S T R E T C H E D

Do you remember that time in the Bible when Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?"  Peter answers with, "Lord, you know I love you!"  Can we add a question mark to the end of his statement, because I imagine Peter offered it more like an indignant question than a declaration!  Befuddled Peter gets exhorted to simply "Feed my sheep."  Gulp.  What?  Take a deep breath!

Today, I sense Jesus asking me, "Do you trust me?"  The Peter-esk answer is, "Lord, you know I trust you."  Peter seemed surprised by Jesus' question.  You KNOW I love you!  My reaction is not one of surprise - more like leeriness or feeling guarded.  If pressed, my honest answer often includes caveats and conditions.  "Well, [pause] I'll definitely trust you in this circumstance, if you first provide in that way."  Or, "I can trust you this hour, but next hour I will probably not."  I am resigned to confess, "No, I don't trust you enough."

Trusting with conditions or not trusting fully may be like showering with your clothes on!  It doesn't work that way.  Or maybe it must and we will, in our human weakness, trust imperfectly all the days of our lives till we have crossed into eternity.  I don't know.  But I do know that I am being called to trust God with more, and to a greater degree. It feels like I am being stretched like a rubber band.  And when rubber bands are stretched without being handled with care, they fling in crazy ways!  But I have seen my God handle me with care.  God is my provider and this is a truth that has comforted and given courage.  Being stretched but faithless will find me brittle or broken. Being stretched while seeking to rest in my God - this is fertile ground for growth.  God's goodness does not hinge on my trust.

Take a deep breath!  "Oh for grace to trust Him more."

These Two, Powerful Words...

Yesterday, I found myself struggling to forgive an offense.  The size and type of offense are not what matters.  The old pattern of dealing with it - now that matters.  How I deal with an offense has the power to change the course of my hour, my day, my week.  (Such an understatement!)

Rewind to this winter:  I studied the book of Ephesians in the New Testament with a group of women each Friday.  The author is big on repeating sentence structures and concepts that build upon one another.  In chapter two, the Apostle Paul starts with bad news- hard truth.  Think death, disobedience, and wrath!  Two powerful words change the trajectory, though; one powerful, little conjunction:  "But God...."  The reader's attention is abruptly turned to good news and astounding truth of mercy, love, and life.  

Paul continues this same structure of bad news/good news in the next section, this time with Christ as the subject:  "But now in Christ..."  And then believers in Jesus become the subject the next time with, "but you...."  Yet further into the book we read, "but grace..."
Studying this book captivated my heart and mind like a roller coaster does my body!  I've been drawn to this crazy coaster that scares me to death; the lap bar holds me captive (I change my mind with every click-click-click), but exhilaration follows.  I need Scripture to captivate my mind, because my emotions are not unlike a roller coaster. Rides given daily, my friends!

What does this have to do with struggling to forgive an offense?  So, I find myself offended, and then seeking to understand (in my own mind, from my own "wisdom") why the other person acted in that manner.  This tends to be my go-to method, my pattern of beginning to deal!  But God.  What!?  But God.  It is the strangest thing- a thought not from my mind, but His.  A still, small voice quieted me with those two, powerful words.

God by his Spirit took me back to what had captivated me in Ephesians.  Bad news, hard truth does not stand alone!  It serves a purpose.  I serve a God who came near.  And He did not merely come, but He came to set captives free.  He came to take the old and make it new.  He came to suffer the worst kind of offense.  He came in power, and through Christ, that power is working in me.  Do you see that pattern?  Bad news - hard truth that shines a light on the good news of astounding Truth!  "But God" is whispered to my heart.  This conjunction joins the truth of the offense with the truth of God's solution- Himself.  "But God, being rich in mercy...."  This reminder quieted my thoughts of the offense.  It placed my focus on the One who can make things right.  It contrasted my sinfulness with God's holiness.  The offense lost some of its sting.  Could this be the new pattern God uses to help me deal with offenses?  Repeating truth and allowing the Holy Spirit to build concepts of truth so that a new structure is in place, one more fitting for a holy temple?  

