He's Up to Something

Silence.  It can be a beautiful.  When days are full and noise is rampant, silence is something that I cherish.  Last week, I had 2 sick kids who were both napping, a another was at a friend’s house for the afternoon, and the remaining child was at school.  The afternoon, for 3 hours, was completely silent.  I hardly knew what to do with myself.  It was glorious. 

Silence.  It can be dangerous.  That kid.  You know the one.  When there is silence, there is trouble.  Someone is getting a haircut.  Something is getting unscrewed, torn apart, glued or taped.  One afternoon, I was folding laundry in my bedroom.  There was silence in the house while my youngest was sleeping and my son was watching his favorite show.  There comes a moment when things are too quiet.  I knew I needed to investigate but I didn’t want to interrupt the beautiful quiet.  "Just a few more minutes, and then I’ll check things out," I thought.  Just then, my son came running into the room crying, like he was in pain and a little scared.  He showed me what he had been doing.  I am still not sure what he was trying to do, but after seeing a battery and aluminum foil, I figured out what caused the tears.  My four year-old had created his own electrical science experiment.  Thankfully, other than learning a hard lesson, he wasn’t permanently injured.

Silence.  It can be frustrating.  When you are waiting for an answer and it just won’t come.  Many of my prayers are those of waiting.  God, show me, tell me what to do.  Yes or No?  Major life decisions, personal problems, family issues, and challenges with my children; sometimes clarity comes quickly, thankfully.  Most of the time, the answers come slowly, if at all.

Today is Good Friday, Holy Friday.  Jesus’ followers watch their best friend get humiliated and beaten, then put to die on a cross.  All they had known for three years, ended on that day, in silence. The disciples ran and hid, for fear of their own arrest.  They spent the next couple days, in frustrating, painful silence.

Why does God stay silent when we need to hear from Him?  Doesn’t he know the anguish his silence causes?  We are a need to know people!  We need an immediate response.

I wonder, if during that silence, Jesus' followers tried to think back over their time with him to remember anything and everything he said to them.  Jesus predicted his own death numerous times.  Luke actually records that the two angels at the tomb reminded the women what Jesus told them, “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.” (Luke 24:7 NIV)  It was in that moment, the women “remembered his words”.  They connected the dots and had an AH-HA moment.   

He’s up to something.  When the disciples were waiting in silence for 3 days after Jesus’ death, God was up to something.  It’s as if God was saying, “Hold on, dear one, wait and see what I am going to do.”

Are you sitting and waiting in silence?  Waiting for God to bring an end to your pain or a cure for an illness?  Are you waiting on God to bring a loved one home or to piece together a broken marriage?

In the midst of the silence, God is working things out on your behalf.  It may take a little time, to change hearts and circumstances, but he is working.     

Hold on, dear one, wait and see what GOD is going to do!

Romans 8:26-28 The Message

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

The Waiting by Jamie Grace

Easter is my Favorite

This is a re-post from last Easter.  Every word is still true for me today.  I pray it is true for you.  Let Jesus' resurrection take on a new meaning in your life this Easter!


It has nothing to do with the Easter Bunny, Easter Baskets, or the horrid Easter grass and plastic eggs that end up ALL.OVER.MY.HOUSE., months after Easter has passed.

For me, Easter is memories of my childhood. Easter meant getting a NEW dress. Emphasis on the word NEW. I was the youngest daughter in my family. On top of that, I also had a female cousin in- between myself and my older sister. So, hand-me-downs were pretty much all I had. Now, I had pretty nice hand-me-downs. I am not complaining here. My children have second-hand wardrobes...I am okay with this. However, Easter meant wearing something NEW.

Easter was getting up EARLY on Easter Sunday morning and going to the sunrise service at our church. Shivering outside with all of the congregation. Singing, “Up from the grave He arose...” and watching for which person was going to fall out because of standing for too long with their knees locked. It was hugging your family, your church friends, and all of the people who have known me since, well, birth.

Easter meant breakfast. After the sunrise service, we all headed to the fellowship hall to enjoy eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and homemade goodness. The deacons of our church were our waiters. We laughed and gave them a hard time. They secretly loved it. The joy that filled that room was something I will never forget. Eating breakfast with 100 of my closest friends and family.

I know, I know, Easter is more than clothes, getting up early, and food. However, these memories played a part in the foundation of my faith. The part that Easter is a BIG DEAL. For me, Easter is a bigger deal than any other holiday I celebrate...even Christmas...GASP!

On Easter, Christians focus on Jesus Christ; his life, death, AND resurrection. God didn't just send his Son to be a good guy and die a martyr's death, but God sent Jesus to BRING HIM BACK TO LIFE.

God wants to give US life. Dead life? Let God resurrect your life. Dead marriage? Let God resurrect your marriage. Dead relationships? Let God resurrect your relationships.

Time and time again, in my life, God has resurrected. He sees our pain, He sees our struggles, and WANTS to give us life again. In the Bible, John 10, Jesus tells the Pharisees that he is the Good Shepherd. He came to guide us and give LIFE, to resurrect us.

This Easter, let Him bring you back to life. Let God resurrect the dead places that nothing else can reach. My friend, you will rise again!

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Leah

Sanity Saturday

Today, I'm all about regaining some sanity.  

