314 : Thru A Dirty Window – The Now & Not Yet

It took some time to settle my mind, to set aside my phone, to ignore my list of trivial, and yet seemingly so pressing, tasks, and to get into the groove with Jesus today. I so needed time to reflect and pray, to process and recalibrate my thinking — to set my mind on the things above.

There are elements of my life and work that I allow to shake “self” free and run wild. Today the Lord helped me lasso me, myself, and I back into perspective. What I love about Him is His willingness to incline His ear and listen to my heart’s wanderings and wonderings. What I love about His Word is its sharp blade that carves and shapes with such a gentle touch.

I’ve been reading Job, Isaiah, and Luke lately. Job keeps it real. Isaiah keeps His awesomeness front and center. Luke brings Jesus to life. What stood out to me today, after a good hour of conversation with God about my stuff, and some intercession for those who’ve been impacted by tornadoes and tsunamis, was recognizing (again) that something far greater awaits us beyond the now.

Every time I open the Word I’m reminded of His kingdom. We need to regularly let the Lord use His Word to speak truth into our lives. We need the daily reminder that true hope in Jesus will never disappoint. Only He is sure and steadfast. He is the one and only anchor for our souls.

For now:

“But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord,
a tower of refuge to the needy in distress.
You are a refuge from the storm
and a shelter from the heat (Isaiah 25:4).”

Not yet:

In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will spread a wonderful feast
for all the people of the world.
It will be a delicious banquet
with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat.
There he will remove the cloud of gloom,
the shadow of death that hangs over the earth.
He will swallow up death forever!
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears.

He will remove forever all insults and mockery
against his land and people.
The Lord has spoken!

In that day the people will proclaim,
“This is our God!
We trusted in him, and he saved us!
This is the Lord, in whom we trusted.
Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings! (Isaiah 25:6-9)”

315 : Thru A Dirty Window – Today’s Troubles

Life as we know it is fleeting. Cities and towns that once existed in places like Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and Tennessee have been wisked off the map in one fell-swoop. So sobering!

I find it easiest to keep going about my little life than stop and take in the horror and devastation I saw on the news last night. I don’t want to think about what that must feel like…I prayed a few feeble prayers, but felt helpless and so selfish. I’m glad it wasn’t me – how terrible is that to say? Yet, I was so inspired by those who stood bravely atop splintered pieces of what once stood tall as home and vowed to “get through it.”

Jesus said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow for today has enough trouble of it’s own.” The longer I live the more this exhortation makes sense to me. I find it very easy to worry about tomorrow, I don’t have to try because it comes naturally. I worry about Bob. He’s almost 59 and could die. Lots of people do at his age. Sometimes, if I don’t hear him shuffling around downstairs, I wonder if he breathed his last and I’ll find the shell of his body slumped on the floor.

I worry about my earthly influence. Does my contribution to the body of Christ matter? As I turn 52 will my contribution lessen, will I be relegated to a nice comfy rocking chair looking out over the gulf coast in south Florida? I imagine myself, misty eyed and nostalgic, telling stories to underwhelmed listeners, over and over, about the ministry at the University of Texas before there was Facebook, and Russia when it was still the Soviet Union…on and on I’ll go.

I worry about my family – my nieces and nephews who are growing up in a crazy period of history. Will they grow to love Jesus? Will God protect them from harm? How much will they have to pay for gas?

I could prattle on.

This morning, in one brief moment as I read the Word, I was reminded: “Today has enough trouble of it’s own.”

One day at a time.

I don’t know, nor will I ever know, what tomorrow holds. Live for Jesus with abandon today.

Thru A Dirty Window – Bowling

I’d have never made it as a professional bowler, in fact I barely make it as an amateur.

Nevertheless, Bob and I gathered my UNC girl’s study with his Duke guys group together tonight and played three rounds (or is it lanes, or lines, or feeble attempts?) It was really fun. We all started on a level playing field. We “high-5′d” whenever someone smacked a strike or scored a spare (more often than expected), and collectively groaned over gutsy gutter-balls (more often than not).

