Thinking on these things . . .

  I have a confession to make. Last week I bought a coffee advent calendar; today I broke into it. Mmmm, Cinnamon sticky bun! Behind each colorfully illustrated door there’s a special coffee waiting for me which I won’t experience until that day (ideally a day in December but…!) 😊 And I was thinking that likewise, we do not know what today will bring; but God does and more than that He goes with us, before us, behind us and with His hand of blessing on our heads (Psalms 139:1-12) and because of that our attitude can be one of confidence. “This I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!” Walk in that today!

I'm singing in a Christmas concert today. That's not amazing news this time of year but it's given me pause and such a heart of gratitude. I had attended a couple nights ago and the music and lyrics are so worshipful I wanted to be able to join my voice with the forty others who are glorifying God through this. I asked if I could hop in this afternoon and was told "yes"; a step of faith on my colleague's part as he's unaware of my background. But I am not; and as I, with the benefit of Youtube, sing through my book I am overcome by all the ways God has prepared me for this. Years and years of choirs, some lessons, amazing choral colleagues in year's previous who have supported and stretched me vocally and one director in particular, Dr. Dwight Gustafson of the University Chorale, to whom I'll be forever grateful for his instruction both vocally and how to praise God with our voices.  I think about all the notes and all the opportunities...

As I didn’t have a camera, let me write you a picture As I walked through an early morning of late November, the white ceramic mug of coffee cradled was cooling quickly; frosty puffs of breath preceding me. Every blade of grass was distinctly encased in its own coat of frost.  Before me lay a panorama of Geneva Lake, the pink hue of sunrise still lingering in the sky diffused by the steam rising out of warm waters into the frigid air.  The dog ran leaving no footprints across the frozen beach and the reflective glass of the water was filled with cliques of geese; squawking, diving, preening, making trails as they glided across the lake. They were incongruous against the backdrop of the lone white boat pier, all the slips long emptied, boards encrusted in a layer of icy snow.  I stood on the diving board in my winter coat and looked trepidatiously at the green clear  water below me.   It was definitely no longer summer. And the lyric came to ...

It was o'dark thirty and I was shuffling down the hall with a severe case of "I can't believe the alarm went off already... do I really need to get up... I am so tired…" brain fog.   As I stumbled along I was tying on my robe. The plush fabric brushed against my skin and again, for the umpteenth time, I was amazed at its softness. The robe had been a spur-of-the-moment impulse buy after I'd run my hand over the open sample spot to feel the texture. I had no idea what I was in for. It's long and thick and unbelievably soft.  It is amazing, and I've come to that conclusion numerous times. All the prior experience and expectation do not prepare me for the sensation each time I am wrapped in it.  It is always greater than I imagine.  I find this true of the love of Jesus. No matter what I read about Jesus’ love, or hear it expressed musically, or remember it from my own history - however spectacular - it does not compare to the experience ...

"When peace like a river attendeth my way  When sorrow like sea billows roll  Whatever my lot,   Thou hast taught me to say  It is well, it is well with my soul." How long does that take?  How many lessons until one can say - "whatever their lot" - that it is well with their soul? Here is the value of a long obedience in the same direction.  Here is where a lifetime of faith stands to answer the question. How does one learn that the Lord is faithful? By going through many things one wishes to never have had happened. Who would chose hardship? pain? difficulty? disappointment? financial downturn, poor health, or stressful circumstances?   I'm not seeing many raised hands... But to get the point where we can stand in our churches and sing these words honestly...well, we have to go through those lessons. Through the experiences of our lives we find that our God is good and loving and gracious and faithful and s...

Because of how the space time continuum works, it is impossible for us to truly go back and remember how we used to be now that we are who we are.  That being said, there are ways that give us a pretty good idea; our own memories, the memories of others, writings, and , the thing that never lies, pictures. A snapshot from the past is always an interesting thing is it not?  Nothing like seeing a picture and remembering that  once you were probably thinner, less wrinkled, had non-gray or more hair, and, to current eyes, a really bad sense of fashion! This weekend I was treated to some snapshots via music as I pulled out some CD’s (hey, at least they weren’t eight tracks!) from ten and twenty plus years ago.  The first was the oldest, a pop artist whose every lyric I identified with.  His sentiments were my own.  This was my music, my story.   It was like seeing myself with an 80’s perm… The music was angst-driven – ask my kids...