But God.  How much would change in my life if the Good News was always applied to my bad news?  How much would change in yours?

"But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift..."  (Ephesians 4:7).  

Are You a Jonah?

Now, before you answer that question, I think you will need to spit out that mouthful of seawater you just swallowed.  Okay, good.  Now we can have a conversation!

So again, "Are you a Jonah?"  I am.  Like Jonah, God calls me his own.  Like Jonah, God has given me sending orders.  Like Jonah, my first response is typically "No."  More accurately, "WHAT?  Are you crazy?  Reach out to that person?  Say yes to that task?"  [Insert Road Runner noise, speeding in the opposite direction.  But no, I've never been to Tarshish.]

We are going to delve into the life and book of Jonah at Christ Community, both in VBS and weekend sermons.  Looking at this account with fresh perspective is good for the soul!  We will be reminded of God's unfathomable character - his sense of justice; His extension of grace; might I add God's sense of humor?

We will be forced to reckon with our sin nature - our natural tendencies to run, to reject, to accuse.  Listening to these lyrics this week reminded me of Jonah:
"I am a sinner
If it's not one thing it's another
Caught up in words
Tangled in lies
But you are a Savior
And you take brokenness aside
And make it beautiful
Beautiful"

These lyrics remind me of me, too.  What about you?  Are you a Jonah?  We need to be confronted with our sin.  We will be reminded of the Truth that sets us free.

Take a listen.  See you this weekend!

Fall in Love....Read.

Books

I love books.

I love books in the sun.

I love books on the run.

I love books at my school.

I love books by my pool.

On a picnic blanket, laying in the grass.

On a bouncy trampoline, stopping to rest, at last.

How do you love your books?

  

Are you familiar with the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics?  I have no clue what the first law is (some of you are mentally informing me as you read).  But I do know the 2nd law, and this premise just really lights my fire, in a good way!  I love it because it makes sense of the disorder of life.  The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics - in my words - states that anything left to itself tends toward a state of disorder.  This is encouraging and instructive.  Why, you ask?  Because it explains why my home and car tend toward states of disorder.  Why my brain does.  Why my heart does!  This encourages me because it is normal- expected, even.

This 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is instructive, too.  It teaches me to prepare for the disorder and plan accordingly.  So, my son cleans my ultra-cool minivan each Saturday.  My daughter runs the vacuum.  (Teaching life skills and conquering disorder!)

What do books and the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics have in common?  Well, in our house, we like to read.  We also like a bit of laziness.  So you put the two together and we end of reading anything and everything that crosses our path; this does not amount to quality literature ("Trending on Facebook" sidebar is so tempting!)  Our intentions to read great books start strong...... but start to slide.  

If this sounds like you, have no fear!  A quality summer reading list is here.

On the opposite spectrum and rarely read?  Take heart!  An engaging list is here.

The following links contain great books with which you just may fall in love.

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2014/03/04/a-complete-classical-christian-school-reading-list-grades-1-8/

http://www.sonlight.com/search.html?search=summer%20reading

Register for VBS!

How to Register For VBS at Christ Community Church 
& What is Required for Serving in VBS:

1) Registration:  http://goo.gl/forms/M8JFkPtDsm

(Necessary for every child entering 5th grade or younger, even those needing childcare.)

2) Medical Release:    http://goo.gl/forms/qijFRXChkn

(Necessary for every child and teen at VBS.)

              All Youth Who Desire to Serve in VBS:

                   *Mandatory VBS Training Time 

           on Saturday, June 6th - 10 am til noon

                           Snacks Provided!

                   Meet your leader and team

This meeting is also for adults who will serve as area leaders,                 Art Track and Sports Track, and as small group leaders.

