In My House, No One Goes Hungry....

Have you ever had a piece of scripture from the Bible just come up and smack you?  In a good way?  Oh man, this happened to me this week.  And it is a verse I've probably read many times, but something about reading it this time just hit me.  Here it is:

"He stood me up on a wide open field;  I stood there saved---surprised to be loved!" 
 Psalm 18:19,  the message

And that verse lead me to the old hymn, I Stand Amazed, which is featured in the video above.

It's the second half of that verse that hit me... I stood there saved-- surprised to be loved.  Take a moment and meditate on that.  Savor it.  Let it settle down into your bones.

This week I have had a couple of opportunities to hang out with some young people and have had some fairly serious talks with a few of them.  And in these talks, a theme has emerged... they are desperate to believe that they are loved by someone.  Anyone.  That they can be loved.  They are seeking love in any form that they can get it.  They want someone to tell them that they matter.  And it breaks my heart, because I know that several of them do not know that they are loved.

I don't believe that our youth are the only ones feeling this desperate need for love.  Our whole culture seems to built around this craving.  The need for endless attention = a need for love.  The need for collecting and buying material things = a need for love. I would say the even the violence we are seeing can be attributed to rage against not feeling loved.

But I know the secret-- the secret is that they are ALL desperately and greatly loved by a God who would give up His very sons life to prove that point.  And even though Jesus life story is fairly well known, for some reason, the love part of the story seems to be a deep dark secret to a lot of people.

That's why when we show people around us love through our actions, they stand there amazed and surprised.  They have bought into the lie that they are not loved.

Let me tell you today, if you are feeling unloved or unloveable... it's a LIE.  A complete and utter lie.  YOU ARE LOVED!  Let me say it again, You-- the real you, not the fake you that you present to others, the real you.  The one that has very real faults.  The you that is broken.  The you that is less than perfect.  That you.  That you is loved, and loved deeply and fully.  Just as you are.  God loves you.  He always has and He always will.

And if you know this secret, this secret of love, do your best to not keep it a secret.  You need to  share it by showing love to everyone you come into contact with. In the words of Bob Goff, you need to  "leak love."  Take a moment and remember how it felt when you finally discovered that you were loved.  In fact, it would be good for us to start each day just standing in awe in our own "wide open fields" and reflecting on the fact that we are saved and feeling yet again that heart stopping, heart mending, moment of realizing how greatly we are loved.

 I find myself wanting to just gather up these young people in my Mommy arms and hold them tight, while whispering words of the great love that God has for them.  And tell them that I love them and that they are deserving of love.  That they are seen and heard.  I can't always hug them, but I show them love through ways that teenagers understand, by talking to them, by listening to them (even when I don't understand what they are saying), and by feeding them good food.  They are welcome at my table.  They are loved in my house.  I have a saying on my wall above the door to my dining room that says, "Nella mia casa nessumo va affamato" which translates to "In my house, no one goes hungry."  It reminds me that all who come into my home will be fed good food and a steady diet of love.

That's all I have today-- a simple message.  Not even a new message.  But an important one.  One that God reminded me of this week.

I'll leave you today with a little "broader" view of Psalm 18.

"But me he caught---reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning.  They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me.  He stood me up on a wide-open field;  I stood there saved--surprised to be loved!  God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. "  Psalm 18 16-21  the message



                              

Failing Spectacularly... Whole chickens and yoga...

Failure.  I don't know about you, but I hate that word.  And I have spent an extraordinary amount of time in my life trying to avoid having that word attached to me or anything I do.  And in spite of my avoidance tactics, I have and do fail often, and sometimes spectacularly.

Like the time I tried to cut up a whole chicken....Here's the backstory... Jeff and I were newly married and extremely broke.  Like, after bills, we had very little money left for food and gas broke.  And while shopping for food, Jeff pointed out to me that it was cheaper to buy the whole chicken rather than a cut up one.  Granted, it was like only maybe 50 cents cheaper, but did I mention we were broke, and Jeff was in college, and I was working at a daycare, and we had no money. I mean broke.... and our apartment was all electric heat--with big windows--during the coldest winter on record in Colorado--broke--like in our heating bill was bigger than our rent payment-- broke.  Seriously, we wore layers and coats inside our apartment all winter long.  People would come over and try to hand me their coats, and I was all like, ummmm... you might want to keep that on.

