Hitting Rock Bottom

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Hitting Rock Bottom

Take a look around you. We are hitting rock bottom in this country. Our politics is a mess. There is moral bankruptcy all around. And then there is suffering in this world rivaling the Holocaust! Actually, we have been hitting rock bottom for a long time, haven't we? 

And maybe you have been hitting rock bottom personally also.

There's that serious diagnosis, that turmoil in a relationship, that financial reversal, that heart-shattering rejection. Or maybe it's having heard once too often those inner, harassing voices telling you "you are nothing, no one loves you, no one will ever love you." You are at the end of your trying, the end of your own resources.

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Craig's Song: I Am Waiting for the Dawning . . .

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Craig's Song: I Am Waiting for the Dawning . . .

The beauty of aging is that long-term memory starts to kick in (don't ask me what I had for breakfast!).

And that's what happened in the midst of a hard time, a sweet yet bitter time, when many gathered to share our corporate sadness, yet rejoicing, at the graduation to glory of our dear brother and friend Craig Steffen.

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Touch Jesus . . . Touch Life

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Touch Jesus . . . Touch Life

Years ago I had a mentor-friend named Donna.  She was the one the Lord used to usher me into experiencing Christ in me as the One who does the doing in the Christian life!  Her key phrase was (as I remember it) "God does it."

Then by the Spirit of God came the realization that my indwelling Lord Jesus Christ is my All in All!  He is the Father's Ultimate Gift to me...no-thing else, no-thing more!

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

 

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The Stabilizing Focus of a Morning Prayer

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The Stabilizing Focus of a Morning Prayer

Oh, life has been full of losses lately...deaths, illnesses, failures. And these during and after times of refreshment with loved ones and beaches and the simplicity of Amish peaceful countryside. 

As a result, I am reflecting, revisiting, and responding in new ways to previous thoughts...some of which have already been shared. Forgive me. But if you would like to listen in, here is my meditation:

Life is a mix, a conglomeration.
There is confusion and clarity, flailing and focus, excruciating pain and exquisite peace.
There is bitterness and sweetness, strength and fragility, "rugged seas" and "smooth sailing."

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Why? Why one but not the other?

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Why? Why one but not the other?

While my husband and I made our way to the East Coast to spend time with our daughter and family, grandsons, my own siblings and their families, word came to us of the sudden death of our friend Craig. Shock beyond words! Grief and heart-break for our friend Cindy, his dear wife as well as for ourselves and all those who have known him and loved him. No time for prayer, beseeching, begging!

Then a few days later, word came of my friend Linda, who had just suffered a stoke at 73 years of age...

So that's always the dilemma.

WHY? Why one and not the other?

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Grief and Joy and Love and Life: for a Friend in the Loss of Her Beloved

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Grief and Joy and Love and Life: for a Friend in the Loss of Her Beloved

For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name... 
Isaiah 54:5

My dear friend,

I heard a song and I thought of you!

I remembered a poem and I thought of you!

And I thought of grief and joy and love and life...and I thought of you, my precious sister-friend!

And I remembered your delightful, creative, godly love of your life Craig, who is now "exploring the mysteries of Christ."

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Schooltime (or anytime) Prayer for the Children in your Life

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Schooltime (or anytime) Prayer for the Children in your Life

Four little "scholars" begin a new school year in our family. Since these scholars are our grandchildren, this new beginning makes this Babci pause.

What will this year hold for these precious little lives?

Joys and sorrows, friendships and rejections, encouragement and despondency, successes and failures...

Lord, I want the formers and not the latters. But I know how it goes...the firsts often come through the seconds.

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Respecting the Holy Spirit in Other Believers...including (or maybe especially) Children

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Respecting the Holy Spirit in Other Believers...including (or maybe especially) Children

During these closing weeks of the summer, many of us are focusing especially on the children in our lives. School is starting (or has already started), and we are longing for a rich year of learning, love, and acceptance...good friends, caring teachers and adults in their young, vulnerable lives. And our wish list for them and prayer list on their behalf go on and on. 

So whether a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, teacher or caring friend, this is for you. I know it can be easy to discount or forget the glorious potential in those little lives that we love and care about.

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The Prayer of Relinquishment...the hardest prayer to pray

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The Prayer of Relinquishment...the hardest prayer to pray

Like most people, when I first began active experimentation with prayer, I was full of questions, such as: Why are some agonizingly sincere prayers granted, while others are not? I still have questions. Mysteries about prayer are always ahead of present knowledge—luring, beckoning on to further experimentation.

But one thing I do know; I learned it through hard experience. It’s a way of prayer that has resulted consistently in a glorious answer, glorious because each time, power beyond human reckoning has been released. This is the Prayer of Relinquishment.

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Of Haircuts, Bananas, and Traffic Patterns: Is anything too Small for the Lord?

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Of Haircuts, Bananas, and Traffic Patterns: Is anything too Small for the Lord?

