Vantage Point

Ahh, Spring is in the air.  I love this time of year.  Everything is new and budding.  The days are longer.  The world seems fresh and alive from its Winter slumber.  Spring means new possibilities around every corner.

Unfortunately, Spring also means cleaning around every corner.  What is it about the Daylight Savings sunlight that tends to highlight the dust and debris in my life.  I like Winter's shadows much better for hiding what I want to avoid - Spring cleaning. 

I thought I kept my personal world pretty tidy but apparently not so much, thank you for pointing this out mother nature.  For example, my yard and garden look somewhat like a war zone.  The harsh winds of Winter were not kind to many of my plants.  It appears that no amount of encouragement is going to bring them back.  They sit there brown and lifeless mocking me and pleading for me to replace them with something beautiful, like flowers.  This I can do and enjoy at the same time.  There is other cleaning beyond my capabilities.

My palm tree is three stories tall.  The cold Winter killed many of its fronds.  Now they hang there dead and lifeless.  The tree needs a thorough pruning but cutting and pruning the tree is far beyond my reach.  My neighbors will just have to deal with the appearance of my raggedy tree.  At least that's how it looks from the sidewalk.

On closer observation, maybe those brown, limp fronds aren't so lifeless after all.  From inside the house I have a different vantage point from which to view the palm tree.  From my third story window I can see into the tree.  And what I see from way up here is life, exciting new life springing forth.

Nestled safely in some of those dead and dying fronds is a dove's nest.  The nest is snug and secure and protected from Spring's high winds and rain.  A mating pair of doves has found the palm tree's strong and tough arms a perfect place to start their family.  None of this is viewable from the street.  The casual observer has no idea what life transformations are taking place high above her head.  To the naked eye, the tree is ugly and in need of attention to make it pretty and useful.  The naked eye can miss so much. 

We live our lives down on the sidewalk, viewing everything through naked eyes.  We don't see things happening in our lives and so we think nothing is happening in our lives.  We miss so much.  But God has a different vantage point.  He sees everything clearly.  He sees the events and changes taking place now that we will only see later.  God knows that just because something looks dead, lifeless and unusable it is far from it.  And a lot of the time, the uglier the better for God.

Take a stroll the the scriptures some time.  Time and time again the people God used were not the ones most people would expect.  He chose the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the lepers, the adulters, the lairs and murders, and the poor, penniless and downtrodden.  If the world didn't want them God and Jesus did.  Because God could see what these people could not.  God could see their hearts, not the hearts they showed to the world, but their true hearts, found inside their inner most being.  And its there God built His nest from which he would bring forth new life into these people. And into you and me. 

My tree looks ugly and lifeless.  But if I were to prune my tree right now I would tear out the dove's home and nest lovingly prepared for new life.  I would stop right in its tracks the plans those dove parents have for their babies.  But because I was given a view from a different vantage point I know that the tree is not lifeless and it is truly far from ugly.  The same can be said for you and me.  Sometimes we see only the ugly and lifeless parts of our lives.  But God can give us a different vantage point from which to observe things; to see the plans He has for us.  He knows things are not what they seem.  He knows that from death, life will spring forth. 

God knows how beautiful we really are.  And that beauty never dies, even when covered in Winter's dirt and debris. 
~

Choose Wisely

I am
not where
               I want
to be.

I am
exactly where
                     God wants
me to be.

I have
         a choice . . .
~

Two-Way Street

The story is as old as time – new kid moves to town, girls instantly like him, guys instantly hate him. He’s rather mysterious, bringing with him new fangled ideas that upset the established order and threaten an age old way of life.

This new fangled idea is so upsetting that it not only turns friends against each other, the fear of it pits family members against one another. Eventually the heat gets turned up, protests are organized, threats are made and ultimatums contemplated. No matter what a citizen’s thoughts are on the matter one thing is certain, win, lose or draw, there will be no going back to the old order of things.

Eventually, a leader rises above the fray and is heard. His heart is heavy, his spirit is torn. He stands for the old way, the way it always has been and was thought always would be. But he is beginning to understand, to see that things change, that perhaps there is room for growth and new ideas.

His question is simple – “If we don’t start trusting our children, how will they ever become trustworthy?”

The question is simple, the answer certainly is not.

Most of you know how the movie ends. The dance goes forward, albeit in the county next door; giving the parents a chance to trust their children and the children a chance to show that they are worthy of that trust.

