love that tender soul music....

In Hebrews, Chapter 12 it begins....

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."


This eternal encouragement came to me last week as I worked on my weekly Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) lesson. Oh, how it expressed exactly how I was feeling. 

That this race was marked out for me to travel....

....not to travel alone...

....and not to focus on the cracks in the pavement...

...but to look up....

...to look to Jesus to hold me through. That is where my strength is....

I almost can relate to Paul when he wrote in 2 Corinthians, Chapter 12....

v10 "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Do I like these hardships...no way....do I wish them to stop....yes, please! 

But do I treasure the closeness I have felt the LORD hold me through them, without question!!!

That has been the best part....

....to be filled with the Spirit....

....to endure the trials stronger than I was the day before....

....to SHINE during the storm....that is my goal...

Waiting.....

"Patience is a virtue"....."Good things come to those who wait".....

I know the sayings but I'm still working on being cheerful in the waiting.  

I like to plan and organize things so that means there is usually a time frame when I think the thing "should" get done. A desire to "check off the box" and complete the task.

But now there is area in my life which I have no control over and I am learning how to wait....and it is not easy....

I want to see the suffering stop....I want God to help and heal her....but His timing is not my own.....

It doesn't mean that it will never happen....it would just be easier for me and our family if it just "got fixed" now.

But maybe it isn't a "quick fix" issue....maybe there are many layers and walls to tear down, brick by brick so that a new foundation of love can be rebuilt.

It takes time to rebuild....it also takes courage and strength.....for the attacks are great but the battle so important to be fought and won....


"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." 1 Peter 3:9

"A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people." 2 Timothy 2:24


I am realizing that I don't have enough courage and strength right now on my own.....it is time to ask for help from the source of strength....there is no other way to rebuild these walls....only to talk with the Master Builder.....

"May God, who gives you this endurance and encouragement, allow you to live in harmony with each other by following the example of Christ Jesus." Romans 15:5