Does it ‘Feel’ Like Your Birthday?

So the question of the day – “does it feel like your birthday?” greeted me as I attempted to roll out of bed. Rather I attempted to get off the blow -up bed, get to my knees and hoist myself up onto my 62 year old feet.

I’ve been sleeping on that floor for several nights now. We are staying with our daughter and son- in- law trying to give them some help with their new baby and of course playing with big sister Lydia.

And I began think about that question.

How should a birthday feel?

I could conjure up some expectations that for today, this April 18th, 2012 birthday, wouldn’t work. Those expectations would just set me up for disappointment.

As I muse a bit more about this particular day, I know that in the middle of this fine day I will find God. He is truly my keeper and he has kept me here so far.

And as I look around me today, I realize that I have received a most precious gift, the birth of a new grandchild.

So I ask myself, is this what a birthday should feel like?

Knowing and feeling that I am quite blessed?

After all, I am with family.

After all, I have had the privilege of getting to know this new little guy named Gavin.

After all, my husband of almost 37 years is right here, well not quite by my side as he is sleeping on the couch by the blow up bed! Ha! Quite the scene here, with two 60 somethings trying to get out of their make shift beds…

Does it feel like my birthday? I must answer with a resounding ‘yes’! I will remember this day as very special.

After all it isn’t everyday that I get to celebrate the birth of a new grandchild just days before my own birthday.

I couldn’t ask for a better gift.

Sure feels like a birthday to me!

 

 

Pardon Me? May I Interrupt You for a Second?

Don’t you just love it when someone says that to you especially when you are in the middle of a hot conversation?

Pardon me. May I interrupt you for a second?

Or when as a mom you finally get a chance to converse with someone other than a kid and your child tugs on you with an “but I need to tell you something right now!” kind of interruption?

Does consternation or impatience rise up in you?

After raising 4 kids, I did get used to their little interruptions to the point where now as a grandma, I love my grandkids’ interruptions. I look forward to their “grandma, I need to tell or show you something right now” kind of interruptions.

But what about those huge life- changing interruptions? How well do we handle them? The ‘pardon me, may I interrupt you for a second’ kind of interruption that erupts your day, your life, your heart forever?

The kind of God interruption that Simon of Cyrene experienced.

The one where he was pressed into service to carry Jesus’ cross to Calvary.

I believe it was a divine interruption into this devout Jew’s life.

Last night, ‘Good Friday’ Friday night, I watched the movie, The Passion of the Christ.

And even though I have watched this movie at least once a year since its release, I never can get past certain scenes in the story.

One of those scenes is when a Roman soldier presses Simon of Cyrene into service by ordering him to leave his children and carry Jesus’ cross.

Simon, a lesser character in this Crucifixion story, must be reckoned with.

Henry Blackaby, preacher and author, said this about Simon.

Simon, who just happened to be passing by, when the Lord of the Universe laid a cross on him…A divine interruption…

Hmmm. The Gospel accounts tell of how the Roman soldiers ordered Simon of Cyrene to pick up the cross and carry it. They yanked him from the crowd, pulling him away from his two little boys.

He was definitely interrupted but ultimately by whom?

It is said of Simon that he was a Jew from the countryside of Cyrene, who just happened to be in Jerusalem with his two boys Alexander and Rufus for the celebration of Passover. A good Jew. One who followed the law. One who knew the importance of remembering God’s deliverance of his own people centuries ago.

Just happened to be in town for the annual celebration of Passover.

Just passing by on the streets when suddenly, a divine interruption set him on a new course.

An interruption that may have caused his heart to faint for a moment but his life to change forever.

In the movie, you can see this transformation take place by watching his face. His demeanor changes as he carries Jesus’ cross. He goes from reluctant servant to passionate follower, realizing that his duty as a Jew is to attend to the one who calls himself King of the Jews.

I believe this transformation was eternal, not just for the momentary interruption.  The “pardon me, may I interrupt you for a second?” type of interruption.

I believe that Simon’s eyes were opened as he recognized God’s Messiah, King of the Jews.

And what about you and I?

Are we willing to be pressed into service, interrupted by the God of the Universe at a moment’s notice?

Much like Simon of Cyrene who just happened to be passing by, when the Lord of the Universe laid a cross on him…?

