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An Inappropriate Touch

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged Alive, Clean, Dead, Get Up, Inappropriate, Luke 6:3, Luke 7, Numbers 19, Touching, Unclean, Whole on March 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

In our world of political correctness and legal actions it is sometimes difficult to know what is appropriate anymore.

If a child in kindergarten skins their knee is it appropriate for their teacher to give them a reassuring hug? If a co-worker has just discovered they have a terminal illness, is enveloping them into your arms acceptable? If a resident of a nursing home is sobbing through the stages of dementia, is it okay for the cleaning person who takes a few minutes to talk with them each day to offer a comforting embrace, and a shoulder for their tears to fall?

We all have social norms as well as written and unwritten rules. In the time of Jesus, one of those rules (Numbers 19:11, “Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days.”) was about touching dead bodies. To be ‘unclean’ in the Jewish tradition meant that a rabbi or priest (or anyone from their family) should not come in contact with a dead body, or else they would be ceremonially unclean. If they were unclean, they could not enter the temple to worship God. That meant that they could not come into the place of God, the presence of God.

There is a story in the book of Luke that fascinates me in regards to social expectations and inappropriate touching.

Jesus is heading into a town with his disciples, and followed by a big crowd of people. Coming out of the town’s gates was a funeral procession, for the only son of a widow woman. Jesus saw the mother and said … “don’t cry.” (more on this tomorrow).

He then pushed the social boundaries when he touched the coffin (the hearse, the stretcher) that her dead son’s body was lying on. He, who claimed to be the Son of Man (Luke 6:3), who taught as a religious teacher (rabbi), who healed as a spiritual man, who spoke of God as Father, had intentionally made himself, unclean. He broke the rules that were the foundation of Jewish society, of the society that he was born into. This was a big faux pas, and one that would not encourage a following from the religious leaders of the day.

Then he said, “young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” (v. 14-16)

Seriously, can you imagine a response other than being filled with awe and praising God? This guy was … dead! His body was being paraded through the town to where it would be buried or laid, and ‘he’, his soul, was no longer a part of his body. But, this stranger from another town (that would make many locals suspicious) tells him to get up, and all of a sudden he is awake and talking. So, of course they would be praising God. They knew that only the living God could do such a miraculous thing.

From the other miracles that Jesus performed, it would seem obvious that his touch was not necessary for the man to come back to life. Jesus did miracles where healing came from his touch, but in other instances, it was the faith of the one needing healing, or their touch to him, or mud. So there was no ‘magic’ in his touch.

It would seem that Jesus is trying to make a point (or teach a new lesson) with his touch. I am not sure exactly what his point might be, but maybe it had to do with the laws and societal expectations. Maybe this was his way of saying, “the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Maybe Jesus felt it was necessary to teach a new lesson on what was unclean (dirty, contaminated, dead), and how only He could make it clean (whole, alive) again.

Jesus came to erase the political correctness of His day, and I think, that with His ‘inappropriate’ touch on our hearts and souls and lives, we too might be clean and whole and alive again.

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Six Words that End an Argument

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged Arguments, Charles Swindoll, Disagreements, Discussion, fault, Fights, Heated, Matthew 7, right, sorry, wrong on March 27, 2012| 3 Comments »

As I drove home I heard a person (Charles Swindoll) on the radio say there are six words that will end an argument … guaranteed. So, I turned up the volume, and awaited the valuable information.

Now, this information could be valuable to me, not because I would ever need it, personally, but so that I could share it with those who do. My hubby and I would never argue … my kids and I would never argue … I would never have arguments with people at work or church (I know the Bible (Matthew 7:2-5) speaks of the speck of dust in the eye of another, when we have a log in our own … I wonder if you can have a log in your ears/hearing too?).

So the first three words guaranteed to end and argument are: I am sorry.

The speaker went on to say that those three words would take the (heated) air out of any argument or heated discussion. This makes perfect sense, as it is a sentence that does not allow the discussion or argument to become more heated. It is like cool water on a burn, it stops the heat from increasing.