This storyline is not unique to Hollywood. It is a storyline that has been playing itself out again and again for more than 2,000 years. It began with a young man from Nazareth who came to town with some pretty new fangled ideas and asked the people to trust Him. Some did, some did not. His storyline is still playing out long after the non-trusters thought, mistakenly, they won.

This storyline plays out through you and me. We are asked to trust and believe in new fangled ideas.  We are asked to trust in what we cannot see or hear.  Scripture asks us to seek God and trust in Him, so we do. We seek His provision and protection. We seek His healing and guidance. We seek His wisdom and peace. And He provides all of that and more. 

But I have to admit that there are times when frankly, what God is providing is just not enough. Or it is just enough and not one ounce more. What I am really looking for is more than enough; I am looking for that abundance the bible talks about. Where can I get my hands on some of that?

Jesus tells me exactly where I can get it. In the parable of the 3 servants. (Matt. 25:14-30). A man went away and entrusted his servants with his money to look after while he was gone. He gave them each different amounts but each amount was very large. Each servant did something different with the money (talents) – one invested greatly and his talents grew greatly, one invested a little and his grew a little, and the third was afraid of losing his master’s money so he buried it and did nothing.

Of the servants who invested wisely the master said when he returned, “Well done, my good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.” The one who buried his talents was punished.

Trust. Turns out it’s a two way street. We are to trust God “with all our heart and all our soul” (Deut. 10:12) and He will do the same.  We are asked to trust but we are also asked for trust.  When walk with God and fully put our trust in Him, He will trust us in return. He will give us bigger and bigger blessings and responsibilities as we show we are ready for them and able to handle them. Like any good parent, our Heavenly Father wants nothing more than for us to be fully trustworthy, good and faithful children, able to receive all He has for us. And He will do all He can to make us succeed in that endeavor. 

Having trust while being trustworthy, that’s a storyline better than anything Hollywood ever dreamed up.
~

Consider. . .

Living with faith is hard,
          living without faith is impossible.

Consider Matthew 17:20.
~

Grand Canyon

It is one of the most majestic places on the earth. It overwhelms the senses to stand and try to take it in all at once. Which, at 277 miles long, 18 miles wide and a mile deep, is impossible from standing at its edge. The Grand Canyon is beautiful and inspiring. Its power is hard to ignore. Scholars cannot agree on the exact age of the Canyon, but most agree it is very old and has been around for millennia.

For all its beauty and tranquility the Grand Canyon can be a rather inhospitable place. It is found in the middle of a desert. The temperatures in the day time can soar above 100 degrees and in winter get so cold, especially along the northern rim, to snow and fall below freezing. The Canyon has been home to many people through the ages. Hardy people who made their homes amid the rock and hard scrabble of the cliffs and along its edge.

It is rather incredible to think that all it took to create the place – besides a whole lot of time – was just some wind and water. The Colorado River runs through the Canyon. And experts hold that it is the river and its streams that are mostly responsible for the Canyon's formation. The water coursing over and against the solid rock sediment cuts it like a knife changing the shape of the Canyon and revealing new levels of rock.

The wind equally has influence on the ever changing shape of the Canyon. The constant blowing of the wind through the Canyon caresses its walls and lifts sediment from its sides. That sediment then rubs against the walls farther down further influencing its shape and design. Ice, snow and storms share some of the load as well.  The Canyon was created long ago but it appears to be a canyon in the midst of its creation.

While on the one hand the Canyon is aged and ancient, it is still being formed and made into what it is to become. Perhaps you visited the Canyon when you were a child, stood on its edge, hiked its trails or rode a donkey down to the river. Go back; you will not see the same Canyon you saw. God is not finished with the Grand Canyon.

Everyday God sends wind, rain, ice, and the mighty Colorado River to work on his majestic masterpiece. Everyday He sculpts His creation into the vision of perfection He has for it. Everyday the Canyon gets a little closer to God’s perfect glory.

You and I see God’s perfect glory already when we gaze at the Canyon's stunning beauty at sunset and marvel at its many colors. We are already in awe as we float along the river and look at the walls standing protection over us that are as old as the earth and as precious as anything on it. You and I fly over the Canyon in an airplane and look down and are able to take in its true vastness and are amazed that anything could ever be grander.

God sees the Canyon and knows it is beautiful. He knows it is good. (Gen. 1:10)  But God rarely stops at good. He wants more. That is why He will never stop working on His Canyon. And that is why He will never stop working on us.

