MONDAY MARCH 31ST: God Bless the Planner

I was born a planner.  It is something that gives me security.  I like to know exactly what is going to happen and when.  It comes in handy for group projects and school projects.  It gives structure to everyday life.  But sometimes it is my roadblock to living a full life in Christ.  Sometimes I am my roadblock to a full life in Christ.

So what then...should I give up planning altogether?  Is it wrong of me to make plans?  To want to know where I am going?  What my life will look like in 6 months...2 years?

When God says to trust the plans that He has for us, that is ultimate.  That is final.  His plans will prevail overall.  God constantly works in spite of people.  God works in spite of the brokenness of this world.

Should we not plan at all?  I believe that as Christians, God calls us to responsible with our lives.  We have this idea of what freedom in Christ means, and we often think it is just like cruisin' down I-65 in our Volkswagen van, just drifting from place to place until we fall into God's plan.

God calls us to be responsible.  To make choices every day.  He doesn't want us just to float, but He wants us to be willing to let go of our plans when we know they are nothing in comparison to His plans for us.  God may adjust our coordinates ever so slightly, or we may end up in a completely different hemisphere.

I know this to be true as well: God gives us desires.  God gives us passion for different things.  Each one unique just like we are.  For me, it is wholeness and wellness of the physical body.  For some it is music or computers.  He wants us to desire those things.  It is not wrong if we want to plan for those things to be a part of our lives.  But God will ultimately determine the course.

Have you ever had a travel agency plan a vacation or a trip you took?  It might seem scary at first - because you really don't know what you'll be getting in to.  And you don't really know if you are going to like it.  But the travel agency puts a lot of time and thought into a vacation that none of their workers is taking.  It is all for you.  And they want you to have the best possible vacation!  That is kind of how it works with God, except He is with you for the whole journey.  His plans are good.

~SP

THURSDAY MARCH 20TH: Spiritual Nutrition

Truth: Your Body is a temple.  It is truly a gift from God.

In my 1 credit yoga class last semester, my instructor would often give nutrition advice.  It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but as someone who is studying human nutrition I was always sure to cross-check his advice with my knowledge and that of my professors.

Then, one class he made this suggestion: try fasting.  He said it is the best cleanse for your body.  He was correct - not putting anything into your body will allow it to clean itself out.  But what he wasn't considering is that as spiritual beings, we are made to be fed.

This is what happens in your body when  you deprive it of food: first you go through any blood glucose, and then you go through your body's glycogen stores.  These carbohydrates are the preferred fuel for your body.  Then you dip into other reserves: fat and protein.  Your body will eventually mobilize its own proteins - which are necessary for all different types of important functions in your body - and use them for energy.  Protein's primary purpose is not an energy source for our body.  Once our primary fuel source is depleted, we also dip into our fat stores.  And from the fat, we use ketones for fuel.  Ketones are helpful, but when they accumulate, they become toxic to the body.

As spiritual beings, we are made to be fed.  We have an emptiness and a hunger that only God can fulfill.  There are things that we need to fast from, but we also need to make sure we are being fed.  When we deprive ourselves, sometimes we try to run on our own reserves (like fat and protein), and that can cause us to self-destruct.  Relying on our own reserves can be like leaning on our own understanding.

Jesus calls Himself the bread of life.  In terms of nutrition, bread is a carbohydrate dense, and typically nutrient dense food.  Was Jesus thinking these things as He made this declaration?  Most likely not.  But He was getting at is the idea that He is our sustenance.  He is our provider.  We need Him.

~SP  

WEDNESDAY MARCH 19TH: I Stand Amazed

Today I just wanted to share a hymn that I love.  It talks about standing in the presence of Jesus.  Sometimes I wonder what that moment - all of those moments - will be like.  

MONDAY MARCH 17TH: Joy in Creating

I love to knit.  I taught myself to knit on a trip my family took to Niagara Falls when I was in high school.  I knew we would be in the car for a long time, so I thought learning to knit would be a good thing to pass the time.  Knitting that first scarf took forever.  I had bought two skeins of this multicolored yarn.  It unwound in reds, purples, and oranges.

By the time we drove to New York and back I had made a scarf.  It was a little crooked, and the stitches weren't extremely smooth, but it was the first scarf that I had made.

Since that scarf, I knit as often as I can.  It takes some trial and error, but I have made mittens and hats.  It is amazing how all the little stitches come together to make something much bigger.

