Learning the Lines

This week my daughter wanted to learn how to mow grass.  I started asking when I found out my wife was pregnant how long it would take before I could pass this torch, but now it seems crazy that she is big enough to begin teaching to mow.  Luckily, with a self-propelled mower and a relatively flat yard, this is a great place to learn.  She caught on quickly to the controls, turning at the end of lines, and she had pretty good control.  But one thing that was a challenge was helping her see the line between the cut grass and the uncut.  Having mowed grass for more than 25 years, this seems somewhat natural to me, I can catch the track the wheel made on the last pass, see how the grass is laying differently from different direction passes, I can catch that stray dandelion that is being stubborn and popping back up uncut.  But how do I communicate all of these things to her in a way that helps train her eyes to see these same nuances?

I was reminded of one of the biggest challenges I faced as a soccer coach.  There were basic skills that I knew.  I knew so deeply because I had rehearsed them for years, and they were natural, instinctual.  But they weren’t innate, they had been learned, but as hard as I tried, I could not remember actually learning these basic skills.  I had to relive those 3 year old practices playing red light/green light, monster, and keep away.  I thought about the drills that seemed to show up through every stage of my development.  I had to remember the stories and games that taught me and shaped me with skills that in my later years were natural and instinctual.  

As I am reading through the Psalms currently, this idea of remembering keeps coming up.  Actually, the word “remember” is used over 200 times in scripture and that doesn’t get into other words like “remind.”  For generations, God’s people are reminded to remember the covenants God had made with their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Then generations later the Israelites were reminded to remember that they were once slaves in Egypt, but God rescued them and provided the land he had promised.  But they were not just reminded of the good things, they remembered how they had failed, lacked trust, turned to idols, and were faithless.  But in their faithlessness, God has been faithful.  Why remember these things?  Because this story of human failing will replay itself, and we will need reminding that God is faithful, God has been faithful, and God will continue to be faithful in the future.

These are stories of people of faith.  A people who were called by God, not because they were great, but because God is gracious.  These stories are our stories.  We live a story faith.  This doesn’t mean it is make believe or a fairy tale, but a faith that is grounded in the story of history.  God showed up in time and space and many times when people were at the end of themselves.  These stories were passed on, and continue on as we understand them and live them.  These are the stories of the Bible.  These stories remind us to remember that when we fail, God is faithful.  When we are weak, God is strong.  When we are broken and weeping, God comforts.  These are the ways we learn the lines, so to say.  We learn from the stories of Scripture how God encounters people.  How does your story fit into God’s story? 

As I continue to learn how to be a parent and a pastor, I am learning to understand God’s story and how I fit into it.  But the next step for me is to talk about these stories, to share how God has worked in the past and how I see God working now in and around me.  As I share these stories, I give my kids context, or the ability to see God’s story unfolding in their life and around them.  We remember together and as we do that they develop the eyes to see the lines, the things they aren’t tuned into yet, but with practice, will become more natural.    

God at Work

Over the past month many things have changed, but I feel like we have seen the Church act in ways that are distinctly true to what we are called to be  Our methods may be different than usual, but the message is still the same: Jesus is Lord of all invites us into a relationship to love him and others.  Over the past month I have had many more conversations on the phone and meetings through video chats.  We have seen neighbors show up in bunny suits to share joy and parades of cars pass by houses to celebrate birthdays.  Families are gathering on their porches, tables, and living rooms to celebrate the resurrection, study God’s Word, and pray together.  Many of these things were happening before COVID-19 or quarantine became household phrases, but during this unique time we have seen creativity and simplicity come to action.  

I do miss meeting with others as I’m sure you do too! And we long to be back to meeting together, but during this time, how can we see God at work?

Psalm 19 is a great Psalm to think about and use with your family to ask some questions about God’s activity around us. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.”     

•  Look outside, what does the sky, stars, trees, wind, animals tell us about God?  How do you see God provide?  Does the sun come up and set everyday, what does that tell us about God being faithful?  What is creation proclaiming?  I’m sure there are many more questions you can ask and entertain as you look around at creation.

