Friends

Max and Jacob playing 'guys'

This week is going to be a hard one. My friend and Max's friend are moving. Julie has been my prayer partner for over a year and Max and Jacob have been good friends since just after we moved to Cody.

Wherever I've gone God has been gracious to give me exactly what I need relationally. I've been blessed to have people who invest in my life, that encourage and pray for me. Julie has been such a blessing to me in Cody, it's hard to say goodbye. God has used our relationship to refine and grow me in such important ways.

I've also seen God working in Jacob and Max's relationship. It has certainly been a tool God has used to teach both boys about relationships and love. I know Max has grown a lot in his ability to be kind, share, work together, have patience, forgive and more. He really loves his "Jacob friend".

I truly believe relationships are our training ground. We learn, and practice the truth's we're learning, in the context of relationship. With out them there would be no maturity. I am thankful for the good gift of friendship in my life. We will certainly miss the Myers family!

Breathles Adoration

This was my devotion today from the book Tozer on the Holy Spirit a 366-day devotional. I thought it spoke to what God has been teaching me about holiness, sin, worship.

"The theory (of impromptu service planning) is that if the meeting is unplanned the Holy Spirit will work freely, and that would be true if all the worshipers were reverent and Spirit-filled. But mostly there is neither order nor Spirit... In the majority of our meetings there is scarcely a trace of reverent thought, no recognition of the unity of the body, little sense of the divine Presence, no moment of stillness, no solemnity, no wonder, no holy fear... The whole Christian family stands desperately in need of a restoration of penitence, humility and tears. May God send them soon.

We would do well to follow our old-fashioned forbears who knew what it was to kneel in breathless, wondering adoration in the presence of God."
 

I've always been a fan of Tozer and find his writings convicting and refreshing. Even though he wrote this decades ago, I feel like it's applicable to my life and to the church today.

Messy!

Blueberry pancakes! I'm feeding myself!

The eating process is getting messier and more interesting all the time with Maggie as she tries to get involved in the process and tries new foods. Blueberries stain pretty badly, faces and clothes!

Every day is an adventure with two kids. Maggie's little personality is starting to show itself more as she changes and grows. She's not shy but she's more of an introvert than Max. Sometimes she'll just crawl off to another room and play or explore on her own, which can be trouble. Once in a while it will get quiet and I'll go back to her bedroom to find her playing contentedly with her toys. Max always stayed close to me and talked constantly. So it looks like we might have his and her kids!

Playtime

What's in here? Hmm, how does it taste?What else is in here?
Little baby doll!
Max and Maggie play so well together. They are a delight. Maggie loves checking out Max's toys, thankfully he's really good at sharing!

Remembering

This is a bit of a continued thought from my previous post. I noted previously that sin quenches our passion and zeal for God and hinders our pursuit of holiness. Another thing I've been pondering is if we are saved, loved, rescued, purchased, valued people why don't we wear our gratitude and joy daily on our faces, in our actions. I think one reason is because we have short memories. We forget our wretchedness apart from Jesus.

I know a man that I want to be like. He has an amazing story and he shares it freely. He lives with gratitude and an open heart. He weeps openly over his sinfulness and God's grace, it's beautiful and disconcerting. This man was a drug addict and alcoholic. He was an enemy and scoffer of God. He hurt his family and left his wife. He came to the point of despair and suicide. In desperation he finally called out to Jesus and was changed. He and his wife have remarried and she testifies that he is a new man.

I've never even seen a drug, suicide never has really crossed my mind, never have been to jail. I became a Christian as a child. But I've sinned. Even as a believer I've justified my selfish behavior, which is even more despicable because I've tasted grace and should know better. God has had to set me free from sin, I've needed forgiveness. My sin is no less repulsive to God than the man I know. I should live with as much gratitude and joy.

I think the difference is my human tendency to justify and categorize. I forget that sin is sin, dead is dead. I don't live in the realization of my wretchedness and God's superior worth and glory. I forget that anything good that I am, any beauty I have is really Christ's. I imagine that is the reason for the warning in Ephesians to remember that it's by grace that we're saved and nothing to do with ourselves.

So, while I think sin is the number one culprit for joyless, fruitless, passionless living I believe that once sin is dealt with and forgiven we can't forget. We can't forget that we are capable of terrible sin. We can't forget that once we were God's enemies before we were his friend. We can't forget the wounds he healed, the chains loosed, the dirt removed. In remembering we become a grateful, worshipful people.

Cleansing

Words are jostling around in my mind all vying for attention, reflection, definition. Passion, worship, spiritual, sin, holiness, commitment. All words God is teaching me about and challenging me on. Each word could be focused on exclusively and developed in my life. Yet I'm learning they are interwoven, each effected by the other.

How does a person, a church, become spiritually passionate? How do we become committed to holiness? When does worship become a lifestyle? How do we get past the form of spirituality and to the heart of spirituality?

I believe the crux of the issue is sin. I am not merciless with sin. I, and I believe many others in the church, let sin creep in unchecked. I confess I'm not consistent with confessing and dealing swiftly and brutally with sin. I wouldn't knowingly allow cancer to go unchecked in my body. Sin is just as surely a death sentence in my life.

I don't want to live at the mercy of sin anymore. I've learned it has no mercy. It's goal is my destruction. God's glory and holiness should reign in my life and all that it brings, not the putrid stench of death. If I haven't washed my heart in Jesus blood, cleaning the stains of sin from my heart, when I walk into his presence to worship, pray, commune the stench of death rises to meet him instead of the sweet perfume of Jesus. What an assault to his gift of grace.

