Out of the ordinary comes the extraordinary

Photo credit:  Aubree Holsapple
Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.  ~ C.S. Lewis

First of all, this photo is awesome!  And big thanks to Aubree for sharing, who graciously allowed me to use this in my post today.  

What a great glimpse of God...what you don't see it?  I guess I'm a freak or something.  Just take a look at this tree.  And now again.

A little known fact about me is that at one point in my life, I worked in a nursery and greenhouse for a season or two (no pun intended.)  I even took some college classes and know the Latin name for a Pin Oak Tree.  That's information you lose if you don't use it, just like those three years of Spanish I took in high school.  

If you don't use Latin, you lose Latin.  Sad really...it's so hard to learn and I never really figured out the knack to it, except hours and hours of memorization.  

I do know some conversational Spanish and know how to ask where the bano is.  Some Latin has that stuck in the insides of my brain too.  And...I also know how to pick out a great photo on Instagram when I see it.  

So how do I see God in this?  

He loves to reveal Himself in our lives.  He captures His character so creatively....

It's one of the oh so lovely characteristics about our Lord.  He doesn't have to show us who He is, but He loves to lovingly and most creatively reveal His character in the things He's made.

Through His creation, He loves to reveal His character.

Don't miss this....this is brilliant.

What better to reflect His beauty than the things, the living, the breathing, the beauties He's created?  

What...all this pretty talk really isn't resonating with you?

What draws me into this wonderful captured glimpse of beauty in this tree is in the eye of the beholder.  Aubree really captured it's beauty from a great perspective didn't she?  

Look at the tree's character that is captured in her Kodak moment.  See..this tree has..

stature

strength

height or maturity in tree years

wide span of branches at the top

high reach to the heavens

shelter for the lower plants

healing in it's scars

Yes, healing.

The wonder of this photo is that it whispers that we have a very creative God who takes the time to dot the landscape with His thumbprints of beauty.

And I haven't even started with the life this tree speaks of...which is the point of this post.

There's healing in this tree.  I can see how it's trunk reflects growth and adversity.  See it's rough texture, it's uneven state of the bark, how it looks all rugged and strong?  This tree has stood the test of time's rough natural slap in the gut.

And just like that in the slaps of this tree's life, it brings healing.

Life can slap us in the gut like this tree has been shaped.  And what we see is an ugly exterior, sticky texture that feels rough to the touch and something we want to cut down and burn.

I see how this tree survived the many winds and storms of adversity and has been strengthened.  The anchor root structure that twists and wreaks a hot mess havoc on the underneath side of the earth.  On the hidden side of adversity, growth has happened too.  And there's life, vibrant life, still pulsating through this tree's sappy core.

There's life in the rough, tough, tested texture.  There's life.

Perhaps you see it too.  I see healing in the rough, tough, tested texture in these days we call life.  And there's growth on the underneath side of our souls.  The deep parts, the parts that are hidden and sometimes are laying dormant.

The winds of change and adversity, the hard-whipping-our-skirts winds, the gale forces that ruin a great hair day type of winds, the gusts that slap our guts until they wrench, those winds are the ones that feel like they are going to break us in half, even snap our hearts in two.  

The winds and storms that press hard and we honestly don't know how we can lean any further into them. Those that continuously press change and growth into our lives.

God's gentle breezy growth breathes life into us, our hearts and causes us to pause and reach to the Heavens to praise our Creative Creator who in His new mercy and grace gives us His portion daily to praise Him.  And helps us lean into and press further into His healing and these changes.

There's life again in something ordinary.  There's life to celebrate and grow and deepen.  And all the earth, our hearts, our souls cry out in a great earthy sigh.  We breathe, we heal, we take a step towards His fullness and wholeness.  And we cling to our roots, and we anchor deep. 

How dreamy...to experience God in such a personal way.  

Looks like my roots are emerging a little.

 

Looking for the real secret to life

Life is wearing and makes us weary.  Each part of it with work, home, family, church...you name it.  It wears us out.

I think I have found the secret.

Why do we tend to heavily wear the burdens that are supposed to be God's, those that Scripture refer as "light and easy"?

The secret is that we want to accomplish life's multiple juggling acts on our own strength, not God's. Oh...I know..I say it too, that God is doing the work, but we sure feel responsible in managing our strength portions as we live our lives as Christians, juggling all the responsibilities and opportunities that He gives, don't we?

