blogging

Blogging across the fence

I like to think of blogging as meeting for coffee, or over the back fence. People used to do that, and in some places they still do. Recently my Mom was over at my Aunt’s house and she saw a gathering of people in the front yard playing dominoes. Yes, in the front….almost scandalous nowadays. They were laughing and carrying on and having a great old time. It was a good thing to see. Of course my Mom, never having met a stranger, had to go talk to them.

They exchanged information…..greeting…..fellowship. A bit of bringing Heaven down to earth. All because they made themselves available. Open.

I have lived before in neighborhoods where every evening a symphony of garage doors would open with big yawns and swallow up the cars and the people in them and that was the last you saw of your neighbor. One time my Mom was visiting and she got so starved for people she flagged someone down who was driving by just for someone to talk to.

In these days of mobility and technology we often lose that sense of community. It gets to be a challenge to get back in touch with it. That’s why I like blogging. I feel like we are virtual neighbors meeting over the back fence. A little solitude is a very good thing, but too much is not good, we tend to make ourselves crazy.
God knew that too.

Sharing beliefs, joys and sorrows, snippets of our lives makes us feel like we are not alone. We join hands across the aisles, finding common ground in all sorts of things. We see how we are the same and how we are different.

And how wonderful to be able to pray for someone I have never actually met!

So pull up a chair, gather around, pour yourself a cup.

You don’t even have to call before you come by.

“…….and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24, 25 

I really like you!

“God promised to make you free. He never promised to make you independent.” — Madeleine L’Engle (The Irrational Season)

I went downstairs to the cafe today at work. There were people everywhere, people I had never seen before. I thought,“Who are all these people and where do they come from, and what is their story?” Then I thought……”Why do I feel so disconnected to them all?”

I guess because I don’t know their stories…..You sit by a stranger and they start telling you things about themselves and they are no longer strangers, they are potential friends. Especially if they are going through some of the same things you are. There is a kinship, instantly. You figure out how you are the same and how you are different…..what you have in common and what you don’t.

There is a solid connection where there was only possibility before.

I guess that’s why I love this blogging thing. I feel connected to all of you, like I do know you….well, at least I feel like I do. And I like you! We have never met face to face, but I count you all as friends. That’s what Jesus said, “I have called you friends.” I try to stop in at least every other day or so, to see what’s going on in your neck of the woods. Sometimes I comment, and sometimes I say a prayer as I’m reading your posts. Always, I am amazed by the wisdom and creativity I find there.

I want you to know I consider you my brothers and sisters, and I am glad you are out there. I’m glad God led me to your blogs, and to you. 

And someday, in this place or that other place we look to call home someday, we will meet, I am sure of it.

I really look forward to that day because……

I really do like you all!

“I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” Philemon 1:4-6

Yours truly, trying to stay out of the sun!

In it to win it

Eph 6:10-17……Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Lately I have tried to go without it. Things have been chaotic, busy, upside down, inside out. God was tapping me on the shoulder. He started with a message I heard on the radio. I thought, “that was a good message, I’m glad I heard it.” Then proceeded to go about my day. And then this morning I read about the incredible account of Balaam and his talking donkey:

“Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.” Numbers 22:31

Again, tap tap tap…….Okay, Lord, I get the message.

This is a spiritual battle we are in, and I’ve been going in without my weapons. I have forgotten what I need to do.

Pray. Get saturated in the word. Maybe even do some fasting.

Exercise and rest help too.

After all, if a heavenly messenger was detained twenty one days in some heavy duty spiritual combat, which is what I believe this verse describes, what makes me think I can function just fine without my spiritual armour?

Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Daniel 10:12,13

This post was incredibly difficult. It took me two days of starting and stopping, sitting down and getting up. This morning I even went to Starbucks to see if that would help clear my head. My mouse didn’t work so I came home. Actually, I was in such an agitated state, I forgot to check the mouse battery. Whatever the cause, I was thwarted once more.

This just serves to prove my point all the more, this is a real battle my friends. But we are in it to win it!

Blogging Break!

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? Luke 24:5

I wish you all a Blessed and Happy Resurrection Day…….

I will be taking a short break from blogging since I will be gone visiting family in California. I plan to take my camera and prayer journal and will be ready to start posting when I come back in one week…..

Still I post again, I pray you have a peaceful and joyous Easter……

Lori

Blog Musings…..

“You weren’t an accident. You weren’t mass produced. You aren’t an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the earth by the Master Craftsman.” Max Lucado

I am running into a blogging quandary. Just when I think I have my sidebar all neatly arranged and my wonderful collection of blogs final, my sidebar bouquet perfectly crafted, I run into another wonderful blog I simply must add. This is the thought that has been nagging me: I just know that for every blog listed, there are hundreds more out there waiting to be found, waiting to be heard. And I will never have time to read them all!

