Now about roommates …

My husband asked me if this last week was a life-changer. Well he put it this way: “Do you think this conference will change the trajectory of your life?” And I guess I would have to say yes, and for a variety of reasons, but one significant motivator came through my roommate.

 

God gave me Grace Fabian as a roommate, an author, linguist and former missionary to Papua New Guinea. Grace’s husband and translation partner was murdered as he was translating I Corinthians 13, the love chapter.  It was only love for God and the people of Papua New Guinea that kept Grace in Papua New Guinea continuing to work on and finish the translation of the New Testament.  Her book Outrageous Grace is the story of not just the events of her life, but it also recounts her faith journey from her husband’s senseless murder leaving her with four children, and the accompanying grief and nightmare of decision-making – leave or stay, bitterness or forgiveness, depression or faith.

 

Our trials will probably not be exact parallels of hers, losing a mate in Papua New Guinea, but for sure, we will face similar challenges to our faith in different packaging. We will lose someone or something we love, and it will make us wonder how this can be God’s best for us.  We will face hours, maybe days when staying the course will seem impossible, and maybe not even something we want to do. But Grace will encourage you as she shares her journey.

 

Grace brought the final challenge of the week to us as writers, and I want to share a few thoughts from that message with you.  First, the theme for the week was the Silver Links in God’s Eternal Plan, and Grace asked us if our chain (of silver links) measures up to the tasks of life.

 

Think links as resources that we turn to as we face the roles we are called to play and the bumps and potholes we face on the road of life.  Who are the people who have the greatest influence in our lives?  Do they move us toward God and hope, or away?  What do we have in our minds; what have we read, listened to or seen and stored up?  Do we have lots of Scripture, encouraging words and events to remember that the Holy Spirit can bring back to our minds to enable us to navigate those potholes or battles?

 

And if those links are weak, like the link of a necklace compared to the links that connect a car to a tow truck, what are you going to do about it?  What relationships should change? What do you need to work on reading more closely or memorizing, so that it is available when you cannot think otherwise?  We do have choices to make, choices no one else can make for us.

 

Finally, Papua New Guinea forces foreign nationals to leave at the age of 65, but Grace did not retire to hobbies, though she does have them. She continues to steward the messages God has given her, touching lives through the spoken and written word.  I believe God gave me the perfect roommate encouraging me and all of us to be faithful to continue to speak and write, so that our last words are words that glorify God and are useful to Him.,

Road Trip Calling

First we were four: my younger sister Susan could scarcely walk when we were last all together living under the same roof; that was the year our brother left to serve in the military, and then we were three. Our oldest sister graduated from high school and was off to nurses training at Robert Packer Hospital a few years later, and then we were two.  It would be another 11 years before I left to go to college, and Susan was the only one left.  Oh, we all flitted back home or to reunions to spend a few hours together, two or three or even four of us, for a few hours, but not to spend even an overnight, all of us together ever again….until this last week.

My sisters and I all live within a couple of hours of each other; my brother lives in Virginia in the summer, an hour from Tennessee. The rest of the year he lives in Florida…a longer way away from us.  So, we three decided on a road trip to Virginia, the first time the three of us have spent such a long time together and in such confined circumstances, but you know what, it could not have gone better. And we had a great week at my brother’s, remembering.

First you have to understand that when my brother left, we may have been church goers Sunday mornings, but none of us had a relationship with God. But God who works in mysterious ways moved in our lives, and now the four of us share our faith in God. It may not seem like a big deal to you, to have siblings who know Christ, but it is a big deal to us.

To my knowledge, when my dad came back from the war, he never again set foot in church.  My mother had taught Sunday School in the Episcopal Church, had played the piano there, but her God was too lofty to know personally, and eventually she stayed home with my dad Sunday mornings. But God….He worked in each of us, through our circumstances, through our relationships, to eventually bring us all to Himself, and to each other in newer and deeper relationships.