Hmmmmm…

Pardon me? May I Interrupt you for a second? A lifetime?

Between the Rock and Those Hard Places

When I am afraid I will trust in You! Psalm 56:3

This verse was handed to me a couple of months ago on a rock. A painted rock to be exact. Granddaughters Anna and Ellie gave one to Marty and to me.

How appropriate that this verse is transcribed by little hands on a solid piece of rock.

For when we are truly afraid, there is only one way to get help – from the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ.

When things seem to not make sense in this life, reversals, upside down happenings, the ‘I don’t understand but I trust You’ stuff, then I can hold in my hand this rock with the verse written on it, an icon that points me to the truth, Jesus.

Anna and Ellie told me that they read the story of David and Goliath, then followed up this story by painting these rocks.

How appropriate for King David to write down this remembrance of His God, Psalm 56:3. For there were many times when he was caught between a rock and a hard place and he held onto the Rock.

And it was literally a rock, a smooth stone that killed the giant Goliath.

That handpicked smooth stone/rock was David’s choice of redemption at that moment when faced with almost certain death.

As I begin to walk through this year 2012, there are swirling about a number of uncertainties, places in my life where things seem to  be turning out quite differently from the way I had anticipated.

While I spend my days walking between the Rock and those hard places, sometimes feeling like I park too long at the hard places, I know in my heart that there is a solid, never moving Rock that I must hold onto.

So today, I choose to embrace the Rock, Jesus Christ, as I hold in my hand an iconic hand painted orange rock with the written words When I am afraid I will trust in you!

 

Merry Christmas Dear Family and Friends!

God is giving out gifts today as always.

Do you believe it?  Do we believe this?

God? Gives us gifts?

Presents?

Presence?

He has arrived!

Bearing gifts.

This Son of God, Jesus, is here to gather up the fragments of our little lives, the fragments of our collected and hoarded disappointments and give to us Himself and all the trimmings that come with Him.

Like eternal life.

Like  His peace to us now as we live out our daily lives.

Like His Presence to dwell with us.

He is here as Emanuel! God with us!

His gift of eternal life starts today, now. It isn’t something that we need to wait for. We get to live today knowing that it is already a done deal.

His word to the shepherds when the angel of the Lord appeared to them in a field so many years ago is also for us, for our kids, for our grandkids and beyond.

So take this word and run with it. It is yours, ours for the taking and believing and living out.

And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2: 10-11)

There has been born for you a Savior…

Can’t top that one.

May God or an angel speak to you today that there has been born for you a Savior.

And with that, I add a crispy -clear Merry Christmas!

There! Take that and run with this gift in hand as you go about your day today, as you celebrate this wonderful event – Jesus’ birthday!

Merry Christmas!

 

Mary the Mother of Jesus

One fine day Mary’s life took a turn, a God activated turn. A sudden turn.

One fine day she was betrothed to Joseph, engaging in a culturally arranged lifestyle of marriage with the promise of children to raise.

The next day or so it seemed, her life path took a sudden turn. Yesterday’s path was no longer an option. The sudden fork in the road had a signpost that read – YOUR LIFE/THIS WAY… NO LONGER AN OPTION/THAT WAY.

And because Mary was well-versed, because she knew her history – where she came from, because she knew God and His merciful ways, she was able to be a joyful participant in God’s plan for her life.

There was an innocence about her due to her youth. Perhaps not enough earth time had passed for her to grow cynical towards God- stuff like angels and prophecies of old now being fulfilled in her lifetime, on her watch, in her face.

An innocence that God preserved for such a time as this.

Gabriel bursting in on her planned future to announce God’s planned future for her brought a response that could only come from a God- worshipping heart. A heart devoid of years of built up cynicism.

Her response dripped with that innocence. “…but how? I’ve never slept with a man” (Luke 1:34 Message Bible).

She appeared to be ready to accept Gabriel’s answer to her question.

And not only accept it, her prayer response reveals her heart, reveals what she believed about God.

Mary’s prayer takes us into an expansive world of God’s promises that are in the process of being fulfilled. (Eugene Peterson – Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places p.273-74)

Hannah’s prayer from 1000 years earlier became Mary’s prayer of response to God.