Anyway, back to the chicken story.  I argued with Jeff over that chicken.  I had never, ever, in my life cut up a whole chicken.  But Jeff finally convinced me that it was easy-- any idiot could cut up a chicken, and we could buy something sweet to eat with that extra 50 cents.... and so we came home with a whole chicken, a lot of Top Ramen Noodles, and a 50 cent box of brownie mix.  The next evening I pulled out that chicken along with my new Betty Crocker cookbook that we had received as a wedding present, determined to roast and cut up said chicken.  Thank God the cookbook told me to remove the "innards" from the chicken, that could have been interesting.  So, I put all the ingredients together, and slapped that bad boy into the oven.  The whole place smelled so good.  But then the time came to remove said chicken and cut it up.  That's when I discovered that apparently, this idiot couldn't cut up a chicken.  Not for lack of trying, or cut and bruised fingers.  Jeff arrived home to a few pieces of mangled chicken, and a wife whose hands were covered in bandaids.  He looked at me, and then at that poor chicken sitting on a plate on an elegantly dressed table (as elegant as we got back then which meant a tablecloth, wedding china and candles) and said, "What on earth did you do to that chicken?"  At which point I gave him the stare of death, and promptly marched into the bedroom and slammed the door to have a good cry. My carefully planned dinner turned into an astounding, and somewhat costly, failure.

Or how about the time I decided to take up yoga on the advice of my doctor after having fallen down some stairs and injuring my back.  I was practically giddy with the idea of learning a new skill, and getting healthy, and just overall looking like all of those fantastic famous women who "practiced" yoga to stay fit and healthy.  And, if I could help strengthen the muscles in my back at the same time? Win, win!  Ha!   How hard can this be, it's just stretching and balance, right?  I mean, it was almost like cheating-- getting a workout with little effort.  Plus, I got to go out and buy some cute "yoga" clothing and a pretty colored mat.  Cool!  And then, I actually tried yoga.  The first pose, Child's pose, didn't look so bad.  Except that I noticed as I looked at the yoga instructor that she could like fold up in this tight little ball, and she could really bend at her waist, and oh wow, her arms actually can touch the floor in that position?  Ok, well, I was close...it's all good.  And then we moved to the next pose which involved what I now recognize is a type of a plank, but it had a really pretty name.  I moved into that position no problem.  But then we stayed there.  For like a REAAALLLY LOOONNNNGGG time.  And my arms began to shake....Houston, we might have a problem.  Then the instructor began to talk about breathing...  Deep breath in.... Deep breath out.... Except I was more like panting.  Ok, so I need to work on my breathing....We finally moved on to Downward Facing Dog. I think I might have actually snorted out loud laughing when I heard the instructor name the position. Whatever.  This position felt really good on my back.  Ok, yoga is redeeming itself again.  Until the instructor said this phrase, "Now slowly relax your legs and ankles to where your feet are flat on the floor."  Ok, how do you even relax anything in this position?  And my arms are doing that shaking thing again.  Then we did the impossible thing of lifting one leg into the air, and breathing, and relaxing....I was so grateful when we made it upright into warriors pose that I could have cried.  I was feeling like I could rock warriors pose like a freaking yoga warrior princess.   That is until we added movement to the pose.  We had to lift our arms up, then move them to the sides outstretched, and then twist at the waist, remembering to breathe,  and then we got to put one hand down on the ground and look up with soft eyes...   What the what?  Soft eyes?  My whole body was shaking, I couldn't control my breathing, and I was supposed to relax and look up.  Right..... I'm not sure what expression I had on my face at this point, but I'm reasonably sure that my eyes were not "soft."

Oh my, I'm laughing so hard at myself right now and my confident journeys into failure.  And I know that these are some funny, and relatively harmless examples.  I know that sometimes failure has bigger consequences than just sore muscles or cut up fingers.  But I have also learned that at some point in our lives we are going to fail.  And, if  failure is going to happen, I want to make sure that I do so spectacularly and that I walk away from that failure with some form of new knowledge on how to do better next time.  I do not wish to avoid risks because I am afraid to fail.  You see, I need to quit letting the fear of failure rule me.  When I refuse to try something new because of fear of failure, I miss out on learning new things.  I miss out on some the the greatest joys and laughter.  I do not want the fear of failure to keep me from living a full life.  And it is important for me to not judge myself solely on my failures, I'm made up of so much more than that.  And so are you!  You are a compilation of both failures and successes.

I'm reading a book by one of my new heroes, Bob Goff, entitled "Love Does."  It's all about doing what God has called us to do, which is to love greatly.  And loving greatly requires being willing to take some risk.  Being willing to fail.  But I would rather fail while loving greatly than to play it safe and be stingy with love.  I find that it's a little bit like yoga, in that loving greatly requires me to stretch myself by being in positions that are a little uncomfortable, positions where I am barely maintaining my balance and gasping for breath.  And sometimes, like when I tried to cut up that chicken, loving greatly leaves its mark on me in the form of some small cuts that I have to bandage and heal.