What I am sorry does not do is say you are right, and I am wrong. But what it does do is it validates the other persons feeling of hurt, injustice, and being wronged. Even if there is reason (misinterpretation, or miscommunication) for the wrong to have been done, that does not validate or give acknowledgment to the ‘hurt’ person’s feelings. To acknowledge their hurt provides opportunity for them to get over IT, and move on. Without such an acknowledgment of responsibility makes moving on almost impossible, because it will be viewed as being repeated again in the future.

I have to say that in arguments past (not that I have been in many 😉 ), when I have heard the words, I am sorry, I melt. Most of the melting is outward, in the form of tears, but it does penetrate into my heart and soul too. There are no words that can change me from pit bull to pussy cat faster!

The next three words guaranteed to end an argument are : I was wrong.

I was wrong is the next step to I am sorry. This one is more weighty though.

To say, I was wrong, is to say that you are ‘manning up’, that you have shoulders that can bare the weight of your wrong, and that you are willing to carry the consequences of your mistake, all on your own.

From my experience, hearing the words I was wrong, are the immediate gateway to my forgetting that there was an argument in the first place. Those words can validate the hurt feelings of the other plus it takes the responsibility of the offense off their shoulders, and that is empowering. Now not everyone, in every circumstance will have the same response. For some that validation might just be reason for a temporary injection of heat to the moment. But, that injection is only a hot spot, because the responsibility has been assumed by the other, and now the source of heat is gone. When the source of heat has been extinguished, there is no possibility of reigniting.

As I look back at times when those six words were said (to or from me) in an argument, I can see how very powerful they are. And as I practice the use of them in the future, I believe their value will only increase.

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From Mundane to Magical

Posted in FAMILY, GOD, life, Love, The Beast, The Hubby, The Kids, WONDER, tagged Birthday, Break, Deaths, House Cleaning, Hubby, Kids, Magical, Mundane, Passion, Refreshment, Spring, Spring Break on March 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

As my two week Spring Break comes to a close, I feel refreshed and ready to return to work, and schedules, and earlier mornings (after all there ARE only nine more work days until a four day weekend … but, whose counting? 😉 ). When the break began, all I desired was a weekend away with hubby, regular walks on my favorite trail, and time with each of my kids.

It began slow, well no, it began busy, with a weekend full of activity for both hubby and I (church related). Once hubby’s time off began, four days into mine (really his time off began with him doing a full day of work-related paperwork 😦 ), I finally had time to get much needed groceries. To me, time off is not really time off until we are all off!

I had a delightful luncheon with a dozen lovely ladies, and three coffee dates with some of the sweetest women I know. Moments that refuel and encourage me, as a woman struggling to understand life.

There was the morning (oh yes, the entire morning) of ironing … it had not been done since September … sigh). There was the search for fabric for my daughter, that led to a five hour storage closet cleaning, ten bags of goods to the thrift store, and many giggles by my daughter over the photos of yours truly and hubby way back in the days leading to our wedding. Giggles that led to conversations about life, and hopes, and dreams.

There was a haircut, and lunch with my eldest daughter. There was a lunch and thrift store shopping day with my younger daughter. There was a movie date with my son. Moments with each of my kids, with no other disruptions, refills my momma heart like no other.

There were the deaths of two co-workers moms. There was the death of the fifty year old husband and father of six, two of his daughters are friends of my daughters. Moments that make you thankful for the mercy of another day.

There was more cleaning, and more purging, and more trips to the thrift store to dump another load. Another reminder of how much we have that we do not use, do not need … what I really NEED in my life should last longer than a trend?.

There were walks on my favorite trail. Walks in the sun, the rain, the snow and the hail (and that was just one day!). There were walks with hubby, with our Chinese son, with a daughter, and always with my beastie. Walks that refresh me from the inside out, walks that remind me of my Creator, and how fine His handiwork is.

There was the day of culinary therapy … something that my household was thrilled with the results of! How wonderful to create something(s) that I can watch others take delight in!