This is also the most wonderful thing about blogs….and books. An endless procession of beauty and wonder waiting to be discovered. It seems I can never have enough books, or blogs. There is always a story that just has to be told, a new thought to express and a new way to express it. We will never run out of books or blogs or people. Each one is an individual’s own unique perspective, each one a different window to the world around us.

It has been two years since I started this blog, and I have never tired of it. I have never tired of you. How could I? You enrich my life with your words……you have become my blog family whether you want to or not, and I count you all as friends, even though we have never formally met. Some of you I won’t meet until we are all together with Jesus.

I wonder…….what would Heaven’s blog would look like?

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:15

God’s Place of Rest

“These are the words of God, the God of Israel, to you, Baruch. You say, ‘These are bad times for me! It’s one thing after another. God is piling on the pain. I’m worn out and there’s no end in sight.’ Jeremiah 45:2 The Message

“Just how much more does God expect me to take?”

You feel out of control, like one of those plate spinners……one false move and they all come crashing down. “I’ve got it, I’ve got it!” you say…..but you know that just under the surface lurks an erupting volcano. You feel like any little remark can set you off. When you pass a Dunkin Donuts or In-N-Out Burger you feel the drive-through sweeping you in like the pull of the tides. (Or in my case, the local Walgreens for a bag of Whopper Malted Eggs)

Tears come easily, and so does unexpected anger. This is sometimes what caregiving feels like.

But God’s place of rest is there in the midst of it. He is ready and waiting to do a work in you and me, but only if we release it to Him. He longs to take our burden, but He knows that sometimes He has to “pile it on” so that we will have no choice but to dump it at His feet.

We don’t have to take it all on……..He will.

It is so hard to tell someone that.
Someone who is trying so hard, dealing with so much.
It feels like one more thing they have to do.

It feels like we are saying, “Just tie a knot and hang on, sister…..”

Except that they aren’t just any old words, they are God’s words, and His words are backed by His promises.

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16

Lord, I pray for everyone today who feels overwhelmed and beaten up by the world. I pray that they will trust You with their every burden and care, and they will find that place of rest for their souls that you have promised them in Your word. Hide them under your mighty wings today, as the mother eagle shelters her young and give them the faith they need to release everything to You, knowing that You will give them peace in exchange. Amen

Great music in church yesterday, moments of refreshment and peace, little joys of flowers in the desert, singing into the phone and making someone smile, a good night’s sleep, a refreshing rain on the roof, unexpected moments of exhilaration, a great lunch at Chilies, 39 dollars from coinstar I didn’t expect I had, a time of peace at Starbucks while blogging…..
#668-#678

holy experience

Just stoppin in…….

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27
Today I stopped in. I decided to touch bases with everyone who follows. I confess that it has been too long since I have done this…..I came to your porch and knocked softly. I confess I wanted to steal a peek in your window, your porch looked so inviting. With most, I made my presence known with a comment and an encouraging word. It was good to see you again. To get a glimpse into your corner, your world. And I was touched.
I saw and felt, love, sorrow, joy, humor…with some pain sprinkled in. I breathed prayers over you, your families….did you feel it? When I read your posts, I tried to envision your porch as I stood there. I listened for sounds within…..I heard children playing, life happening, cereal spilling, dogs barking, doors slamming, cars starting up and pulling into the driveway.
I heard laughter, and saw someone bend down to pet a cat that had wound itself around a pair of ankles. I heard pages turning, furniture creaking, floors groaning, heaters coming on, flaring up after being turned down at night.
Sometimes I heard soft weeping, and that was when I hoped you felt my prayers wrap around you…….Sometimes I heard anger and that was when I hoped my prayers made somebody stop, think…..say “I am sorry, will you forgive me?” Because life really is too short to get mad over silly little things.
I saw you smile, and then I smiled too!
Thank you for fellow bloggers and also those that have none but are reading along with me. Thank you for letting me into your world, and allowing you to see into mine.
Be blessed today, and tell your loved ones how much they mean to you!
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galations 6:9,10
photo from flicker and publicdomainpictures.net

The Phantom Christian

“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;  but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” Romans 7:21-23

Bob George introduces a concept in his book, “Classic Christianity”, that intrigued me, and I immediately recognized what he describes as the Phantom Christian syndrome. It is that image we all have in our head of the person we think God expects us to be. What we expect ourselves to be. You know the one…..the one that never fails to get up early for morning devotions, is at church every time the doors open, volunteers their time sacrificially every weekend, leads Bible studies, never blows up, excels at work and has everyone in rapt attention by their wonderfully interesting devotions around the table at dinner.