My arm and back aches, but I’m glad I went.

And, as I drift off to sleep I wonder who invented bowling?

317 : Thru A Dirty Window – It Is Finished

All weekend I’ve been reflecting on the fact that Jesus, as He breathed His last breath, before resurrection, said, “It is finished.” I will never comprehend the agony of those hours leading up to those powerful words, but I’m oh so grateful to experience, in so many ways, the finished work of Christ every single day.

I wonder what it was like when the Son of Man breathed His last, as the sky went dark and the earth shook, to hear rocks split, and watch tombs open and once cold, dead bodies turn from gray lifeless forms to living beings once again. Surely they smiled and laughed – it was just as Jesus promised.

The centurion guarding Jesus, who stood beneath God as He breathed His last, was afraid and said, “Surely this was the Son of God!”

At that same moment the veil in the temple was torn in two – no longer was there separation between man and God, and the torn veil opened wide welcoming one and all.

God demands payment for sin – He is holy, perfectly just and righteous.

God paid the debt Himself on the cross – He is merciful, and full of grace.

God finished the work – His blood cleanses and forgives.

God invites us into relationship with Him – He never leaves and always loves.

And so we celebrate Easter – Resurrection Sunday – because Jesus didn’t stay dead. Oh no, He rose from the grave. Victorious over sin and death. The invitation still stands – if you’re reading this and you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, He’s waiting for you with open arms.

It is finished. He is Risen!

318: Thru A Dirty Window – Twisters

Angry twisters screamed through North Carolina last weekend hurling and twirling pigs and people, rending whole houses – and consequently entire lives – to smithereens.

Ordinary life changed in one violent instant. Sobering, isn’t it?

Jesus said, ⁴⁶ “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? ⁴⁷ I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. ⁴⁸ It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. ⁴⁹ But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins (Luke 6:46-49).”

So, maybe it goes without saying, but just in case: Jesus gives us a (not so subtle) hint about life on this earth: “When the floodwaters rise and break against the house….” Suffering is inevitable in this fallen world, the floodwaters of life will rise, tornados will twist our lives into chaos, but there is One who stands firm and never changes.

As I read these verses recently I was struck by the simple truth laid ever so plainly across the page. For a long time I took this passage to mean that I needed to strive to build my spiritual house upon a rock. I needed to do, do, do everything I possibly could to prepare for the inevitable storm.

But what Jesus is saying here is so much simpler. When we come to Him (an invitation), listen to His teaching (we stop, pay attention), and then follow it (obey, do what He says) our foundation is set to withstand even the fiercest storm. And, He uses life’s twisters to reinforce our faith – in Him.

Wah lah! There it is again – it’s not about me and all about Him.

319 : Thru A Dirty Window – The Amazing Race

You’re invited to be a turkish fly on a wall, just for a few minutes – humor me. Imagine five groups of five Americans of various ethnic backgrounds, ages, and outlooks on life and leadership, scurrying through a Spice Market – Amazing Race style – looking for the next clue to lead to the next clue that circuitously wound around bins of fabulously orange paprika, deep ruddy red curry, comfortably sweet cinnamon, rich and spicy nutmeg.

Up countless side streets and alleyways. Turkish salesman called out “what can I get you today, what do you want, I’m sure I have it just for you.” We dipped and dodged everything from Persian rugs, hand painted ceramics, stacks upon stacks of brilliantly colored scarves, to shops armed with shotguns and ammo, fatigues and camouflages, and temporary lean-tos displayed fresh basil and thyme, budding geraniums and sweetly scented daffodils. We counted 238 ceramic bowls, tested the difference between Iraqi saffron and the lesser version, and carried a hot cup of tea through masses people without spilling.

We learned how to say “hello, thank you, my name is” and quickly caught on to the importance of asking for directions. Two guys in my group did ask for help-impressive.although I smelled the brewing of the bean, I had to forgo a cup until later. When the race was completed I treated myself to fresh orange and pomegranate juice, delightful.

I’m sure if you were a fly on the wall you’d make a few observations, and I wonder what they’d be.