What do you like to make or create?  Whenever I finish a piece of knitting I feel proud.  It doesn't matter if it is perfect or if a few stitches need to be mended.  What I have made is beautiful to me and I will wear it proudly.

We truly cannot fathom the depths of God's love.  But I know that because He created us, His love for us is intentional, beautiful and careful.  God feels that overwhelming pride in us when He steps back and looks at His creation.  Maybe we have a few stitches that need to be tightened, but we are beautiful because we are His.  God doesn't have a mold in which He casts His sons and daughters.  He starts from scratch each time.  He makes us all different and beautiful.  That is love, that we have been designed by a joyful creator.

~SP

  

FRIDAY MARCH 14TH: #blessed

We've all seen this hashtag before: #blessed.  Maybe we've even used it.  We take a picture or post a status about a blessing that God has given us and we just want the world to know so we #blessed.

It's not a negative to acknowledge blessings.  It isn't bad to give God glory for what He has given us.  But we have to make sure we are doing just that - glorifying God.

Blessing, like repentance should be a word or idea that propels forward.

In the Bible, we come into contact with the word blessed in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5).  The definition of the word beatitude, according to dictionary.com, is supreme blessedness or exalted happiness.  The structure of the Beatitudes is like so:

Blessed are the ___________, for theirs is the______________

or

Blessed are the ___________, for they will _________

In the Beatitudes, Jesus says that "Blessed" are the poor, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  We don't often think of the poor as blessed - especially in our society.  But Jesus does.  Jesus knows that blessing or blessed is not just a noun - it is meant to be action oriented.  Blessing is a verb.

When we receive gifts, grace, mercy, love, anything that comes from the Father, we are meant to live it out.  We are meant to spread it as far as we can.  True, the world will know we are blessed if we tweet it or instagram it.  But they will see we are blessed if we live it out.  If we have a lot, we are called to give.  If we have a little, we are called to give.

One of my go to sites when writing my blog is Open Bible Info.  If you search "What does the Bible say about _____," it pulls up a bunch of verses on the subject.  So I asked this morning, "What does the Bible say about Blessings."  Looking through the verses, almost none of them actually incorporated the word blessed.  Here are a few of the selections:

Philippians 4:19: "And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus."

James 1:17: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

Philippians 2:13: "For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

2 Corinthians 9:8: "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

These verses are good reminders of the source of our blessings and why they are given to us - so that we can live them out.

And we must always, always, remember the source of our blessings and give Him praise.  #blessedbyGod

He is our blessed assurance.  The fount of all our blessings.  The One from whom all blessings flow.

~SP

THURSDAY MARCH 13TH: Triune God

I don't remember when I was first introduced to the Holy Trinity.  It is a BIG concept whether you are a 5-year-old in Sunday School or a 55 year-old.  Our God is three in one - Father, Spirit, Son.  What does that mean?  He is three, but at the same time one...We struggle with it because it is not humanly possible.  But God is not human, so it is possible.

What does the trinity mean in our lives?  Maybe that is the question we can ask...The trinity shows us perfect relationship between Father, Son and Spirit.  The kind of relationship that is intended for us with God in heaven.

There is also something interesting about how the trinity was revealed to us.  The three parts of the trinity have always been, since time began.  From our point of understanding, we first know God, the creator of our universe.  He was there with Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses...then we meet God incarnate, Jesus the Son.  And then Jesus talks about the advocate that God will send after Jesus leaves, that advocate being the Holy Spirit.

There is something interesting about the way that God chose to reveal the trinity to us.  We first know God.  God is great and majestic.  We don't have a tangible image of God.  We know He must be beautiful because all that He has created is beautiful.  We know He is faithful to His people.  We know that He loves His people.

And then God lives among us as the Son, Jesus.  Jesus is fully human and fully divine.  Jesus is our brother.  Jesus eats meals with us.  Jesus goes to the temple with us.  Jesus lives life with us.  God comes closer through Jesus.

After Jesus goes to be with the Father, God sends His Holy Spirit to not only dwell among us, but within us.  The Holy Spirit is sent to protect us, to guide our hearts and our minds.  God comes closer through the Holy Spirit.

God always wants to be closer to us.  We can see that through the holy trinity.  He always longs to be near to our hearts.  God just wants to be closer and closer to the people that He loves.

