What is Sin?

What is sin?  I recently heard a preacher define it as "not choosing God's best for you."  Really? Is that what sin is?  Are we trying not to offend anyone?  Heaven forbid!  Does that somehow make sin more palatable?  Do we feel less guilt if we define it that way?  I say call  sin what it is:  missing the mark, rebellion against God, disobedience.  And then I say, "Thank God for His mercy and grace."

Read, Read, Read!!

"There's no end to the publishing of books..." (Eccleciastes 12:12a (MSG)

I love books!  I've loved them since I was a little girl sitting on my father's lap as he read Winnie the Pooh,  Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island, and Tom Sawyer, not to mention stories and poems from World Book Encyclopedia's Childcraft!  I got my first library card as soon as I was able to write my own name!   My dad took me to the Boise Public Library once a week until I was old enough to walk the 13 blocks by myself.  The library had a limit to the number of books you could check out at one time and I ALWAYS checked out the limit!  Reading was my life!

I love books!  I like the way they feel.  I like their colorful jackets. I like owning my own books!  Getting a new book to read really excites me!  I hope there's never a time when we don't have books!  You can have your Kindle and your Nook, I want a real book!

The last few years while I've been raising my daughter I haven't had as much time to read as I would have liked.  I'd start a book, set it aside (or misplace it!) and later begin another one!  Now that my daughter's away at school I find I have more free time to read!  With a daughter in college, there's not much money for books, but I still have a library card!  However, before I make a trip to the library to check out my limit of books, I decided I would finish reading some of those books that I started and never finished.  So today I rounded up 10 books to read this year.  Some of them were started so long ago that I'll probably need to re-read the beginnings!  Here's my list:

1. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
2. Crazy Love - Francis Chan
3. Radical Gratitude - Ellen Vaughn
4. With My Whole Heart - Karen Mains
5. The Story of the World Volume 1:  Ancient Times - Susan Wise Bauer
6. A Life that Says Welcome - Karen Ehman
7. Soul Keeping - Howard Baker
8. Enjoying the Presence of God - Jan Johnson
9. A Gardener Looks at the Fruits of the Spirit - Phillip Keller
10. One Month to Live -Kerry and Chris Shook

So, good-by for now!  I'm off to read Little Women!  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Start Now

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."  Anne Frank

Glorify God in Your Body

Wow!  It appears that I have sorely neglected this blog during the past year!  O well, it's a new year with lots of possibilities!

I gave up making new year's resolutions years ago, but I do like to choose a verse for the year.  It helps me to stay focused on things I need to change, improve on, or internalize in my life.  For 2013 I've chosen I Corinthians 6:19, 20:  "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."  Glorify God in your body and in your spirit!!  I wonder what that will look like for me in 2013?   It might mean losing some weight (always a good idea) or getting my blood sugar under control or letting the gray take over my hair (embracing my age!)  It might mean spending more time alone with God, praising Him, or bearing more fruit:  more love, more joy, more kindness!  Can't wait to see what God has planned for me in 2013 as I glorify God in my body and in my spirit.

Random Thoughts on Christmas

1.  I refuse to be offended if someone says, "Happy Holiday!" instead of, "Merry Christmas!"  Life's too  short, folks!

2.  I refuse to be offended if someone uses "Xmas" instead of "Christmas" because I understand the Greek origins of the X.

3.  "Jesus is the reason for the season" is a clever use of rhyming words, but I wonder about the theology of the statement.  I tend to believe that I'M the reason for the season.  After all, if it weren't for my sin and yours (for ALL have sinned) there would have been no reason for Him to come. Isaiah 53 makes that pretty clear!  Just saying!

4.  Jesus didn't ask us to remember His birth (although I don't think He minds that we do), but He did ask us to remember His death and resurrection.  Shouldn't we celebrate that at Christmas as well?

Just thinking out loud.

Dark Clouds

The last two years have been difficult for my family.   Sometimes it seems as if I have a little black cloud hovering over me!  I lost both of my parents.  I lost a job.  My husband has health issues and was unable to work for three months.  Medical bills have stacked up adding to financial stress.  I had one of the most difficult school years in my 30 years of teaching.  Sometimes God has seemed very far away! Okay, I'm done complaining!

We took a little day trip to southern Arizona a few weeks ago.  On the drive home, the sky turned gray and we anticipated a nice rainstorm.   Then the sun started to shine through the clouds.  It was beautiful!  The sun's rays shone through and the clouds were outlined in beautiful silver.  I was reminded of an old song that my Dad used to sing.  I could only remember two lines so I looked it up (isn't the internet grand?)

"Back of the Clouds"

Never fear tho' shadows dark around your path may fall;
Do not let your heart be troubled;
From His throne in heaven,
God is watching one and all,
He will ever care for you.

Back of the clouds the sun is always shining,
After the storms your skies will all be blue;
God has prepared a rosy-tinted lining,
Back of the clouds it's waiting to shine thru.
                                      Carolyn R. Freeman

God is not far away.  He has promised never to leave us or forsake us.  I choose to put my hope in Him, even when the way is dark.

"Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."  Psalm 42:5

Only One Life

"Only one life
         'twill soon be past
Only what's done
         for Christ
                will last."

"for to me to live is Christ."  Philippians 1:21

I don't know the origins of this quote, but it was one of my mom's favorites.  I came across it today and it brought back memories of one of our last conversations.  It's a good quote to remember;puts life into perspective.

Thank you!

THANK YOU!

Spring in the Desert

My Star Jasmine are fragrant as well as beautiful!



The Iris were lovely as usual!

Mexican Primrose is spreading like crazy!

A rose is a rose is a rose!

Our desert is beautiful in the Spring! I'm reminded of the new life I have in Christ. God is good all the time!

From the mouths of babes!

I told my kinders the story of Jesus and the little boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Through this story I wanted my children to sense how great and powerful our God is. I said, "After everyone had eaten and were full, the disciples collected 12 baskets of food! Wow! God can do great things." Thinking they would recognize this as a "miracle" I asked, " What do we call this, boys and girls?" Their instant answer: "leftovers!"

Step by Step

I am a creature of habit. I habitually drive the same way to work each day. I drop my daughter off at school and then head straight for the nearest QT for a 32 oz. iced tea with lots of ice! Because I take the same route each day I see the same businesses, the same people at the bus stop, and even some of the same cars that pass me on the road.

But there is one thing that I see every day that touches my heart and causes me to think. I see an older woman walking with a cane or a walker struggling for each painful step. She moves ever so slowly; if she moved any slower, she wouldn't be moving at all! I can tell that she has to think about each step as her brain tells her legs and feet to move. Maybe she's recovering from a stroke or an accident or a debilitating disease, but there she is every day putting one foot in front of the other moving slowly from point A to point B. She never makes it across the street before the light turns. I worry that someone won't see her still in the crosswalk and I hold my breath every time until she finally approaches the curb!

I admire this woman! I admire her perseverence and courage and her willingness to get out there and face the struggle EVERY DAY! She just doesn't give up!

Sometimes, in my spiritual walk, I feel like that woman. Each step seems slow and deliberate and I wonder if I'm getting very far at all! Satan tries his best to discourage me and keep me from making it from Point A to Point B! But praise be to God who leads me one step at a time! "If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand." (Psalm 37:23)

"God, give me the perseverence, courage and willingness necessary to get out there and face the struggle EVERY DAY! Help me to keep in step with the spirit and not give up. Thank you for this daily example and reminder to hold on to your hand and walk one step at a time."

Concentrate on God

"Beware of any work for God that causes or allows you to avoid concentrating on Him. A great number of Christian workers worship their work. The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God."
Oswald Chambers

Soul Winning

I sometimes worry that I'm not doing enough to lead others to Christ. As a Children's Minister it's easy to say, "I'm planting seeds." That's true, of course, but does that exempt me from the Great Commission? Recently, I was reading Acts 8. It seems to me that this is a chapter about evangelism. The Good News was spreading. Phillip shared the gospel with the man from Ethiopia who confessed Christ and was baptized. God was adding to the church. When was the last time I shared the gospel with someone? When have I explained the scriptures more fully so that someone would come to know Christ? When did I last explain God's wonderful plan for redemption to someone lost in sin? There is a lost world out there. I tend to forget that. I bask in His mercy and grace without thought for those who don't know Him. I somehow don't think I'm alone in this! C.H.Spurgeon said, "If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for." The words to a song come to mind: "Lord, lay some soul upon my heart, and love that soul through me. And may I humbly do my part, to win that soul for thee." That is my prayer.

My Life with Jesus

"The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 'Return home and tell how much God has done for you.' So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him." Luke 8:38,39

As a young girl I was fascinated by the story found in Luke 8 about the man from whom Jesus cast out demons. I could visualize the herd of pigs going over a cliff and into the water! This seemed quite funny to me! Of course, through the years other elements of the story took on significance. It's interesting to examine the different responses to Jesus by the participants in this story: the demons, the possessed man, the pig herders, and the people of the town. From them we see fear, recognition, gratitude and belief. This passage of scripture is a powerful example of the transforming power of Jesus.

But in my most recent reading of this passage the phrase, "begged to go with him" seemed to speak to me. There are times in my life when I long to withdraw from the world and "go with him." I yearn to spend hours alone with Jesus and His word. Let me retire from life and its demands, schedules, conflicts and endless activity. Let me hole up somewhere in quiet solitude and just be with Jesus!

But God did not call me to that kind of life! At least not yet! He does not call any of us to a life of monasticism. Instead he says, "go home and tell how much God has done for you." And God has done so much for me! I'm blessed to be His child; I should be shouting that from the housetops! Each and every day God is touching my life and I need to be sharing that with others "all over town." That's the life to which Jesus calls me. For now.

Memories of Mom

My mother died one year ago today. I miss her. I know that she is in the presence of the Lord, awaiting my arrival, but I miss her presence here.



