WHATEVER!!

Colossians 3:23 "whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than men."

Whatever?  Then why do I concern myself so much with WHAT that whatever is?  As Christians who desire to really know God, the Bible gives guidelines about what activities are worthy of prioritizing in our lives. Of course, the priority number one is time communicating with the Lord. How can I know Him if I don't spend time talking and listening to Him?

When I spend this time, the Holy Spirit brings things to my mind and gives me a desire to include certain activities in my schedule and life. As I grow closer to the Lord, some things just don't seem to "fit" who I am anymore -- who am in Christ.

I knew this scripture during the season I was raising my children. It was easy--most of the time--to see my work was something I did "as unto the Lord." What could be more important than raising my children to know Jesus? This job had eternal purpose to it!! Eternal importance.

Even during the years I worked in law firms, Colossians 3:23 was on my mind. It was a daily struggle to keep an attitude of working "as unto the Lord." What value did my work have?  This was a battle I never really won. Certain days, I'd plan and order my work with the idea in mind of simply "serving" my bosses and therefore, doing it as unto the Lord. Other days, I just got frustrated with the culture of adversarial litigation and greed. I failed more than I succeeded.

It's easier now that I am retired--or is it? Certainly I have more time for studying the Bible and prayer and more time to choose my own activities. I see influencing my grandchildren as my mission and my calling. But there are SO many things I want to do. Am I doing enough? Many times I fear that others will not see my life as worthwhile. The hustling American culture does not place value on the retired life. The church culture often does not either. Where is the appreciation for the abiding life? Where is the Sabbath rest that God promised? 

I now see that  in any situation or activity, I do it unto the Lord by just "being" in that circumstance --being who I am--who God created me to be. Psalm 19:1 says that "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." Just by sparkling in the sky - the stars are doing what they were created to do - the stars give glory to God.  A wave in the ocean praises God by rising and crashing onto the shore, by just being what it was created to be. The wind praises God by whistling through the tree tops or tinkling through my wind chimes.

I praise God and give glory to Him by simply being who I was created to be. What's on my agenda today? Loving a grandchild? Easy to do as unto the Lord - after all, we know Jesus wants to love through us. Eternal value? You bet! As I love them, I pray that they will know God's love. Prayer and Bible Study? You bet! Eternal value! Running errands? Doing housework?  Hmmm....I still praise God by being who He created me to be in each situation, no matter how mundane. Lord, help me take You with me. So, yes, I prayerfully plan my activities, but as I go about my business, such as it is, I now have peace that WHATEVER it is, I do it for the Lord and in that I am praising Him. 

My Empty Calendar Made Me Check My Gratitude Attitude

This article was published in The Advocate Human Condition column on July 12, 2020.

My calendar and I have a love-hate relationship. Why does a retired empty-nester need a planner? I didn’t expect to be so busy. What a wonderful surprise to have a life so full that I still need to plan and to remember what I plan.

Many times, people ask "what do you do with your time?" Almost every retired person I would answer – “Ha!  I’m busier than ever! How did I have time to work?” But when they ask, “what did you do this week?” my mind draws a blank. What did I do? The planner helps me see and remember that I actually did do quite a bit!

My planner was chocked full for March April and May. I started putting smiley faces for each grandchild who was coming to stay. My older grandsons play baseball for LSU, so purple and gold stickers mark game days. I use other symbols and abbreviations so I can see at-a-glance what I need to do - meetings, appointments, church, Bible studies, trips to see my out-of-town children and grandchildren, lunches with friends. Checking off to-do’s feels good. At the end of a month, it I loved to look at all I did. Each smiley face carried a memory.

Even so, the calendar was at times a source of frustration. Sometimes it made me tired just to look at it!  In February, I looked at the calendar for spring and wondered how I could accomplish all. Where would I get the stamina to run the errands, do all my “stuff” and be at Alex Box many evenings for baseball games. But, I was oh so excited! 

Like all of you, on March 12, 2020 my calendar became obsolete. Baseball season was cancelled. I was no longer needed to babysit. In fact, no little people visit my house. Every appointment was marked “cancelled.” There would be no trips to Houston or Colorado or visits from family there.