Here's the secret....we can't do what He has called us to do.

The real secret is...
...knowing you can't do anything in this life without God's help and strength.
...knowing and using the gifts that He has given to His glory and full surrender to Him in those gifts.
...being willing to clean toilets if that is what He is asking you to do today, and then asking Him to give you strength to do just that.

The real secret is knowing that we are nothing without the strength of Christ in us.

When life overwhelms us on a Friday,
when we are served with our two-weeks notice,
when we step on the scale on Saturday morning and see a gain,
when we have to bury our children,
when we must respond with God's holiness to whatever circumstances are slapping us in the face,
when you don't know what the next step will bring,
when you don't know which fork in the road to take,
when you are chasing your dreams,
when you are holding the hand of one who suffers chronic pain or cancer,

well...what's your secret?

I have only found that the True Secret is...finding strength only in our hope in Christ.

Isaiah 40:31 "but those who hope in the Lord 

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles; 

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint."

Strength of an eagle soaring in God's upper Heavenly draft.  Strength for the weary, strength for my worn soul. Strength like the eagle who soars, high and alone, dependent on the Strength-giver.

God has been using a symbol of strength to teach me about His strength.

This secret is not my own.  It's yours too.  Take part in God's secret for all of us.

What do you turn to when you feel worn out by life?

Unpacking Holy Moments

There are some happy suitcases that you can unpack easily.  When returning from a trip, I usually just dump everything in the laundry room.  The next stop is the bathroom, then ...boom... I'm done.

Next I unload my pictures to digital storage.  Most travels are filled with those fun Kodak moments to help you reminisce the memories.

I also like to write my journeys in a field journal.  It helps me recall the heart milestones.  

I like to reflect on the holy God moments and lessons.

I recently went on a trip to India.  It's been two weeks, and I still have suitcases sitting half-full of stuff that needs to be unpacked, many memories still linger.

My field journal is open to the same page, the outline of those holy hope-captured vignettes.   There are still a lot of memories that are still to be written on my heart, lingering wide open.  

God has some Kodak memories that need His stillness and need some unpacking.  I need to process the things I have seen, I need to share the stories, I need to share my feelings about what I have seen.

I need to unpack my full heart of God moments.  

There are benefits to praying for God to bend the pages of His field journal just a bit, to record and give His revelations from what you have seen on a trip filled with such great holy moments.  

I am dealing with some unflattering, clumsy junk that bring questions about how to care about all that God is showing me.  There is a deep stirring.   

"Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.  Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." 

~ Ps. 82:3-4

Unpacking this verse and many of God's holy moments, may I linger here...

"Father to the fatherless, freedom for the weak

this is God clothed in love and strength."  
"Give me eyes to see when my heart is blind, 
that when I ask you'll give, and when I seek I'll find.
Give me ears to hear, when my way's confused,
let the uncertain road, still lead me back to You."  
~ Meredith Andrews

Music Monday [KJ52 - Brand New Day]

New mercy

I am loving this new song from KJ52.  From the title to the period of these lyrics, the whole song just meets me in my faith growing season.  

Favorite lines are...and my responses to the lyrics are in red.

Your life is all I chase ~ Yes, Lord take my life...make it yours!
I run right upon this race ~ Running to You brings new opportunities to discover You!
Cause in you I’m gone put all my faith ~ There is nowhere else that satisfies like you God.
Some nights I lose my way ~ Some days I lose it too.
Sometimes I walk and stray ~ Sometimes I run away.
But you come right inside my space ~ I'll open the door for You.
And each time you come you give me strength~Your strength that I don't have.
This time I fix my gaze ~ So help me through this maze.
This time it wont be the same ~ I am praying You will make me Your different.
This time I wont be ashamed ~ Honestly, I will let it out.
So this time I can’t help but say that. ~ I must say my things to give You praise.

Your sunlight is on my face ~ Your Light reflects your wonderful grace.
I look back how far I came ~ And I am amazed at what you have tamed.
I think about how much I’ve changed ~ Change is hard, but changes are good.
It was hard at times but I’m not the same ~ How can I not be changed?

Why would I want to be the same?  That is a great question!  I don't know why I would want to refuse God's best.  When I read His word...I am changed.  There is always some truth that I can apply to my life.  And because of His truth, He is changing me to be more and more like Him.  I have come some distance, but anytime my nowhere collides with God's somewhere, well..that's a corner I want to camp out on.

