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God’s love is so real

7 Feb

Have I told you that I love Saturday mornings? I love being able to spend as much time reading the Bible, listening to worship songs, and praying as I want, without having to worry about being late to work.

Today was even better than usual. This past week has been rough. If you read my blog regularly, you know that my job has been a frustrating situation. You also probably know that I have been wondering what I’m supposed to be doing with my life.

What you may not know is that I have also been struggling in my marriage.

Travis and I are very different people in more ways than one. This is not news. While we were dating, I would’ve said that I loved the fact that we were so different because it made life interesting.

Well, it certainly does add drama.

Travis is a very playful, fun-loving guy. He likes to make jokes, quote movies, sing silly songs, and slap my butt. He creates his own words. He plays with his way-too-long-right-now hair by combing it over to the side (so he looks like a computer nerd).

I can be playful too. But since getting married, I have not been. Instead, all the things listed above have driven me up the wall. Every time he sings a song, I ask him to stop. When he slaps my butt, I get angry. When he quotes movie lines, I roll my eyes. When he pulls his hair down in a peak over his forehead, I muss it up because I can’t stand looking at it.

My seemingly unending annoyance at Travis has been a source of inner turmoil. I don’t like that I feel that way about my husband. What happened to me loving his sense of humor and playful ways? What happened to make me turn into this stern, cold-hearted, serious biatch?

Things have admittedly gotten better over the year and 8 months that we’ve been married. I am little by little learning to love all of Travis. But for the past few weeks, I have been drowning in my failures. Feeling miserable. Wondering how our marriage ended up like this. Confused about how to change the situation. Feeling doubtful about being able to do so even if I did know how. Lacking hope that anything would ever get better. Wanting to give up.

Last night, a series of events happened that brought all of this to a head. I asked Travis to make part of dinner so I could shower after working out. As I walked by the kitchen, he tossed the bag of frozen vegetables to me (because he thinks that sort of thing is fun). I was annoyed (big surprise) and confused about why he would think such a thing is fun so I threw it back a little harder than I should have. That small situation was a big reminder of how different Travis and I are. I got into the shower silently shouting at God, “Why are we so different?!?!? How can I live like this?!?!?”

Then we went to see Australia starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. As we were walking out of the theater, I mentioned to Travis that the movie was way too long for me (2.5 hours). “Well that’s pretty much how long every movie is these days,” he replied. “No, they’re more like 1.5 to 2 hours long,” I said. “Oh ok, 2 hours as compared to 2 and a half. Sorry,” he retorted.

Angry and annoyed at Travis, I stopped talking, except for a few short sentences repeating my sentiment that the movie was way too long. We were almost home before Travis emerged from zoning out (which he does often) and realized that I hadn’t been talking. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

How to answer that? There were so many thoughts racing through my head. I was overwhelmed by our differences and losing hope that we would ever be able to reconcile them. Were we doomed to this distance between us for the rest of our lives?

I asked Travis if he ever felt overwhelmed by how different we are. “Not really,” he said. “But I’m guessing that you do?”

I couldn’t answer with words. I just started crying. I couldn’t fix our marriage and yet it wasn’t at all what I wanted it to be like. What was I supposed to do about it?

I laid down on the couch when we got home and Travis kneeled beside me. I completely lost it. My body was racked with grief and Travis just simply pulled me to his chest. It was the absolute best feeling in the world, to be so utterly broken and sinful, yet so utterly loved at the same time. Crying made me feel better (as it always does), yet I went to bed still feeling helpless and hopeless, begging to God to do something to remedy the situation.

He did just that this morning. I’ve been studying Romans in my quiet times and I have been in Romans 5 this past week. The verses about suffering, endurance, character and hope really spoke to me, because I feel like I have been suffering for a long time, at my own hand.

Today I was focused on hope. What is hope? Hope is trusting God, banking on God, resting in God. David writes in Psalm 62, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” God is the source of our hope. And our hope is based on His love for us, demonstrated physically in Christ’s death on the cross and demonstrated spiritually every day in the provision of the Holy Spirit.

It is through suffering and trials that God forges our hope in Him.

And hoping in God is not a foolish thing. God and our relationship to and with Him is the ultimate reality of this universe. Whenever I find myself doubting the relevance of the gospel, I have to come back to this fact. The gospel is more real than anything else in this world. The gospel IS Reality.

God reminded me through Romans 5 that I still have hope, because I still have God.

As I prayed about that truth and confessed that I had sinfully given up hope, I realized that I had been trying to “fix” my life on my own. In my marriage, at work, with my life purpose. I was trying to make everything be the way I wanted it to be, the way I thought it should be. And when it continued to go the way I didn’t want it to go, I lost hope. Because while I had prayed for God’s help, I hadn’t actually sought it.