And Mary said,

I’m bursting with God-news; 
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God. 
God took one good look at me, and look what happened-I’m the most fortunate woman on earth! 
   What God has done for me will never be forgotten, the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others. His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him. He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts. He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold. He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. It’s exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now. (Lk.1:46-55 Message Bible)

Mary was able to tap into that ‘expansive world of God’s promises that are in the process of being fulfilled’ and say yes to God, to the role He was giving her.

It is obvious from her choice of response that her life was built on the rock solid foundation of God.

When you come to a fork in the road of life that says YOUR LIFE/ THIS WAY…NO LONGER AN OPTION/ THAT WAY, how will you respond?

Might we learn from Mary, the Mother of Jesus?

Have You Ever Heard Of???

Ever heard of Cecil Francis Alexander?

How about Henry Gauntlett?

Ring a bell?

No?

These are names of two people that were perhaps quite obscure in their day but they left lasting legacies.

In their obscurity, they wrote, they created.

Passionate in their giftings and purpose, they left reams of papers full of hymns and musical compositions.

Although they lived in the same generation, they never knew each other.

For they were separated by country with Alexander hailing from Ireland and Gauntlett residing in Olney, England.

At some point God lifted the veil of obscurity in bits and pieces so that His handiwork could be completed on their watch of life and beyond.

As only God can do, these two people never met but their giftings collided, merging into a wonderful Christmas Hymn entitled Once In Royal David’s City.

She wrote the words, he wrote the music.

He merged the two. She never knew.

So who are these two rather obscure people?

Cecil Frances Alexander loved to write poems and hymns for children. Her passion was to make the Bible stories more meaningful to children. Her poem/hymn Once in Royal David’s City, appeared for the first time in a collection called Hymns for Little Children in 1848.

Henry Gauntlett was said to have composed over ten thousand hymn tunes in his lifetime. His passion for music began when he was a little boy. His determination to become a serious musician landed him the job of church organist at his church by age nine! A position that he held for the rest of his life.

Perhaps one fine day, Gauntlett discovered Alexander’s hymn/poem Once in Royal David’s City in that collection of Hymns for Little Children and knew that among his catalogue of many tunes he had one that fit like a glove to the words that she penned some years before.

I guess we will never know how it all happened.

But we do know this. They seized life with gusto. Gave their lives over to their calling. They probably never knew how far reaching their passions would go. And just like this story, we may never know the height, the depth, the range, the longevity that our influence, our lives, our giftings will have.

Perhaps we should take note and determine to live out the rest of our lives giving away our passions and our giftings, thereby leaving God -created legacies for those who come after our time here on earth.

 

Ahhh…Selahhh

A day in the life of ‘busy’ is causing me to find ‘the rest of God’. So whenever I come upon portions of scripture that speak of rest, I listen up. Today I was reading Psalm 62. I love this portion, verses 5 through 8, as they are life giving in the midst of constant doing. But when I reflected on this passage I became riveted on the word Selah.

Psalm 62: 5-8 says:

5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; 
my hope comes from him.


6 He alone is my rock and my salvation; 
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 


7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.


8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. 
                         

Selah

Selah. Interlude. Time out. Take a breath.

I don’t know about you but when I read a Psalm I tend to gloss over that word  Selah. Yet today as I read over these verses I realized that the word Selah is well placed.

The song at this point in David’s Psalm is about finding rest in God alone. I believe that this word Selah is metaphorically placed as a sign of rest. Musically, it was a break, or perhaps a breakout of interludal singing to God from the depths of  souls with no organized chorus at this juncture.

I am imagining a scene where the crowd is worshiping together, singing the words together in choir form. And when they come upon the word Selah, they pause, perhaps a harpist continues, or a few begin to sing from their heart in their own words back to God or some may silently wait, taking a cleansing breath or two until the musical director gives the downbeat to continue on as a choir.

Traditionally, the word Selah was strategically placed in order to stress the importance of the preceding passage, to pause and reflect, to weigh or determine the value of that passage.

So too, finding rest in God alone, requires us to pause and reflect, to create an interlude in our day, a time out from activity, from our active minds, to take a breath and orient ourselves back to God.

An interlude. Time out. Take a breath. Rest.

Ahhh…Selahhh.