So....no...I’m not where I want to be, but I’m not where I used to be.  God's not done with me yet.  He's not done with you either.

What changes have you seen God do in your life?

"A Place For Sinners, Not a Museum For Good People"

Thorny places

I liked the slogan of the church as soon as I saw it the Sunday service notes.  We settled into worship and it was obvious right away that the worship leader had spent some time with Jesus.  He worshiped too.

When it came time for the message, the pastor shared the exact same verse I had just read that morning.  I thought to myself...wow..that's cool!  Paul's writings have long stirred me ..and still do.  The more I understand the depth of Paul's circumstances in which he did most of his writing, the bigger fan I am of his style.  If anyone needed mercy, Paul did.   

The pastor shared about Paul's weakness with the thorn in his life.  Paul never mentions exactly what it was that caused him pain or irritation.  But in 2 Corinthians 12:7 - 10, Paul shares.....

"Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that..."

And how did God answer Paul's cries for thorn-removal?  God left it right where it was planted deep in Paul's soul.  God's answer came in the form of mercy...

"My grace is enough; it's all you need. 

My strength comes into its own in your weakness. "

Did you get that?  Please re-read ...

I have a thorn...we all do..

Whatever your "thorn" is right now...your answer is God's grace.  Whatever you feel weak in...God's strength will come in and make it strong.  Struggling with a failed attempt?  God meets that with His strength and grace.  Feeling like you can't go on another day?  God won't leave you lacking when you ask Him for His grace.  Grace is complete and fills in all the cracks.

Wait...you say you have something that is impossible to get past?  

Your circumstances are ruined for all of time?  

You have crossed the line this time and there is no going back?

  

You have a fear the size of a  professional football field lodged in your throat and you can't see God's work for the giant crocodile tears that are constantly in your eyes and heart?

Yeah...I know...me too.

When I heard God's answer to my weakness, how it was simple and enough, I was a bawling mess of flesh in the pew on that Sunday.  

Really God...how could it be that simple?  How?

"My grace is enough; it's all you need. 

My strength comes into its own in your weakness. 

I am your portion and in YOUR weakness, I will use YOU..."

Talk about a waterfall of grace...gushing into my heart.  Wow..

The pastor's message was God's cheerleader encouragement that I needed to kick my football field sized fear-filled dream to the goalpost and say "touchdown".  Well...honestly...I have a hard head so..it will take a couple more reviews of the playbook to fully sink in.

But it was definitely a direct word from my God who knows my fear and has teamed it up with His grace and strength.  I know that he wrote the playbook, so there is no contest to consider.  He has all I need to make what He has asked me to do complete and enough.  

To me it's a God-sized challenge, but all I need to do is suit-up.  

When I am faint from practice, I will be met with enough promised grace.  

When I am frustrated beyond words, His cheers will shout hope to continue.

When I bring my "I-can't-attitude" to the field, He will meet me with A-string of "I-cans!"

When I am faint from not getting it right, He will bring me strength in my weakness.

When I am met with the empty blinking white screen ...He will give me all I need.  

Not just enough, but all that I need.  

God knows my needs better than anyone.  As I swallow hard and move forward I know, even my weakest and most broken places, those are even valuable to God.  It's in those thorny-hard-to-figure-out-the-answer places that he will bring His mercy.  I can trust Him to provide the grace and strength he has promised as He sees fit.  He's not running out of grace-laced-plays yet as I submit to His plan.  Wow....  

So...you want to know the name of the church?  Mercy Church, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Music Monday - {Always}

Very rarely do I re-post a song for Music Monday, but the song "Always" is hitting repeat in my mind.  There are so many songs that are speaking to me right now, and this is one of them.

I actually posted this from almost a year ago.  

One valuable lesson that God has been teaching me as I prepared for my mission trip to Honduras and now..applying it again to life at home is the word "unchanging".  One other team member talked about her word for the trip was "satisfy".

I can see how God works these two words together in our life.  

Only...God satisfies...and He is unchanging.

Always.

When we have trouble surrounding us, when chaos abounds, when fear hits like an anvil in our hearts...

God is always there and He is the only person who satisfies.  He gives us peace in place of fear, he gives us strength in our dependency, He gives us rest in our trust.

These unchangeable truths go hand in hand, or work independently too as we journey through this life.