This last week, I listened again to my brother pray, and even as I type this tears come to my eyes.  My brother is a man of God and has been used of God all over the world, through his life as a military man.  This last week it dawned on me, perhaps for the first time, that although Jim and I and our children served as missionaries in Africa for a period of time, my brother was a living messenger of God to the world, from Viet Nam to Hawaii to Iraq to Guam to California to Newfoundland…well, you get the idea.

The focus today is not to honor my brother, though he has a Bronze Star among other awards, (proud sister) but to praise God for His work in the life of our family.  I was reminded this last week how blessed we all are to know God and to have each other speaking the same faith language…and I am so thankful that road trips are not just for the young.

 

Freebies: dessert recipes!

A friend asked me for a specific recipe, so I thought I would post it here.  Before I tell you how to make it, you gotta know how versatile and practical it is.  First, it is gluten free for those who long for a sweet without regular flour.  Then, you can tint these cookies according to the season – red and green for Christmas, red and blue for July 4, pastels for Easter, well, you get the idea.  And the same goes for flavoring: green and mint go together well with mini-chocolate chips or use red coloring and crushed candy canes.  You can use mini M and Ms as well, and sprinkle with chocolate jimmies or colored sprinkles.

Oh, and make these when the rest of your baking is done.  You put them in a 350 preheated oven, then turn the oven off; leave them in it over night or at least five hours.  I like to store them in clear glass jars so everyone can see how pretty they are.

So here it goes for 2 dozen  Forgotten Cookies: You need 2 egg whites, ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar,  2/3 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, ½ to 1 cup of chocolate chips (I like the mini kind).

Use a glass bowl or stainless steel, deep and narrow is good,  and clean of any kind of grease beaters.  Put the two egg whites into the bowl with the cream of tartar. Beat slowly for a few seconds to mix the cream of tartar in; then beat at top speed until the meringues will stand in stiff peaks.  (Any grease will keep the eggs from turning into meringue.

Very gradually, like a tablespoon at a time, add the sugar, continuing to beat at high speed.  When the sugar is all incorporated, add the vanilla and coloring and chocolate chips or M and M’s. This time, you don’t have to beat for very long, just to mix it all in.

Drop on cookie sheet covered with foil or parchment paper.  Put it in the oven, that you have turned off and fuggedaboutit.  (I was just trying to be smart!!)  Anyway leave it there for the five hours or overnight…Then put them in your airtight container, and enjoy.  No flour and not a lot of sugar. And\ this doubles well – color half the meringue one color and the other another, if you wish

Key  Lime Pie

You need a graham cracker crust.  Mix on high till smooth: 1 tablespoon lime zest, (or not, it won’t kill the pie, just improve it), ½ lime juice, 2 egg yolks (from the meringue maybe), and 1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk. Pour into crust and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least an hour.  I made this first in Africa using lemons, and it quickly became a favorite.  You can top it with dollops of whipped cream and a half slice of lemon or lime or some zest. 
These two recipes can be made the same day – the pie first, then the cookies, so you don’t waste the yolks or whites.

Now, how does this fit in with what I normally write here?  Simple, God calls us to love one another, to use our gifts to bless one another, and I love to cook and bake and write, so there you are.  I hope these recipes make for you the great memories our family has of them.

 The image of the cookies came from pinterest.

There’s always a stack of books beside my bed, some read and not ready to be sent away, and some to be read, and then there is that top one, the one I am currently reading.  Right now that one is Made for More: An Invitation to Live in God’s Image by Hannah Anderson, 2014. Honestly I cannot remember when I got it, but I am so glad I did.    

The author begins by discussing how we identify ourselves and how this shapes our lives, our choices, how we understand ourselves.  Then she talks about how this becomes a significant problem because it is like looking so hard at the details that we miss the big picture – think focusing so hard on a plant that we miss the forest.  She establishes early on that her primary audience is women; then she says the following:

"This book is not a call to deny womanhood in order to embrace being made in His image. But it is a call to understand that womanhood and everything that comes with it serves a greater purpose…It is a call to wrestle with what it means to be made in His image and to believe that you are made for more than what you often settle for.”