Then there was the Passion (Passion 268) concert featuring two great musicians, who led a sold out Rogers Arena in worship to God, and a calling to end human trafficking. Although I am a generation beyond their organizers intended attendee, I was reminded again, that we are all responsible for what we do, or do not do, to end such a horrific thing as use and abuse of fellow human beings.

And then there was my birthday, a delightful day when the sun was bright, and I was celebrated for my thirty-nine (with, now, four years experience) years, by family and friends, near and far.

Somehow, when when hubby and I are busy we function like a well oiled machine, but once the calendar is more cleared, the cracks in our relationship show a need for more oil, more attention, and a going deeper than “what does your day hold?” conversation. This resulted in a beautiful twenty-four hours away, to a beautiful, waterfront Hotel, where we watched the sun set at night, and the horizon lighten in the morning. A good reminder of what we already knew, but life can keep you from if you succumb to it’s demands, that time spent alone, as husband and wife, is the best thing you can do for your kids, for your health, and even for your ability to do your daily work. Lesson learned, and our next getaway is in the planning stages!

It has been a wonderful break. One that has refreshed my body, mind and spirit, refueled me for the days to come, and one that has given me much needed variety and options each and every day.

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Unfading – Part 12

Posted in Unfading, WONDER, tagged affair, Aging, Alzheimers, Amara, Being Needed, Childhood, Dymensia, Fear., Fiction, Forgetfulness, Loneliness, Memories, Mom, Story on March 23, 2012| 1 Comment »

This is another post in a series, about a woman named Amara. Every Friday I will post another segment in this story.

As Joy stood back up from kissing her sleeping mother on the forehead, she felt a hand on her back.

“I left as soon as I got your text,” came Joe’s voice before Joy had managed to turn around. He awkwardly pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, as she tried to piece together this rare expression of affection, her own arms dangling at her sides.

“Well this is odd. What is up?” Joy’s thoughts became audible words before she had a chance to edit them. Joe’s body stiffened in response.

Oh Joy, I so wanted to come home and be wanted, be needed by you.

“How is your mother doing? What happened? The last I heard was from your email saying that you and the girls were going to spend the night at her house” Joe tried to hide his hurt.

“Well, that was the plan. But when we got there …” Joy’s voice trailed off, as she glanced at her mother, sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed, as if to remind herself that the nightmare of her being missing was truly over. “… when we got there, she was gone. We looked everywhere imaginable, I called the police. Then I remembered the clearing and they found her there. She was rushed to the hospital, and has been here ever since.” Just saying the words, for the first time since it all had occurred, made the weight of all she had been through lay firmly on Joy’s shoulders. Suddenly, she was overcome with fatigue.

“Joy? Joy?” Joy could hear Joe’s voice, but it was drifting so far away. The next thing she remembered, she was lying on the small sofa bed in her mother’s room, with the face of a nurse too close to her own face. “Mrs. Jackson? You are in the hospital. Your husband is right here.”

“What … what happened?” Joy was coming to, but not sure what had occurred.

“It looks like you fainted, Mrs. Jackson. Have you had anything to eat or drink today?”

Joy struggled to remember what day it was, let alone what she had eaten. “I really do not remember,” she answered honestly.

“Mr. Jackson, could you please get a glass of water for your wife?”

Joe nodded, and moved towards the plastic jug of water on Amara’s bed table, filling the plastic glass, and returning it to the nurse.

Just then the door swung opened, and in walked a physician. “So what have we here?”

An hour later, Joy was already curled up, in bed. A cup of tea on her bed table, and Joe beside her.

“I can’t do this alone, Joe. I need your help,” Joy said, looking straight ahead.

Joe had never heard such vulnerability in Joy’s voice. She was the original Miss. Independent. Joy needed no one, ever, least of all him. Maybe her fainting in the hospital had something to do with it. He felt such fear and concern as she lay on that sofa bed in her mother’s hospital room. All of a sudden what was most important to Joe was more clear than at any other time in his life. He loved Joy, and he wanted nothing more than to be loved back by her. Joe was determined to do whatever it took to earn her love back.

Joe stared into Joy’s eyes, “Joy, I am here. You have me at your side, and I am not leaving … ever. I am so sorry for not being here for you in the past, I promise to do better.”