Back to the chicken and the yoga.  Jeff and I have come to a marriage saving agreement regarding chicken.  I buy it whole or cut up, depending on what I am in the mood to cook.  However, if I buy it whole, it is his duty to cut that sucker up.  I'm not, nor will I ever be, good at cutting up a chicken.  I just wasn't born with that gift.  And as far as yoga goes, I'm still doing it.  I'm not saying I do it well, but I'm still learning.  I've gained a little more strength and breath control.  The soft eyes thing... not so much.  One of these days I'm going to be brave enough to practice my yoga in front of a great big mirror so I can laugh at myself...

Go out this week and love greatly!  Go out and if you fail, do so spectacularly!  Then learn from it and go out again.  And, if you are cooped up inside with nothing to do, pick up the book "Love Does."  I think it will stretch you and challenge you, in all the right ways.

I'll leave you with a few photos of the leaning tower of Pisa.  What an example of spectacular failure. This crazy tower, that is not straight, that is leaning, would be viewed by many as an  architectural failure.  And yet, because of its failure, it is now one of the most visited sights in the world.  Go figure.

Vision Casting.... Picturing How Great the World Could Be...

"What if instead of telling people how bad the world is, we start telling them how great the world could be."  Bianca Olthoff

Last week I started part of this conversation talking about the importance of well placed words.  I'm continuing this week with the thought of the power of well chosen words or Vision casting.  Did you know that sometimes your words are a type of vision casting?  By vision casting I mean using words to forecast or predict or influence a future outcome.

Think about that.  Here's an example of what I'm trying to get across:

Vision cast #1- This Godless world is in a free falling, downward spiral of sin, greediness, selfishness, hate, war, and depravity.

Vision cast #2 - The love of God can turn this sinful, desperate, despairing world into a joyous, caring, loving, and peaceful place.

The difference between these two statements is small, and yet BIG.  And what is the difference?  I believe the difference is hope.  Both statements acknowledge the faults and failings in this world, but only one statement offers hope and a solution.

"God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was.  He came to help, to put the world right again."  John 3:17  the message

Somewhere along the line we as Christians got horribly lost.  We tend to memorize John 3:16 and forget about the next verse.  We're so busy pointing an accusing finger, that we loose sight that the message of Jesus isn't about condemnation, but about hope.  You see, the Pharisees already had the condemnation part covered.  The part that was missing was the solution, the hope.  And sometimes, I must say that the church (and I am including myself in this "church"), casts the wrong vision.  Instead of casting a vision of hope, we cast a vision of hopelessness.  We put too much emphasis on the problem and not enough emphasis on the solution.  When we concentrate solely on the problem instead of the solution we are in effect refusing to acknowledge the power of God to step in and change the situation.  And that sounds like some dangerous ground to tread upon.

It is dangerous because we are not fulfilling our mission, what God has directly ordered us to do.  We are called to "share the good news," and to be "salt and light" to this world.  We are called to deliver the solution, not add to the problem.  It is important that we share the hope and solution with all we come into contact with, but I believe it is most important to cast this vision for our young people.  They have grown up in the "information age."  News from around the world is immediately available in real time.  And lets be real, most of the information available is not the uplifting, encouraging kind. Our news broadcasts are not filled with stories of hope.  It's overwhelming to me as an adult to be surrounded by all this information, I can't even imagine being surrounded and inundated with it as a young person.  No wonder they often seek solace in "fantasy" through games, or youtube, or other forms of electronic media.  The vision being cast for them by the adults in the world is grim.  They face worries of a polluted, more violent, less loving planet.  I would want to hide too.  And honestly, I sometimes do,  it's called Pinterest, and I am admittedly addicted.

The troubles of this world are not going to disappear anytime soon.  My challenge isn't to hide those problems, or to pretend that they don't exist. My challenge is to change the vision I am casting with my words.  My prayer is that my words cast a vision of hope, not despair.  That I speak louder, and more often about the solution,  than I do the problems.  That I model for those around me the hope of God instead of the the despair of the world.  To be a walking, talking, breathing example of what the love of a savior can do to lighten the dark places.

What vision are you casting?

I'll leave you with a few photos that remind me of how amazing God is.  And if you find yourself without a vision of hope today, I encourage you to begin seeking the hope that is already freely offered to you through Jesus.

Well Placed Words.....