~SP

WEDNESDAY MARCH 12TH: In awe of creation

I wouldn't consider myself to be the biggest nature lover there is.  I like to explore the great indoors just as much as the great outdoors.  However, there are some times where I have been left speechless and breathless at the sight of God's creation.  It is a brilliant reminder of how creative and intentional God is.  We could live in a world that could be much plainer, but God made the whole planet a sanctuary where we can glorify His great works.

When I was sixteen, my family and I explored the western US after I attended the National American Baptist Youth Gathering in Estes Park, CO.  I remember looking up at these mountains and thinking, how could anyone not believe in God.  Maybe it is because we often detach the Creator from the creation.  Even as Christians,we get so fixated on the creation and how marvelous it is.  We Facebook it, hashtag it - but we have to be careful and make sure we are praising the One who painted the landscape and not boasting about the places we've been or the things we've seen.  

For those of us that maybe have the ability and opportunity to travel out to the mountains or maybe travel across the world - that is wonderful!  It is a great opportunity and a gift.  God's creation is not exclusive.  It is not only for those who can afford to travel to beautiful places - it is for us all.  So sometimes He brings it close to home for us to admire.  Sometimes He brings it right to our front porches...

Lofty mountain grandeur is not the only thing God specializes in.  He creates the swaying trees, the lush green grass, and the gentle fields.  You don't even have to leave your back yard, and the Creator will paint you a gorgeous scene. 

(photo borrowed from summitpost.org)

Can you guess where this mountain is situated?  It's not one of our national parks...it's Mt. Damavand in Iran.  Often when we think of the Middle East, we think of all the conflict that has been plaguing those countries for the last decade and beyond.  We think about the rough desert areas where blood from people of all nations is shed.  But here, in the midst of that, God has created this beautiful landscape.  The beauty of creation is not exclusive to one part of the world - it is everywhere.  It is a good reminder that the earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord (Psalm 24:1). 

~SP

  

TUESDAY MARCH 11TH: Grateful for the Table

I am thankful for my family's kitchen table.  Truthfully, I have abused it over the years, especially with nail polish remover (mom was not very thankful about that!)  It is missing a little finishing, but it still stands on four legs.

My family likes routine, so we all have the same seats at the table every night.  Mom and I sit on the outside.  I sit across from Dad and Mom sits across from David.  And just like that routine, dinner is served around the same time each evening.

Growing up, I didn't always understand why dinner time was to be adhered to.  All plans to hang out with friends were secondary.  Dinnertime was dinnertime, and we sat down together.

But that daily fellowship with my family set a foundation for me.  It was something the whole family shared together.  Mom, Dad, David and I.  It was where we sat and prayed together - prayers of thankfulness for the food we had; prayers of thankfulness for God's grace; prayers for guidance in our lives.

The dinner table was where we talked about each other's days.  The dinner table was where we laughed a lot.  There was a time growing up where it was extremely difficult to get through a meal without David or I spewing milk.  We could make each other laugh so hard (sometimes it was even our parent's fault too) and at just the right moment.  We're long past those days (kind of...)

Sitting around that table was more about the fellowship and less about the food.  The night before Jesus dies on the cross, we are told that he shares a Passover meal with 12 of his good friends.  Jesus probably could have done a lot of things before he was crucified.  He could have enjoyed a fishing trip or hosted a larger, more festive gathering.  However, he chose to share a meal with his disciples.  That was important to him.  He wanted to break bread with his brothers.

So I am thankful for our dinner table.  Not for the table itself, but what I have learned there about family and fellowship.  It is always important to share a meal with the people you love.

~SP

MONDAY MARCH 10TH: The Joys of Siblinghood

I don't think it is any wonder that I'm telling you that one of my greatest joys in life is my brother, David.

But, fear not parents and others reading this...David and I are just like any other sibling pair, we fight (over ridiculous things), sometimes we're collectively lazy, and don't do what our parents tell us to do.  We've conned baby-sitters together.  We've covered for each other, and we've ratted each other out.

But there are also many joys in our siblingship!  Moments that I would not give up for anything.  So for your enjoyment (and possibly David's embarrassment) here are a few highlights!

1. The Early Days

There are so many moments to look back on!  July 30th was a great day for me!  I got to go to Vacation Bible School and Chuck E Cheese...and I got to meet David!  I remember stopping at Walgreens with my dad to pick something up for my new brother - an angel bear.  I still have the angel bear - somehow over the years it ended up in my room.  Life was great!  I had an in-home best friend.  Someone who wanted to hang out with me all the time (or was forced to hang out with me, it depends on how you look at it).