321 : Thru A Dirty Window – Sweetly Broken

Broken: reduced to fragments; fragmented; ruptured; torn; fractured; not functioning properly; out of working order.

My Mac battery is not functioning properly, my flat iron is out of working order. A smashed Tiffany style lamp-shade (busted during our move south) is propped “good side forward” on the lamp downstairs. Defunct clocks, worn out hair-dryers, faulty flashlights, and a variety of other useless electrical junk sits, fractured, on shelves in our garage collecting dust and waiting to find its way to the dumpster. Somewhere along the way each broken item, which caused a level of distress, frustration, or inconvenience, has been replaced with a shiny new alternate.

Broken bones, ruptured tendons, improperly functioning hearts and lungs, fragmented emotions provide deeper challenges and aren’t so easily replaced. A friend of mine gave 3/4 of her healthy kidney to a woman who stood at death’s door because her kidney wasn’t working properly. CBS Evening News is reporting on an impending government shutdown. It’s no secret, Congress in the U.S. is broken. I watch as startling photographs and videos of ravaged towns and cities in earthquake damaged Japan scroll by.

I don’t think I like broken.

This week as my team and I talked about personal brokenness, I identified chips on my shoulder, deep cracks in my heart, and kicked around jagged pieces of self-centeredness and pride. But, instead of looking for a replacement, I realized in a fresh way how my brokenness is precisely why I need a Savior. I didn’t just need Christ’s mercy and grace on June 1, 1979, but I need it right here, right now. It’s just like Jesus isn’t it? He makes us new, sets us free, gives us true life through brokenness. He perfectly restores, eternally forgives, unconditionally loves through death on a cross.

Sweetly broken.

 

322 : Thru A Dirty Window – Do You Glee?

Glee, it’s all about high school, right? Mean girls, comparison, love triangles, and (this might make you blush) a whole lot of sex. Granted, sex in the 21st Century is a lot more complicated than when I was a girl, but that’s not really what I want to talk about.

I’m drawn to Glee because of the music and the talent. But, I’m often taken aback by the off-handed way the writers handle some of the most serious issues we all faced in high school. I remember all too well! Insecurity, comparison, conflict, and compromise ruled my days, and I regularly faced moments when I had to make life-changing choices. And believe you me, bursting into song wasn’t an option.

But, I can’t help but think of the number of women I talk to who deeply regret decisions they made it high school, they still believe lies they heard in the girl’s bathroom back in 11th grade. I counsel women who, long after graduation, grieve losing their virginity with some careless guy. Do you know how many girls in high school have abortions? The scars are deep and real. So, let’s sing about it?

If I look at Glee through a dirty window I might decide to turn it off. In fact, I might say it portrays me as a bigoted, narrow-minded, uncompassionate nincompoop. I might notice how it makes a mockery of my faith and pokes fun at my Savior.

But, if I look beyond the now into the not yet, I see it as an opportunity for a deeper conversation. Squeezed between the shallow and ridiculous are opportunities to talk about identity, morality, and ethics. Crammed into the lockers of William McKinley High hides the reality of brokenness, the longing for real love, the pain of heartbreak, isolation, and loneliness. And, even though Sue Sylvester’s take on praise and worship (as seen in last week’s episode) is grossly twisted, the truth is, Jesus really and truly is our one true friend.

He came to seek and save Losers Like Me.

Sing it with me!

323 : Thru A Dirty Window – I love a great deal

So, I really do love clothes. And, although I’m on a rather tight budget, the Lord provides all sorts of fun deals for me to enjoy. For instance, I recently used a gift-card from TJMaxx to purchase a very trendy spring jacket. Black and white and just plain chic.

One of my shopping strategies is to regularly peruse the sale racks at my favorite stores: Banana Republic, The Loft, Nordstrom, Anthropologie, with low expectations and a sharp eye.

Today, as I breezed through Banana Republic, I found two pair of skinny cords – each regularly priced at $89.50, marked down to $11.97, with an additional 25% off.

Ahh! There’s nothing like a great deal.