April | 2019 | itsawonderfilledlife

Archive for April, 2019

Come Sunday

Posted in Nature/Creation, tagged #comesunday, #sabbathrest on April 7, 2019| Leave a Comment »

I believe that the most important part of the Creation debate is answered in the first five words of Genesis,

in the beginning, God created

From my understanding of the Bible, one must be able to have confidence that however he did it, in whatever length of time, God created, intelligently and intentionally, our world and all contained within it.

This knowledge or faith in God’s ability to create all is the scaffolding that gives us confidence in God’s oversight of every aspect of our lives.

We can know that he is in control,
even when we do not feel that control.

I recently heard a song, by Duke Ellington and Mahala Jackson, called Come Sunday. When I looked up the lyrics, I found myself to be drawn into the gift of Sunday … the Sabbath.

Now, the Sabbath is not necessarily a day on the calendar, so much as a pause, a reset in the week. It is a time, a day that is different from the other days of the week. It is a day of physical rest, of mental rest, of social rest (for the introverts 😉 ), of spiritual rest. It is a day that is different from the others in a week. A day when we give our weariness to him, rest in his arms.

We often do not realize the rest that comes to us by looking, not at ourselves, but at God.

Through our study of his word, our prayers, our worship and even in our acceptance of downtime, a repose, we are renewed and refreshed by ensuring that our hearts and minds take a break from our working, our endeavours, our creating.

The Creator of our world, and all that is in it, rested … therefore we rest.

Come Sunday
Lord, dear Lord of love, God Almighty, God above,
Please look down and see my people through.

I believe that God put sun and moon up in the sky.
I don’t mind the gray skies ’cause they’re just clouds passing by.

He’ll give peace and comfort to every troubled mind,
Come Sunday, oh come Sunday, that’s the day.

Often we feel weary but he knows our every care.
Go to him in secret, he will hear your every prayer.

Up from dawn till sunset, man works hard all day,
Come Sunday, oh come Sunday, that’s the day.

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She Stands with a Fist

Posted in life, The Kids, WONDER, tagged #resilience, #shestandswithafist on April 5, 2019| 2 Comments »

Another year, baby girl. Twenty-two years of life and living to celebrate.

I have been thinking about this birthday for weeks now, somehow it is haunting me as though there is something of greater significance than my eye can see, my mind can imagine.

Years before your birth there was a popular movie, called Dances with Wolves. None of it’s story really matters, just the name and story of one of the main characters, Stands with a Fist.

After another group had killed her family, Stands with a Fist was raised by a Sioux medicine doctor. She suffered the teasing and name calling of others, who only saw their differences. One day, she hit another woman in the face, hard, and she fell to the ground. The teasing ended that day, so began her tribe name of Stands with a Fist.

When Stands with a Fist first appears in the movie she is in deep mourning, for the husband who had died. She is seen injuring, mutilating herself, trying to create visible scars for the agonizingly painful invisible ones she felt, deep within her heart.

So, you might be wondering, what does this movie, this Stands with a Fist chick have to do with your birthday?

Well, you’ve had a season of losing your foundation, your security. You’ve experienced, in a number of situations, the impact of being different (even bullied in direct and indirect ways). You have struggled in your health, relationships, work, education, finances.

But, I saw something change in you … something that was never part of your nature before.

You started to raise your fists.

Not physically, of course, for your nature is non violent, but mentally, emotionally, relationally. You started to stand up for yourself, advocating for yourself, protecting yourself.

There is a strength in you, that I have not seen before, emerging. You are doing the hard things, the awkward things, the self-preservation things, not giving into the bullying of your struggles, but hitting back, refusing to stay in the dust.

Out of discouragements and heartbreaks and struggles and violations of all sorts there is a refusal to wallow and a move towards health … whole and complete health.

I see you rising from the dust of weakness and building a foundation that is partially what you first were given, and part the experience of life.

Know, though, that you do not have to fight these hard things alone …

Happy Birthday baby girl … may this resilience only continue to grow in you.

“We are pressed on every side by troubles,
but not crushed and broken.
We are perplexed
because we don’t know why things happen as they do,
but we don’t give up and quit.
We are hunted down,
but God never abandons us.
We get knocked down,
but we get up again and keep going.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-9

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Greater than Hope

Posted in Love, tagged #greaterthanhope, #sweettasteoflove on April 3, 2019| 1 Comment »

I was beyond discouraged, for so many reasons.

It seemed that what was happening in my circle was dire, without hope. It seemed that I was unable to provide any assistance, any real, lasting help for the ones who were tugging at my heart,

and I felt a profound, heavy sadness.

Every time I thought about it … this profound sadness, I thought of the the great sadness, described by William P. Young in his book The Shack.

This profound sadness is an all encompassing, weighted, life-smothering sadness that steals not only the present, but each moment that follows.

My mind was preoccupied with my helplessness, the hopelessness of the situation at hand.

Then I discovered words that stopped my circling the drain. Words that I had spoken to my daughter, about a client who had her heart aching.

love that girl … realizing that your reach into her life has limits. You can’t undo the past, you can’t decide her future (or even help her have a future), but you can leave her with the sweet taste of being loved.

Our ability to leave the sweet taste of being loved, in the mouths of people who are hurting, who are struggling, who are, themselves, experiencing profound sadness … could there be a better gift?

I think I (we?) want to do something that makes a difference, that makes it all better. I think I (we?) forget that there is nothing we could do for another that is outmatched by love … not even hope (or faith).