Aching contentment.
Longing satisfaction.
God’s deepest desires echoed in our own.
Not out of necessity for existence but of longing does He ache to be known, understood, enjoyed. This, His heart’s calling, translates to our own. But where His desire comes from a place of longing, ours comes from necessity. Our fragile humanity necessitates being known to exist well. Our personal understanding of longing finds its source with His original beckonings. He knows what its like to want to share your life with another … to breathe your own story into the lungs of another who will breath it in and out, every second of their existence, sharing the beauty and the disaster … knowing your story so intimately that they are able to retell it in rare clarity. They know the dots and the dashes, the breath marks, the pauses, the crescendos and nuances, the emotions behind the story and the punch-lines. They know it all. And as they breathe your story in and out it is a living testimony that your story is worth retelling, in their own form and fashion, in their own way. And as they retell your story in the moments of their own, yours and theirs together become woven into one, inextricably tied and knotted together. Your reality becomes theirs.
Your longing fulfills theirs and both are mutually satisfied.
He knows exactly what that feels like.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Legacy
I recently was a part of a women’s group that studied Elizabeth George’s “A Woman after God’s Own Heart”. I was asked to share some thoughts on a chapter that focused on being one that leaves a legacy. As I spent time thinking about what a legacy of being a woman after God’s heart looks like I thought of the legacy of Truth that has been imparted to me, and the uphill battle God has of creating a legacy of holiness in my life. Here are a woman’s thoughts to other women ...
TRUTH / REVELATION would be my mom’s life pursuit and greatest passion. God’s truth and the revelation of His character are most important to her; it always has been and always will be. She’s always been a student and a researcher, teaching us with her words and through her lifestyle that truth is to be pursued at all costs. It is deserving of all our time and energies and the value of the wisdom that grows from it has no price. Truth brings light, it brings understanding, it lays an accurate foundation of reality whereupon to build your life and it is a basic attribute of God – God is truth.
But I’ve learned, I think more importantly than the worth of truth itself, that being a faithful steward of truth is an even greater responsibility than simply knowing truth. The one who is entrusted with the treasure of truth is entrusted with so much more than simple knowledge or information.
We are caretakers of the lives around us. “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) No matter who we are or where we live we are a part of a community. Your community may be your neighborhood, your coworkers, your church, your friends or your family and every member is an image-bearer of the holy Creator. Whether we wish to be a member of a community or not our proximity to the lives around us and our intrinsic value before God makes us accountable for how we treat each other.
As the application of truth happens on a daily basis within the context of our communities we quickly see that it’s harder to be a loving, tactful, holder of truth than just one who knows things and dispenses gathered knowledge at will. Truth can be so much more than a simple medium to be used and spent where it is helpful or convenient. It should be invested wisely in your own life first, and in the lives of those around you.
Truth holds much power and it should be handled carefully. It has the power to heal or to hurt. It has the potential to bring freedom or to shame. It can be used to encourage or to demean. So truth must always be handled with ample amounts of grace, mercy, wisdom and discernment. Truth in human hands may seem at times a dangerous thing but only Love has the power to keep Truth in check. Love is Truth’s keeper. Love is what takes simple information and turns it into words of encouragement. Love takes constructive criticism and uses it to empower people to live rightly. Love is the sensitivity to know when not to use knowledge, even when intelligence thinks it should be.
As women, we’re talkers. But God has also gifted us with the precious virtues of grace, mercy, patience, forgiveness, wisdom, empathy and of course, love. Women are like the keepers of the lighthouse … the loving, tender caretakers of truth passing on an incredible legacy, a role no one else can fill quite like us.
A daily quiet time in Scripture and prayer is the only place to gain both the understanding of truth and the character that can be entrusted with it. I am so grateful that both my mom and dad have exemplified for their children the importance of a daily quiet time. It was normal to get up in the morning and see my dad in his big easy chair or at the dining table spending time in the Word before he went out for work. And whenever we would go into my parent’s room to say goodnight, mom was always there in bed with her notebooks and her much-loved Bible that’s falling apart at the seams.
While my mom’s passion for truth has been passed on to me, I’ve learned many things about the pursuit and handling of truth. I’ve learned to be careful and I’ve learned the power of words. I’ve learned that sometimes saying nothing is more powerful than proclaiming truths from God’s Word. I’ve learned that a well placed word is worth much. I’ve learned that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him. My mom quite often didn’t do everything right. She would say things before she realized what they would sound like and I make the same mistake all the time. But I knew the good intentions of her heart were there, that she loved God more than anything else and that she only wanted God’s best for us. She was a faithful steward with what she’d been given and that’s what God is looking for.
Part 2 of Legacy … coming soon
TRUTH / REVELATION would be my mom’s life pursuit and greatest passion. God’s truth and the revelation of His character are most important to her; it always has been and always will be. She’s always been a student and a researcher, teaching us with her words and through her lifestyle that truth is to be pursued at all costs. It is deserving of all our time and energies and the value of the wisdom that grows from it has no price. Truth brings light, it brings understanding, it lays an accurate foundation of reality whereupon to build your life and it is a basic attribute of God – God is truth.
But I’ve learned, I think more importantly than the worth of truth itself, that being a faithful steward of truth is an even greater responsibility than simply knowing truth. The one who is entrusted with the treasure of truth is entrusted with so much more than simple knowledge or information.
We are caretakers of the lives around us. “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) No matter who we are or where we live we are a part of a community. Your community may be your neighborhood, your coworkers, your church, your friends or your family and every member is an image-bearer of the holy Creator. Whether we wish to be a member of a community or not our proximity to the lives around us and our intrinsic value before God makes us accountable for how we treat each other.