Tears fell from Joy’s eyes, and fell into Joe’s arms.

Unfading – Part 1

Unfading – Part 13

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What Would you Do?

Posted in life, women, WONDER, tagged Abuse, Choices, Life, Pregnancy, Pregnant, Psalm 139, single and pregnant, Unwed and Pregnant, What would you do? on March 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

What would you advise? What would you suggest? What would you do?

A young woman discovers she is pregnant.

She works an office job. She makes little money. She does not have a car … or her drivers license.

She still lives at home with her parents. A household where she has witnessed, and experienced, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

Her boyfriend, of a few years, asks whose baby it is. He is not planning to stick around!

She is pregnant.

What would you advise her? What would you suggest she do? What would you do, if you were that girl?

Really, what would you advise? What would you do?

The girl has options:
1. abort the pregnancy
2. go to term, and allow the baby to be adopted
3. keep the baby

What would you do? Seriously!

This is not a new, or uncommon situation. It is one that has directly affected the lives of many women, through all generations. It is not an easy situation. It is not a comfortable one.

Now, seriously, what would you advise? What would you do?

I will tell you what this young woman did …

She continued the pregnancy, and delivered a healthy baby girl. She kept the child. She, and her child, continued to live in her parents home until she met and married a man who proposed to her, and asked to adopt her child simultaneously. The child grew, and was joined by two brothers (who were royal pains in the … neck). She grew up, married, had three children, had friends, and hobbies, and a job she loves. She found her Creator through the faith and life of her grandmother. She has not had a flawless, perfect life, but she has had … life.

Today, forty-three years later, I celebrate my birthday. In real terms, I celebrate my meaningful life, because my mother made a tough decision, without any knowledge of how this decision was going to play out.

Even as I contemplate the circumstances through which she made her decision, and even though I am thankful for the life she chose to give me, I do not know that I would advise or counsel another woman to do the same. Her circumstances would make the decision to continue the pregnancy and to keep her child so … unwise.

Whether or not my mother acknowledged this at the time or not, we do not know the future, and we do not know the purpose in pain, or the value in struggle. Only our Creator knows why the DNA of two people came together to form a new being, a new life.

My life has not been flawless, or perfect. It has not been without pain, or struggle, or heartache. I have not lived a life without regrets, or sins. I have felt hurt, and pain, and not understood why bad things have happened in my life.

But, I have had … life.

And I have my mother and the strength that she possessed when she decided to continue her pregnancy to term, give birth to and raise me.

Thanks mom, for giving me a happy birthday.

Now, what would you have done?

^“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts,God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you. ”
Psalm 139:13-18

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Parenting Lessons from a Lion

Posted in FAMILY, life, The Kids, WONDER, tagged Adoption, Children, Christian, Christian the Lion, Freedom, John and Ace, Letting Go, Proverbs 22, Raising Kids on March 20, 2012| 2 Comments »

We have children for many reasons. For some, it is just what you do. For some, it is an inner desire. For some it is to create a new being out of your love with another person. For some it is to bring joy to our lives. And for some … it just happened.

Once we do have our own children, whatever reasons we had for having them need to disappear, as their desires and wants need to forever trump our own, for the rest of their lives.

The following video shows a clip of a famous (at least Youtube famous) story about two young and impulsive men who purchased a lion cub from Harrods of London many years ago. It tells of how they cared for him, and that the life they gave the cub was, obvious in the video, a joy filled experience. Their decision to raise a lion cub was quite an enormous responsibility, one that they (like us in our quest to have a child), perhaps, had not understood fully when they made that decision.

Now tell me animals do not form bonds, and do not express emotion! What a beautiful reunion of the lion who was chosen raised and saved by the two men who chose to raise, and then let go of the cub, for his own good. Really it was in their letting go of their lion that gave Christian life as he was intended to have it.

Often, as parents, we have a plan for the lives of our children, from even before they are conceived. We hope for their future, we try to protect them from harm, we lead them in directions that we deem best for them. I do believe that the intentions of most of us as parents are pure and good. But, we can be living vicariously through our kids. Or, maybe our kids are hindered to progress in their own lives, because we neglect to let them go.