I see now that instead of making my life, marriage, and job be what I want it to be, I should be asking myself what God wants it to be. My marriage and its struggles aren’t arbitrary. God chose my husband and He is choosing our trials for a reason–my eternal good. Instead of accepting the way my marriage is and the way my job is, I have been bucking them, saying that they weren’t what I wanted. I wanted something different. I was bitter and resentful–toward Travis and Phil, I thought. Really, I was bitter and resentful toward God. He is the one determining my life and circumstances. He is the one who has placed me where I am at this time, with these specific problems and challenges. He has handpicked these trials for me to go through, so that He can forge my hope in Him.

Fully offering my life up to the Lord means accepting every little thing from His hand, even the annoying things. It means asking myself daily, moment by moment, “What does God want for me and from me?” instead of asking “What do I want for me?” It means dying to myself, my desires, my expectations, my feelings, and in turn, living for God’s.

I cried hard again this morning, humbled and awed by God’s faithfulness and love. That He would take me through the darkness so that He could bring me out into the light. Just as Travis held me last night while I was crying, God holds me close whenever my heart is broken. He hurts when I hurt. But He knew that to make me better, He had to allow me to be hurt first. 

My heart echoes David’s when he said, “This God–his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?” (Psalm 18:30-31)

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Torn.

28 Jan

Yesterday after work, while I was making some scrambled eggs and toast for dinner (my go-to when I do NOT feel like cooking dinner), Travis innocently asked me if I had looked for jobs at all.

I shot him a dirty look and said “No, I haven’t.” I then elaborated, “I don’t need a new job because things at work are picking up and I have stuff to do. Last week wasn’t bad.” 

“Well, all I know is that you flip-flop between liking your job and thinking you should look for a new job. You go back and forth. And looking for a new job doesn’t mean you’ll actually take one. Looking doesn’t hurt anything.”

I was frustrated. Though they are unfounded and over-the-top, thoughts like these were going through my head: 

“How dare he suggest that I should get a new job?”

“Why does it matter if I look for a new one?”

“The kind of job I want [journalist] isn’t a great field to be going into right now anyway.”

“I just need to see my current job through. Things are looking up. I have great opportunities there.”

And it’s true. Talking to my boss, I think that I have real opportunities here. He’s talked about me getting to write more for product and marketing pieces. He’s talked about me getting more involved in the creative design and strategy.

But right now, that’s all it is. Talk. None of these promised responsibilities have appeared and as a result, my motivation and interest in what I’m doing here has dropped below zero. I am a person who thrives on being challenged, on balancing a schedule, on being just a bit too busy. I can’t handle idleness…when I’m idle, even getting up to go to the bathroom seems like too much work. The more idle I am, the lazier I get. Not good.

So today, when I was just at the point of either going home sick or stuffing my face with the delicious dinner rolls sitting in the kitchen, I went outside. I walked around our building and across the street to the gas station for some gum (my new fave: Mint Mojito by Orbit). I walked back, the long way around, pondering.

Maybe I should look for another job. I’m obviously not operating out of my strengths right now. Let’s be honest, I’m not really operating anything right now. Sometimes I feel like I should wait it out, that the changes are still being made and plans are being finalized–maybe things will get better. Other times, though, I feel like I can’t take another day of this. Writing marketing copy is ok…but it isn’t my passion. It isn’t something that makes me say “I was born to do this.” And D2S isn’t known for its quick changes. Simple decisions have been known to take days, weeks…sometimes even months.

For the first time, I realize that I should be praying about what God wants me to do. I have been making this all about me, even in a way that appears religious. I thought, “I don’t want my reason for quitting to be that I’m not trusting the Lord.” But in the same way, I don’t want to stay because I’m not trusting the Lord. Whether I stay or go, it should be from faith. Faith that the Lord has a plan for my life and that nothing I do can thwart it. Faith that God has created me for a specific purpose and that He desires for me to use my gifts for His glory and the encouragement of His people.

Too often I confuse meditation with prayer. I think about things and consult the Bible, but I don’t consult God Himself. Despite my desire that my decisions honor God and show His significance in my life, I so often act independently and according to my own judgment and wisdom. No wonder I feel lost! So instead of immediately starting to browse job listings, I will fall on my knees before the Father and ask for Him to guide me, through the Holy Spirit, to where He wants me to be. 

And if He wants me to be right where I am, Amen.