For weeks I actually couldn't bear to look at the calendar. It hurt too much. It sat on my table as a memorial to all I lost this spring, so I hid it way. As I remembered how I had complained about being busy, I cringed.

Through most of April, I didn't take it out, but soon I realized I was missing family birthdays! Friends didn’t get birthday cards. Some things on the calendar still mattered!

Now it doesn’t hurt as much to look at the purple and gold and the little smiley faces on the calendar. I missed a lot this spring, but I am so grateful that I had a lot to miss! This crisis has given me compassion for those who are lonely and isolated. A time will come when the grandchildren are grown and busy, and my calendar won’t be so full. I’m not ready for that.

The stay-at-home order was a wake- up call to check my gratitude-attitude!  How fitting that the planner I bought for this year has a page at the end of every month to list things I am grateful for. It’s a list I won’t ignore! What fun it will be when the planner begins to fill up again! I’ll try not to complain.

UPDATE: As this appeared on our church blog on July 24, 2020, I added this introduction:

This is an article published in "The Human Condition" column of The Advocate a few weeks ago. You may ask, "why write for a secular column?" One thing I learned at Christian writer's conferences and by submitting devotionals for various publications is that each one has a targeted audience. They only publish what fits their criteria and purposes. The Human Condition is just that - people write stories that readers can connect to in their own "human condition".  Connections help us see we are not alone. What better time to make a connection? We are the light of the world! That light shines even in everyday matters Actually it may shine brighter there! At a time when people feel loss and loneliness, why not sow seeds of understanding? Why not shine a light - if only a hint or glimmer - on the One to whom we offer gratitude?

 

The response I received to the column confirmed to me that many really "got" the message. So, when thinking about how to shine the light of Jesus outside of church walls, think outside the box. We can choose to look at the pulpit or platform that we don't have or allow God to show us ordinary, humble ways to sow what we do have.  I don't get out much these days! But, I pray that I may still sow light and life. 

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

No matter where we stand in the spectrum of opinions and theories about the present crisis, no matter how strong our faith, we must agree on one thing: a shaking is occurring. Much is being shaken - the economy, the government, the healthcare system, and yes, even the church - at least in how it functions and gathers. Hopes and plans are rattled. Things we depended on for comfort are distant. Support systems are teetering. Yes, much is being shaken, but the Bible assures us that some things cannot be shaken.

The writer of Hebrews talks about God shaking the earth. "And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, 'Yet once more I will shake the earth, but also heaven. This expression, 'yet once more', denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken will remain." (Heb. 12:26-28) He is referring back to Mt. Sinai when the earth shook, but, then, by quoting Haggai 2, pointing to a future time when "I will again shake the earth."

Jesus speaks to his disciples of wars, famines and earthquakes, but when they asked him about the signs of his coming and the end of the age, he tells them in Mt. 24:8 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs." We know that, once begun, birth pangs intensify until they accomplish their purpose. Surely, we can all agree that the birth pangs are growing stronger and coming more frequently.

Shaking is a process God uses. Shaking removes what is temporary and leaves that which is permanent. Shaking is uncomfortable but is a process we can learn to appreciate. Let's allow this interlude, this "interruption" of our lives, to teach us to value the lessons shaking brings.

When God does the shaking, it accomplishes these five things:

·        It wakes you

Sometimes we have to shake our children a bit to rouse them from a deep sleep. It's not the most pleasant manner to wake up, but sometimes God needs to wake us up to get our full attention.

·        It harvests what is ripe

Think of how citrus fruits are harvested by shaking the tree. The ripe fruit falls to the ground. God's shaking harvests what is ripe in the life of a believer, both good and bad. We see the product of seeds previously planted. It reveals what has borne fruit in our lives and what has not. We have an opportunity to prepare for the next harvest.

·        It removes what is dead

When wind blows hard enough, it shakes dead leaves from the trees and sometimes dead limbs and branches. God shakes us to remove our dead works and lifeless ways.

·        It establishes closer to the foundation.

What remains is closer to the foundation. All that we labor for that is not supported by Him will be lost. We now have the opportunity to build on the proper support structure.

·        It unifies

Relationships that are knit together in Him are strengthened. Those that are not waver or fail. We realize what is important and who is important.