I've been seeing #Sundayscoming a lot this season and I get it and I love it - yes, Easter Sunday is just around the corner - Alleluia, Amen, Christ will be risen from the grave! But today it's Saturday. Typically I miss Saturday.  I observe Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.  I leave sanctuaries sad and solemn, aware that the payment for my sin was causing Christ great pain. I exit awed and grateful. And then it's this morning and I watch the sun come up and plan my Easter menu and activities and do some baking and cleaning and generally have a regular day because I already know what's happening tomorrow.   And I miss it. I miss where we actually live; we live here in the "Now what? Saturday". Any loss, after the shock has lessened, brings this question.  Loss of ability, of a job, of a position, of possessions; after the incredulousness of  "I can't believe that just happened" comes the "now what?". The older I get the m...

I'm fairly certain this is some kind of computer optical illusion; nevertheless, it is mind blowing and illustrates an excellent point. First, click on link under the picture and scroll to go deeper into the picture... then come back here... http://xkcd.com/1416/ Amazing isn't it?  The more you scroll, the deeper the pictures go; so deep in fact that you totally lose sight of the "big picture". To me this is a perfect illustration of God's working in our lives and circumstances - we have no idea on what level of detail what is happening in our lives is to the enormity of the picture of our own story and then how it plays into God's plan that spans all of history. But it does.  We have confidence that God is working all things together for the good of those who trust Him . (Romans 8:38) therefore we can "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all your do, and He will show you which ...

Perhaps my most favorite time in the world is when I sit down with a friend for coffee, or tea, or breakfast, lunch, dinner, mid morning snack, pie, ice cream... well, you get the idea. There is nothing like an hour of uninterrupted, distraction free time with someone you love, right? However life is much too busy to stop for coffee as often as I'd wish so there's always the ability to make a phone call - or send an email - or, when everyone and everything is spinning like a whirling dervish, a text.  There are ways to stay connected until there is again time for "coffee". I can't help but wonder if a little bit of this idea is germane to I Thessalonians  5:17 where we are told to "Pray without ceasing".  Could this also really just be saying "stay connected"? There are times and seasons where I have the opportunity to really settle into good conversation with the Lord, and then there are others where I'm meeting myself coming and ...

The sun has past its zenith and the ground is filled with people as far as the eye can see; thousands and thousands of people who'd come to hear Jesus, hungry for truth and by now, just plain hungry. Philip feels a nudge and Jesus asks "Where shall we buy bread for all these people to eat?" (John 6:5) Philip, surveying the crowd turns to Jesus and replies incredulously "Eight months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" (vs. 7) or "it would take a small fortune!"  Today he'd probably say "Seriously?!" To their credit the disciples were examining their resources; Jesus had made them responsible by asking the question and they were assessing what little they had in the face of such a great need.  As you know they brought forward the small boy's lunch of five rolls and two fish and presented it to Jesus - in essence saying - "This is all we've got". Then Jesus gave them instructions - a...

Dear Carol, Forty-two years ago today you were a thirty something year old mom of four small children who'd probably dropped them off in their various Sunday School classes after the "fun" of getting a family ready for church on a Sunday morning... And then you went, not to be ministered to, but to minister; to teach five and six year olds about Jesus. I wouldn't be surprised if you left that morning after class and went about your day as if it were a regular Sunday, but it wasn't for me because it was that Sunday - Jan. 9, 1972 - that you told me that Jesus was knocking on my heart's door (Revelations 3:20) and you stayed after class and prayed with me because I wanted to let Him in. I've worked with five and six year olds, prayed with them and their sweet tender hearts - never knowing if they really understood  they were doing...but that day I did. You introduced me to the Lover of my soul. You told me He was calling my name and that if I would op...

 It's November and the season of thankfulness. I see friends on Facebook whose status each day is what they are thankful for. We're trying at dinner to talk about our day and what it is we have to give thanks about.   But it's all so miniscule compared to all the blessings that God has showered down on us.   Here in the Midwest the color is spectacular. Every leaf is trying to outdo it's neighbor in brilliance. Footsteps are muffled in golden carpets and the sun filters through a canopy of the same; and then the wind blows and the leaves swirl down and take your breath away.   "Pour out Your unfailing love on those who love You.  Your unfailing love, O Lord, is a vast as the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of Your wings." Psalm 36:10,5,7   As I walk through this fall's scape I am reminded by the sheltering canopies of the shelter of His wings, of the paths He...