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All I Have is Christ

25 Jan

I am proud to say that yesterday, I worked on my memoir for about 5 hours straight. I got into the groove and was on a roll. Hopefully I can keep this up so that days don’t turn into months and then years before this thing is finished.

I am currently writing about the time I studied abroad in Venezuela and one of the guys I dated, German (accent on the a), who was actually from Venezuela. I met him in Rochester, where I grew up, when he was studying abroad.

I won’t go into detail here, mostly because it isn’t relevant. But I am finding it difficult to remember really what happened between us and what our relationship was like, which is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I have been praying ever since I met Travis that I would forget everything about the “other guys” in my life. A curse because it makes it hard to write a memoir!! But I’d rather not remember for the sake of my marriage than remember for the sake of a book. 

To “research” what happened during those years, I’ve been reading some of my old journals. It’s amazing to see how I have changed. More than just maturing over the years, I have developed a hope and purpose for my life that can only be from God. 

I think of what my life would like right now if I hadn’t heard God beckoning to me that hot, sticky day in Venezuela: I’d probably still be basing my worth on men; hopping around the party scene; investing a fortune into fashion, fitness, and beauty; trying to climb the corporate ladder while secretly pining for a husband and a family. I would be lost, scared, and insecure. Most of all, I would be without hope. I would wonder if this is all there was to life, if no one ever craved something more. I would never be satisfied.

Reading Romans has really revealed to me how much we need the gospel–a Savior who demands nothing but faith for a gospel that is based on nothing but grace. Tim Keller said once in a sermon that there was a woman on the verge of becoming a Christian. She was scared to accept Christ because she knew that once she did, “there is nothing He can’t ask of me.” The gospel demands a full surrender of ourselves. There is nothing we can hold back from God.

This is my song right now:

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ!
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life!

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You

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A Scared Excitement

24 Jan

I’m sitting at Panera right now (I puffy heart Panera). Although I forgot how crazy Saturday mornings are here. I did manage to finagle a table near an outlet (my laptop is so old–7 years to be exact–that I need to plug it in for it to turn on…the battery needs to be replaced again but Travis and I are probably going to buy a new computer anyway).

I’m here for my 2nd day of writing. The first day (last Tuesday) went ok. I just stayed at home and hooked my computer up in the kitchen. I wrote for about an hour and then got sidetracked reading my diary from the time I studied abroad in Venezuela–when I became a Christian. It’s very interesting. But after reading my diary for a while, I got bored and started to get a sore throat so I copped out.

But I’m excited to write and after pondering (and re-writing) my memoir for a couple years now, I think I know how I want to tell the story. I don’t want it to be like your typical book written by a Christian woman (not that they’re bad…there’s just so many of them!!) I want it to be more like literary non-fiction. I want to show the story, not tell it. I want to walk through the experiences with my reader, instead of just recalling them. And I don’t want to explicitly analyze what happened and what I realized. Rather, I want to reveal it, let the reader see a few glimpses here and there, make them piece the story together as they read (though I can’t do that too much or else the meaning will be lost entirely).

Writing my memoir feels a lot like training for a race. Running makes me anxious with anticipation: I want to either run a certain distance or at a certain pace and am not sure if I’ll be able to do it. So I feel scared. But there’s also a real possibility that I’ll be able to pull it off. So I’m also excited.

That’s how I feel about writing. I want it to be good, to flow, to come together in the way that I imagine it in my head. But I’m not sure that I’ll be able to do it; so I’m a little anxious about writing (which has resulted in me avoiding it altogether…until now). I’m also excited because of the possibilities. I have a story to tell. I have thoughts to communicate.

Paul says in Acts 20:24, “But I do not consider my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

That’s how I view my desire to write about how God drew me to Himself–I want to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And really, that is every Christian’s purpose. We are all to testify to the gospel, through our words, actions, and lives. We just do it in different ways.

Writing is my way.

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Clarity and Hope

17 Jan

I’ve been wanting to blog for the past couple of days but I’ve been [shocker] busy at work and [bigger shocker] busy outside of work this week. So here I am on a nice little Saturday, taking time to read the Bible, pray, and blog.

[Side note/Update: My resolutions for this year are going well. I did create a little reward system for meeting my goals each week and so far, I’ve been doing really well. The hardest thing has been to exercise 6 days a week (my body isn’t used to it) but other than that, I have been consistent in getting in the Word and praying daily as well as memorizing one verse a week. We won’t talk about eating… 🙂 I’m not expecting complete consistency there.]