God uses the same tools on us He uses on the Canyon. He uses wind, rain storms, ice and water – Living Water (John 7:38) – to shape and carve us. Don't be put off, look at that Canyon, God can do amazing things with wind and water.  When God looks at us He knows we are beautiful and He knows we are good. But He also knows the plans He has laid out for us. Like the Grand Canyon we are a work in progress.

God didn’t stop working on His masterpiece the day He created it. He is going to keep sending the water and wind to carve, shape and reveal all the colors until it reaches His glorious perfection.

He’s going to keep working on the Grand Canyon too.
~

ENCORE: Wing Man

Because I need this today.
___________________________________

Let’s get one thing straight right here at the onset, I have a bit of an independent streak running through me. I realize we’ve talked about how we are created to live in community and I agree with that. However, at times I find that I know what’s best better than the community.

I know you do too. Don’t even sit there and try to deny it. It’s the reason we constantly find our selves in troubling situations, we, the know-it-alls of the world.

Take Maverick, for instance. His know-it-all, can-do-it-all attitude got him far but it could not get him all the way to his goal. In the movie Top Gun, Tom Cruise played a Navy pilot nick-named Maverick training to be a top jet-fighter pilot. He got his nick-name because of his independent attitude.

In a key scene, Maverick and his navigator, Goose, were in a simulated dog-fight with another trainee jet against two faux enemies. The pilots were trained to fly together for protection. Maverick was the wingman for the other pilot, protecting him. However, Maverick believed that the pilot had his confrontation with his enemy well in hand so Maverick left to go after the other enemy jet.

Of course, things went terribly wrong. The first pilot was “shot down” by his enemy but things went far worse for Maverick and Goose. They flew through the exhaust of another jet, stalled and had to eject. Goose was killed. Maverick could not fly for weeks.

Like jet fighter pilots, I have a wingman as I make my way through life. He is with me everyday protecting my backside. He is there giving me guidance. He is there showing me the way. He is there helping me through. And He is there showering me with love.

But like Maverick, there are many days when I ditch my wingman and fly off on my own. I feel strong and don’t need His protection. I am smart and don’t need His guidance. I am experienced I don’t need Him showing me the way. I am capable I don’t need help. I am happy I don’t need love.  I am impatient and cannot wait for His assistance. 

Greatfully, I have stumbled and fallen like Maverick and like him I am learning the error of my ways. At the end of the movie, Maverick has become a real jet-fighter pilot and finds himself in a real dog-fight with real enemies. Several times he gets nervous and cannot shoot. But then his strength comes as he asks his friend Goose to “talk” to him. As one enemy flies away Maverick's new navigator implores him to chase after it. Maverick says “No.” And he stays flying along with the other pilot.

The enemy turns around and has them in its sights. Again his navigator shouts to pull out and Maverick says “No, I’m not leaving my wingman.”

Maverick has learned the value of keeping the faith in what he has been taught and that it will keep them safe. The first enemy gets shot down then Maverick pulls off his signature breaking maneuver, turns the table on the fight and shoots down his trailing enemy. Staying with his wingman, Maverick ensured all enemies were defeated and both jets made it home safely.

It’s no easy task, staying with my Wing Man. Faith asks a lot. My independent streak is strong. The harder things are and the darker the night the stronger the pull is to strike out on my own. To say, “God, must have forgotten about me. He obviously doesn’t care about me anymore. So, it’s all up to me now.” That is exactly when I must fight the hardest to stay with Him. I must do what Maverick did and ask my Wing Man to talk to me and give me strength to hold tight. You see, even when I’m grounded and cannot fly, my Man’s got the wings to help me soar.

Come hell or high water, I’m not leaving my Wing Man.
~

Voice Lessons

“Inspirational,” . . . “like a choir of angels,” . . . “a true instrument,” . . . “bravo!”. . . “it brought me to tears,” . . . these are words people never – ever – say to me when I sing. How I have longed to have a voice like Julie Andrews, or Diana Krall, or even Cher. But alas, when I raise my voice in song it lands with a dull thud. I have been told by those who know such things that I might be tone-deaf. Meaning I can’t hear or reach the notes and tones necessary to sound like anything other than a barn owl.

Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t stop me from singing. I just make sure my audience is small, me, and the venue comfortable and safe, my car and/or shower.