Then in verses 7-13 the focus shifts from creation to scripture.  God’s Word is perfect, sure, right, pure, true, desirable, and correcting.  Scripture revives, brings joy, brightens our eyes, endures, is sweet…      

• What are ways you find joy in God’s Word?  How does God show us life through His Word?  What is your favorite Bible story?  Favorite Bible verse?  Are there things in the Bible that you find hard to read, what are they, and why?  How can you see God at work through his Word?

Maybe you can read Psalm 19 this week and think about it as a family, ask some of these questions (not all at once) and think about where we see God at work.  We might see God working in different ways than we expect or are used to, but God is still God and still wants us to know Him through His Word and work in and around us.  God invites us into His mission to love God and love others.  How can you and your family participate in this during May?  

Grief is a Crazy Thing!

Grief is a crazy thing!  In the past few days we have learned that our kids will not be returning to school this year and in the midst of their sadness over missing friends, field trips, programs, and all the fun that takes place at the end of the elementary year, our oldest pup suddenly had a heart attack in our back yard and died later that afternoon at the vet.  

I was prepared for the sudden onslaught of grief as I mourned the loss of a great friend and companion.  I was prepared for the sudden memories to throw me into sadness or tears or laughter.  But one thing I was not prepared for was watching my kids grieve.  One announcement, although somewhat expected was not what they’d hoped for and the other came suddenly out of the blue.  For them, they would be launched into sobbing, or questioning, or just be sent into a stupor of pain from the loss of their hopes and the loss of their friends. 

I am grateful for friends and family who have showed up with prayers, cards, calls, and cakes.  I’m also grateful for our Children’s Director, Debbie, who gave very wise words today.  She said “this is a life lesson for them to have with me so they will hopefully be better able to navigate later. A kind of training, a blessing in itself because we can point out God in the whole thing. How He reminds us of His love even when we hurt. That what we feel is ok to feel and to tell Him.”  

Grief stinks!  Loss stinks!  Shattered hopes stink!  Life beyond our control happening out of the blue stinks!  Through Lent we used a study on Ecclesiastes and the author says over and over that things are “meaningless” or Hevel (In Hebrew), better translated as vapor or a mist that we can see but not hold onto.  In the midst of loss, the weight of those things we hold onto presses down on us quite heavily.  But we are also reminded that in this world there are times of living and times of dying, times of joy and times of mourning.  None of these times last forever.  Thank God!  

The hope we have in times of loss is that there is something bigger, Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that “He has put eternity in the hearts of man.”  Everything isn’t meaningless, but the temporary things are given meaning by our creator.  So many of the Psalms (especially 42) give voice of people hurting and struggling with loss.  Loss of dreams, security, the way things were supposed to be, and more.  But the resounding conclusion is to seek God, hope in God, rest and hide in God.  

We are trying to help our kids through this season to know that sometimes we might laugh, sometimes we might cry, or feel paralyzed by sadness, or ask questions that we don’t know the answers to.  We’ve also tried to help them to understand that we all might feel these different emotions differently and at different times, and that is OK.  Loss hurts, and no one wants to experience it, but in the midst of the pain, God is with us.  God is a shelter and a fortress, a helper in our time of need.  When we look up for help, God is there for us to hope in. 

There are no questions out of bounds at this time and as we go through this season together, we are learning to share our feelings with God and trust God to hold us through all of them. We are learning together, growing together, and trusting together.  

Matthew 5:4 says “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” I’ve been asking what these statements say about God?  Well here is my hope that I gain through this, God is a God who sees hurting people, and God is caring and comforting.

There are all kinds of loss happening right now, the loss of the end of a school year, loss of special events like prom or graduation, loss of vacations, jobs, feelings of security, or just the loss of the way we thought things were supposed to be.  I want to encourage you to walk with you kids through this.  Invite them along for the journey and guide them with your example.  I invite you to look to God for comfort and to help your kids to do the same, God is caring and comforting!

Wisdom for Summer

Summer is just around the corner, and that means camps, vacations, trips, and a general change in routine.  I’ve been thinking about wisdom recently and think there are some great thoughts from the Bible’s wisdom literature that is helpful.  I feel like the joy and difficulty of parenting in the midst of these transitional times was made crystal clear yesterday as our family enjoyed some friends’ wedding.  The kids got to see both sets of grandparents and as a result consume too much sugar, dance with abandon, and play with all kinds of new friends.  All of the joy and excitement came crashing in with harsh words, emotional melting, weeping and gnashing of teeth…and that was just me as we tried to settle into bed.  But in reality, I think this just illustrates the struggles of parenting as we enjoy special moments that sometimes “backfire” when they don’t conclude as planned, or end in melting, or are met with ingratitude and we are tempted to say “see, this is why we can’t do special things!”