As the application of truth happens on a daily basis within the context of our communities we quickly see that it’s harder to be a loving, tactful, holder of truth than just one who knows things and dispenses gathered knowledge at will. Truth can be so much more than a simple medium to be used and spent where it is helpful or convenient. It should be invested wisely in your own life first, and in the lives of those around you.
Truth holds much power and it should be handled carefully. It has the power to heal or to hurt. It has the potential to bring freedom or to shame. It can be used to encourage or to demean. So truth must always be handled with ample amounts of grace, mercy, wisdom and discernment. Truth in human hands may seem at times a dangerous thing but only Love has the power to keep Truth in check. Love is Truth’s keeper. Love is what takes simple information and turns it into words of encouragement. Love takes constructive criticism and uses it to empower people to live rightly. Love is the sensitivity to know when not to use knowledge, even when intelligence thinks it should be.
As women, we’re talkers. But God has also gifted us with the precious virtues of grace, mercy, patience, forgiveness, wisdom, empathy and of course, love. Women are like the keepers of the lighthouse … the loving, tender caretakers of truth passing on an incredible legacy, a role no one else can fill quite like us.
A daily quiet time in Scripture and prayer is the only place to gain both the understanding of truth and the character that can be entrusted with it. I am so grateful that both my mom and dad have exemplified for their children the importance of a daily quiet time. It was normal to get up in the morning and see my dad in his big easy chair or at the dining table spending time in the Word before he went out for work. And whenever we would go into my parent’s room to say goodnight, mom was always there in bed with her notebooks and her much-loved Bible that’s falling apart at the seams.
While my mom’s passion for truth has been passed on to me, I’ve learned many things about the pursuit and handling of truth. I’ve learned to be careful and I’ve learned the power of words. I’ve learned that sometimes saying nothing is more powerful than proclaiming truths from God’s Word. I’ve learned that a well placed word is worth much. I’ve learned that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him. My mom quite often didn’t do everything right. She would say things before she realized what they would sound like and I make the same mistake all the time. But I knew the good intentions of her heart were there, that she loved God more than anything else and that she only wanted God’s best for us. She was a faithful steward with what she’d been given and that’s what God is looking for.
Part 2 of Legacy … coming soon
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
I know winter just got started, what with our overnight single digits and all and our fresh, long-awaited covering of snow, but I can't help looking ahead to spring and the promise of dirt under my fingernails. For anyone who ever does yard work (whether you enjoy it or not) this website is most helpful for figuring out if that scraggly little shrub is a beautiful native plant or an invasive weed.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/gardeninfo/weedid/
http://www.extension.umn.edu/gardeninfo/weedid/
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Must read
"Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology" by Eugene Peterson
His conversational style of writing makes for a comfortable and ambling read, but it won't produce a paradigm shift unless you're intentional and attentive. This has already proven to be one of the more formative books I've read yet.
His conversational style of writing makes for a comfortable and ambling read, but it won't produce a paradigm shift unless you're intentional and attentive. This has already proven to be one of the more formative books I've read yet.
Friday, November 14, 2008
I’ve decided to blog again. I haven’t written since the date stamp on my last post, for which there are a few reasons. I started this blog when I left the Twin Cities to spend a year in Tyler, TX to go through missions training with Youth With A Mission. My intention was to use this as means of conveying news and communicating with family and friends back home. When I returned home I continued writing infrequently and sporadically. But over time I felt that continuing to communicate this way was superfluous, so I quit writing. I also felt that my words were going out into a dark abyss of emptiness, my writing consisting mostly of random drivel and ramblings on.
I’ve never been a regular writer. My journal entries come and go in fits and starts. I internalize most things and frequently frustrate because my writing is so much slower than my thought processes. But a recent conversation with a dear friend who suggested I rethink my posting sabbatical prompted me to do just that. After all, I do write once upon an occasion, and it is in human inclination to want to be heard. But more than simply the desire to be heard but for the hope that these occasional posts will edify have I changed my mind. Therefore I will post.
I don’t promise a very great quantity of content. My goal is to post a handful of times a month as the urge arrests me. I will do my best. Feel free to post comments but be forewarned, a reply is not guaranteed and I most likely won’t comment on your comment. Thank you for reading. I hope you’ll be edified.
I’ve never been a regular writer. My journal entries come and go in fits and starts. I internalize most things and frequently frustrate because my writing is so much slower than my thought processes. But a recent conversation with a dear friend who suggested I rethink my posting sabbatical prompted me to do just that. After all, I do write once upon an occasion, and it is in human inclination to want to be heard. But more than simply the desire to be heard but for the hope that these occasional posts will edify have I changed my mind. Therefore I will post.
I don’t promise a very great quantity of content. My goal is to post a handful of times a month as the urge arrests me. I will do my best. Feel free to post comments but be forewarned, a reply is not guaranteed and I most likely won’t comment on your comment. Thank you for reading. I hope you’ll be edified.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Journal entry, February '07
In my eagerness to walk out in the "responsibility" of my own free will I took command of my own life and choices. Quiet times with You stopped because of the nagging fear of hearing Your quiet voice of correction, gently encouraging me not to settle for that which is not Your highest. Such feelings of deep regret and sadness, but now such expectation of greater things to come. This is one thing that can be said for the slough of despond - after the moment of repentance we turn around and gasp. Instead of looking straight ahead at the things to come we are pleased to have to look up, for things can only get better. There is such a fascinating juxtaposition of grief and ecstasy as we stand in the valley, gazing up to the clouded, towering peaks ahead.
succeeding at nothing
People of compromise compel those with whom they associate to aim at nothing in particular, and that is exactly what they achieve. If you aim at nothing that is one thing at which you will be sure to succeed. All it takes is one who is willing to compromise and it lowers the standards of the whole lot.
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