Perhaps because I can’t sing I find being in the presence of someone who can a true joy. My sister-in-law is not a professional singer but she can at any moment break into song and it sounds like heaven. No musical instruments or back-up singers required. She is constantly singing to my new nephew. He will be a bit sad and she out of nowhere begins to sing him a lullaby, and one she made up at that. He will quiet almost immediately. The smile it brings across his face when he hears his mother sing lights up the world.

Ahh, to be able to do that will remain but a dream for me. Although I have accepted my fate and know my singing will never light up a room, at least not in a good way, and that I will never go on a concert tour, that doesn’t mean I will remain silent. I cannot sing but I do have a voice.

The past few years have been a difficult journey for me. I lost my voice. Actually, I lost my job but in today’s world they are the same thing. Or so it would seem.

It turns out that my job is not the same thing as my voice. I am not what I do for a living, not even close. But when I lost the job, my voice – and heart – seemed to pack up and head for the hills. It was as if the world told me that without my job I had nothing to say that it wanted to hear. That my contributions were not valuable. That is a lie and one I no longer accept.

I have a voice and God wants to hear it.

God has given each one of us a voice. A voice that is true, unique and distinctly our own. No two voices are the same. That is why it is so important that we use our voices, because we are each a part of the puzzle. When one of us doesn’t use our voice then the whole symphony is off just a bit. Like Beethoven’s Fifth without the violins. So when we lose it, it is important that we get it back.

We find our voice by finding our heart. We find our heart by discovering what makes it sing. Perhaps your heart is in gardening, or in educating our next generation. Perhaps your heart sings when look through the lens of a camera or argue a case in court. Maybe your heart soars when you help heal the sick or give your time to the less fortunate. There are those whose heart beats a little faster when crunching numbers and building spreadsheets. Still others become truly alive when serving others, either from behind a bar or in the military. Spending time raising your children may get all your cylinders going. Or maybe you are never more awake than when walking on the beach.

Our job and our heart are not the same thing. It is a blessing when they overlap, but most often they do not. Whatever it is that makes our hearts come alive, it is vital for us to find it. It is from where our voice and strength comes. It is the expression of our purpose. But life has a way of stealing those things that matter and camouflaging our purpose. So it’s a good thing we don’t have to find our voices on our own.

Scripture tells us that Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted and fix our wounds. (Ps. 147:3, Is. 61) Jesus came not just to save us and get us to heaven, but to restore us. (Ps. 23:3). To restore something is to put it back like it formerly was. God wants our hearts restored to how they were when he conceived of us and created us. I can’t even imagine what that really looks or feels like. If you are like me, your heart is wounded and far from being the heart it should be. Some heavy restoration is needed. But that is exactly what Jesus came to do.

And He will, if we let Him. All we have to do is ask, and our restoration and voice lessons will begin.

Finding and regaining our voice can be a daunting task if it were left up to us. But thank Heaven its not. We have a voice coach who is with us every step of the way, fine tuning us, restoring us until our instrument is as perfect as the day it was made.

I cannot sing, but I do have a voice. And when it is fully tuned, watch out, I just might go on tour.
~

Separation Anxiety

I love and adore dogs. Cute, soft, cuddly, playful, happy. Dogs are ready for action at any moment. Is there anything sweeter than a dog curled up and relaxed taking a nap? They love with such uncondition and loyalty that it puts people to shame by comparison.

I have been blessed to have been owned by several amazing dogs during the course of my life. And I say owned by them because, well its true. They – Rusty, Princess, Taska, Roughie, Poochie, Fawn, Patches, Lucy, and currently Gracie – have ruled the house, and my heart.

They each shaped and trained me, and really my heart, into the person I am today. And for all their unique virtues and strengths there has been one common characteristic in these dogs that surprises me. They don’t like being left alone.

Take Gracie for example. She is a border-collie mix of some sort. I rescued her from the pound, or rather we rescued each other. She is much smarter than I ever will be and can out run just about anything. She stares at me constantly, as if studying me for any sudden moves. She is protective and loyal. And she pouts when I leave.

If I am nearby, she feels safe and secure, confident and bold. But when I am far away and out of sight she gets anxious, agitated and loses her peace. She will pace, stare out the window searching for me. Eventually, she will tire and nap, but she is most content when she is right next to me.

I found this to be true of many of the dogs I have lived with through my life. Most of the dogs, but not all, were rescues. Perhaps separation anxiety is a common trait among rescuees. Having been lost and orphaned and then being rescued and loved, there is a bit of fear they may once more find themselves lost and alone.

