Clouds of Discouragement

        It really isn't hard to become discouraged. We turn on the news and feel the weight of the world on our shoulders...or closer to home, we feel the pain of failed relationships, financial struggles choke us, the stress of life overwhelms us and the waves of despair threaten to drown us. Perhaps you, like me, have felt like the clouds of discouragement are surrounding you?

If this is where you find yourself today, there are 2 paths you can take:
First of all, we need to recognize where discouragement comes from. Discouragement comes when we have expectations and desires that are not met~by others, circumstances or even God. If we choose to hold onto our discouragement, dwelling on it...it quickly turns to despair, which leads to destruction...destruction of our thoughts, our attitudes and our actions and eventually our lives. Look at what the writer says in the 42nd Psalm, "My tears have been my food day and night...Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?" Maybe you can relate today to those ancient words?

BUT, THERE IS ANOTHER WAY:
The next verses point us to the way out, "Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God....By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me~a prayer to the God of my life."
There are 3 things that give us direction when we have those unmet expectations and desires:
1)TAKE them to God. In honest prayer, lay them at His feet. He is big enough, strong enough and wise enough to handle our disappointment...we are not.
2) TURN to Him. The way OUT is UP. Turn your focus from yourself to God. The more we look to Him, the more Magnificent and Glorious He is...let your awe for Who He is overwhelm you and your discouragement may not disappear, but it will definitely be put in the right perspective.
3) TRUST Him with all of it. Don't hold onto any of it, it will only weigh you down. He knows exactly what to do with it...

When we TAKE our discouragement to God and TURN to Him in TRUST, a funny thing happens...our He alone can take our DIScouragement and turn it into ENcouragement! <3

Love Wins...Remembering 9/11

As I drove my son's carpool to school this morning at the crack BEFORE the crack of dawn (the tardy bell rings at 7:10 AM), I saw God reveal something of His magnificence....a breathtaking sunrise. In awe, I said to the sleepy teenagers in my car, "Wow! That is God's glory painted for us in the sky!" They probably weren't as thrilled by His masterpiece as I was, but my son did get my phone and take a bunch of photographs for me...I think he secretly enjoyed it as much as I did:) 

As I pondered the beauty of this new day dawning, I could not help but think of all the truth and comfort that God was speaking through this work of His hands. On this somber September day, that carries for us a dark and sorrowful reminder of one of the ugliest and most vial evils ever committed against our nation...God, in His graciousness, reminds us with every sunrise He paints...

that He is still sovereign, 

that there is still breathtaking beauty in this world,

 and that His mercies are new every morning.

So, in memory of all those who lost their lives because of the evil desires of men...

let us slow down, breathe deep and look around...   God IS still displaying His brilliant, transformative love through the beauty He puts all around us each day... 

Drink in His warmth when you see the sun. 

Be reminded of His cleansing Spirit when you feel the rain on your face.

Think of the everlasting life He offers when you smell the evergreen trees.

As long as we have breath in our lungs, let us not forget that there is no evil anywhere, that can ever overcome the love of Christ poured out for us and on display for us to see...a sweet reminder that in the end

LOVE WINS.

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world. ~Ps. 19:1-4

Finding Our Bearings

Untethered from her moorings and drifting out to sea,

she looks for her bearings as the darkness descends

and the skies turn from gray to black.

Suddenly, she remembers an ancient map of old

given to her by those of long ago.

She studies the outlines of the distant shores, 

wondering if the landscape has changed

and if what was is no more? 

“Is this map outdated?” she muses,

as her doubts slowly take the shape of discouragement.

Will the darkness grip more tightly or will she find a way?

The waves begin to grow and loom

as the heart and helm are suspended with fear and indecision.

The ship stalls...and the sailor looks up in a cry to the heavens

 for help.

As her tear filled eyes search the night sky for some hope,

 a star appears

Evidence of the constant One who so carefully put each of these in place.

The Designer of All gently reassures her heart. 

