Going on Vacation!

I get to go on an amazing vacation.

Here is the deal- I never could have gone on my own budget; I never would have dreamed of the opportunity; I thought this was the sort of thing "other people" got to do.

But I get to. Because I serve an amazing God. And He does amazing things in other people's hearts. And He showers His blessings on His children.

• sometimes directly
• sometimes through the hearts of His people. 

So I will be gone for a little over three weeks.

Amazing.

I will be back with lessons learned lots to share!

See you in three weeks.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.                             Ephesians 3:20,21

A Sacrifice of Praise?

On the way to church, my head hurting, my mind reeling, my heart dragging......

Hmmmmm......, I don't think that is what I am supposed to be doing or feeling. I mean, I am going to the House of my Lord and am going to hear His word preached and praise His name in study and in song and be blessed by being with other believers.

What is wrong with me?

As I drive along, condemning myself and feeling badly about feeling so badly, a verse came into my mind:

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name."                              -Hebrews 13:15

 A sacrifice of praise?

What does that even mean?

I will tell you what it meant to me this past Sunday morning on the way to church:

• I had to slay and then lay on the altar the things that were huge impediments to my praise. They had to be sacrificed because I had to PRAISE.
• My mind, my body, and my feelings had to be laid down because they were incapable that morning of praising!

First was my mind which was condemning me and thinking of all the undone chores and worrying about the problems and logically looking at situations which it was declaring "impossible"....

• It had to be laid down

Second was my body which was tired and consumed with a looming migraine and achy and weary and teary and....

• It had to be laid down

Third were my feelings which were jumbled and sad and conflicted and disappointed and confused and....

• They had to be laid down

All three of these parts of me had to be laid on the altar so that my lips would not give off complaints or judgement or despair, but rather "the fruit of (my) lips would give thanks to His name."

So choosing to praise anyway....maybe that is the sacrifice. Choosing to be thankful. Choosing to be grateful. Choosing to be humble. Choosing to be content. Choosing to be satisfied.

Satisfied in Jesus.

And as I feebly gave that sacrifice of praise, not a thing around me changed- my head still hurt and the problems were still the same.....but somehow praising changed everything.

Now again this morning, I am trying to remember that lesson. Today is an anniversary of an event that seemed to be one of promise but changed into one of heartbreak.  So today, as I WANT to feel sad and despondent,  I. Will. Praise.

I.

Will.

Praise.

Him.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? 

Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,    

for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

Ps. 43:5

Raising His Child

It takes a great deal of faith and trust to remember and believe that the Lord created our children exactly how He desired them to be. So that they can do the exact job He designed them to do.

Each one unique.
Each one especially designed.
Each one carved by the Master's hand.
Each one with strengths.
Each one with weaknesses.

And yet each one scarred by the ravages of the sin nature they inherited from us.

Our job is not to change the design of our children, but rather to train their hearts to be strong so that their sin nature will not destroy or distort the Master's design.

I remember eons ago, before I had children, coming down squarely on the Nurture side of the Nature Vs. Nurture argument. Now, 23 years later, I laugh at myself.  How naive.  It is not either/or but rather it is both/and. It is 100% Nature and 100% Nurture!

Our nurturing of our children matters immensely. I am a big proponent of pro-active parenting. What we do in our children's lives makes all the difference in the world.

But our children have a Designer...and therefore a design! And it is not our job to change that design.

I want to suggest that God's design of our children is under attack from the world, our own expectations, and their own sin nature. That is why parenting is such a grace-needed, prayer-producing activity! Because as parents we are not supposed to be engineers, tinkering with the design. Rather, we are gardeners: pulling weeds, fertilizing, pruning, and watering the gardens of our children's hearts.

Here is a wonderful article that got me thinking about this very thing.
http://www.incourage.me/2011/07/katie-cat-2.html#comment-95504

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

Give Me Jesus

This morning as I was "running" (and it wasn't pretty) I was listening to Fernando Ortega. I sort of pick my ipod music by my mood:

• Energetic- Stephen Curtis Chapman
• Really Energetic- Casting Crowns or Third Day
• Needing Encouragement- Laura Story
• No mood- just a mix of whatever
• Contemplative- Fernando Ortega

This morning I was feeling contemplative. Mostly I think I was just contemplating how much I didn't want to run.  But I ran, with Fernando singing in my ears and as I was struggling up a hill, tying to find whatever shade was possible because at 8:00 am it was already hot...

• Aside- finding the shade meant I had to run right next to the Rottweilers. So I would like to publicly thank Rotty 1 and Rotty 2 for your personal "encouragement" this morning. Your incessant barking certainly helped me to run faster

...struggling to put one foot in front of the other

• Aside #2- curious as to who it was who caused my shoes to weigh at least ten pounds more each this morning. Now that they are off my feet they seem to be back to normal. Weird.

...trying to breath

• Aside #3- was it the heat that sucked the oxygen out of the air? ....or did it all get sucked into my shoes and that is what made them heavy?....or did the Rottweilers use it all up in order to be able to bark so long and loud?

....Alright, sorry, got distracted. I will make my point.

Back to Fernando and this morning. I was listening to one of his songs with this line, "you can have all this world, just give me Jesus."

And so as I struggled up the hill I began to list in my mind what were the things on my "WORLD" list that get in the way of my Jesus.

WORLD:

1. desire for a remodeled kitchen
2. desire for a car with less than 100,000 miles and without the "customized hood" from "kissing" the car in front of us.
3. dream garden
4. recovered furniture
5. resolved relationship issues
6. resolved business issues
7. "enough" money -whatever that means
8. time
9. to-do lists that are done at the end of the day
10. school schedules that actually work for more than two days in a row
11. personal character issues resolved in my life
12. personal character issues resolved in my kids' lives
13. ability to go from "running" to Running!
14. .......

That is a very incomplete list by the way, but it is a start.

But honestly, you can have. You can have it all.

Just give me Jesus. 

Because even if all those things happened, without Jesus it wouldn't be enough. Even if my budget overflowed and my piles were non-existent and my house was fixed-up and I finally ran in that 10K, even with all of everything done or accomplished or performed or supplied.....

Even with ALL that....without Jesus....it would never, ever be enough.

"You can have all this world, just give me Jesus."