What I love is how this book goes along with one I am using in my “Quiet Time,” A Year With God: Living Out the Spiritual Disciplines. The chapter I am currently wandering through is about spiritual service, serving God in every task, and here is where the two kind of run together.  The challenge is to see everything we do as an act of service to God, whether it is washing the dishes, cleaning the house or changing the tire.  Then move out of the house and consider how we related to others as an act of service to God: how we behave toward the person ahead of us with 30 items in the 20 item lane or the one who swoops in and takes the parking place we have been waiting for…or someone facing real challenges, like the loss of a loved one.

Do we even think of these things as opportunities for an act of worship or service or have we left that kind of thinking at home, when we closed the door behind us. We make those decisions based on how we have come to understand ourselves: are we a woman, a retiree, a grandmother, a school teacher or are we an Image bearer?

I’ve been reading Anderson’s book without a pen, and now I recognize that was a mistake. I think I will go back to the beginning tonight with one. One section I underlined already this morning was the following:  “Most of the time we associate legalism with strict adherence to a specific set of rules, but legalism is not simply choosing the letter of the law over the spirit.  Legalism is any attempt to model God’s attributes apart from a relationship with Him.  Legalism is trying to be an image bearer without relying on the Image. (78)

These words made me wonder how many times I have walked out of the house or into a store or even into church, forgetting that I am an image bearer, and especially without being conscious that I can and should be relying on  and living like the One Whose Image I carry.

 

 

Don’t plan on too much!

Let me tell you, these last several months have been a challenge!  Graduation was over, the wedding was over, and we finally had a quiet week ahead.  The weatherman forecast a week of 80’s, so what do you do?  Go to the lake!  And that’s what we did.  Trusting the weather man, we settled into our little cottage right on the waterfront the glorious weekend of June 7.

The windows brought in a sweet breeze off the lake billowing curtains into every room keeping us cool and inviting us to read on the deck.  Though an occasional boat towing water skiers brought choppy waves against the dock, for the most part, we listened to birds and the sound of that breeze soughing through the trees shading out cottage.  And we shed the weight of busyness and planning and a long cold winter.

Then Monday came, and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday, and every day heavy clouds hid the sun and a cool mist draped itself over the lake.  Now, this was not what we signed up for!  We had plans, including lots of hiking and maybe some water sports and …and we needed sunshine and those promised 80’s, not the chilly fifties and sixties and low seventies, the thermometer said, but which felt like fifties.

Or did we? Was God saying, we needed to trust Him and we needed to really rest…like work my way through that bag of books we brought?  Was He saying go see a silly movie, like How to train your dragon?  Was He saying you don’t need a hot sun to relax? Really, after the weather man promised?

Well ,we are back home, and we had a great week.  We snuggled over movies on the laptop.  I heard students did it, and I just couldn’t figure out the appeal, but it was fun and cozy.  We read and went for ice cream and ate Chinese and Greek food, but we also had time to listen –to God speak through the chilly mist, to feel His arms around us in that little knotty pine walled cabin, and time to thank Him once again for knowing exactly what we needed…rest and stillness and time to sit and hold hands. And a time to celebrate and worship Him in the midst of some of His best work.

photo from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/56079276

I still feel guilty!

It was a long time ago, but it takes seconds only for me to feel that same guilt.  I rationalized the sin at the time, but I knew it was wrong and offensive to God, but that did not stop me, at least for a while.  Then I got it! And turned from it and pleaded with God for his forgiveness, which he is always ready to give.  Have you ever been there?  And days and months and years later, the memory of that time sneaks right up on you asking who you think you are to think you can serve God now.

