Finding God in Unexpected Places

An Atlanta slum. A pod of whales off the coast of Alaska. The prisons of Peru and Chile. The plays of Shakespeare. A health club in Chicago. For those with eyes to see, traces of God can be found in the most unexpected places. Yet many Christians have not only missed seeing God, they’ve overlooked opportunities to make him visible to those most in need of hope. Excerpt from inside flap, front cover.

Philip Yancey hits another one out of the ballpark for me with this one. I recently picked up a copy on my last trip (literally last trip) to Borders before they closed. I was introduced to his books years ago, the first being, The Jesus I Never Knew. What I love about Philip Yancey’s writing is that he takes me places I will most likely never go and meet people I would never ordinarily have the chance to meet.

More importantly, he opens me up to the possibility that right next to me may be one of those ordinary and yet extraordinary people quietly doing what Jesus did……meeting the world with love and compassion.

With his strong journalism background, he has an insatiable drive to go to those far reaching places and ask the tough questions others are afraid to ask, yet he never pretends to have all the answers. Instead, he leads the reader on an investigation for the answers in light of the truth of Scripture.

In this book, He takes us to Ground Zero where he interviewed a Chaplain with the Salvation Army. He met with Prison Fellowship leaders in Peru, Chile, and Africa, and attended underground Church services in China. He presents us with a God who is very much alive and working in this world through His people. He tells us the stories we wish we heard on the news.

There is a balance and humility to his writing that I really appreciate, and what I love most about all his books is that while not backing away from the faults of the church and its people down through history, his love for the church always comes through clearly.

Through his writing and the lessons he has learned from his own experience and others he has written about,  there is always the gentle reminder that walking softly through the world with love and compassion has the power to change in a way that slashing our way through it with legalism and dogma never will.

If you love to read about the powerful ways the Holy Spirit is working through His people, you will love this book. I’m glad there are authors out there like Philip Yancey who don’t shy away from the journey.

And it was very good.

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

noun /ˈnərCHər/ 
1.The process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something
– the nurture of ethics and integrity

verb /ˈnərCHər/ 
1.Care for and encourage the growth or development of

I was thinking about the word and process of nuturing this morning when I went out to collect the daily offering of okra from the garden. What is it that makes this one little task so satisfying? Because I was there in the beginning. I saw the little seeds when they came in the mail. The little seedlings even had to be taken on a vacation when they first came up. They were coddled, protected, nutured…..and even so some didn’t make it. That made me sad…..I had invested in them.

They had attached themselves to me in a way, or I had attached myself to them.

The ones that did make it were tenderly transferred to the ground that stood ready to recieve…….all spring and part of the summer we waited……watered……spoke encouraging words to.

Oh, the excitement when they began to grow taller and straighter……almost as if to defy the odds, their small heads reaching for the sun……soon they were strong enough to withstand the elements of wind and the pounding summer rain.

The whole process gave me a sensitivity for those who depend on their crops for survival. Those who look to the skies to study their signs and signals; who read the Farmer’s Almanac and study the weather report. The heartbreak of the ruined crops. I was upset over a few little plants, but imagine someone watching their livelihood dry up?

Now as tall as me, they have been producing like crazy for the past 3 months. Sometimes I just go out there and sit. I swear you can almost watch them grow. These plants have been one of the most satisfying joys of this long hot summer.

In the beginning God created………and then He nurtured. I am so glad He didn’t stop at the creating part. I am so glad He didn’t create us and back away.

Well, our work here is done……hope they make it.
He knew it wouldn’t work with plants or people.

And I am so glad.

Multitudes on Monday

“It is absurd for the Evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing, and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into everything.”   
 
“The main point of Christianity was this: that Nature is not our mother: Nature is our sister.”   
 
 
I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. 
 

 

You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink. 

Giving thanks today for these wonderful quotes by G.H. Chesterton, and people like Ann Voskamp who got me started with all these thankful Mondays, Tuesdays and every other day of the week…..Gratitude as a way of life, a way of living each day as if it might very well be the last……And taking that further, we give the Ultimate Gratitude to our Father, who says it doesn’t have to end only begin with Him……It means that when we take our last breath here, we take our first real breath the way we were truly meant to live all along…….I am grateful for all the people this past Sunday who came up out of the waters of Baptism to new life, and a way beginning again…….Blessings #736-746

Grace and peace to you today, in Jesus wonderful name………. Lori

Till we meet again

Since I am at work on a computer all day Saturday, I manage to get some free time to go visiting. In Blogland that is. Don’t worry, I am not doing anything unethical…….In our 12 hour shift, we get two free hours to spend however we want. It is one benefit to working when much of the world is off doing fun things like going to Costco and yard sales and picnics in the park.