On what foundation is God establishing us? 1 Peter 2:5 tells us "You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 

About we who are citizens of the kingdom of heaven,  Paul says in Eph. 2:18-22 "having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." We ourselves are building blocks of the dwelling place of God!

God's construction site has not been shut down in this crisis. I suspect His work is accelerating. He is preparing the church for His return, mortaring us together by His Spirt in unity.

As for me, after the shaking, when the stones stop tumbling and I sit in the midst of the rubble, seeing how the dust has settled, I ask myself….

If God woke me up, will I lull myself back to sleep with the cares and busyness of the world or will I keep myself awake, watching and alert in prayer? Am I roused with compassion for those who are sick, dying, lonely, lost?

Is the fruit harvested juicy and sweet, or do I need to reevaluate the seeds I've sown? Have I sown love, understanding, compassion, peace? Have I sown my time and money?

As dried-up, dead works are blown away, will my habits and ways go back to what they were or will I choose only those things God directs? Will I consider each activity with wisdom like the Proverbs 31 woman who "considered a field" before she bought it?

Have the structures I've depended on proven flimsy and unstable? How does God want to restructure the strewn-about pieces of my life and heart? Will I let Him do the rebuilding?

Has my living stone rolled far from the foundation, alone and separated, or is it adhered and mortared tightly to Jesus and to the adjoining stones? Do I need to move it back into unity? Will I allow myself to be chiseled and rebuilt as a living stone, a living, functioning member of the body of Christ?  Even when the chiseling hurts? Even when it is costly?

Will I remember Him? When the voices of distraction shout out and demand to be heard, will I remember how sweet His presence is in this time?  Will I plan my days to abide in this presence at all costs?

What an opportunity the shaking has given! It is a preview of what will be shaken and what will stand! It reminds me of the wisdom that resides in the house of mourning in the book of Ecclesiastes, “for the mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure." In America, we have often dwelt in the house of pleasure. We are blessed. We must pray that, as we mourn, more will see Jesus and seek His kingdom, the one that cannot be shaken.

"Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe." Heb. 12:28 As we see more clearly all that can be shaken, let us offer to Him our gratitude and praise for a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

"Facetime"

I was thinking of the extroverts posting on Facebook how they need people! Just can't stand it! Introverts are saying the quarantine is great for them- alone time. The body of Christ is saying we need to gather, and we are all gathering in new ways.

I’m the picture of an introvert and am enjoying being able to study, pray and make a legacy scrapbook for my offspring. I need people too  - but what I need from people is not just surface interactions - NOT just being in a crowd, but face-to-face, substantial, deep, meaningful conversation. The kind where you are heard, understood. I suspect extroverts feel this need too.

It’s great to connect via social media. So many are posting meaningful and encouraging  things! It’s not the same. Empathy and understanding don’t really transmit. I want FACE-TO-FACE!  But not just face-to-face physically but heart-to-heart also!

The Lord reminded me of the prophecy given at our church on 2/2/20.

At the time it was given, the song "Behold Jehovah, seated on the throne was playing".

"The Lord would say

If you Dare.

Let me put my hands directly on your face.

As I cup my hands before you, place your faith and your face in my hands.

Now, look! into my eyes.

Look deep into my eyes.

What do you see?

Love

Power

Concern

Let me take my thumbs and wipe away your tears.

Let me show you what I have protected you from thus far.

Let me embrace you.

Look into my eyes.

As you see ME, SO

 I will put in you my power through my Holy Spirit who will dwell within your hearts.

My healing, my healing hands which touch your face

You shall take that and touch the sick and they shall recover

Holiness will increase

You will go forth as a mighty army, not for your own sake but for My sake.

But if you dare,

Let your face rest in my hands.

Don't pull back from me.

But look continually into my eyes

See what I have for you.

See what I have for you

HE IS OUR FACE-TO-FACE - our "Facetime"  IF WE DARE!

Cleanse Your Hearts

James 4:8 says “draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, (sound familiar?) you sinners; purify your hearts, you double-minded. “ James was writing to believers! 

Passover is being mentioned now in some prophetic words given from various places and through various people that worst of this Covid19 plague will be over by Passover - April  9. If so, that will be a miracle and we welcome it!