Halloween 1996

2. Learning Lessons Together

Another great thing about having a sibling is that you get to learn some life lessons together.  Or sometimes one of you gets the life lesson, and the other one observes and takes note :)  I won't give you an exhaustive list of the lessons we've learned over the years.  There is one that stands out in my mind.  In the house we grew up in at the beginning of our childhood there was a tiny staircase - not long enough to be a spiral staircase, but it did twist once.  Every night at bed time David and I would barrel up the stairs together.  I had the advantage of being bigger and having more strength.  David had the advantage of being tiny which gave him the ability to maneuver past me.  Every time we charged up those stairs, my dad would be behind us saying "It's not a competition."  My dad's famous phrase.  His main goal was to prevent us from critically injuring each other as we raced up the stairs.  But those words ring true in so many ways.  It's not a competition - we are loved equally and wholly by our parents.  It's not a competition if you are living by God's standards.  The world will tell you it is, but in God's eyes you make it doesn't matter when you make it to the top of the stairs.

3. Navigating Life Together

One time, David and I decided to take on the Dawson prairie at Green Lake.  And when you aren't as tall as the prairie grass, that's a big deal.  We told our parents to scram, and that we would meet them on the other side.  Five minutes later we were both lost and in tears.  But we were lost and in tears together.  We did get out of the field eventually.  And now that we're both tall enough to see over the grass, we laugh about that time that we had a meltdown in the prairie.  But we had each other.  We didn't leave each other's sides.  That was what mattered.

Madison, WI (circa 2001)

4. Watching Each Other Grow Up

True, David has only been around for 17.5 of my 21.5 years.  But nevertheless, he has watched me grow up, graduate high school, make it through college (almost, let's not jinx it)!  And I have had the joy of watching him grow up.  I've watched him play a myriad of instruments (piano, cello, trumpet...) and finally find his calling to be a drummer!  He watched me go to prom, and then I got to watch him do the same four years later.  It is fun to have a partner to reminisce with and talk about the early years.  And it is also fun to have a partner to grow up with.

So today, I am joyful about and thankful for my brother and all of the moments we've had together along the way!

Green Lake 2013

~SP

  

FRIDAY MARCH 7: Living the Repented Life

I heard a great sermon last semester from the Bishop of the Methodist church in Indiana (I'm still not sure how the Bishop thing works in the Methodist church, so I'm not sure if that is his exact title...)

He spoke on the different ways we can approach our shortcomings and mistakes.  In our culture, we see a lot of people approach their mistakes with remorse.  Remorse allows you to live in the guilt.  It is a burden that grows daily.  Remorse isn't all bad, but it often allows us to live in the past.  It allows us to fixate on that shortcoming or mistake.  Celebrity remorse is very evident.  We see the actor or the singer that drinks a little too much and acts out in public - they apologize, and they feel badly - but then they make headlines a year later for the same offense.

The Bishop then talked about repentance and what it looks like to live repented.  He illustrated it as a complete 180 turn.  A new direction.

If you look up the repentance in the dictionary, remorse is right in the definition.  This may be bold of me to say so, but the dictionary got it wrong.

In Acts, we have this even bolder statement:

"Repent therefore, and turn again that your sins may be blotted out." Acts 3:19

Turn again.  Turn around.  In our faith, repentance has a different definition.  Repentance means that we acknowledge our shortcomings and wrongdoings, and we live a life where we strive not to repeat them.

Romans 6 begins like this: "What shall we say then, are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

Repentance is a forward motion.  Repentance is a part of our lifestyle as followers of Christ.  Repentance is our willingness to accept God's grace and to continue living in that grace.

So in these season and furthermore, may we all strive to live repented.

~SP    

THURSDAY MARCH 6: Waiting

Truth: God works in the waiting.

Waiting is something that we often find agonizing and terrifying.  Sitting in the waiting room at a hospital or clinic is rarely every an experience that we associate with joyful anticipation or excitement.  It's not even an experience that we could say gives us peace or sets our mind at ease.

Maybe you are waiting to hear if you got the job or, in my case, the internship.  You are ready to set the rest of your life into gear, but it is contingent on that one decision.  Why do we have to wait?  Why can't we know now!?

What does it mean to need time?  We can get a lot done with just time.  We can clean more of our houses, study for more of our exams.  We are always wanting to fill time.  We want time as a part of our plan to accomplish more.