The way he describes it is really quite ridiculous, and he means it to be. Do we really think God will love us more if we do all these things? Sometimes I confess I do. I even do it with blogging. Sometimes I think you will love me more if I can just manage to capture those perfect and illustrious posts that I see in my head. The ones that always come out clear and evoke beautiful thoughts and emotions. But the truth is, that is not what God wants any of us to do. He just wants me to be the very best me I can be, expressing in my own words the things He wants me to say. Just like you.

Sometimes it helps to know that others are struggling just like we are, especially those we don’t expect, like the Apostle Paul. When I was at my Mom’s Bible study last week, a lady I greatly admire for her faith and boldness in talking to people about the Lord said that she is a bit upset at the way God not only allowed but actually orchestrated the tragic events in Job’s life. I was surprised, and I admit also a bit comforted by her confession.

It all comes full circle back to Christ. He is the only one who can give us the power and the victory to be the person He wants us to be. The one we are becoming. He sees us as we will be…….And He loves us right now where we stand. He sees the million small decisions we make to be better, to not blow up, to pray more, turn our eyes to Him when we see a beautiful full moon, and thank Him.
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:56, 57

photo by Jon Luty http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/

Nothing to say?

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. ~e.e. cummings

Whenever I start to write anything, I notice two voices speaking at once. The one that says, yes this feeling is true, someone will relate to this, you have something to offer. And then there is the other rising up simultaneously…..Oh that will never do, you really have nothing to say today, who do you think you are, the nerve….what do you think you are, an authority? You are really making a fool of yourself with that one…..Then I remember, if God is moving in my life, there is always something to say. If I am alive, that is reason enough to write about it!

I look at this picture above and wonder who chopped that wood, and then I think of the time my Dad and I stacked wood together. Every now and then he reminds me of it. I look at the photographer’s name, Brunhilde Reinig and I hear my Grandmother’s voice speaking in German to her sisters, I remember that I love you in German is Ich Leibe Dich……and I wish that could have been said and done, instead of the Holocaust and I wonder again how it could have happened. I think of the German speaking people who did good, who hid Jews at the risk of their own lives…..

I think of the trip to the grocery store yesterday with my best friend and her Mom who is suffering with Alzheimer’s. It was sad, it was tragic, and yet there were some humorous moments. She always has to get three items no matter what….potatoes, ice-cream and hamburger…..And we always have to go in the same door. And she gets insulted if you tell her to make a list. My friend tells me even when she was in her right mind she was insulted if you suggested a list. Funny how disease touches some parts and leaves some parts untouched……

I think of she and her brother, each of whom have grieved both parents already, neither one are the person they were before. I think of the many divorced people out there who are grieving walking dead…..dead to them anyway. What heartache they carry. I think of how wonderful it is that little green shoots of love can bloom again in that same heart……love born again.

Yes, as long as there is life, there are words to say.
As long as there is God, there is Spirit movement……and hope.

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/ by Brunhilde Reinig

The Written Word……

“Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Revelation 1:19

There is power in the written word. When someone writes something down, in essence they are saying, “Come with me.” They want to take you to a particular place they have been or want to go. It is a journey they are on, and they want you to go too. They are expressing a feeling that just has to be let out; let out and captured all at the same time. If you ask a writer why they write, I think they would all say the same thing. “Because I have to.” Once words are written down they tend to take on a life of their own, but only after they are read.

There is a bit of magic in writing too……a bit of the turning water into wine metamorphosis. By that I mean that sometimes, just sometimes that notion that is floating around in your head is captured just the way you felt it. When this happens it is something of a miracle! If someone compliments you on it, that is icing on the cake. The fact that you captured it is the reward. The reason why you do it.

I think of the early church leaders scratching Holy words out onto the parchments. Bent over by candlelight, lamplit, light of dawn’s early morning…..light from prison cell window….. Ever feel like something just writes itself? I think of the mystery of how the Spirit of God breathed Holy words into a Spirit led people over a span of hundreds of years and yet turned out a perfectly cohesive whole, interwoven and seal-proof, a tightly woven basket that holds All Truth….It stands on its own, and it will stand forever as all truth does.

I think that when we write we do something very powerful. We let others know who we are…..That is why God wanted us to have His Book, so that we could know who He is.

I think of how the Word was always there even before the beginning of life as we know it, and I think of how it was made into flesh…..the flesh of Jesus.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

photo credit: biblicalplaces.com