But thinking of wisdom there are three voices in the Bible.  Proverbs gives wise quips where if you are intentional to pursue goodness, good things will result.  Ecclesiastes responds to that idea with experience that says “hold on a second, there are chance times when things don’t work out that way.”  And Job adds his aged wisdom saying, “yes, although you may be intentional to do good, and life deals you a raw deal, God is no less present in the midst of it and loves you as he walks with you through the good and bad.”

So what?  Well there is a word in Ecclesiastes that is used 38 times called “hevel” which is translated in some English versions as “meaningless,” but can also be understood as vapor, elusive, or absurd. I think this is so helpful as we think about the summer, we may be tempted to wish the summer away in anticipation of the routine of the school year.  Maybe, we dwell on the fun we had on vacation or that weekend away and lament that we aren’t enjoying those better times, and lose the present moments. Finally, we may get frustrated when things don’t go as planned, picnics rained out, flat tires, or crowds thwart our expected fun.  

In this tension, make good plans, but hold them loosely, enjoy the present moments, and reflect on the fun, but don’t become so focused on it that you miss this moment you’re in. Finally, take even the unexpected as divine moments to look for and experience God’s presence.  Thinking back to my childhood, some of the most memorable moments were the unexpected.  I remember getting stuck in our camper playing blackjack because it was storming outside, or my dad throwing away his wallet while paying for ice-cream in Washington DC, or riding an adult tricycle around my Great Grandmas retirement village while we were on a Disney World trip.  It’s amazing how we hang onto the most obscure details, and usually the ones we as parents least expect or least want, but in the midst of every moment, savor your summer, seek God, be intentional to look for His hand in every moment and enjoy the gift of your family at this moment that is fleeting, but oh so sweet!  Praying for you and your family this summer!

A blessing to the families of the world

Recently I was asked the question “if you were to have a scripture tattooed on your body, what scripture would you choose?”  No matter your stance on tattoos, please keep reading, this has less to do with tattoos but more to do with the wrestling with scripture and wearing it boldly like a tattoo.  All scripture is God-breathed and useful, but each of us seem to have those passages that float to the top of our minds because or circumstances or situations that they seemed to take root deeply in our hearts.  For the longest time my life verse has been Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  It seems like that would be a logical choice, but as I’ve been reading through the Bible again this year, I noticed a message given to Jacob, that repeats the same theme as the promise given to Abraham, and I think as children of God, we can make the logical jump that this could apply to us as well.

Genesis 28:14b “and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Wow!  There is both promise and responsibility here.  In verse 15 God says “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go…”  As a child of God, He promises to be with me and keep me, but also to use me to bless all the families of the earth.  So here is where I have been challenged recently.  If I’m living by faith in God, how is my life blessing my family, my neighbors, the people I work with, see at the store, on the road, at my church, in my town, and around the world?  What actions am I taking, in obedience to Christ, to be a blessing?  How is my role in my family blessing them and helping them to bless others?

How am I supposed to know how to bless people?  As my heart begins to line up with God’s heart, growing in wisdom from his Word and acting in every situation with obedience to God, I treat others as God would treat them.  I guess understanding both of these verses together, if I get myself out of the way and let God work in and through me as I obey his Word, He will bless the world through my life.  What a great opportunity.  I want to be a blessing to the world, I want my family to be a blessing to the world, and I hope that is your desire as well.  

How are you blessing the families of your corner of the world?  How is God working in your life right now?  I’ll be honest, I’m scared of needles so there aren’t any tattoos happening with me anytime soon, but thinking about some ink has helped me to think deeply about how God’s Word is being applied to my life.  Is the seed of this promise to bless the world through me and my family bearing fruit in the community around me?

How would you respond?

