Happy New Year!

I find Christmas comes at quite the perfect time.  I wound down the year reading Ezekiel.  It was a little painful at first, no lie, but as I pressed on it was a reminder of how I have fallen short and sought other gods this year.  Just as the Israelites had done the same. I was reminded of the hope we have and celebrate because Christmas was coming.  I was not in the same hopeless situation the Israelites were in- because I know the penalty for those shortcomings has been paid and we would be celebrating the coming of that hope.

It is perfect timing as the year winds down to be reminded of hope- because it is so easy to look back on the year and be reminded of all the ways we have fallen short and the resolutions we messed up and failed to achieve.  But we have the reminder as the year ends that hope as come, that we are made new.  We enter with hope and new resolve! Happy New Year!

The Bad Guys

Something that seems to be a common trend recently has been sympathizing with and justifying the "bad guys".  This trend of downplaying evil or wrong and making that person or character into someone who was just, misunderstood.

I am not sure how to feel about this...

It is a little concerning how we care more about the bad guy than the good guy. Right now it just seems to be about understanding the bad guy- but is the next step wanting evil to defeat good? It makes me think more closely, especially in lieu of Christmas coming when the ultimate good guy came to earth to defeat evil for all time.

I can understand how in a lot of ways "the bad guy" can be more relatable in that we all tend to feel  we have messed up and fallen short like a 'bad guy' in some portion of our lives.  And maybe we want to relate and see them win because it gives us hope that we too, in our shortcomings, can one day overcome those decisions/actions... or it can give us hope that when we have messed up, other people will want to understand us before judging us.  While we as humans tend to be quick to judge and only look at what we can see, the ultimate judge knows our heart and cares more about our heart than our actions. The good guy usually represents and fights for solid and upright morals- what is right.  The only way that evil can truly overcome itself is by accepting and living out what is right- by recognizing and letting go of their evil ways and embracing the good.

And the reason the bad guy doesn't like the good is because it forces them to face the fact that they are falling short of that standard.  They are faced with the choices they made that lead them away from that. And that is hard.  It is something that they want to fight against- and get the way that seems to please them the most at the time instead of going the way that is right but more difficult. And realistically, even the good guy messes up and makes self-seeking decisions because he is not the ULTIMATE good guy.

Yes, it is nice to hope that when we fall short we will not be immediately and harshly judged, but it is not right to expect to not have any consequence to our actions.  Let us rejoice as Christmas approaches and we celebrate the coming of the ultimate good guy who defeated evil once and for all, whom evil never once overcame.

Happy Advent!

Thanksgivent

This year has come with its own struggles that have been challenging and at times, overwhelming.  Some of those struggles come from growing pains and being challenged with new things to stretch  and develop. Some struggles come simply from being alive. And some struggles from poor decisions and learning boundary management, from taking matters into your own hands and timing and not trusting in God or from simply being hurt and wronged by others.  Those last ones are the struggles that can really threaten to cripple and to rob me us of our hope and trust.

As Thanksgiving ends and Advent begins- we focus this week on both thankfulness and hope. This year I am thankful for the challenges and hard times because, while they cause wounds, I have Jesus, and he brings hope. He allows these wounds to heal and move from festering and infected, to scars.  He comes in and tends to those wounds, bringing hope and healing like the gentle shepherd that he is.  The scars will always remain there as reminders, but they won't be open and festering, putting our health in danger.  As we walk into this Advent season, I am thankful that He is at work bringing healing and Hope in my life.

Prayer for Paris

I lift up Paris and all of France, but not only France... the whole world.  I grieve at the loss and the fear and the pain.  But you God grieve more- seeing our pain and suffering as your children, knowing this is not the way you intended it to be.  I grieve for the pain and brokenness in the lives of those who would think such cowardly actions are an acceptable and appropriate way to advance a cause or message.  It makes me angry- and I cannot imagine how I would feel if this happened to my family.

Into the lies and hardness of their hearts, the death they walk in; I pray that you would speak life and truth. I pray that you would transform them as you did Saul into Paul.  Your heart breaks for your people on all sides of this situation.  I pray that instead of animosity towards one another, instead of blaming one another and focussing on divisions, that you would unite us in love as we are all made in your image.

My heart grieves for the families and friends of those who were killed in Paris.  It breaks knowing the pain and sadness affecting so many lives there- as one who has been through a school shooting and city riots, my heart breaks for the fear and the anger that such events cause. I pray for comfort and peace in the lives of those touched by this chaos- and throughout the world.

I pray that such actions, with the clear and explicit intent to cause fear, would not be allowed to run our lives.  I pray that we would not turn a blind eye and let regimes be set-up on the basis of fear, as they have risen up before, causing death and war. I pray that there would be those who stand up and fight for what is right, with courage even in the threat of death.  

With Veteran's day having been celebrated this past week, I thank you for the lives of those who have fought, are fighting, and will continue to fight for freedom and justice- who stand and fight for what they believe.

Unite us for your kingdom.  Fill us with your love that we might be able to love those around us and change this world.  Let us cling to the only hope there is, new life at the sacrifice of your perfect son for each of our sins which is the only truth that can even enable us to reach out, love, and forgive those who have hurt us and who are different than we are.

Right here, right now

To follow God your whole life isn't just a  decision you make once, or a new year's resolution. It's choosing him and doing His will second by second. The seconds add up to minutes... minutes to hours and hours to days, weeks and months. That's how you spend a lifetime obeying God. It starts with the moments right now.

