Winter Blahs

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snowmanThis is the hard part of winter for me.  Happy Winter starts right after Thanksgiving and stays happy all the way through New Years.  Then Blah Winter moves in.  It’s dreary, cloudy, cold, and snowy.  I need some strategies for staying happy during Blah Winter (that don’t include a tropical island).

My mom used to say that February wasn’t good for anything except for reading a good book.  She would break her usual busy routine in February and spend a few afternoons on the couch with a novel.

I’m more of a non-fiction girl myself.  Almost all the books on my shelves and Kindle are Christian Living/Spiritual Growth/Memoire/Theology.  Maybe it’s because I’ve read a few poorly written novels that fiction doesn’t excite me.  I’m ready to change all that.  February isn’t good for much of anything except for reading a good novel, that’s what I say.

But I need help.  I want a big book with hundreds of pages.  I want beautiful writing that makes me copy parts in my journal.  I want a story that’s compelling, uplifting and inspiring.  I want characters that are so real I think about them all day.  I want to be so swept up that I stay awake past 9:00 p.m. for one more chapter.  I want to cry.  And laugh. I don’t care if it is on the current best seller list, or if it was written a century or two ago.  I don’t want fluff,  predictable storylines or shallow characters.  I don’t want a lot of sex and violence and vulgar language.

I want to remember February 2015 as the month I read a great story.

Am I asking too much?  Is my dream novel out there somewhere?  Help me please!  I’m asking for suggestions!

For This I Have Jesus

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story song

PB says he takes it with a grain of salt when parishoners go through the line after church on Sunday, shake his hand and say, “That was a good sermon, Pastor.”  But if someone should happen to call the church office on Wednesday to say, “That was a good sermon on Sunday, Pastor”, then he’ll believe it.  If they’re still thinking about it three days later, the message must have gotten through.

Back in October of 2014, PB said something that stuck with me.

Three months later, I’m still thinking about it.

Now, that’s a good sermon.

I don’t remember the context or the scripture or the point of the message.

But I wrote down five words:

“For this, I have Jesus.”

I’ve said those words many times since.

I’ve said that phrase many times this week.

When missing dear ones, in other counties or other countries —

for this, I have Jesus.

When praying with a family in a pediatric hospital waiting room —

for this, we have Jesus.

When gathering around the Word with sisters asking hard questions —

for this, we have Jesus.

When rocking the baby girl who can’t sleep because of a cough  —

for this, I have Jesus.

When talking to friends who are struggling, but managing to hang on —

for this, we have Jesus.

When lying awake at night thinking of a million things I need to do —

for this, I have Jesus.

When the phone rings at half past midnight for the pastor to come —

for this, we have Jesus.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1

This week, this is my story, this is my song:

For This I Have Jesus, written by Graham Kendrick

(Please excuse the amateur, homemade recording.  Ignore the mistakes.  Let the words land soft in your heart.)

This I Believe

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Sometimes I just have to get back to the basics.

Sometimes I just have to say it out loud.

Sometimes I just need you to hear me say it out loud.

This is what I believe.

believe

I’m not apologizing for it, I’m not ashamed to say it, and I’m never going to stop hanging on to it.

This week, this is my story, this is my song.

This is my creed.

(Get ready, Emanuel.  We’re going to proclaim this.)

This I Believe, Hillsong Worship

Multiple Choice

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testWhen I was in college I fulfilled some General Education credit requirements by taking a Philosophy 101 class.  Here’s how it went down —

On the first day of class, the professor handed out a great big packet of notes — pages and pages of single spaced, perfectly outlined notes.  On the second day of class, the professor had us open the packet and follow along as he read the notes out loud.  Word for word.  Every day.  All semester.  So boring.

So why go to class, right?  I could have just read the notes myself, right?

Wrong.  Because our grade was based on attendance.

The tests were all True/False exams and we were free to use our wonderful packet of notes at will.  The prof even tipped us off as to what was going to be on the final exam.  There were no excuses for flunking his class.

I got an A but the only thing I learned was to stay away from Philosophy 102.

Moses spent forty years out in the desert school trying to teach a bunch of rebellious Israelites the rules.  He wrote five books of the Old Testament, making sure they had all the information they needed to have a good life in the Promised Land.  He reminded the people over and over again of who they were and whose they were.  Just before Moses died, he laid it all out there one more time and then told the people there would be a pop quiz.  It would be a one-question test, with the choice of two possible answers.  Then, just to be sure they didn’t mess up, He gave them the correct answer.

See, I set before you today

1) life and prosperity

2) death and destruction

(psst….. now choose life).

Deuteronomy 30:15, 19

  No excuses.

Sorry, Pussycat

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Last week I wrote about funny sayings that families have.

Have you ever heard this one?

“Sorry” won’t feed the admiral’s pussycat.

Yeah, well, Google hasn’t heard of it either.