Saturdays are my favorite day of the week. That’s why I would love to be a writer by vocation: every day could be a Saturday (except Sunday because I’d still have to go to church in the morning). But I love being able to get up early (today I got up at 7:30…I’ve been trying to get up relatively close to when I get up for work so that I don’t mess up my sleep cycle on the weekends) and eat breakfast, read the Bible, pray…just be very relaxed. It reminds me a lot of college. Every day was like this…I loved it back then too.

Anywho…can you tell I’m more upbeat today than I have been in some of my recent posts? (I was being a total Debbie Downer…but I was also being honest.) The reason for my mood/outlook change is that God has been faithful in giving me insight into the past few months.

I was living in my failures and sinfulness. Even though I “knew” I was forgiven, I was still carrying them around as my personal burden. Especially in my marriage. I saw my sin affecting Travis and I was terrified that I was going to ruin our marriage, drive him away–that’d we’d wake up one day in 15 years and realize we no longer knew each other at all…and that we’d be able to trace it back to something I did or said that set the ball in motion.

I was also hating myself. For sinning again and again. For (from my perspective) never learning or advancing. For being a coward and a hypocrite.

But this past week, I remembered that there are many stories in the Bible that depict God using sin or using people in spite of their sin to accomplish His purposes. That means I can’t thwart God’s will or purposes by my sin. That means He can make our marriage thrive even despite my constant threats to kill it. I was making my sin and failures all about me…when nothing is all about me. It’s all about Him. And HE is so much BIGGER than my sin. Who am I to think that my failures will deter Him from His will?

I also realized that I have been holding myself back from God. I felt like a failure and a pathetic sinner who would never learn. When reminded of God’s love,  a tiny voice inside me said, “Yeah but, I’m still doing X and struggling with Y. God’s love is great but first I want to stop doing all these things that I hate.” Silly girl, it’s God’s love that enables you stop doing all those things you hate.

BarlowGirl’s song “I Need You to Love Me” sums up my realizations well:

Why? Why are you still here with me?
Didn’t you see what I’ve done?
In my shame I want to run,
And hide myself.
Yeah, but it’s here I see the truth,
I don’t deserve you.

But I need you to love me,
And I, I won’t keep my heart from you this time.
And I’ll stop this pretending that I can,
Somehow deserve what I already have
I need you to love me

I, I have wasted so much time
Pushing you away from me.
I just never saw how you
Could cherish me.
Cause you’re a God who has all things,
And still you want me.

Your love makes me forget what I have been.
Your love makes me see who I really am.
Your love makes me forget what I have been.

My favorite line of that song is “Cause you’re a God who has all things, and still you want me.” Me, a sinner. Me, a girl trapped in self-pity. Me, an unremarkable person. You want me. You want me. You want me. How powerful each of those 3 little words is.

I have also been reading “God Has a Dream for Your Life” by Sheila Walsh. It’s a good book. Very easy reading. There are 2 passages that stand out to me regarding the whole questioning-life-and-purpose thing I’ve been going through for the past 6 months or so.

On discovering who I am and what God’s will for me is:

“So what are we to make of this God-given promise that if we delight ourselves in him, he will give us the desires of our heart? I love what C.S. Lewis says in Mere Christianity: ‘Your real self will not come as long as we are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him.’

“My own journey has taken me away from trying so hard to find the will of God for my life. It has taken me to the place of brokenness and letting go of everything I thought I needed. I found peace and purpose as I lay exhausted at the feet of the Lion of Judah. It took me many years to understand that God wanted my heart, not my schedule.”

God wants my heart, not my fine-tuned plans for aiding His kingdom. He wants me to be who I really am in Christ, not try to be someone I’m not.

On my desire to write but feeling it’s prideful to want to do so:

“Don’t turn your light down just because it seems to burn brighter than the one who stands beside you. Let it shine and hold it high. The liberating truth is that none of this is about you anyway–it is all about God. If God has given you a voice to sing, then sing out for him. If God has given you the gift of mercy, then pour out that mercy in Jesus’ name whether anyone gets it or not. If God has given you a heart to serve, then serve with your whole heart even if no one stops to say thank you. If God has given you the ability to teach, then teach with vision and passion.

“Whatever God has placed in you, use it.”

I’m planning on starting my weekly writing retreats (to Panera, Starbuck’s, or a cute local coffee shop if I find one) this week on Tuesday. I have a lot of books on writing to read, old journals to review, and a long way to go. But it’s my dream and I’m going to pursue until God slams the door in my face. At least I’ll know that I have been faithful in using the gifts God has given me.

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Powerful beyond measure

12 Jan

Let me just say how much I love the Bible, especially when I am going through hard times. There are times when I read a verse and it resonates so closely to my own recent experiences that I am literally left breathless. And I know that my “stumbling across” that verse was no mere accident or coincidence…it was God speaking to me.