...Tear down this wall...

“My Gods not dead he’s surely alive” is a great lyric.  This image came into my mind as I was thinking of all the walls around myself I have been trying to build.  I was thinking how cool it is to have a living God who, while I am building these walls to try and lock myself in for selfish reasons, is living and active.  He didn’t just give me rules and tell me to take it back down while he sits about as a statue doing nothing. He is living and active- he is on the other side of these walls breaking them down so he can get back and help me recover.  I am so thankful I have a God who is pursuing me and with me and breaking through, not just A God who sits around telling me to deconstruct it all  on my own.

Come HERE

“When I say come, you come to where I AM, not where you think I am going.”  I am a (most of the time) proud new-dog owner of a 7-year old border collie.  This is a new dog experience for me as we grew up with a hound dog, so her temperament is very different.  She is by nature a herder.  I have been learning her personality more and more- and one of the funniest things is how she always tries to lead where we are going.  She likes to be with you (right at your feet) and thinks she knows where we are going.  The funny part is usually she gets it all wrong.  I need to go back and grab something (three times) or I turn off into a different room where I wanted to do some cleaning. 

I was trying to get her tied up on her lead so she could run further and explore, so I told her to “Come”- she bolted passed me up the steps as if she knew we were going inside.  Wrong.  I wanted to give her something better.  “Come to where I call you- not where you think we are going.”  I said those words and it struck me as something I absolutely do with God- I try and figure out what the next thing is and meet him there instead of going straight to where He called me.  I try and lead- but He knows where I need to go.  He knows if we forgot a few things and need to go back, or if we need to wait a little bit for a storm to pass, or if there is some organizing that needs to get done. 

So even though it can be frustrating at times, and we have almost tripped and fallen on each other as she runs past your feet, it’s a good reminder of how stubborn and silly I can be.  And how she always comes back to find me, because she would rather be where I am than alone by herself where she thought we were going.  (Exodus 33:15-16)

Stained Glass

I am finishing up a stained glass class where I am making my first big piece!  It is kind of exciting, quite a process! You start with larger pieces of glass and a pattern- you proceed to cut the pieces to match the pattern. It seems simple enough but it is not!  Glass likes to brake in straight lines or where it is weakest (if it has a texture) so it is difficult to get the pieces to match the pattern.  You “Score” a line to show the glass where to break then use plier type tools to break and nibble away until you get your proper shape.  Then you grind the edges with a grinder until it is the right size.  They need to fit almost perfectly to make the design work. The pieces then get wrapped in foil and you solder them together.  That is as far as I have gotten, but we are doing framing and patina and whatever else this coming week.

Anyway- that is all besides the point- I am kind of anal about my art creations, so I planned out my piece to get all the colors exactly where I wanted them before I cut them.  Beautifully spaced colors evenly throughout… you know, “perfect”.  I had larger pieces of glass and I knew what color/texture glass was going to be used for each piece.  Class ended so we had to pack up and like the incredibly graceful lady that I am, I proceeded to drop all of my glass in transit.  My beautiful larger pieces which all had a spot on my pattern were now broken into much smaller pieces than needed.  Some were salvageable, but new glass was needed, new colors, new plan.

You don’t throw out those small pieces though, because they can be used to make mosaics or other smaller more intricate designs (than my beginner piece).  Often times I think that we look at ourselves like this glass.  We idealize the large, unbroken pieces.  They have so much “potential” and have it “all together”, but hanging a large piece of green glass in a window is nowhere near as beautiful as a stained glass piece, with its intricacies and varying colors and designs.  The original bigger piece needs to be cut and shaped… sometimes broken… into smaller pieces that can be used to make a more beautiful creation.  If we don’t let ourselves get shaped and broken down, we might still be “whole”, but we miss out on the beautiful picture and creation that we could be. And my goodness does that process take time!  And patience. And vision. But in the end it is beautiful and worth it.



Update- Finished piece:

Smart Phones

Just got in on this trend this year… only slightly behind the times per usual.  I am still such a noob though- the phone has way more capabilities than I can even imagine, but I’ve barely branched out from what my old phone used to do.  I do utilize me some google maps, social media, email, and spotify but besides that I only use a few other things.  I have one app to practice learning a new language now and one with some math tips and tricks (#nerdalert)! 

It struck me how much we are like these phones- God created us all with these capabilities through conection to Him.  To communicate and have community, staying in touch by many means with people.  We have access to be guided when we don’t know how to get somewhere through GPS or google maps or whatever people use.  To challenge and grow ourselves through learning new languages and other things I don’t even know about- or to get our lives in order with budgets and bank apps.  But the problem is our phones need to be ON and CHARGED to utilize these things. 

If you are lost and want to call for help and get directions- and have this great tool in front of you that could solve these issues, but you didn’t charge it, what use is it?  I feel like we- as proverbial smart phones- often do this.  The one with these answers is so easily accessible and yet we don’t plug into Him and charge ourselves. We run on battery reserve power by our own strength with only the most basic of functions or just shut down completely and go through life blind and anxious.  What would have been something that helps us, stands by useless just waiting to be charged and available.  Plug yourself in! Charging once only last so long, you have to keep recharging that battery.

UPDATE- Good challenge to consider from my friend, what is YOUR charger?