Whenever I ask myself why does God seem silent, why don't I have joy like I did or should, why is the bible dry, why am I at odds with others, why, why, why... I know sin is the culprit. When I hear other people ask those questions, or see a lack of fruit and passion I know sin's at the root of it. When I see a church struggling to connect with each other and the community, lacking zeal, disconnected in worship I know sin is lurking.

The Holy Spirit is hindered in his work of transforming us into holy people when sin is left undelt with in our lives. Only when we begin at the beginning, washing our hearts for the first or the five hundredth time, can passion ignite, worship flow freely, healing begin. Oh, come and clean us Jesus. May our goal be your glory and the means be our holiness.

Teeth!

I was feeding Maggie this morning and in between bites she would fuss at me. Being the caring Mom that I am, I took the opportunity to capture her new teeth! I wish she would have shown them off with a happy smile but I guess we'll take what we can get!

Super Cowboy

The super hero cowboy!

I got this superman costume on sale after Halloween and Max has so enjoyed it. Recently he had the idea of combining his superman and cowboy outfits to be super cowboy! Only in the Wild West!

Best Buddies

Max is experiencing one of life's real sorrows for the first time. A parting. His friend Jacob is moving in a few weeks. His Dad is taking a church in Kentucky. When I first told him about the move he sobbed and said "I won't have a best friend anymore." It was heartbreaking. They've been two peas in a pod and really love each other. I know this transition is going to be a tough one for my little boy. I expect a few weeks of him being moody and clingy. I'm praying God will meet his needs for comfort and friendship. Also that I will be wise in helping him sort out this big change.

L

My friend Sarah was recently assigned a letter by her sister, who had been assigned a letter by a friend, to list 10 things she loves using that particular letter. I asked her for a letter to join in the fun. She assigned me L, so here are my 10 things that I love beginning with L...

1. Laughter~it really is the best medicine! I love hearing the laughter of my children, especially Maggie's little belly laughs. And I love letting loose and laughing so hard with a group of girl friends that you cry and can't catch your breath. I also love laughing with my husband at our own inside jokes and at each others silliness.

2. Latitude 33° 39' N Longitude 84° 26' W~the location of Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta holds many dear memories, especially for Chris and me. We went to the Atlanta Olympics together, which was quite an experience. It was also the destination of many wonderful dates, to the zoo, the Fox Theatre, the coke museum, the Sun Dial at the top of the Peach tree. I think she's a grand old town, full of life and a beautiful history.

3. Learning~I love to learn; about God, myself, nature, other people, the world, history, a new skill, random facts... I love learning.

4. Leaves~When I was little we would collect all kinds of leaves, iron them between wax paper and then glue them together in a collage. I've always liked the different colors, shapes and textures. I love the rustling sound they make in the fall as you walk through them. I used to be able to identify a lot of different trees by their leaves, I'm afraid there aren't many trees to identify in the west.

5. Letters~We don't send or receive many letters anymore with the convenience of electronic mail. But I still like to get the occasional card. I especially like to receive cards and letters at Christmas, it seems to be the one time of the year you can count on mail.

6. Lazy days~Friday and Monday mornings Chris has time off. Often we spend time snuggling Daddy in the bed, sometimes he and Max eat breakfast in bed. I try not to worry about all the things I need to get done, but just be together as a family.

7. Lemon curd~I love my red tea set and a delicious pot of tea. I enjoy having scones or some other pastry to go with it. My favorite condiment for those pastries is lemon curd. No tea party is truly complete without it for me.


8. Legos~What a clever toy, you can make anything with them they encourage creativity and imagination. My favorite aspect of legos is that they entertain Max for hours!

9. Longfellow~I love the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. My favorite of his works are The Children's Hour, The Day is Done and a Psalm of Life. His poems have a wonderful way of capturing the essence and beauty of life.

10. Love~How could I have a list of things starting with L without including love. I've been blessed with so much love in my life. I've been blessed by the love of my family for years. Loving and being loved by my children has been life changing. Then of course the blessing of being sheltered and protected by the love of my husband. He's the only man I've ever loved and I'm thankful. All of that love, I know, is really a love gift from Jesus. No true love ever comes from another source than the Author of love. He is the one my heart truly loves.

Pretty girl

Maggie getting ready for church. She likes her hair brushed.

All pretty.

Just Thinking

Recently in my personal bible study God has been reshaping some of my preconceived ideas. I used to think that the sin and fall of man was an accident, God' plan B. I thought he created Adam and Eve and all their offspring to live in the perfect, untainted garden forever. Unbroken communion, unhindered access with the Creator. No need for forgiveness, confession, regeneration, rescue. I thought that the purpose after the fall of man in redemption was to restore things to the way they were, because he hadn't intended the garden to be altered in the first place.

I don't think that anymore. I don't think God's original intent was the garden. I think his plan all along was redemption. Without the need for rescue how could we fully experience the depths of God's love. A person with no need of mercy, grace, forgiveness, repentance, redemption cannot experience those qualities. How could a forgiving God express forgiveness to people with no need. I believe before we were even created God's intent was a rescue mission. (1 Peter 1:18-20, "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.") I don't think Jesus coming again will re-establish the garden. I believe it will be infinitely better. We will be a people once broken now made whole. A bride once dirty now clean. The friendless in perfect intimacy. Grateful. Restored. Worshiping.

I wouldn't have made a perfect world that could be marred. I would have been content with the garden. But that's because I'm not God. He had so much more to show us than could be contained in a perfect setting. He is not a God to be boxed in by man's wisdom. I don't understand why the risk of so much suffering and evil was worth the cost to God. I can only imagine that it best served his purposes to display his glory, which is the most important thing of all. His glory is our purpose and living for it is the only thing that satisfies.