Continual Feasting

All the days of the afflicted are bad, 

But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

Proverbs 15:15

I love good food.

I enjoy making good food and I enjoy eating good food.  And I LOVE making a great meal for my family and friends and having them love it and feel loved and cared for at my table.

Sometimes though, the food becomes the issue.  Or the centerpiece and decorations take over.  Or having just the right theme for the evening.  Or making everything match. Or... , or.... , or.....

So many things can become important, but the most important thing....  Well, it might get forgotten.

I was reminded of that this evening as I sat around my table with my family.  Our "feast" was pancakes and bacon. Let's just say the pictures of the evening did not belong in a magazine.

There was a hodge podge of different plates (and please don't tell anyone, but some were even plastic.)  The table had not been set so someone was always asking for something:

"Can you get me a fork?"

"Would you pour me some milk?"

"Is there any more syrup?"

It was a simple, easy, basic dinner (and as I say that I feel the need to reassure you that, yes, I do know pancakes are traditionally served as breakfast, but another of our oddities- we prefer them for dinner.) Yes, there was nothing special. And it was a feast.

Not because of the menu.

Not because of the dinnerware.

Not because of the fancy centerpiece.

No.

It was a feast because we were there. Together. And no napkins were in laps. And there were most definitely elbows on the table. And we laughed with each other- and okay, sometimes at each other. And we played.   And wrestled- at the table- please don't tell my Mother!  We talked with our mouths full and told stories on top of each other.  And enjoyed each other's presence. 

And I wouldn't have traded it for steak or caviar or lobster or the best restaurant in town.  

It. Was. A. Feast.

All the days of the afflicted are bad, 

But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

Proverbs 15:15

How to Have "More"!

There are two ways to get enough.

One is to continue to accumulate more and more.

The other is to desire less.

-G.K. Chesterton

"Make $10,000 a month from your home!"

"Play the lotto!"

"Join my team selling _____(vitamins, cleaning products, etc.)"

You will get rich!

And have everything you ever wanted!

And be happy!

And have everything you ever wanted!

And have money!

And have everything you ever wanted!

Really?

Can we really ever have everything we want?

Is there ever an end to the stuff we can want?

Once we get one of the things we want, don't we just tend to want something else?

In America it seems we are surrounded by so much stuff.  So many opportunities to buy more stuff. So many claims to our wallets and our cash (or our credit cards).

But when I ran across the quote above from one of my favorite Englishmen, G.K. Chesterton, I was struck by the succinct way he stated the most obvious of truths.

There are two ways to get enough.

One is to continue to accumulate more and more.

The other is to desire less.

-G.K. Chesterton

OH. Oh, I get it. To have more, I need to want less.

Truly, the only reason it doesn't seem like I have enough is because of the mental list of things that I have rolling through my mind of what I want but can't afford to buy.

That list makes me feel like I Don't Have Enough.

But if I didn't want any of it.....

Then I would have enough.  Right now.  With what I have.  With what is in cupboard.  With what is in the closet.  With what is in the garage.

Right now.

ENOUGH.  Enough. enough.

Whew.  I feel better already.

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, 

being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, 

“I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU”

Heb 13:5

So, do you want to join me?  You want to have more?  Then want less!

Am I "Running" or Running?

After a many year hiatus (never you mind HOW long), I have started "running" again. There was something about realizing that the old adage, "you ain't getting any younger!" was feeling very applicable to me that helped jump start me to strap on my shoes and hit the road.

Well, first I had to go shopping for new and improved running shoes of course, because as any girl can tell you, there is nothing like a new pair of shoes to make something miserable seem more fun!  Also, after I actually spent ridiculous amounts of hard-earned cash on a pair of shoes it sort of drove me to actually run.  The guilt alone is a motivator.

So I started "running".

You might wonder about the running in asterisks.  Why the " " around the word running?

Well......

I have too many friends and relations who run- no asterisks required.  They clock their distances in miles and it sometimes takes two digits to reflect how far they ran.  At one time. We are talking 5ks, 10ks, 1/2 marathons, even full marathons.

I even have one friend, one with whom I shared the joys of having a first born together.  We lived in Germany with our Air Force husbands and would get our one-year olds together to play.  She now participates in Ironman competitions.

Me? Not so much. I am not quite there just yet.

Okay, I am nowhere close.

But realizing what their running looks like I could not in good conscience  exactly call what I am doing running. Not without asterisks. I have too much respect for my friends and family and what they can do.  And too much envy.

I, instead, am "running".  I have thought of other words that might more accurately describe what I do: shuffle, walk, drag my carcass, limp, stumble. There are others, but I want this to be a "G" rated blog.

And then there are the noises I make. I will spare you the pain of hearing them described.

So the other day I was "running", walking, shuffling and limping and passed by some vultures (we live in the country) on the side of the road cleaning up the road kill and I began thinking that they were looking at me for an uncomfortably long time.  Like maybe they were thinking it might be worth it to follow me and see if I would drop.

One of my consolations to my self-imposed torture is to listen to praise music on my ipod.  There are some times when I am shuffling and panting along and willing myself to make one step at my slightly faster than walking pace and a song will come on and almost make me forget my pain.  And sometimes I will "lift" my hands (they barely get above my head, so I have to put lift in asterisks too!) and praise God in way that is so heartfelt and deep- maybe because of the pain and effort rather than in spite of it.

And so, as I have struggled to regain anything that would resemble being "athletic" or "in shape" (requires asterisks too!) I began thinking about running verses.  Ones like:

I Corinthians 9:24

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?  

Run in such a way that you may win.