Before the first Passover in Ex 12 God told the people to remove the leaven out of their homes. In Mt 16:6 Jesus explained that the leaven symbolizes sin.

For the last three days since I read this, I’ve been inviting the Lord to bring to mind “leaven” in me. He is bringing things to mind for repentance. I am examining my heart in this quiet time - the time when God has given us space. I am writing each one down.

Then God said in verse 13 “the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live and when I see the blood, I will pass over you and no plague will befall you.” 

We use the term "blood of Jesus" a lot, but many don't understand the phrase. They don't know the Old Testament - the place where God reveals just who He is.  The phrase has been repeated so much that it loses its power. This gives weight and understanding of the power we have received and are still receiving in Christ.

Yes, we’ve been washed in his blood, but we are still to examine our hearts. 

We are to cleanse our own hands and heart and repent for ourselves and for this nation.  Since I read this, I’ve been inviting the Lord to bring to mind “leaven” in me. He is bringing things to mind for repentance. I am examining my heart at this quiet time.  I am writing each conviction down.

Thoughts on Motherhood

I saw an old friend this week. Often its funerals that bring us together these days. At first, she didn’t recognize me - hesitating, she said, “oh, you’re Jennifer’s mom!”

You see, that’s how I made my friends —back in the day. My besties were those who first knew me as “Jennifer’s mom”, “Darren’s mom”, “Joel’s mom.” My kiddos were my conversation starters, my security blankets, my pride and joy, my purpose —they defined me. People knew me mostly by the kind of mom I was. Blessed times!

Gradually, though sometimes suddenly, we must face the world as just ourselves again—just Linda. Jobs. Kids grow up. Move away. Good things mostly, though some parents must grieve the loss of a precious child.

Most don’t think to ask, “are you anyone’s mother?” I understand my single friends a tiny bit more.

So it’s sweet to hear someone say again, “oh, you’re Jennifer’s mom!” Even better when I get to meet Madelyn’s friends at Starbucks, Cade’s friend hugs me and calls me “MawMaw” and Rylan’s friend comes to the door and asks, “are you Rylan’s grandma?”
#stillblessed
#sograteful

Journaling

I wonder what will happen to all the journals I've kept?  I began in the late 70s.  Who would want them? Do I want anyone to read them? Should I destroy them now? Furthermore, is the need to write it all down crazy? Should I give up the habit?

Journals are like first drafts. A writer starts with a blank page and  just puts it all out there, knowing that later it will be refined and edited over and over until the point is clear and the story finished. First drafts are messy. They are meant to be marked up in red, rearranged, struck out and sometimes wadded up for a new start. First drafts, and the subsequent ones, can be discouraging. If you expect to get it all "right" the first try, you will probably give up.

My journal is the first draft of the story of my life, and often even the first draft of a day, a year, a decision, a story.  I want it to be neat and tidy. Organized. Logical. No mark-outs. Beautiful penmanship. I want it to be the finished product. I want it to provide quick answers to off of life's problems and questions.

First drafts of life raise more questions than provide answers. If I "have the mind of Christ" as the Bible says I do, it must be extracted, mined for, developed, listened for, asked for. Even realizing that I want and need the "mind of Christ" is a process.

Like the first draft of a story, writing out problems gets messy - and not just the penmanship. When I share honest feelings, there they are in ink on paper. Sometimes that process is lengthy, spanning years and filling blank books, but rarely am I not rewarded with clarity, resolution, insight, even wisdom from God. Some are profound and others so ordinary that I could mistake them for my own thoughts. When I pick up journal and pen, when I see a blank page, I FEEL the anticipation that God will meet me there. He will speak to me.

It seems I can't really think - process - without writing. Life has to travel from my scattered brain through my fingertips onto to pen and ink to be understood, reasoned, remembered. I don't know what I think until I write it. Thoughts bounce around in my head, giving a feeling of confusion, unrest. Since I learned to guard every word in childhood, journaling offers freedom! I can allow honest words and feelings to flow.