Growing up, Saturday was a day for visiting. That’s what my Mom and I did together. Oftentimes we would visit Mom’s friend Rosie. Rosie was a tiny spark of a woman, from a big Sicilian family. Rosie liked flowers and decorating, refinishing her own furniture, and all things feminine. It wasn’t easy in a house with a husband and four boys.

Going there was like visiting little Italy in a war zone. I never knew anyone who could be all sweetness and soft voice one minute, and screaming at the top of her lungs at one of her four boys the next. She turned on a dime. She had to with all those boys in the house. They were always doing something to get on her last nerve. But she loved them with all her heart, and they all loved her.

One morning when we stopped by she was making Bisquick pancakes. She had to send Steven to the store twice. Once for milk and once for something else. She made the first one and promptly threw it in the trash.When my Mom asked her why, she said, “Oh, none of them will eat the first one because of the oil.” When she had run out of syrup, another son straggled in, miffed that he had missed breakfast. She proceeded to make him waffles, telling my Mom that they didn’t use syrup with waffles.

She loved working with figures and hated paying taxes. She did our taxes for years, as well as her brothers and sisters and all their families. She knew the state of California’s tax laws backwards and forwards. She would sit at her kitchen table and throw down Italian curses on the Government.

It got really interesting when her brothers and sisters were visiting. None of them agreed on politics and they regularly got into screaming matches over it. Then they would hug and kiss when they got ready to leave like nothing happened. Visiting Rosie’s house was better than a movie for me, being raised in a quiet family. My Dad was raised in angry shouts, so we simply didn’t shout.

Rosie was the queen of improvisation. They had a family dog who I think was equal parts German shepard and coyote. One day we were there when she had run out of dog food and hadn’t been to the store yet. We watched incredulously as she poured ketchup over a bowl filled with chicken bones and leftover stew. Snoopy lapped it up like it was high quality pate. Anyone else would have worried about the bones, not Rosie.

Many times she invited all the pop warner parents and kids out to her house when they lived in the country and she never had all the ingredients for anything. One time she had a huge salad and nothing to put on it but an industrial size can of olive oil.

She was one of the most unique individuals with one of the best hearts, and I miss her.

Rosie never gave much thought to religion or God. She believed in the goodness of humanity. Her youngest son Steven became a born-again Christian. He and His Mom had many talks after that, and he never stopped praying for her. When he got married, his wife prayed too. At one point between all those conversations and the time she died of cancer, Rosie met the Lord.
 
She has been gone for years now and sometimes I still can’t believe it. It’s funny…..I didn’t set out to do a post about Rosie, but I am glad it turned out that way. Our words and stories about people is what keep them alive in our hearts. Many times I have said a prayer of thanks to God that I will see her again.
 
I called my Mom this morning to see if she remembered about the pancakes, and she couldn’t believe it. On the way home just about two hours ago she had passed some kids in football uniforms and thought about all those dinners at Rosie’s house. She said she hadn’t thought about her in some time.
 
One life, twice remembered in one day.

Till we meet again Rosie!

The problem of forgiveness

 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14, 15

Bryan Stow can speak again.
And he wants to see his kids.
Stow, the San Francisco Giants fan who was brutally beaten outside of Dodger Stadium on opening night of the season recently uttered his first words since awakening from a medically induced coma.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A criminal complaint against two new suspects describes in graphic detail the injuries suffered by a San Francisco Giants fan who was beaten nearly to death outside Dodger Stadium — including cuts to the victim’s face and tongue.



As I looked at the photo in the paper of beating victim Bryan Stow and his two kids, I struggled. Then when I saw the photo of the two suspects who were charged, I struggled again, big time. How to forgive something that horrific? Could I forgive someone who did that? What if it was my Dad….brother….friend…..husband that was beaten almost to death. His only crime? Wearing a Giants Jersey to a Dodgers game.