                

*If you are unable to attend, you must come to the make-up 

meeting on Sunday, June 14th at 9 am  til 10:15am.
**Failure to attend one of these meetings (for youth) will result in not serving in VBS.  

 Led by Sara Nist and Mike Veitz.

Here's My Heart

Here's My Heart - Is it safe with you?

I think this is a fundamental question consciously or subconsciously asked by every person who walks this planet:  "Is my heart safe with you?"  The need to feel safe is so deeply embedded in our souls; it is an underpinning of everything we are and do.

I see it in my relationships with my kids.  They desire to share their hearts with me, but am I safe?  Am I trustworthy?  Sometimes I feign attention and miss the important. Just as bad is when I hijack their vulnerability and try to teach instead.  

I see it in my relationship with my husband.  He needs to feel confident that he can risk failing and yet still have a wife that cheers and supports.  Can he share big dreams and know that they will be valued and not undermined?  

I see it in my relationship with my God-  me seeking safety in Him. I repeatedly ask an unspoken question of Jesus: "Here's my heart, Lord.  You see it to the depths.  Yet, can I open up my heart to You?  What do I get in return?  What do I risk?"  

I have a two choices!  (You do, too.)  I could open my heart to Jesus.  Opening my heart means a step of faith. Though my head tells me He is good and loving and able, my heart can lie viciously and trust feebly.   Keeping my heart closed seems simpler and the more in-control choice. But keeping my heart closed means I try harder; manage better, or blame more. For me, this manifests itself in stress, anger, or isolation. The closed-heart is not pretty.

When I recognize that I need to open my heart to Jesus, I can be assured that a work of grace has already begun!  God by His Spirit draws me once for salvation but never stops drawing near!  Grace upon grace upon grace.  I need to consciously (sometimes out loud) name what is happening in my heart as I risk coming into Jesus' presence in search of safety.  Do you know what I find?  Rest, not increased pressure.  Comfort, not condemnation.  The closed-heart leads to condemnation; closing myself off from my Author is to open myself to my accuser.  The heart open to God is lovely- able to give and receive love. 

So right now, I am needing to do hard things.  (Maybe you do, too.) This is provoking, because I dislike hard things.  Last week, we talked as a family about what animal we each would be if we could not be human!  Dolphins, lions, bears were chosen, but I decided I would be a deer. Ironic, because deer run at the slightest provocation!  Fitting, because I can run to Jesus.

Below is a link to one of my favorite songs.  It's like an open-hearted prayer.  For me, after I have wrestled with God over the hard stuff - perhaps thrown a tantrum or two - I am worn out, ready to submit, seeking rest, and ready for God to "speak what is true." And He does.

Here's My Heart - I Am They

St. Patrick's Day - A Tale of Redemption

   

What do Veggie Tales, Kings Kaleidescope and Keith and Kristyn Getty have in common?  If you guessed "Links on this St. Patrick's Day Blog Post" you would be correct!

I love St. Patrick's Day!  Not for the green beer or green rivers.  Possibly a little for the fun Irish  sayings:  "Top o' the mornin' to ya!"  When you step aside the silly legends, Paddy Parades, and fun frolicking, you are left with a missionary tale that points to the providence of God.  (Incidentally, this story resembles a treasured Biblical account of the story of Joseph being sold into slavery- look it up - Genesis 39.)

So in our household, each March 17th, we get our green on and grab some great resources to help separate fact from fiction.  In some small way, this is how we redeem the culture instead of running from it.  

Check out these fun resources: 

• One for the kids - Veggie Tales Classic  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg5ejLGEnZk&list=PLB5567E17B236276A
• One for the adults   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOqWT2tk9Js
• One with Kings Kaleidoscope, because they are just so cool, and because Be Thou My Vision has Irish roots, like a potato.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxP45fCBdtw
• One with the Gettys - does it get more Irish than Keith and Kristyn?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6h7nSDtW-E