As you can see from my last post, I have been having some “issues.” Really questioning my life: what it means to me, what it means to others, what it means to God. Little by little, I have felt the inkling that I am called to write. I absolutely love writing. When I was growing up, I was always writing stories. I wrote one about a porcupine, I started a few novels. I remember going to a football game at the Metrodome when I was 9 or 10 (my oldest brother was in high school).  When we left, I pulled my notebook back out and continued writing.

I also devoured books the minute I brought them home from the library. I loved reading. I still love reading. I am awed by authors like C.S. Lewis and Jane Austen who can create characters and stories that are so fascinating yet so realistic.

I want to be a writer. I really do. But I feel like saying so–as well as saying that I believe God has given me a talent for writing–seems too boastful, too self-absorbed. “Who am I to write? What makes my thoughts or words better than anyone else’s? What makes me think I am a good writer? Who am I to have such high aspirations, such big dreams?” are the thoughts that keep me from pursuing this dream of mine.

But today, Romans 12: 6 caught my eye and left me breathless. Paul writes, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them…” Let us use them. Let us not leave them on a shelf collecting dust because we’re too falsely humble to use them for the mutual encouragement of the body of Christ. Let us not neglect the developing of them and the pursuit of them because we don’t deem ourselves worthy of such an honor. Let us use them.

We had an intern this past summer at D2S named Emma. She was a great girl and a wonderful help. One day, she gave me (and the other people in my department) a piece of cardstock, decorated with a striped border, with a poem on it written by Marianne Williamson. The poem called to a deep yearning in my heart and I have read it numerous times since that day. I think that it echoes Paul’s sentiments in Romans well and it is a brilliant response to my fears and doubts about writing.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

I am beginning to see just how very true Marianne’s words are.

May they be true in your life as well.

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Suffocated by fear

9 Jan

I am seeing more and more that this is the reality of my life: I am being suffocated by fear. Specifically by the fear of man.

Let me back up: ever since we returned from Christmas vacation, I have felt depressed and gloomy. And not just like “This day sucks”–more like “My whole life sucks.” I have been questioning my job, my activities, my abundance of down time and feeling like  all I do is vain and worthless. My days are filled with nothing but idle fancies and mediocre attempts at life. But I’ll stop there lest I bore you with my “woe is me” babblings.

Even though I feel like being dead to the world, I have continued to exercise and get in the Word. And I went to my Women’s Group last night. (But I don’t care right now about my house being clean and tidy.)

The most helpful thing I’ve done is think. And ponder. Just in the past 24 hours, I’ve realized big things with even bigger implications.

I avoid human interaction.

It’s not that I don’t like people. I’m scared that they won’t like me.

I never thought I was a people pleaser. I thought I was confident enough of myself that I would do or say what I wanted.  Until today. I saw it with complete clarity and it explains a lot…

I’m not a people pleaser in the stereotypical way. When I hear “people pleaser,” I think of  a woman who bounces around, talking to everyone, never saying anything mean, always happy and cheerful, never a drag or downer on anyone, etc. I am definitely not that woman (Travis will vouch for that).

Instead, I want so much to please people–and am so scared that I won’t–that I don’t interact with them at all. I avoid them, pretend I don’t see them, don’t call them back. I’ve gotten a lot better at this since becoming a Christian (mostly because I’m mature enough to push myself to do it anyway) but I always get a sinking, panicked feeling when I know I’m going to have to talk to someone I don’t know that well. “What if it’s awkward? What if I don’t know what to say? What if I say something stupid? What if there’s a dead silence? What if? What if?”

Case in point: I go to an aerobics class 2 times a week. It’s at 5:30 AM in the morning so only the same ole die-hards go at that time. Pretty much the same women are in every class. Do I know a single one of their names  (besides the instructor’s because hers was posted on the schedule)? Nope. Do they know mine? Nope. When someone tries to talk to me, do I encourage the conversation or do I answer their question and then move off in a hurry? You guessed it…the latter.

Case in point: When a vendor who I’ve been working for almost a whole year now calls me on the phone, my stomach still sinks in the “I have to talk to him on the phone?” kind of way.

Case in point: The graphic designer I’m working with has had to make umpteen changes to our youth leader conference notebook. When my boss came over today with yet another change, I didn’t want to tell him that I didn’t want to ask our graphic designer to make another change but I didn’t want to disappoint my boss either. A tough decision of who to please…the graphic designer won. (But only until Monday when I need to ask Phil about paying him more money for all of those changes…dangit!!)