Forgiveness is a big issue, one of the toughest. Peter struggled with it……he asked Jesus how many times he needed to forgive someone who had wronged him. I don’t think he liked Jesus answer any better than I would.

It seems there are so many things in our society that are so hard to forgive. Our justice system too often fails us….lets killers and drug dealers, pedophiles back out on the streets only to have them do the same things they did before. We send children into the arms of parents that have no right to have them. As an animal lover I am distraught at the amount of cruelty inflicted on them.

We scream for justice, and we wouldn’t be wrong in that.

But forgiveness is the bedrock of our faith. Christianity was founded on forgiveness…..How God Himself pardoned us. The painful fact is, each one of us has turned away from Christ at some point or other. It’s what put Him on the cross, after all.

I sometimes think of forgiveness in terms of degree. I could forgive this but not that….never that. I think I could forgive something done to me easier than something done to someone I care about.

But I stand here in a state of grace, knowing that Christ forgave me everything…..wiped my slate clean. I also know that Jesus expects me to forgive everything wronged me, not just what I choose. I remember that the same Holy Spirit that made it possible for Jesus to forgive the world lives in me.

His forgiveness flowing through the Holy Spirit, flowing through me. God doing the forgiveness for me.

That is the only way I can reconcile it in a way that makes sense. Even then it would be an agonizing wrestling match between my will and what I know God expects. Yet as I stand here forgiven, looking forward to a future filled with hope, could I rationalize the right to withhold that same forgiveness to someone who wronged me?

I think of the road to Calvary Jesus walked for me once again and I already know the answer.

Though I sincerely hope I will never be put to the test, I know that it is the one thing that would make my Christianity more real to the world than anything my words could ever say.

Evening Prayer

 
Lord our God,if I have sinned this day in word, deed or thought,
forgive me all, as the good and loving God You are.
Grant me peaceful and untroubled sleep,
and deliver me from every attack and design of the evil one.
Raise me in due time to give You glory;
for blessed are You, with Your only-begotten Son and all-holy Spirit,
now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
One of my favorite moments of the day is when I lay my head on my pillow, give a sigh and say a prayer of thanks. Thanks for what I did right, and maybe what I did not so right, that I have another chance to do it all over again tomorrow, by His grace.
This morning was a tough one. I felt as if everything I have been going through lately caught up with me at once. Tears flowed effortlessly as I stumbled around in the early morning hours getting ready……..I wanted, needed to have a confirmation that God heard my prayer. Knew how I felt.
Sometimes we just need that as humans. We feel far from the angels, even though we know they are there. We need a touch. Sometimes we get the answer throughout the day……little assurances we feel.
Sometimes, He uses others to lift us up and over…..a smile here, and hand on the shoulder there.
And sometimes, like this morning. He shows us right away. It was as if a strong hand…..His, lifted me up and sent me on my way, and I was a little bewildered and amazed by it all….. awestruck that He would do that for me. But He did. Of that I have no doubt.
Thank you, loving Father, for knowing just what I need at the time I need it. I give you my days and my nights, for they all belong to You.
Your love for me is something I will spend my whole life trying to understand.
Prayer at top from source: http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/Evening_Prayers.htm

Holding out hope

“Come now, let’s settle this,”says the Lord.“Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. Isaiah 1:18

Isn’t it wonderful to know that we have a reasonable God? One who wants to know the deepest desires of our hearts? One who wants and seeks a relationship with us?

We serve a God of reconciliation. One who wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives. One who already knows our thoughts but wants to hear them from us in our own words. He delights in that.

People everywhere are seeking something, but too often they are asking the world to supply something it never can. Real Peace. But not the kind the world offers. The kind only God can give. Real and lasting peace. The kind of peace that comes despite every circumstance life throws at us.

Too often we look to the world for answers……we think the best and brightest humanity has to offer is good enough. It reminds me of that old song, “Looking for love in all the wrong places.” When we look to the world for our answers we will come up empty every time.

Only when we begin to entertain the possibility of something bigger than ourselves, hope blooms like the crack of the dawn spilling over a mountain.

This is our future, and it is indeed, a future filled with hope. The world doesn’t have the answers or the hope we need for our future, but God does. This is the future God has for us……

People from many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of Jacob’s God.
There he will teach us his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion;
his word will go out from Jerusalem.
The Lord will mediate between nations
and will settle international disputes.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
nor train for war anymore. Isaiah 2:3,4

Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied exactly to the letter all the facts concerning the birth of Jesus.