Let me give you a rundown of the "high" points of the past two weeks:

Tues Feb 23: Out of town to visit ailing grandmother and say "good-bye"
Wed Feb 24: My grandmother passed away
Saturday-Sunday Feb 27-28: Out of town with family/Funeral
Monday Feb 29: Baby girl at the doctor with ear infection
Wednesday March 2: Flat tire on the side of busy road
Thursday, March 3: Sick 5 year old at home
Thursday-Friday March 3-4: While trying to fulfill other obligations, get tire fixed...two hour school delay throwing a curve ball in the middle of all of it

Oh Sanity, Where Art Thou?

Yesterday morning, I was on the verge of an anxiety attack.  

My chest hurt.  I couldn't breathe.  It was all TOO much.

This morning, I am breathing, more relaxed (as much as possible in this crazy house) and reflecting on the blessings that God brought through the challenging moments of the past couple of weeks.  At the end of the day yesterday, my 11 year-old pointed out that despite my morning anxiety, God worked it all out and good things came from the tough things.  I wholeheartedly agreed, while quite chagrined that my middle-schooler had to bring this to my attention.

Throughout the last couple of weeks, though difficult, I spent some amazing time with loved ones, reflecting on a woman that impacted hundreds of peoples lives in her 95 years on this earth.  I visited with friends and family I hadn't see in years.  I was touched by the number of people who traveled great distances to pay their respects to my grandmother.
I am proud to be a part of my grandmother's legacy.  

Despite ear infections, colds, coughs, and congestion my babies are healthy and well, somehow still maintaining high levels of energy throughout the day (how does that happen?).  

A dear friend came to my rescue to change the flat tire.  Another friend interrupted her day to pick up my two year-old so she wouldn't be stranded on the side of the road with me (in 35 degree temps).  My son's preschool teachers took care of his needs and fed him lunch while I was unable to get to him.  Another friend loaned me her van until my tire was repaired.  A tire that was supposed to cost $185 to get replaced, was miraculously patched for a mere $25
(even the shop owner couldn't believe it).

Ya'll, then enemy tries to get to us.  He is real and is against us.  He wants to break us down and make us lose hope, while chipping away at our sanity.  Thankfully, we serve a God who knows all of these things about our enemy, knows how incredibly weak we are, and still finds a way to bring good out of evil.  

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know (with great confidence) that God (who is deeply concerned about us) causes all things to work together (as a plan) for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose."  (AMP)

I am sure your days are challenging too, in their own way.  Don't forget that God is always there, fighting for you, working for you, loving you.  

Open your eyes to God's blessings through the storm.  

Courtesy of WBDJ 7 - three crosses that remained standing after the tornado that devastated our region on February 24 (the day my grandmother passed.  On that same afternoon, we saw a vibrant double rainbow seen here.

Sanity may be within our grasp!  I am praying for a Sanity Saturday for you too!

The Unattainable Virtuous Woman

I have avoided those verses my entire life. When I start reading Proverbs 31, anxiety ensues. I can't read them without thinking about all of the ways I am NOT a virtuous woman.

This weekend, my grandmother was laid to rest. I was first asked to pray at her funeral. This I can do, whether in front of 1 person or 200 people, it usually doesn't make me too nervous.  Then, plans changed. Instead, I was asked to read Proverbs 31:10-31.  The one set of verses that send me into a downward spiral fetal position and I was asked to read them for my grandmother's funeral in front of a sanctuary full of people.  Thank you, Irony.  

Before reading scripture in front of a group, I like to investigate the background surrounding the passage. Specifically, what am I reading and why is this woman my nemesis?  Usually, its God's way of opening my eyes to something new he has to teach me.  Thank you, God.

These verses were written at the end of a book on wisdom.  Hebrew sons memorizing the scriptures had to learn this passage on what to look for in a wife. In Hebrew, the verses are an acrostic of the alphabet, providing an easy way for the young men to remember.

The verses are clearly not written in first person, so this woman didn't write this about herself. What woman could? We always feel like we are failing, never doing enough. Someone wrote this about her. Someone was looking at her life from the outside and wrote what they saw. The woman displayed wisdom in her daily choices and an onlooker wrote about her.  

Like all of us, she was simply doing her best. I am sure she was weary and exhausted, feeling like she could barely keep her head above water.  This woman, whose perfection always intimidated me, isn't perfect.  I'm sure she yelled raised her voice at her kids and complained about dirty socks all over the floor.  She had to have failed once in a while at meal planning and getting all of the laundry washed, dried, folded, and put away. 

But when it came to major decisions, those that affect her family, she used wisdom.  Day by day, moment by moment, she called on wisdom.  

Wisdom isn't something we are all blessed with. It's one of those things where I wonder if I was skipped over when the good Lord was passing it out.  I surely could use some when trying to get my children to listen. 

The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, asked God for wisdom. In fact, because he asked for it, instead of wealth or fame, God gave him an abundance of all three!  

I wonder if the Virtuous Woman asked God for wisdom as she began her day, in order to make the best decisions for her family?  I bet she did. How could she have accomplished all of the tasks before her without first asking God for his wisdom to complete them?  

This challenges me, before I begin my day, to pray for wisdom.  I may only have a moment to breathe before I wake my first little one to get ready for her day;  however, in that moment, what a difference it could make if I asked God for the wisdom to make the best choices for my family throughout the chaos.  

I challenge you to do the same.  What a difference it could make in our world if we all started the day asking God for a little wisdom!   

Dear God,

As lift my head and rise from bed, 

grant me with wisdom to be a woman of virtue, 

deciding for my family what is best, and 

preparing my heart for the day ahead.

Perhaps being a Woman of Virtue isn't so unattainable after all.