Our help comes from the Lord, He is our portion. God helps in good times and bad.  In sorrow and joy.  In peace and in war.  God satisfies and is always there for us.  He never leaves us alone to battle or wage war on our own.

Whatever you're facing....know that God knows...and He won't abandon you or leave you to figure things out by ourselves.  If we ask, He will help.  

And what I have always found...is ...HIS answers are always better and satisfying.  Always.

Five Minute Friday [Refuge]

Refuge is used 90+ times in the NIV Bible

Want to guess as to which book in the Bible used the word "refuge" the most?


A refuge is a hiding place.  David hid a lot.  He hid mostly in the crevices and caves from those who wanted to do him harm.  The most interesting part of his hideout plan was that he found the real Refuge.  


There's something about spending some quiet time in one place and being still before the Lord that brings protection and peace.


In David's effort to find physical shelter from those who wanted to kill him, he found a safe spiritual hideout that centered his faith on His steadfast God who offered him some sacred immunity.


David had some low times when he lamented to God and he wanted to give up.  He sought God as his refuge, and his life was preserved.  God provided safe haven.  

If you are going through some tough times today, know that God will cover your trouble with His providential care to protect and preserve, to offer asylum from your current ambush, and will hide your heart into his hiding place.  God's shelter is a secure shield and a stronghold to cling to.  His peace is a safe sanctuary that stopgaps, a strong tower that brings refuge. 

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging."  Ps. 46: 1-3

Five Minute Friday - Forgive

Please forgive me.  Sometimes I talk too much.  And sometimes I talk with my outside voice inside.    


Forgive me for talking from my heart.  I meet with God often to align mine with His.  


Please forgive me when I my tears are so close to the surface.


Forgive me for making promises I can't keep.  


Please forgive me when I tend over-commit my helping just a bit.  


How about when I failed and disappointed you?  Will you forgive me then?  


And yes....I tend to over-apologize, forgive me for that too.

Please forgive me when I don't have the godly attitude that I should, and it doesn't reflect in all my actions and decisions.  I am just one who needs God's grace and forgiveness on a daily basis. On my best day I need God's grace...on my worst day I need the same measure. 

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ~ Ephesians 4:32

Forgive as you have been forgiven.  Limitless and endless...mercy and grace at it's finest moments....forgiveness.  Jesus demonstrated true love and took our sins to the cross.  His death is the penalty for them all...and when we repent and confess, Jesus forgives.

God I am so thankful God gives forgiveness so freely.


"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." ~ C.S. Lewis

S-L-O-W-D-O-W-N

Watch out..lawn mowing season has begun.  If you are frequent reader here, you might be acquainted with the fact that I have a lesson that sometimes emerges out of my time spent with the mower and God.  For me, it really can be a time to listen to God, process and learn.

This past week's message for me was S-L-O-W-D-O-W-N.  

When I mow, I'll admit that I want to get it done and fast.  I really don't like to spend time doing it.  So when it's time, I like to get the mixture of fumes, sweat and grass clippings over with.  Another confession, some spiritual lessons learned are harder than the actual mowing process.   With either point it takes most of my afternoon.    


While mowing last week it was challenge because the grass was really high.  My pasture-grass-yard had transformed into a jungle during the first two weeks of March.  The season of Spring was here for about 10 minutes and then we said hello to summer.  With the high grass, there were some hard inanimate things that were laying hidden.  Unfortunately, I found such hidden objects with the mower.  There was an awful collision of the blade and the junk in the tall grass...then the mower stopped.  


Upon careful inspection, it was revealed that the blade was bent.  Not just a little bent, but bent down in such a way that it would churn up the ground every time it rotated.  It was like mowing with a garden tiller. It didn't work very well.  The blade had hit something HARD!  I continued to limp the mower along to finish the yard.  It was taking twice as long since I had to slow down because of the bent blade.  It was frustrating at best.  As I was mowing, God reminded me that I also might need to slow down.


I realized in the moment of churning the turf that I cause my own churning chaos.  I create it, in fact, I am an overachiever in this category.  So now....I need to have a collision of God's blade and some hard things hidden in my heart.  And that hurts.  I need to slow down to find rest in God.
  

1 Corinthians 7:17 "Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him.  This is the rule I lay down in all the churches."