Unlike us, God doesn't need time.  God can do what God does in a second or in a lifetime.  But God uses time and waiting as a part of His plan for each of us.  With time, God can change your heart and your mind and He can change the hearts and minds of others.  Maybe He is working on the mind of the woman right now who is reading your resume...

God changes our hearts in the waiting.

"But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."  Isaiah 40:31

So the waiting room that we sit in becomes a space of transformation, where God speaks to our hearts.  It becomes a place of growth.

God wants joy for His children.  His plan for us is prosperity and an abundant life with Him.  One of the greatest blessings that He gives us is time with Him.   

In your season of waiting, it may be hard to find peace.  I know it is for me.  My prayer is that you feel God's presence in the waiting.  That you learn to trust Him in the silence.

~SP

p.s.  Here are some tunes for Thursday.  One of my favorite bands talking about more time.

   

ASH WEDNESDAY: In Awe of the Daylight

Bloomington (along with many other Midwestern towns) has been in a deep freeze since the beginning of January.  It is cold, and it is wet, and it is very dark.  For the past two months, sunlight has made a rare appearance.

Most of us are awake before the sky is lit, and we return home from school or work in shade of sky reminiscent of that early morning velvet blue.  In the past few weeks, when we've had the sporadic occurrence of a (relatively) warm day, I've been able to hear a sound in the morning that I often take for granted.  The birds.  Usually I am not sentimental about the sound of chirping birds - but they are a better tone to wake up to than anything my ipod alarm clock has to offer.

Birds come out with the first light of the morning.  That's not a scientific fact - that's just an observation that I've made.  Lately, I've realized that I can hear the birds before my alarm clock rings.  And then I realize that the sun is trying to make its appearance to the world before I do.

The daylight is growing longer.  It doesn't come all at once though.  It is given in little gifts each day.  It may only be a minute or two of time on either end.  It may barely be noticeable at first.  But then you realize it is there.

It is easy to notice God's grace and God's blessings when we receive them in what we quantify as "large doses." Sometimes we want to say, "forget the little things - just pile it all in at once."  Would we want to approach our trials and struggles in the same way?

Just a little more daylight each day that passes.  Just a few more minutes with a loved one.

We often long for it with our spouses, significant others, and the people we cherish.  We want the small things that remind us that they care.  God is a God of small things and big things alike.  He will bestow great blessings, as well as the little reminders that tell us that He is mindful of us and He does care.

~SP

LENT 2014: Living in the Moments

Last Lenten season began a journey of daily writings and reflections on music inspired by God's word. Life has been so crazy that I completely forgot about giving up or adding in something for Lent until a friend reminded me at work today.

Something that I have found particularly amazing this past year is how the weeks have just flown by.  I have always wished for time to keep moving.  I am a goal setter.  I love making countdowns.  I live for the milestones.  But this summer, I found myself almost breathless at one point when I realized that time was racing.  During this school year I often reach the weekends and wonder where the weekdays have disappeared to.  There is a dichotomy between my disdain for waiting and my yearning to slow down the racing days.

So maybe this Lenten season will be focused on slowing down.  Taking life day by day.  Moment by moment.

Mondays - Mondays have been really great days this year.  Isn't that crazy?  The day we all despise!  After a long day of class and work, I get to sit down with a wonderful group of ladies at the IMU Starbucks.  We sit and talk about life, God's word; things that we are joyful about, things that we are struggling with.  My small group has been an incredible gift during my last year of college.  So Mondays will be joyful Mondays.

Tuesdays - Tuesdays will be a day for thankfulness.  Every day should be a day for Thankfulness.  But we will give Tuesday that because of the consonance.

Wednesdays - Wednesdays are for WONDER or AWE.  For the weekly, daily, hourly moments that are often taken for granted.  But if we stop and look at them, we see how the great breath-giver can take our breath away.

Thursdays - Truth.  Trust. Time. There are a lot of good T-words to go with.

Fridays - Forward.  Although through Lent I want to focus on the present, the joy in the here and now, I believe as Christians, God calls us to live a forward life.  When we think of faith, hope, repentance and so many other tenets of our lives in Christ, those are all things that bring us into tomorrow, into what God has in store for us.

As we move into this season, and begin to reflect on Christ's journey to the cross,

may we turn our eyes

...to the Creator of our first and last moments

...to the Redeemer of our broken moments

...to the Healer of our painful moments

...to the one who knows all of our moments long before we do.

Amen.

~SP