Or there is:

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, 

let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, 

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

I am supposed to be running my spiritual race with endurance.

Even "running" with endurance.

I am supposed to keep going.  To keep believing that "running" is better than not doing anything at all and will in the end produce whatever good the Lord desires.

I mean, if the benefits from faithful, dedicated running are true on a physical plain, how much more on a spiritual one. Right?

But similar to my "running" on my physical streets, I am also often "running" my spiritual race that is set before me and it could also often be better described as shuffling, limping, or dragging my carcass along.

And it may not be pretty.  And the vultures might be observing me with anticipation.  And I might think and wonder if this race is really worth it.

I mean, am I really doing anything worthwhile at all? Does it even matter? What am I accomplishing? Why not just give up? After all life can be hard and people can disappoint and things just might not turn out like I thought they would.  At all.

Why keep "running"?

Because.

Because keeping running is exactly what my Lord called me to do. Even if what I do looks more like "running" than running. He didn't ask me to be an Olympic athlete in either the physical realm or in the spiritual realm.

He asked me to be an obedient daughter and servant to the King.

He told me to get out there and run that race.  So even when it feels like all I am doing is "running" I need to keep going.  Not because I can accomplish something but because He. Told. Me. To.

So tomorrow I will strap on my cute new shoes and hit the road again (hopefully not from falling over face first, but in a more figurative sense).  I will "run" past the vultures.  I will shuffle past the barking dogs.  I will limp up the hill.

And I will feebly lift my hands.
And I will praise my King.
And I will obey.
Until He calls me home.

Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; 

I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

I Corinthians 9:26,27

Whatcha Lookin' At?

Do you ever wonder what people really see when they look at you?

What stands out?

Or maybe the better question is, what do you hope stands out?  What do you hope others will see in you?



Are We Really Going to Talk About Circumcision?
I have been reading through Galatians this week. After reading through the first three chapters, I have to admit, I smugly thought to myself, "Well, maybe I will get more out of the last three chapters."  I have read Galatians many times, and was anxious for the "good" stuff at the end.

But then my patient, loving, and long-suffering Lord cleared His throat at me (I mean, allegorically of course) and I began to wonder if maybe there was something deeper there for me after all.

So what are the first three chapters about?  Circumcision.

Maybe you can understand why that one did not grab my heart.  I mean, well, after all....I am a girl. It is just not something I struggle with as a personal issue.

But God, who wastes nothing, and is always saying more than we can ever understand, was not just addressing circumcision here.  Circumcision was just the example to use to address an issue of the heart.

Paul is fussing at the people in Galatia because they started saying that in order to be saved and to be part of the church you had to be circumcised. And he didn't want them relying on their flesh at all.

Does that mean circumcision is a bad thing?  I hope not, since God is the One who came up with the idea in the first place.  I mean, I doubt Abraham, a 90 year old man, would have ever woken up and said, "Hey, I have a great idea!"  No God thought it up.  And Abraham had to have a lot of faith to believe God and follow through.  Can't you just imagine the looks on all the men's faces as Abe explains what God told him they all needed to do?

But what was the point of circumcision?  It was an outward sign of an inward relationship.  It was visual proof.  It set you apart.  It served a purpose.  It was a good thing.

So why was Paul against it?  It was, after all, God's idea.

I really don't think Paul was against circumcision itself.  He was against it being a benchmark for being a part of the church.

"knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law 

but through faith in Christ Jesus."

Galatians 2:16

The early church was beginning to add more and more things onto the checklist for being a part of the church, circumcision just being one of them.  And we can all be prone to coming up with our "checklist".

But the problem with a checklist is that it can be confusing.  Because it is much easier to fix up the outside to look "right", at least according to the checklist, than worry about the inside.  But it is easy to be fooled that if I or anyone else looks good and proper on the outside, then they (or I) must be fine on the inside too.

And this is where I realized that these passages pertained mightily to me.  Because I have worried often about how I and my family are perceived.  How are we seen?  What do people think?

Who cares?  Me, quite often.  Unfortunately.

Jesus addresses those who worried about the outside instead of the inside with this sobering illustration:

"Woe to you...hypocrites!  

For you are like whitewashed tombs which 

on the outside appear beautiful, 

but inside they are full of dead men's bones 

and all uncleanness.

Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, 

but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

Matthew 23:27, 28

Jesus just told the ones who were most stringently trying to follow the Law that they were FULL of lawlessness!  Why?  Because the Law wasn't designed to make anyone proud or haughty or unloving.  But people can use it to find a list of "things" they need to do and things they need to not do. And then rest in how they look.

And avoid the relationship and the heart altogether.

Here's the Thing

And that was the problem with circumcision.  It was a thing. A good thing.  But....

The thing had become the focus.

The thing had become the proof. 

The thing had become the god.

So, now the question is, what is my THING?

What do I rest on?  What do I display as proof?  What do others see when they see me?

Which brings me to my favorite Galatians verse:

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; 

and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, 

who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me."

Galatians 2:20

Jesus.

That is all I want others to see.

Not me.  Not my standards.  Not my clothes.  Not my accomplishments.  Not my failures. Not my works.  Not my marriage.  Not my homeschooling.  Not my home.  Not my church.  Not my children.  

Not MY anything.

All those things can just be a white-washed tombs.  They can very effectively cover deadness inside.

BUT.

But, if any or all of those things are an overflow of a life lived in the power, love, and grace of my Father, my Savior, my Lord....

then when others look at me they will see Jesus.

So maybe the first few chapters of Galatians had something very powerful for me after all.

What do others see when they see me?

What do they see when the see you? 

What is your thing? What is mine?

May it always and forever be Jesus.