 Comfort and direction descend from above and wrap around her like a warm embrace,

as the sweet faithfulness of the God who penned the map and hung the stars

comes more clearly into view

she is drawn to the safety of His shore,

guided by the truth of a Light that always shines.

Leading, loving, and legacy...all wrapped into One.

The Anchor for her soul.

The Silversmith and Silver Anniversaries

Silver is a metal that as it is refined in the heat of the flame, the impurities that darken and hide it's beauty, slowly fall away. The silversmith must keep a close watch on the silver during the entire process to insure it's beauty is brought forth and not destroyed. Over and over, he carefully puts it into the center of the fire and then withdraws it, studying it closely to see if it is ready. Then, the moment comes when he knows that his work has brought forth beauty...when he sees his own reflection in it. The black, dingy piece of metal has now become valuable, because of this reflection...because of the work of the faithful silversmith. 

There is a reason that the 25th wedding anniversary is represented by silver. As my husband and I celebrate ours today, I can't help but see the parallel of the years to this process...
When we first got married, there were so many "impurities" of selfishness and pride, that it was often hard to believe there was anything of value under all those layers of dingyness. But through the years, as we have surrendered more and more of ourselves to the Silversmith and the wisdom of His plan and purpose, and as He has used the "heat" of life and marriage, we can see that His gentle hand has slowly removed and refined much "slag" or impurities from us. Refining is not an easy or overnight process and we are by no means perfect, but I am thankful that our Silversmith has always been watchful and patient over these 25 years. He has never left us to be destroyed in the heat, but has brought our marriage to a place where it can begin to become what it was intended to be by the Silversmith, from the beginning of time...a reflection of His sacrificial love to the world. 
I pray His reflection becomes ALL that can be seen over the next 25 years... Amazing grace!

A Letter to My Wounded Sisters

  My Precious Sister,

   I have wept silent tears for you. My heart aches for the burdens you have been carrying for so long...weighing you down and stealing your joy. 

 I have walked the depths of the valley you are in. I have known the long nights of crying out in the darkness.

    I see your weariness. How tired you are of trying to outrun it. Done with trying to find a mask that covers it. Worn out from striving for some accomplishment to overcome it. Yet the fear, the shame, the hurt is always with you...haunting you, whispering the lies that only you can hear...drowning you in despair and exhaustion.  

   The scars you wear are solemn reminders of your desperate attempts to hide the pain hidden deep. But no matter how many cuts you make, you can't make the dark disappear. 
    
    Please hear me sweet sister: 

YOU ARE NOT ALONE! 

   Oh, I know you believe that you are, that no one could possibly understand what you feel. And so you have retreated further inside yourself. 
 The enemy of your soul wants nothing more than this...to isolate you, to pull you away from the One Who formed you (Psalm 139:13), the One who sings over you every morning (Zephaniah 3:17).
When will you stop doubting His heart toward you? Don't you know? Haven't you heard? From the days of our sister Eve, the Enemy has been spinning the same old lies...that God isn't really for you, maybe everybody else, but not you...that He is holding out on you like some vindictive, promise breaker who can't be trusted? Satan subtly sows the seeds of doubt that bring forth despair. 

   What do I say to convince you that the love He has for you is deeper than your wounds? How do I help you know that this love He has for you is wide enough to carry all your hurts and long enough to last forever? (Eph.3:18-19)That the One Who made you knit all the parts of you so tenderly (Psalm 139:15), with every cell a stamp of His Divine Image upon you? 

So how do I make you see that you are so beautiful to Him? Not just to know it in your mind, but have it permeate your heart so completely that you see the masterpiece He made you (Eph.2:10) every time you look in the mirror?

No words of mine could match the Word that He has already given. His Answer to every doubt you have ever had. The depth of His love for you has been clearly proven. There is no more evidence that can be offered that could possibly speak more precisely and dispute more completely every lie that the enemy has ever told you. 

God answered Who He really is and how much He loves you on the Cross. 

There is only One who can truly heal your wounds because of His. And it wasn't because you were pretty enough, smart enough, good enough...it was when you were at your worst that He loved you enough to die for you. 