I am sure that was Paul’s experience. We meet him early in the book of Acts as Saul and The Message puts it this way, “And Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house after house, dragging men and women off to jail.”  And that was right after we see him holding the coats of and congratulating Stephen’s killers.

Some time later God pursued Saul, changing his life, and the newly named Paul, after a period of study put all that same energy into building the Church, preaching to the lost and teaching the found.  As I was reading there in Acts 7 and 8 where it tells about Saul/Paul’s early years, I wrote in the margin, “a basis for guilt,” because Paul would never be able to forget what he had done. But, he did not allow those feelings of guilt, not real guilt because he was no longer carrying around that burden of sin; God had forgiven him, to keep him from serving God.

I wonder if all believers are not sometimes haunted by our past, certainly a work of the evil one, who will use our past to cripple our present if we let him.  Paul speaks of his thorn in the flesh, saying he had asked God three times to remove it.  And God said, in II Corinthians 12:9, “…My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul replied, “Most gladly will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Many commentators suggest Paul was referring to his vision, that he had pain or some illness or injury to his eyes, perhaps from his encounter on the road to Emmaus. But it occurred to me this morning to wonder if his thorn in the flesh might have been the heavy weight he felt knowing that he had persecuted and even caused the death of Christians in the early church.  Can you imagine how that might feel, or be used of the evil one?

Anyway, once more, I thank God for his forgiveness, that he has put all of my sins as far as the east is from the west, Psalm 103: 12.  I thank God that it is not through my works that my sins are paid for, but it is by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…through faith in his blood, Romans 3:24-25.

So when that old guilt washes over me, I have to rehearse once more what I know to be true. True guilt can be taken care of, and God has done that for me.  The evil one wants to incapacitate me through shame, and I will not have it. Shame is destructive. Shame seeks to make us useless to God, BUT God loves us and longs to see us rejoicing, at peace and living so filled with love that it spills over. 

Paul did not let his guilt destroy his future or usefulness to God, and we must not either.

 

I’m going to try taking my shoes off…

In some cultures, it is important to remove your shoes when you enter a house.  It is a sign of respect, that you do not drag in the soil from the streets to dirty or dishonor their home.  Even in this country, there are families for whom this is the custom, to keep the house clean.

This morning I have been thinking about worship, and the text I am reading says this: “why is important, and what, but also how: how we speak, how we pray, how we act, how we worship.  This matters to God, and it ought to matter to us…Today pay attention to the “how” of your worship.  What kind are you most comfortable with? Do you find that having a certain order or ritual to you individual worship of God is helpful? Why or why not? “ from A Year With God-Living out the Spiritual Disciplines

After I read this, I started thinking about my own personal worship, what I do and what could enhance it.  I know that I have struggled somewhat separating my mind from the rest of the day, the chores done and those waiting to do, and all the other things that make up a person’s day and thought life. I know I have to be intentional about this getting my thought life focused, or I can be half way through the first Bible reading of the day and not be sure what it was. So, the timing of this study for me here is good. I need to remember that although all of life is holy, lived out in the presence of God, this morning worship time (for me) is dedicated to Him, or at least that is my intention.

It came to me, as I thought about being intentional that my morning worship be worshipful, that God spoke to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus 3 and said “…remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Then God identified Himself to Moses.  And I wondered if it would help me to focus better if I removed my sandals or slippers or shoes as part of my preparation to separate myself from the distractions of the moment to pay attention to God. Would removing my shoes be a way of honoring God and focusing on the inside of this worship?

It’s a little thing, and we don’t see this repeated in the New Testament as a command to be part of the way we are to worship God, but I wonder if it might help me. I wondered if it could be useful in helping me move from a morning of routine to a time of worship, of listening more closely to God and talking more honestly, with greater awareness of His presence. 

If it matters to God how we worship, and I think it must because it matters to me how my children speak or don’t speak to me.  Then perhaps I need to pay more attention to the how I worship, how I prepare my heart, to hear from Him and to respond to Him.