I don’t make time for other people. And I don’t go out of my way to talk to people. Besides my boss and people I work with directly (and them only when it’s necessary), I rarely talk to anyone at work.  I mingle at church but only when I’m “in the mood.” I don’t talk to any strangers. Most of the time I don’t even say hi. Even with the women who are in my care group, the women I know the best out here in CO, I feel unlike myself and very conscious of what I say and who I am around them. 

I didn’t used to be like this!! In college, I met and interacted with new people all the time. I discipled girls. I had close friends. I talked to lots of people at work. What is happening to me?!?!? I feel so far from that girl I used to be that I have no idea where to start in getting back there…

These realizations coupled with the challenges at my job and the exhaustion I feel for no apparent reason make me want to both cry and throw my hands up in defeat. I feel defeated. I feel so overcome with failure and incompetency that I feel suffocated. I feel like I’m stuck underwater, breathing through a straw.

I do believe that God is sovereign over everything and that He loves me…so He is in control of the way I feel right now and ultimately, He is using this  life reckoning for my good. I know that good will come out of all of this…which is why I haven’t allowed myself to give up hope or to stop thinking about what’s wrong and praying for God to mend my life. It may be broken but it’s redeemable.

But I do look at other people, even other Christians, and envy their contentment in life. They are finding joy in their everyday lives. They feel like what they do everyday, no matter how mundane or anticlimatic, is right and they understand their life. At least that’s what it looks like. I’m pretty sure they understand their lives better than me. Because I don’t understand mine at all.

I know God created us to be humans and to do humans things, like shower and drive cars and read books and laugh and joke and sleep. But there is a voice inside me that won’t stop saying “There’s got to be more to life…”

I’ve been reading through Romans since the new year began and yesterday and today I’ve been focused on 1:21-32. The verses illustrate what humans are like without God’s grace and loving restraint in their lives. Verses 28-32 show all the sins that result from having a depraved mind–there are a lot of them.

I’ve been very aware of my mind lately and how it has been questioning and arguing with God, the gospel, and what I thought I knew of reality. I know that I have a depraved mind. I see in myself a complete inability to believe anything about the gospel without God enabling me to believe it. So I am very comforted by another verse, Colossians 3:16, which I will end on.

“…Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.”

Amen.

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Compelled to be grateful

5 Jan

For the past several months, the non-profit ministry I work at, Dare 2 Share Ministries, has been struggling financially. We’ve watched our donations and conference registrations significantly go down…and stay down. To stay afloat, we stopped buying kitchen supplies, eliminated 2 conference cities, permanently cut the not-absolutely-necessary spending from our budget, and prayed earnestly for God to provide for our ministry. In the course of 6 months, about 12 people left on their own accord to pursue other opportunities, which, by God’s grace, prevented today’s events from happening any sooner

But the lagging economy and lack of donations caught up with us…4 people were laid off today. They determined it according to which jobs could be absorbed the easiest.

I can’t help but thinking that my job would be eliminated if I weren’t the only full-time person left in the Marketing dept (besides our web guy, but he just does web). As I sat there thinking about how it would feel to have the rug pulled out from under you like this, to have a family to support, to try to find a job in this economy, I felt amazingly grateful and relieved that I still have my job. Then the guilt set in: how can I sit at my desk, not doing work (because there isn’t any!), when 4 people from the ministry no longer have a job? How can I do that?

I can’t. I have to find work to do and be productive with my time. It’s frustrating at time because I think of the things that I could change or create or do and then realize that I’d have to get approval, jump through hoops, sign paperwork, etc just to make it happen. I feel trapped at times, like I can’t make any professional decisions without asking permission from my superior. But such is life and that can’t be my excuse keeping me from working as if I’m working for the Lord and not for man.

As my team and I were praying this morning for those who were laid off, I pondered my surge of gratitude and how it illustrates the gospel. I really feel like I don’t deserve to keep my job; I don’t feel like I’ve been “earning my keep” so to speak. So I feel incredibly fortunate and blessed to still have it–like I’ve been spared something awful. It puts into sharp clarity the kind of gratitude I should constantly feel as a result of the gospel. All of my words and deeds were setting me up for an eternity in hell–that was what I deserved. Instead, I received eternal life through absolutely no accomplishment or merit of my own. I have been ultimately spared. And just as I feel my gratitude at still having a job overflow into a desire to be productive and useful, so should my gratitude at being spared from hell overflow into a desire to make my life meaningful and to live it for Jesus and what brings Him glory.