Fifty years ago this week, Frank Borman, James Lovell, and Bill Anders became the first men to leave Earth, orbit the moon and return to earth safely. During the Apollo 8 mission, Anders caught this photograph, titled “Earthrise”.  It was at this sight that the astronauts had an opportunity to broadcast back to earth on Christmas Eve.  

Photo Credit: William Anders (Public Domain) 

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a410/AS8-14-2383HR.jpg

Their opening words were a reading from Genesis 1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.”

As I contemplated the power of this scenario and the proclamation of God’s handiwork from men looking back at our planet from the moon I started to cry.  I wanted to be an astronaut growing up, but the course of my life and career veered toward becoming a preacher.  However, I wonder if these astronauts had any idea that their response to God’s creation and their placement in His story would stir the hearts of people for half a century and beyond.

More than the gravitas of seeing earth from afar is the thought of how we are helping our children to have eyes that recognize God at work and the language of scripture that wells up from within, when looking at our world, whether from far away or from ground level, to proclaim God at work.   I haven’t found a lot about the upbringing of these three astronauts, but along their path, scripture was put in front of them at such a place that when they had a chance to see and respond to a view most of us will never experience beyond a screen, they responded with words from scripture.  

John writes in 1 John 2:14 “I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”  What a great challenge to us who know God to help those who are young, our children, to have the Word of God living inside them, uttering responses at the sight of God and His creation the proclaim God’s goodness and love. 

As we start a new year, I want to encourage you to consider how God’s Word is living and acting in your life.  Step further into reading, studying, and memorizing it.  Pass along the lessons you’ve learned and encourage your children to know God and His Word, you never know when as a teacher, astronaut, contractor, etc.… they will be called to preach or proclaim God’s handiwork in creation and redemption of humanity.

Waiting...

What is the hardest part about waiting for something?

Have you ever waited for something so intensely that you could taste it?

I have a Golden Retriever named Nola that tends to steal food, even though she’s ten years old, we are still working on getting her to wait for us to give her something in her bowl. She has recently started barking at our food whiled it's still on the table.  We’ll make her sit or lay down and you can see her eyes brighten when that food is in sight, she starts to squirm, if she’s laying down, she’ll sometimes even army crawl just to get nearer the food bowl.  She’ll sometimes even start chewing before she has it in her mouth.  

Nola in her calm state without food around

Ever feel that way?  I think Christmas can be that kind of a time. Maybe you give hints or write notes to Santa, or have some anticipation for something special, as the time draws near, it’s like you can almost taste it. 

This season of Advent is practice in the art of waiting.  Bonhoeffer said “Waiting is an art that our impatient age has forgotten. It wants to break open the ripe fruit when it has hardly finished planting the shoot.  But all too often the greedy eyes are only deceived; the fruit that seemed so precious is still green on the inside, and disrespectful hands ungratefully toss aside what has so disappointed them.  Whoever does not know the austere blessedness of waiting—that is, of hopefully doing without—will never experience the full blessing of fulfillment.”

In Galatians 4:4-6, Paul says “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

Previously, Paul talks about a child who inherits all of his father’s wealth, yet is waiting until he is old enough to actually manage it on his own.  But when the time was right, God sent his son, so that we who trust in him could receive the inheritance of Jesus, not as a servant, but as a son or daughter.  Now that sounds like it is worth the wait!  

No wonder we get all antsy like my golden retriever.  Romans 15:13 says “May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may about in hope.”  We are currently in a season of Advent, having gotten a whiff of salvation from Jesus, sent as a baby to be God’s presence with us (Emmanuel), receiving the Holy Spirit that fills us with all joy, peace, and hope. This keeps us focused with laser-like focus on Jesus who is perfecting and writing our faith until he returns for us, where we can spend eternity in his presence.  

As much as I hate waiting, I don’t want to get detoured by imposters that turn out to be too good to be true, looking ripe and juicy right now, but turn out to be green and bitter. During this season of Advent, not just December, but my life, waiting until the fullness of salvation in God, my prayer for myself and for you is that of the Psalmist in Psalm 62:5-8:

For God alone my soul waits in silence, 

For my hope is from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, 

My fortress; I shall not be shaken.

On God rests my deliverance and my honor; 

My mighty rock, my refuge is in God.  

Trust in him at all times, O people;

Pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us.