I know how they feel. It’s a scary world out there and I get agitated and lose my peace too. Some days I feel so confident and secure; I feel like I could conquer the world. But some days I feel the exact opposite; I feel weak and puny, I am full of anxiety and fear. Most days I have a combination – some moments I’m confident and the next I’m not. There are days when the last thing I possess is peace. What I don’t understand is why?

Like many of my furry companions, we too have been rescued. Scripture tells us that Jesus came to rescue us. (Luke 1:74) He rescues us and protects us from our enemies. And I believe that when I am feeling close to God, bathing in His nurturing light and love, I have all the confidence I need. But when I am far from Him, when I don’t feel His close presence that’s when I begin to unravel and feel like an orphan, lost and alone.

Feelings are funny and fickle things. And they lie to us alot. Gracie feels like I may never come back because she can’t see me. But her feeling is wrong. There is no need for her to worry. She can trust me; she can trust that I will return and take care of her.

During the four years I have had Gracie, our relationship is stronger, and the trust bond is too. She understands, to a greater degree, that she can trust what she cannot see, and her peace does not leave her when I do. That I am here to love and take care of her.

Like Gracie, my feelings of weakness and lack of confidence because I cannot sense God, is a lie. It is a lie told to me by my enemy to get me out of peace and off my game. God is never far from me. As my bond with God strengthens, the more I understand this. I can trust what I cannot see and I don’t have to lose my peace just because God is out of sight. He is here with me always loving and taking care of me.

Perhaps you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but thankfully a new dog can teach an old gal a little something.
~

Joy to the World!

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

May His love fill your life with wondrous blessings throughout the coming year. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus.

Test Pattern

I am a child of the 60s and 70s. Being such a child, one lived under the threat of nuclear destruction at any moment – or so we were lead to believe. In order to prepare for such eventualities by our enemies we were always practicing safety drills.

I recall that at Noon every Friday a huge air siren would blow from the top of City Hall, as an “all clear” signal. If we heard that siren at any other time we were to seek shelter. At school, we would practice seeking shelter by either getting under our desk top or lining up in the hall and crouching on the floor next to the wall. Neither one of these “shelter” methods strikes me as providing much of it, buts it’s what we practiced doing on a regular basis.

The most annoying of all the constant disaster-avoidance preparation had to occur while watching television, however. There you are enjoying a perfectly good program then suddenly and without warning a “test-pattern” appears accompanied by a loud horn. Then a voice is heard stating “This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test. For the next 60-seconds the broadcasters in your area are conducting a test of the emergency broadcast system. If this had been an actual emergency the siren your heard would have been followed by …”

It was the most annoying thing in the world. It was sudden and unexpected. It was loud. There was no way to make it go away. It was on every channel, of which there were only three, four if you counted PBS. The only thing to do was sit there and wait for “the broadcasters in your area” to finish the test and restore normal programming.

But as annoying as that test was, it turned out to be pretty good practice. Turns out God does pretty much the same thing. God has this way of suddenly and without warning throwing me into these tests and challenges.

My life appears to be running smoothly then I’ll be interrupted by an event that will really test me. Generally speaking, there is no way to speed up these trials. There is no way to make them go away or avoid them. I just have to be patient and persevere through them.

We are told in James to “count it as joy” when we find ourselves in various trials “knowing that the testing of faith produces patience.” (James 1:2-3). Well, let me say now, that I am one joyful and patient person! Which is really to say, God has put me through lots of trials of faith.

It seems as if I get through one and there not too long afterwards I encounter a new and improved trial. That’s the ladder of faith we are asked to climb. We can stop and stay at any rung on the ladder we choose but if we want to climb higher with our God then we are going to encounter periods of testing. The higher we climb the testier things can get.

However, we are not alone during the testing; we have all the help we need to be successful, although it might not feel like it. David was promised that He would be king and rule the land. But to get there God had to prepare him and test his faith. David went through many, many trials along his way. Many times he felt he was not going to make it. Things got so bad he found himself hiding in a cave. There were times he got so off track and appeared not to be headed in the right direction but in the end David did sit on the throne that God had promised him.

When that test-pattern appears in our lives we need to be not so quick to try and make it go away. But try to embrace it. See it for what it truly is – an opportunity to grow closer to God. Because the test will end, our normal life will be restored but in the interim we will have become so much more of what we and God aspire for us to be.

I'd call that the ultimate safety drill.
~