A few years ago my mother asked me how I was going to remember her. I didn't have a good answer at the time, but I thought about it a lot. One thing that I will remember most is her hands. They were gentle, compassionate, and productive. I can see her now preparing sandwiches for a tea, stitching a quilt, sewing beautiful clothes for my sister and me, and holding and rocking my younger brother when he was sick with asthma. When I called my mother's friend (our minister's wife from 45 years ago) to tell her mother had died, she told me that she still had some things that my mother had made for her and how pecious they were to her. Mother spent a lifetime caring for others. She opened her heart and her hands to those in need.



I will remember my mother's voice. She often told the story about the teacher that told her, "Wanda, just dance, don't sing." From that time on my mother was reluctant to sing when anyone could hear her, but she chose to "make melody in her heart." However, she sang to her children and I can't hear or sing the song, "When He Cometh" without thinking of my mother. And I can hear her singing it in my daughter's ear as she rocked her to sleep.



And lastly, I will remember her "momisms." "You have to suffer to be beautiful." "Beauty is as beauty does." "If you stick that lip out much farther a rooster will perch on it." (I was a pouter!) In recent years we heard some things over and over and over again, like: "Growing old isn't for sissies." "The only thing that runs anymore is my nose." "What is today?"



But the words I will remember most because of the frequency with which she quoted them are found in Proverbs 13:12 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when it is come about, it is as a tree of life." The New Living Translation says it this way: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life." I don't know why my mother quoted that verse so much, but I do know that in my own life I have needed the hope and the promise of it. And I thank God that mother passed it on to me.



My mother wasn't perfect: she was a flawed child of God, but my brothers and sister and I were blessed to have a "truly good woman" for a mother!



I miss you, Mom!

Ponder This

"To do even the most humbling of tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God's spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint's life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life."

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

A Gift of Song

My daughter gave me a beautiful gift yesterday. It was not a material gift. No jewelry. No perfume. No clothing or books. This gift is more precious to me than any of those.

It was the gift of a song.

Not just any song.

I'll explain.

My daughter has been blessed with a lovely voice. To develop this gift, she has been taking voice lessons for almost a year. I am NEVER invited in to listen to her sing. Until yesterday. After her lesson she came running to the car and told me I just had to come in. I followed her into the voice studio and was informed by her teacher that I was to hear a private concert. Such a joy! I was thrilled to finally be invited into this special, almost sacred, place where my daughter spends so many happy moments doing something she loves: singing. I waited with anticipation to hear the song she has been perfecting. Her teacher played the introduction, and Jennifer began to sing.

And I began to cry. My sweet daughter did not know that I last heard this song at my father's memorial service. She did not know that it was one of his favorites. She only hoped that it might bring me joy! And it did. It's a beautiful song, and she did it beautifully in her young soprano voice. God blessed me with this song and her decision to sing it for me. It's a moment to remember when things are not going so well between this mother and her teenage daughter. And somewhere in heaven my father is smiling down on his granddaughter who gave her mother this gift of song and helped to ease her grief.

PRAYER PERFECT

Dear Lord, kind Lord! Gracious Lord!
I pray Thou wilt look on all I love tenderly today!
Weed their hearts of weariness;
Scatter ev'ry care down a wake of angel wings winnowing the air.
Dear Lord, kind Lord! Gracious Lord!
I pray Thou wilt look on all I love tenderly today.
Bring unto the sorrowing all release from pain,
let the lips of laughter overflow again,
And with all the needy o divide, I pray
This vast treasure of content that is mine today!
Dear Lord, kind Lord! Gracious Lord!
I pray Thou wilt look on all I love tenderly today!

Lyrics: James Whitcomb Riley Music: Oley Speaks

Guide Me, Lord

"We know not what a day may bring forth, but if we are following our Leader we know that we shall be led.

Great Leader, Guide me by cloud or fire;
Let me be loyal to Thy heart's desire.
And lest I falter if the way be long,
O let Thy joy be strength to me and song!"

Amy Carmichael

Psalm 25:4,5

"Show me your ways, O Lord;
Teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior,
and my hope is in you all day long."

You know you're getting older when...

Today in class at snack time, one of my boys sitting next to me kept hitting my arm! I turned to him and said, in my firm teacher voice, "Logan (name changed to protect his parents!) please stop hitting me. It is NOT okay." He smiled up at me and quipped, "But your arm jiggles. I like to see it jiggle!" What a kid! He makes me laugh every day! (And my arms do jiggle!)

Music Speaks to Me

I love old hymns. I like comtemporary praise songs, too, but hymns speak to me in a different way. Perhaps this is a reflection of my upbringing. I grew up singing hymns in church; I enjoyed singing hymns with my father as he played the piano; and, many of the records played on the stereo were collections of hymns. I especially like hymns (and praise songs, too) based on scripture. One of my favorites (and there are many!) is "Great Is Thy Faithfulness."

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my father.
There is no shadow of turning with thee.
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not:
As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be!

Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning, new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided;
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow;
Blessings all mine with ten-thousand beside!
(Words and music by Thomas O. Chisholm and William M. Runyan, 1923)

I am especially fond of that last verse. The words bring me comfort and encouragement, and they remind me that I am blessed to be forgiven and that I live in His presence! Praise Him! My life is a testimony of God's faithfulness to me, and this hymn says it so much better than I!