That is the place Truth can be found. So stop trying to find the answers from within your own mind or experiences. Look up and see the Cross, the evidence of His love  that silences the noisy lies in your head. 
 Every lie the enemy had ever spoken was refuted. 

All you have to do is believe He loves you like no other. Always has. Always will. 

   




   

Who Is This Jesus?

    Luke 22:66-71

You'd think they would have known. After all, they had spent their lives studying and teaching the Scriptures, and leading God's people. But the blind often lead the blind into darkness and no one even knows they've been going in circles, until Someone comes with a Light.

    They point blank asked Him to tell them who He was. 

"If you are the Christ," they said, "tell us."

"Are you the Son of God?" 

    Standing right there in front of them, He did just that, clearly and plainly for all to hear. 

"You are right in saying I am." 

Christ before the High Priest
about 1617, Gerrit van Honthorst
copyright National Gallery of London

    I Am. Jesus' words echoed God's first naming of Himself to Moses, "Tell them I Am sent you." The Mystery, Majesty and Magnitude was far too great to fit into an ordinary Name. Centuries later, here was the Messiah claiming that same Title...that same Mystery, that same Majesty and with that same Magnitude. How could this have been missed by the very ones who should have recognized Him? How did they not know Who He was? What caused their blindness?

Perhaps when 

 Hearts are hardened by jealousy we cannot hear the whisper of His Voice.

or the 

 Fear of losing power & position put blinders on our faith,

while

 Our finite minds limit an infinite God with intellectual pride 

and 

Our selfish expectations turn into demands of who we think God should be.

Head knowledge alone doesn't melt a heart of stone. And only Jesus can transform a heart with a stone rolled away. 

    Here we sit today, with endless knowledge at our fingertips and the empty tomb open before us and who do we say this Jesus is? 

    If we say that we believe Jesus is our Savior, are we living blind and deaf to Him in our midst?  How does this Jesus change our hearts, our lives, our ways? Do we love more, do we extend mercy and grace to others even when they don't deserve it? Does it change the kind of husband/wife, parent and friend that we are? Does it make us yearn to know Him more? 

    The Mystery, Magnitude and Majesty are standing right in front of us this Holy Week...may we all have eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts that respond with the eternal joy of faith that lives out this bold claim:

He is I Am!

    

Never Say Never

  

   He said it. Everyone there heard him. When Jesus told Peter his faith was going to falter, Peter emphatically denied it. He even upped the ante with a mixture of pride and self-righteous indignation, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." There it was...Peter's words, not so unlike our own, "I'd NEVER do that." 

Never say never.

"I'd never hurt a friend"...and then we gossip.

"I'd never tell a lie"...and then we give a false impression.

"I'd never kill"...and our careless words destroy someone.

"I'd never be disloyal"... then the going gets tough, and we bail.

"I'd never deny Christ"...and yet we do.

   

    The faltering comes to all of us. The moment we invest in our own abilities, we, like Peter, are vulnerable to being "sifted" by Satan. That is our first misstep. This is the subtle, yet dangerous attitude that takes us on that first step toward denial. We see in Peter's story, the next step. "Peter followed at a distance."(Luke 22:54) and then quickly after that, the third step, "Peter sat down with them."(Luke 22:55)

No longer close to Jesus' strength and protection, Peter then tries to identify himself with the crowd. 

    The stage is set and the three denials that he ever even knew Jesus come swiftly and without thought of anything other than his own self-protection. 

Faith has been replaced by fear.

And the rooster crows.

It is at this climactic point where the inevitability of human failure collides with the purpose of Christ's crucifixion. 

"The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter."(vs.61)

It was that heart penetrating look, that simultaneously spoke of truth and grace...of deep knowing and merciful forgiveness...of sorrow and of love.

It was in that moment that we see clearly the impossibility of our own ability to remain loyal to our Savior in contrast to the faithfulness of Jesus, even to His sacrificial death on a Cross 

for us. 

And just as it did for Peter, that realization should take us to our knees, in humble repentance.

As the grace of it all takes our breath away.