I need to find my place that the Lord has assigned to me and has called me to.  I need to find that "sweet spot".  Why is this so hard for me?  Because I like to do.  I like to do a lot of ministry things.  I like to serve, I like to move, I like to progress and help.  I like to accomplish.  I don't like standing still or becoming stagnant in my service.  I feel guilty if I am not serving enough.  And I need to look to Jesus for my example of ministry and service.  


Jesus' ministry on earth was only three years.  In comparison to today’s church standards, Jesus probably wouldn't have been very effective.  He kept a pretty low profile, he healed people and then told the healed to not tell what had just happened.  He liked to be by himself, to seek the Lord and pray.  Jesus often stopped and took time to teach the children.  He would retreat on top of mountains, and go deep in the olive groves.  Even though He was very relational, He didn’t care much about making the most of his time talking to huge crowds.  In his three short years, he accomplished great things and yet he still took lots of breaks.  He didn't have a 3-year-world-tour plan calculated out for each and every stop and how it could be most impacting.  


He just sought the will of His Father.
He paused.
He prayed. 
He listened. 
He obeyed.  
He rested.  
He knew God.  

So here you are...you work, you have a family, you are active in church, you attend church on Sunday, Wednesday brings prayer meeting and kids zone, you attend or lead a women’s Bible study, teach Sunday school, sing in the choir, play an instrument for some special concert during Easter.  And your list goes on and on.  You accomplish a lot.  We don’t have time to think about how busy you are.  You just go, go, and go some more.  You don’t take time to rest.  You don't take a break.  And then your spiritual blade hits something hidden in your heart and you stop.  

The church needs us right?  How could we say no to the church?  If we don’t do it who will?  Can we really say no as a Christian and not feel guilty about it?  Taking time off makes us feel guilty.   That's why studying Jesus' ministry is so important for us overachievers and chaos causers.  The difference is that Jesus knew his limits.  And when he knew it was time to take a rest, he didn’t let anything get in the way of that.  Jesus was intentional with everything, so when he rested he did so with a purpose.  He said no.  Jesus didn’t assume the guilt either.  When he spent time alone, he knew he needed it.  He chose to do it and knew that if he didn’t he would soon be spread thin.

Doing with focused, rested intention... impacts. 

If you are overwhelmed with life and have a lot of chaos swirling around in your head and house, then slow down.  Start creating some time margins that help you breathe a little.  It’s okay to say no.  Go ahead…rest.  Jesus thought it important, why don’t you?  Don't kid yourself into believing that you can't take a break. This is the kind of thinking will only drive you to exhaustion.  And it's prideful to think if you don't do it no one else will.  Even God the Creator rested on the seventh day. Jesus constantly withdrew from the crowds to connect alone with the Father.

R-E-S-T!!!  S-L-O-W-D-O-W-N...  Jesus had the most important and perfect ministry of all.  Yet he still had time to accomplish His purpose on earth.  Whatever Jesus has called you to; don’t you think he has taken care of your rest breaks too?   He didn’t intend for you to scurry around with a crammed-packed-schedule with His calling on your shoulders only to wear you out for the sake of the gospel message.  He does ask us to be faithful to our calling and to trust Him for the results in what He has called us to do.  He has planned some seasons of rest and refreshing, because He knows we can't keep up with the break-neck speed the world tries to conform us to.  I need time to refresh and rejuvenate my soul.  Jesus knew you were going to need some rest too, so he showed you how He did it…He retreated and drew close to his Father.  He said no...because he truly understood a key ingredient of a powerful ministry--constant refueling by God's strength.

God commands you to rest. 

What do you find so hard about resting?  What is your "sweet spot"?   

Five Minute Friday - Worry!

Today's fast Friday challenge word is worry:  Go! 

Do you ever worry?  Or have you worried about worrying?  

I have...then I stopped at this verse.....

"Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.  Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.  Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" Luke 12:22-26

Frankly, worrying makes you weary.  Worry speaks of fear, of mistrust, and unbelief.  When you're hit square between the brows with life's swirling circumstances and you've done all you know to do, worrying is futile.    


Worry confuses.  Surrender to God reassures.

Worry destroys.  Faith builds trust.

Worry separates.  Prayer tethers us to His strength.

Worry breeds doubt.  Trust births dependence on Him.

Nothing about your life has caught God by surprise. He knew a long time ago you would be in the middle of whatever it is your facing today. He sees all the details...the good, the bad, the ugly....your dark thoughts. He's not weary about how it's going to work out.....So why worry?