I love seeing everyday events frame the gospel in an eye-opening way. My heart grows so insensitive and cold to the amazing truth of the gospel that I become cynical and unbelieving. I ask “Why should this matter to me?” instead of “Why would God choose me?” I am humbled. I am blessed. And I feel like God has proverbially hit me on the nose and told me to pay attention to what has been so graciously and undeservedly given to me. Thanks for the wakeup call God.

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Back home.

30 Dec

Well, we made it back to Colorado. Our drive back was uneventful, thank God. We left Rochester around 9:15 AM and drove into our driveway in Wheat Ridge around 9:55 PM. Not bad.

I always feel weird saying we’re “back home” because in my mind, it’s an enigma. I feel like Minnesota is home. When people asked me about my plans for Christmas, I always said “We’re going back home to Minnesota.” But then, when we drive back to Colorado, we’re coming back to the place we live 50 weeks out of the year. We own a house here. We have jobs here. Our church is here. We have good friends here. It has definitely become more familiar and comfortable to live out here but I don’t know if it necessarily feels like home…or if it ever will feel that way.

Anyway, for our last few days in MN, Travis and I hung out with my family in Rochester, where I grew up. I hadn’t been back in about a year and a half, on account of Travis’ cat allergy (last year’s Thanksgiving and Christmas were celebrated at my parents’ cabin in Pine City, MN). But this year was supposed to be different. Travis had gotten acupuncture treatment for his cat allergy and the doctor had proclaimed at his last checkup that Travis was cured. Well, he wasn’t. His allergy is still there. It may be slightly weaker but nonetheless, we were forced to retreat to the Extended Stay America instead of the nice, cozy, queen bed downstairs.

Friday night, after Travis and I arrived in Rochester, my whole family (minus Jeremy and Jen, who couldn’t come up because of Jen’s new job) ate dinner and watched Wall-E. I think that is such a cute movie. Wall-E has cute, little puppy dog eyes. Waaaaaalllllleeeee!!!

Saturday, we had breakfast around 9:30, then opened presents (I got a new 4.5 quart saucepan!), and then went to see Seven Pounds at the theater. That was a good movie. It was all I could do to not break down sobbing at the end. So sad. Travis and I were talking about it later…the movie really illustrates humanity’s desire (and need) for a Savior. [Warning: spoiler.] Tim (Will Smith) gives his life, organs, and house to help 7 people as a way to repay the 7 deaths he caused (including that of his fiancee) in a car accident. At once, his ultimate decision seems both selfless and selfish. Selfless because he’s voluntarily giving up his possessions and even his life to help random people (who he has proven are “worthy” because they are “good people”). Selfish because the decisions are motivated by his own personal guilt. He gives his life to save 7 others’–but only after he first destroyed 7 in the first place.

It’s a wonderful, heart-wrenching story, really. But it made me think about how much more amazing the true gospel is. Jesus didn’t do anything wrong. There was absolutely no reason why He should even think twice about dying for us to have life. And yet, He did. Moreover, Jesus didn’t prove that we were essentially good people. In fact, we’re the very opposite of good. We’re depraved. We’re children of wrath. We can’t do and don’t do anything right or good on our own merits. Like it says in Isaiah 64, our good deeds are like filthy rags to God. But still, Jesus died for us. He died that we may have life. And while for Emily (Rosario Dawson) in Seven Pounds, the gift of life meant not being able to spend that life with her love, Tim, we in Christ not only have life but life with Christ. He is risen and alive. That was the purpose of His death and resurrection: so that we could be with Him in heaven forever.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend seeing that movie. After the movie, we dropped Travis off at the hotel so that he could rest in a cat-free environment and the rest of us went to the house and played Chickenfoot with dominoes–a very fun game might I add (especially with my family, who gets all riled up when someone thwarts their strategy). Then we picked Travis back up and drove to Mantorville to eat dinner at the historic Hubbell House. Very cool. I love seeing pictures and reading about people who lived hundreds of years ago. Ulysses S. Grant and Charles Mayo are 2 of the many famous people who have eaten there. But if you ever go there, though, don’t get a salad. They’re nothing to talk about.

Sunday morning, after a quick breakfast at Panera with the fam, Travis and I started the long journey back to Colorado. And so ended our Christmas Vacation. It went by so fast and it was felt very different not spending Christmas Eve with my family, doing our traditions of fondue, present opening, and the candlelight service at our church. But alas, getting older means letting go of things you used to do and people you used to see. Life moves on.

I would be sad that our vacation is over and that we’re back in Colorado without our families if it weren’t for our upcoming trip to Puerto Vallarta in March. My parents’ Christmas presents to all of us kids (and signficant others) was a weeklong stay at the all-inclusive Vallarta Palace. We just have to pay for our own airfare, which Travis and I did yesterday. We were able to find tickets for about $500 a person out of Denver, which is a lot better than flying out of Minneapolis–tickets out of there are more like $700 a piece! Yowsa! My parents, 3 brothers, and their wives/girlfriend are all going, as well as my uncle, aunt, and their 3 sons. A big, fun-loving group! I can hardly wait.