Keeping a journal means sanity for me. It's cheaper than a shrink! What a comfort journaling has been to me, especially when I had no friends or family to share my thoughts with. Even now, having the best of friends, I see that no one can really understand another person's heart - except for the Lord. No one listens like He does. I think of how much I love each of my children. It seems I should be able to get inside of each one's mind and heart - to truly know everything about each one. Surely, I should be the one person who truly understands them because they grew inside my body and because they are part of my heart.  I yearn for that intimacy, but I only get glimpses. Seeing how alone each person really is, I am desperate to truly know and be known by Him. Beginning in Genesis, God made it clear that He desires intimacy with His people. It's all about relationship.

My journal is a way of remembering the Lord and all He has done and is doing in my life. Re-reading always gives me perspective. That perspective often comes even in the embarrassment of how I saw things at the time it was written. The perspective sometimes shows progress. When it doesn't, I ask myself and the Lord, "Why?"  Many times, I see that I never even took the first step of obedience God had shown me! Ouch!  I see how much time has been wasted - yes, even years! Other times, I see that my flesh is still my flesh-just like the Bible said it would be!  I see pettiness. I see how a judged a person. Many times, I've since had a glimpse into what God is doing in that person's life. Many times, my opinion is changed so much that I want to "white-out" all that I wrote before. Even so, I see that God isn't as disheartened by failure or the time I consider wasted as I am. After all, most of my wisdom came though the struggles, mistakes and failures!  As long as I continue walking with Him, I can be assured that He's still working on me.

1 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." Jounaling helps me gather up all the loose ends of my thoughts and life and develop skill in listening to the Lord. The wild and loose thoughts that must be taken captive, must first be recognized. What better way to see them clearly is to see them in black and white! Embarassing, yes, but also beneficial. The enemy's ploys are exposed. I now know where to do battle.

If the almighty God actually speaks to us, the least we can do is take every means to remember and to learn from what He says. There may be a better way than journaling, but I haven't found it.
The problem is the "messy mixture": the wheat and tares; the silver and the dross; His ideas and mine.  They must all be sifted through the whole of a life, through many edits and versions.

But, what about all the "extras" in each journal? Lists, resolutions, rants, ideas, good intentions, venting and embarrassing revelations of the state of my own heart? God knows it all anyway.  But have I gained anything from to-do's and goals I rarely accomplish?  Noble ideas and desires that I never succeed in living out?  How could one week's journal entries reflect the majesty and glory of God, yet the pettiness of my flesh and the ordinariness of routine and day-to-day living? That is a mystery perhaps similar to "the outer man is decaying but the inner man is being renewed day by day." (2 Cor.4:16)

So, yes, I am a journaler! Not sure if I can change that. Not sure if I want to. The only question is, what to do with all these journals? Re-reading makes me want to tear out pages, but even seeing the uselessness of some struggles teaches me. I don't want to lose one gem of truth. Even as I read about an issue I wrote about 20 years ago, I may not agree with the conclusion I reached then, but the seeing the process is valuable. It still teaches. Each entry and lesson echoes into my present. What a joy when I can say, "that doesn't apply to me any more." "That has been resolved in my life." What a humbling lesson when I see that something I long ago declared "fixed" has cropped back up, not fixed at all. The best is when when a new insight or application of God's Word appears and changes everything suddenly! I've seen it happen!

I wish I had written more of the sweet things. Simple and complex ones. Quiet peaceful days with my children. Phone conversations and dinners together taken for granted. Details. Cute things the kids said. Laughs shared. I wish I had recorded all the prayer prayed and thanks given. If only, I could have captured all the life lived. I seemed to focus on the problems, not the joys. I think I thought the joys went without saying - that I would always remember them. I regret that. It makes the journals unbalanced. They don't show the whole picture.

"We have this treasure in earthen vessels." (2 Cor. 4:7) The journals are an incomplete and disjointed   rough first draft of snippets of the the story of my life. If I were writing a blog post, they would be wadded up and tossed as the finished product was posted.  I heard somewhere that "God makes your mess your message." I hope that's true!  One day, He will write "The End" to my story. He will throw away all the rough drafts. Somehow, because it's His work and He has done the editing, He will declare it  to be good.

But, what to do with all of these "workbooks"of my life? I haven't figured that one out yet.