Is there anything too small for the Lord?

OK, that's not how the verse goes: 

Is there anything too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:17; 32:27; Luke 18:27)

But maybe the first is a question we should also ask. Let me share why...

The other day I was taking my daily walk down our hill, through the nature path, alongside the horse farm, through a park area with the baseball fields and grove of trees...then back again. Many times this walk is when I commune with the Lord....listening to praise music, talking with  my Savior and Friend.

And other times, I commune with friends or family via my cell phone. Also lovely and meaningful.

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Fragile Souls...all of us, but especially...

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Fragile Souls...all of us, but especially...

As I was getting ready to write a short blog about how easy it is to run ahead of the Lord, word came through of another pastor of a large multi campus ministry, a dear brother in the Lord, who has fallen into the mire of "moral failure."

Tragic, devastating news!

We all grieve for our brother...for his lovely wife...for his precious children.

And for ourselves who have heard God's Word and Spirit speaking to our hearts through this gifted brother.

But we also grieve with him...yes, with!

Because none of us is far from the same pit...though in different circumstances. This could easily be you or me.

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The Dance of FAITH: Moving with His Life-giving Flow

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The Dance of FAITH: Moving with His Life-giving Flow

A few years ago, my husband and I were at some friends’ house.  This couple liked to gather miscellaneous people who knew them but not each other. True to form, they asked a great icebreaker question.  The particular question that evening was, 

If you could do anything other than what you currently do, what would that be? Your secret ambition?

 

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The Acceptance of FAITH: Embracing that I Am who I Am... by Grace

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The Acceptance of FAITH: Embracing that I Am who I Am... by Grace
If God Himself is the Strong One who does the doing, what is my part…yes faith, but what about my doing? 

To answer that, let’s look again at our second “yet not I” verse:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God with [sun, united with] me. (1 Corinthians 15:10 NET)
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A Living FAITH: What is it?

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A Living FAITH: What is it?

What is a living faith? 

To understand a faith that is alive, vibrant, real and restful, we need to explore two verses and two questions.  Both of our verses contain the same interesting phrase, “yet not I.” And both are from Paul’s writings: Galatians 2:20 and 2 Corinthians 15:10.

1. What is “the faith” by which we live while on this earth? 

I am crucified [united with] Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

2. If God lives the life that only He can live in and through me, what about me? Do I do anything? 

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God with [united with] me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

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The Rest of FAITH: Living the “Yet Not I, but CHRIST” Life

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The Rest of FAITH: Living the “Yet Not I, but CHRIST” Life

About twelve years ago, our son-in-law was stationed in Tucson, Arizona [home of our Alma Mater, the U of A, "Go Wildcats!"  But I digress...].  When the school year for my ESOL class had ended in June, I flew to Tucson for an extended visit.

Beth and Nate were both working during the daytime, so I had some lovely, restful, sun-filled (and "Son-filled") time alone by the pool.  At that time, I was reading some of Brennan Manning's books.

One day I was reading The Signature of Jesus: The Call to a Life Marked by Holy Passion & Relentless Faith as I soaked up the Arizona sun by the pool.  I was somewhat annoyed to see that a man lying on a lounge nearby was straining to see what I was reading.  

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Revelation 201: "Why do kids raised in Christian homes walk away from the faith?" and other such questions

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Revelation 201: "Why do kids raised in Christian homes walk away from the faith?" and other such questions

Kids who have been raised in Christian homes, and even educated in Christian schools, seem to be "leaving the faith" in surprising numbers.

And maybe there are just as many young people and adults that "stay" but are bored, just going through the motions. 

What is going on? Why is this happening?

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Caught in the Web: Getting Free*

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Caught in the Web: Getting Free*

Look carefully! Can you see it? A perfectly formed circular spider web hanging across a path, suspended by a thread! Th is is the amazing sight that my friend Penny and I happened upon early one morning as we were walking down some little-traveled paths in a wooded area in my neighborhood. Here was one spider who was serious! She was ready to get a good catch that day!

There was a period of insecurity in my life when I was a good catch in a craftily constructed web—not made by earthly designs but that of the Father of Lies (John 8:44). It started out with a series of real, and perhaps imagined, rejections which then developed into a lie. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I had recognized it for what it was, but I didn’t. And so I embraced it as truth and struggled for many years.

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Revelation -101: How NOT to See & Hear God

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Revelation -101: How NOT to See & Hear God

You read that right "Revelation MINUS 101." 

I wish I didn't have to write this post, but I wouldn't be honest if I didn't.

And can I be honest? I've been cranky . . . crabby . . . "out of sorts" . . . ok, nasty! Ask my husband. I had gotten tired of being a "punching bag" in little ways in a certain relationship. My house is torn apart with a pending reconstruction project. I feel in limbo emotionally (aftermath of my husband's and my retirement?) . . . all potential reasons but very poor excuses!

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