Is it just me or has "Christmas" come even earlier this year? Holiday merchandise is already front and center in the stores. A radio station had an "All Christmas Halloween" and so the music's begun. The Sunday paper contained several holiday toy catalogs. Starbucks has already gone to their red holiday cups. (although I can't complain there as I enjoyed a peppermint mocha...) And a couple days ago I saw a holiday themed commercial and since September I've been receiving "100 days until Christmas" emails. 100 days before Christmas? Are we really to the point that we need to prep for almost 1/3 of the year for this one holiday?? What about today - did we prep for today? Do we have special things planned? Décor? Food? Gifts? Special activities to make fond memories? Of course not - we're too busy planning for the perfect Christmas and putting all our eggs into that basket. But what about today? And tomorrow and all the days b...

The past three days have been a blur of curling up on anything stationary and simple tasks, as my daughter shared her cold with me and I, being an overachiever, took it to the next level... A few things, however; did penetrate the fog 1. One should NEVER shop for cold medicine while sick - expectorant? decongestant? cough and cold? cold and flu? daytime? nighttime? extended release? capsules? brand name? generic? Tylenol? Aspirin? Augh....! There is no sight more pathetic than a glassy-eyed sick person in the medicine aisle. 2. Being sick seriously alters your perspective.  It was a beautiful fall weekend - like jeans and sweatshirts, every tree doing it's best to outshine the others- kind of perfect.  I saw these people enjoying the day, walking their dogs, raking leaves, cutting grass, standing around laughing and I, although watching it, couldn't comprehend it.  I felt so lousy it was hard to believe that people could have that much energy. ...

Just. so. hungry!   You’ve been there too haven’t you; when you feel your stomach is ready to devour itself just to be satisfied? When every other thing becomes less important as this gnawing hunger hijacks all other focus but itself.   It is one thing to have a taste for something but entirely different to be consumed by need. It’s the difference between resisting the dessert cart when you’ve just finished a satisfying meal and thinking “How quickly can they get food on the table?” after it’s been a long and stress filled day.   Jesus was hungry. In Matthew 4:2 we read “After fasting forty days and nights, He (Jesus) was hungry.” These were not the rumblings of a stomach between lunch and dinner; this was a hunger that was so complete His entire body had been weakened by lack of nourishment.   Satan then comes and says “ If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (Matthew 4:3)   In other words, “You have the power and the...

I saw this billboard yesterday on I-55 and it got me to thinking... you too? What are your thoughts?

This weekend I was using a map - an honest to goodness, there's not enough room to open it in this front car seat space and good luck ever getting it refolded to any semblance of it's original neatness  kind of a map.  It was weird, but had a comforting familiarity about it that I don't have with my GPS. I plotted where we were and where we were headed; saw the various options and made choices. I had a pretty good overview of the whole drive albeit I did miss the "You are Here" pinpoint accuracy of the peg on the GPS road display... Springing off the page this morning was Psalm 139:3 "You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment You know where I am." There is a confidence in having a map and knowing how the road turns, of planning a way to get from Point A to B and having a rough idea of how long it will take to make the trip. God's done that for my life. It's also very reassuring to know exactly w...

* Opportunity may knock once, but temptation leans on the doorbell. *Every temptation is an opportunity to reject evil and get to know God better, or reject God and get to know evil better. *No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. I Corinthians 10:13 ESV

Seurat - He painted with dots. Its a mnemonic device I picked up so that, years after a college Art Appreciation class, I still remember at least one artist and his style! Georges Seurat is most well known for  A Sunday on La Grande Jatte which hangs in the Art Institute in Chicago. I've seen it in person. It's incredible! The painting is roughly six by ten feet, making the people nearly life sized; aand the entire painting is made up of zillions of dots. (okay, maybe not a zillion but you get the idea...) The official art term is pointillism , defined as "a technique of painting in which small distinct dots of pure color and applied in patterns to form an image. Close up it looks like this... Amazing... When all the points of color are put in their places it becomes more than just a myriad of random paint, it's transformed into an image. We've been discussing this concept in church recently.  Every one of us is like a bucket of paint and G...

He was "all that".  He was all her heart desired although she didn't know it until she got to know Him; and as she did she found that to know Him was to love Him. He had always loved her. He'd always been looking out for her and working things together for her good. He wasn't her first love and even when she realized she loved Him, still her eye and attention wandered to others... This grieved Him for He was jealous to be the only One in her heart but He never pouted, or gave up and stomped away.  Instead He continued to love; faithfully and lavishly in a thousand small ways until her eyes turned back to Him and only Him. Her heart than remembered that she was His and even more amazingly that He was hers! Time had and would continue to pass and things would, as things must do, change. Yet His love never did: His attentions never faltered and from that history she knew they never would. She had found that the One who had made her heart had fashioned it f...