The rest is history.

God has always had hope for the world…….and that hope came through Jesus.

I wish you a day filled with His peace today wherever your path takes you and that you have a real sense of His presence…….

Evening walk

An evening walk among giants……

Cicadas were the symphony backdrop, with an occasional bullfrog and the sound of ducks splashing across the pond and dragonfly wings whirring overhead…..

Fall in the desert is a bit different……no evening chill yet, the heat of the day leaves reluctantly….it hangs on until the morning hours.
Two ducks heading to communal evening bath time
Still, we know that summer is coming to an end at long last. It is slow going, and yet when we get up and are greeted with the cool air that greets the morning,
we are graced with new life….
new hope.
By the time we headed back to the car, the mosquitoes were out in force…….
but we know that soon summer will lose it’s grip for good. Soon we will have the desert chill, and
fires in the firepit………hot drinks and
everything fall.

More than conquerers

  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,  that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate with the gratitude community than with this verse. There is so much to be thankful for when we reflect on everything  this verse really means. We are a people who have been brought from death to life! This is our eternal hope! I think sometimes we forget what we have been freed from. We tend to remember on Sundays in worship……when we see someone baptised into new life or celebrate communion, but our everyday reality is this: Every moment of our waking lives, we live with the reality of the resurrection. A living hope.
That changes our whole outlook on life. The law was given to show us how desperately we needed a Savior. God knew that it was a physical and spiritual impossibility for anyone to actually keep the Ten Commandments, but He had to show us the expectations. Of course, He never would have done that without giving us a solution to our desperate situation. The solution was and is and always will be Jesus!
He was the lamb without spot or wrinkle……our sacrifice. Being God, He was fully able to fulfill every commandment, not only that He was the Commandment.
I think, no I know, that sometimes God puts us in places that show us our complete and utter inadequacy in a situation without Him. He does it so that we will lean on Him and let His Holy Spirit do that work through us. I know that He has done that for me here lately.
And I am thankful for it. Sometimes we need to have things revealed in our character that need changing. Those things would never come out unless they were forced out. Being in a caretaker role I have learned some things about myself that I never knew. I am not nearly as nice as I thought I was. Can anyone identify with that?
The Holy Spirit can do a much better job than I could ever hope to do. Getting out of the way is the hard part. The letting go and letting God.
Each day is a chance to make room for Him, and in making room for Him, we realize there is a bigger space in our hearts for others. We learn to be easier on ourselves too. “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” Romans 8:37
Count thanks with me today……..Blessedly cooler weather……days off to enjoy them……a good dinner last night with good neighbors……friends who pray…….scones in the morning……..a walk around the park……my health……a good job…….A God who is not content to leave me as I am…….a good nights rest…….#725-#735
Sorry, I couldn’t get Ann’s button to show up today but you can get her here

He is more than enough

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
I got home the other night and she was outside on the patio. My best friend of the endless positive attitude…the natural born fixer, the supervisor and mediator of people and situations, cannot fix her Mom. There is no fix for Alzheimer’s…..yet. The look on her face said it all. She was done….spent. Finished. “She drove me nuts today,” she said. “I prayed all day and it didn’t work.” I said, “Yes it did, she is still alive and so are you.” Sometimes it is all you can do to get through the day with your mind and body intact.
Everything she tried to do for her Mom ended in complete and utter frustration.
A woman who used to scream at them for getting in the kitchen while she was cooking, now stands in the middle of the kitchen as her daughter cooks, staring a hole through her. It is disconcerting to say the least.
And then the endless pacing….up and down, back and forth. In her squeaky shoes. Suggestions are met with hostility and you never know when…..It is like walking in two worlds. The regular world and the Alzheimer’s world. Applying the normal rules doesn’t work in an abnormal world.
Harder still, is when you have no good memory bank to pull from because your Mom was never emotionally available to you or for you……never nurturing. What do you do when your own supply of love and devotion is not enough, and when you feel like the sun has gone down and taken every scrap of your strength with it?
When the last thing you want is another thing you have to do.
You rest in the knowledge that
you know…… that you know…… that you know
He is more than enough
His love takes over when ours runs out
He will never, ever ignore His child who prays
Know that the power that raised Him from the grave is enough to raise you…….“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20