Our upcoming Mexico vacation and the overabundance (and overconsumption!) of Christmas cookies and sugary treats have led Travis and I to a sort of detox plan: we can’t eat sweets (chocolate, ice cream, donuts, candy, cake, bars, etc) or drink soda until we are sitting on the beach in Mexico, with a waiter asking us what kind of free alcoholic beverage we would like to sip while watching the dolphins swim through silver hoops. If you remember, I have been trying to limit my sweets intake for the past several months but to no avail. Finally, Travis has agreed to do it with me (and in fact, it was his idea!) so I think this time it will work. I can let myself down, but I can’t let Travis down. We’re also going to keep each other accountable for exercising at least 3 times a week (I’m shooting for 6 days a week but realize that may not always be possible). Travis also wants to learn about portion sizes so that he knows how much he is eating (I can tell you right now that he eats about 3 servings of cereal for breakfast and about 2.5 servings of pasta when we have it for dinner).

Here’s to a healthy 2009 and 2 Mexico-ready bodies by March 15th!!! Wish us luck!

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The Christ in Christmas

17 Dec

When I was growing up, I wasn’t a Christian but I did Christian things. I went to church every Sunday (because I had to), I memorized Bible verses (because I had to), I took sermon notes (because I had to), and I sang in the church choir (because I had to). They were all done in a business-like fashion, just to get it done. They may also have involved complaints and groaning.

The Christmas season was not immune, though I loved Christmas so I did it without complaining and groaning. I could sing the words to many Christmas hymns and songs from memory but I never actually thought about the words. They were like a fun, musical version of the Apostle’s Creed–repeated so often that saying/singing them became second nature and void of concentration.

That’s why it’s fun to hear those same old Christmas songs now that I’m a Christian. Just like I finally understood the Bible verses I had read countless times before, I finally pay attention to the verses of these common Christmas songs. And some of them are positively moving. 

My favorite right now:

“O Holy Night”

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

“What Child is This?”

What child is this who, laid to rest,
on Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
while shepherds watch are keeping?

Chorus:

This, this is Christ the King,
whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
haste, haste to bring him laud,
the babe, the son of Mary.

Why lies he in such mean estate
where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
the silent Word is pleading.

So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh,
come, peasant, king, to own him;
the King of kings salvation brings,
let loving hearts enthrone him.

 “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie;
above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary,
and gathered all above,
while mortals sleep, the angels keep
their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together,
proclaim the holy birth,
and praises sing to God the king,
and peace to all on earth!

How silently, how silently,
the wondrous gift is given;
so God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still
the dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin, and enter in,
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
o come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel!

“Let Us Bow Before the Throne” (written by Steve Rosin)

Let us bow before the throne
Of our blessed Lord this night
And raise our voice in honor to his name
As a baby he was born,
As a servant he would die
And our lives were forever touched
by the love he could not hide.

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’ incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”

God coming to earth in the form of a baby is incredible. A Holy God came to dwell in the midst of Sinful Man. Jesus was “by highest heaven adored” and yet was “pleased with us in flesh to dwell.” These songs are so rich with theological truth and wonders. Just think about those waiting for the Christ, like Simeon in Luke 2 who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” When he saw Jesus in the temple, he said “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

400 years pass between the end of the Old Testament and the birth of Jesus. Whereas God had spoken through many prophets in the OT, for those 400 years, He was silent. But God had promised a Messiah, a Redeemer. All of Israel is waiting for the Christ. And on that night in a little town of Bethlehem, a town “too little to be among the clans of Judah,” the long-awaited Messiah was born. God had no more reason to speak–because as the Apostle John says “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” “Mild he lays his glory by” and takes on the human flesh, for the rest of eternity. The catalyst of God’s plan of redemption.

I have been reading through the OT prophetic books for my Bible reading plan. They all have a similar formula: predictions of the horrible things to happen to Israel and Judah because of their sins, followed by God’s promise to redeem them. How amazing and wonderful it is that God’s plan of redemption is so independent of us! He does it for His own glory, for His name and for His purposes. His plan will not be thwarted…by humans, sin, or Satan. Jesus was sent to earth as the fulfillment of God’s ultimate promise: eternal salvation.

I hope that Christians and non-Christians alike have their eyes re-focused on the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus is truly the Greatest Gift Ever Given.

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