I have been thinking about the impact of words, particularly the impact of well placed words.  Whether we want to believe it or not, words have power.  I have been listening to what my sons friends talk about, -- their concerns, their thoughts, their feelings, etc....  And they, as a whole, are greatly affected, positively and negatively,  by the words they hear.

This is not new knowledge.  We have known that what is said can have an impact on someone else's life.  And  we as a nation have had many countless debates about what we should be saying to our young people, and to others around us.  And of course, because we are human, and because we all have a deep need to be "right," we debate endlessly on how this should be done, what should be said.  There is one theory that says we shouldn't "build them up too much"  with our words.  Then there is the theory that you can't "build them up enough" with positive words.  One is too lenient, one is too harsh.  And somewhere in between is what I believe most of us strive for.

Young people are naturally going to follow the examples of those who are older (whether they admit it or not), those who have influence on them.  Just simply telling them how they should use their words doesn't cut it.  We must be an example.  And as an example, we, as adults, often fail at the art of using well placed words.  Look at those in politics-- they do not have conversations across party lines with the intent on achieving understanding and progress.  Instead, they spend their whole time figuring out how to discredit each other.  Newscasts are full of grim predictions.  Media reports regularly tout the problems of our young people-- they are lazy, disconnected, spoiled, etc...  And I will admit, that even I, as a parent, have lamented about some of the "problems" of our young people.  The words out there are many, especially in this new, very connected world,  but I ask you, are our words well placed? Or are they just adding more noise?

"Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith.  It just wears everyone out.  Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple.  Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk.  Words are not mere words, you know.  If they are not backed by a Godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul."
                                                                                     2 Timothy 2:14-17 the message

"Refuse to get involved in inane discussions;  they always end up in fights.  God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey."     2 Timothy 2:23-25  the message

When pondering the power of well placed words I immediately thought of  Gideon in the Bible.  In Judges 6:12 it states that:

"When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you mighty man of valor."

Wow!  What a great thing to have spoken to you by an angel of the Lord.  The word Valor means "Great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle."  And I find these words interesting. They are interesting because of the circumstance in which the angel found Gideon.  You see, at this time the Israelites were being overrun by the people of Midian and Amalek.  The Midian and the Amalek were constantly invading and stealing everything, including food, from the Israelites.  The people of Israel were so afraid that they were hiding out in caves. And Gideon was found by the angel hiding in a winepress, fearfully threshing wheat.  And this was the circumstance that the angel walked into and pronounced Gideon as a mighty man of valor.  Isn't that just like God to see the vision of who you are going to be, rather than the current state of who you are?

But I want you to note that these words, declared by an angel of God no less, didn't immediately change Gideon's perception of himself.  I mean, my first thought is that if God's angel said these words to me, I would immediately rise up and believe them to be true.  But of course, words don't work that way, no matter who says them.  You see, while that one statement was powerful, and powerfully delivered, Gideon had other words running through his mind that had been placed there long before the angel showed up.  And these words had power as well.  The Bible doesn't go into detail about Gideon's life before this event, but I think Gideon's response shows us a brief glimpse into what he had heard all his life from others.

"But Lord, Gideon asked, how can I save Israel?  My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."  Judges 6:15

Three times the Lord tells Gideon that he is brave, that he has strength, and that he will be victorious because he is being sent by God.  And yet, because of the words placed in Gideon from others, he couldn't believe the words God was saying about him.

The story goes on, and Gideon eventually does become the mighty man of valor that God has called him to be.  But, Gideon continues to struggle with uncertainty, with insecurity, with doubt in himself and in God.  That's the power words have on a person.  Words have the power to make a person even doubt what God says about them.

And so, my prayer is that God will help me speak well placed words.  Words that bring life, wisdom, peace, healing, and goodness to those around me.  I pray that most of all, the words I place into the life of my son are words that help him see the vision of the man that God wants him to become.  The man that God can help him to become.  I am already seeing glimpses of the man my son can be, and I am amazed.

My challenge to you is to look for opportunities  to speak well placed words.  Not for opportunities to win an argument, not for opportunities to tear others down, but instead for opportunities to share with them God's vision of love and who they can become in Christ.  Lets not add to the "noise."  Instead, let's make an impact with words well placed.

I'll leave you with a couple of photo's of my son.  He recently attended his H.S. Winter Formal.  As I was taking photo's of him all dressed up in his suit, I kept seeing an overlay of the man he is becoming shining through his teenaged face.  And all I could think was -  wow!  Keagan - God has great things in store for you!  Go out and be a mighty man of valor in your life.  Catch the vision of what God wants for you and what He has in store for you!