I remember hearing it in our home when I was a kid, though.

I have a feeling this family adage was once the punchline of a joke.

I have a feeling that it had something to do with an admiral’s cat that didn’t get fed and thus, met it’s demise.

I have a feeling that it means you can’t make everything right by just saying “sorry”.

But obviously, I don’t know for sure.

It hit me today,

that with both my parents now gone,

I have no way to find out.

Why didn’t I ever ask about the admiral’s pussycat?

kitten

Fire Dog

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Bo by the fire

This dog would never ride an engine to put out a blaze.

This dog would never sit tall on a seat in a station.

This dog would never keep watch for sparks of danger.

But this dog is a fire dog.

She stretches every night by the fireplace in the den.

She rotates front to back, right to left, for even heating.

She twitches and jerks in her toasty, roasted dreams.

Our Bo is a fire dog.

Far Kingdom

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story

If I had to choose one thing that had the most impact on me in 2014,

I would choose the study on “Heaven” we did at our church.

I didn’t know Heaven was so exciting, so beautiful, so immense.

I wasn’t aware that Heaven was so much fun and full of adventure.

I couldn’t stop thinking about that far kingdom, seeming not so far.

That’s why this song has been playing in my ears as I drift off to sleep lately.

(Plus, I have a soft spot for husband/wife duos from the midwest.)

This week, this is my story, this is my song.

Far Kingdom, by The Gray Havens

One More Thing Before I Go

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Moses and I would have gotten along famously.  He was a list-maker, a rule-keeper, and a self-doubter.  I can relate to all of those tendencies.

My Bible Reading Plan for this year starts off in Deuteronomy where Moses begins to hand off his forty-year leadership of the Israelite nation to Joshua.  He spends eight chapters reminding the people of the covenant, of the commandments, and of the consequences of obedience and disobedience.

babysitterMoses makes me think of what PB and I used to do when leaving our four little kiddos with a babysitter.  I wrote down detailed instructions on dinner, TV watching, and bedtime.  Then I went over the detailed instructions with the babysitter.  Then I had her repeat the detailed instructions out loud to me.  As we walked out the door, we emphasized a few of the most important detailed instructions, adding a few more details to the instructions.

That’s Moses.  He gives the people step-by-step directions on entering the Promised Land.  He tells them what to do (Deut. 26:1-2) and what to say (Deut. 26:3-10).  He uses visual aids (Deut. 27:2-3), he stages an interactive ceremony (Deut. 27:12-26), and he sings them a song (Deut. 32).  Moses encourages the people to remember how God led them in the past, then warns them against forgetting God in the future.

He covers all the bases.

He drives his message home.

Then Moses demonstrates his greatest act of faith.

After parenting the people for decades, Moses leaves them in Joshua’s charge —

with a long list of detailed instructions.

And We’re Off!

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dirtyEvery family has it’s quirky sayings — pithy little proverbs that express volumes in a few words.  These bits of wisdom might come from a line in a movie or a quote from a book.  Or perhaps the maxims were handed down from past generations and the source is unknown.

My sibs and I recently had a conversation about sayings we heard in our home as we were growing up.  One such saying would have been said as the car backed out of the garage and we headed down the driveway, perhaps late for a school concert or a ballgame —

“And we’re off….like a dirty shirt.”

Evidently, dirty shirts were supposed to come off fast, because the gravel was usually flying in all directions as my dad pressed down on the gas pedal.  There was a sense of relief that we were finally on our way after numerous trips back in the house for something or another.

I had that feeling this morning — the first Monday of the new year.  After the slow, soft, easy days of Christmas break, this morning the pace picked up.  Back to responsibilities, back to schedules, back to gravel flying under the tires as I was off and running.

And so we are “off like a dirty shirt” into 2015.

 Next Monday: another family adage.  

In the meantime, what were some of your family’s unusual sayings?

Fresh Start

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freshSure, I stayed up late on New Year’s Eve, but I couldn’t wait to get out of bed this morning.  New Year’s Day is one of my favorite days of all.  It’s a holiday, so there’s plenty of time to lollygag in the morning, but it’s a day off with no presents to buy, no food to make, no expectations to fulfill.

All week I’ve been working on setting goals for the year ahead — making a plan and checking it twice.  Like a little girl with a backpack full of brand new school supplies on her first day of school, I hustled to my special chair this morning with anticipation.  A fresh start!  A new Bible reading plan!  A new journal with empty pages!  Let’s go!

If you need a little help staying on track with Bible reading this year, check out my 2015 Bible Reading Plan page.  I’d be thrilled to have you join me in reading a chapter a day (Monday-Friday with weekends free for catch up).  Let’s see what new things God wants to do in our midst in 2015!

“Be alert, be present.  I’m about to do something brand-new.  It’s bursting out!  Don’t you see it?”  Isaiah 43:19