It is in that letting go that avails us to beautiful reunions, when they chose to return and share with us, as parents, the joys and sorrows of their independent lives. The story of Christian the lion, and, more importantly, the men who purchased him, tells of the joy of giving freedom to those we love.

It is a challenge to let go of our children. It is a challenge to not see them as our possessions … something we hold, and keep to ourselves. It is not a natural thing to let our children go off and live their lives independent of ourselves. But it is in granting that freedom that we allow them to have the greatest success, the greatest freedom to be who they were created to be.

In a second, and last visit of John and Ace to Christian, in Kenya, they reflected on how far ‘their’ lion had come, “he was no longer dependent on any of us, and that was the most wonderful success … John and Ace are convinced that they did the right thing, giving him back his freedom.”

“Point your kids in the right direction—
when they’re old they won’t be lost.”

Proverbs 22:6

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The Hurt and the Healer

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged 2 Corinthians 12, Disappointment, Mercy Me, Pain, Strength in Weakness, Struggle, The Hurt and the Healer on March 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

As I spoke with a dear friend, my heart was so full of so many contrasting thoughts. She has been going through a really tough time lately. Actually she has been going through a tough time, probably for years. Recently though, her husband left.

We have all been through times when we beat our chests, and moan from a place so deep within us that the moaning is inaudible, except at extreme volumes, in our own ears. We might not have had a husband move out, but we have had our heart so broken that we were not sure how to keep going, how to keep it beating, how to keep breathing … how to stay … alive.

Maybe we were unsure of how to do all of that because we really just wished that our heart WOULD stop beating, that our lungs WOULD stop breathing, that we would no longer be alive. Maybe, our heart was so broken into pieces that we could not imagine going on another day.

I am sure that my friend had felt all of those feelings. I am sure that she has had days when she awoke in the depths of despair, and had no idea of how she would life her head. But, the other day, as I was speaking to her, I was in awe of the woman in front of me. She was hopeful, she was confident, she was ALIVE!

My friend talked of the various ways that God is working in and through this horrible situation she is going through. She talked about how her needs are being met. She talked about how this horrible, awful, hurtful situation has allowed her to know the love of God, and her need for Him only. She talked to me with the most peaceful, beautiful smile on her face, and bright wonder in her eyes.

She brought 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 to life for me:

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ’s sake,
I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

She did not say her pain was gone, nor did she tell me that the pain was all worth it. What she did communicate to me, with her hope and with her words and with her outlook on life is that, DESPITE the hurt and pain, she is resting in the strength of someone who can shoulder it for her. And her reliance on that source of strength is empowering her to live life more alive than maybe ever in her life before.

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Unfading – Part 11

Posted in Unfading, WONDER, tagged affair, Aging, Alzheimers, Amara, Being Needed, Childhood, Dymensia, Fear., Fiction, Forgetfulness, Loneliness, Memories, Mom, Story on March 16, 2012| 1 Comment »

This is another post in a series, about a woman named Amara. Every Friday I will post another segment in this story.

A noise from Joe’s cell phone on the table, plucked Joe from the moment. “My phone, not now,” Joe thought as his lips touched Roxanne’s for the first time. A kiss that he had been anticipating for months.

The first time they had met was at an annual general meeting for their employer, in Boston. She had held the elevator door for him as he was running for it, hoping to get on, so that he would not be terribly late for a session he was leading. Then they ran into each other again later in the week, at a coffee shop where they remembered meeting in the elevator, and shared a table and the fastest hour of Joe’s life. After that, the emails back and forth … just to keep in touch. Then she and her husband separated, and the emails became more personal, Joe taking the part of confidant and encourager. With more and more often there being talk of when they would see each other again.

Joy never seemed to need him anymore. They were living two very separate lives, under one roof. She with her running around doing things for their daughters, or her mother, and he working. Living with Joy had become more of a sibling relationship than a married couple one. He sometimes wondered if it would just be better for their daughters if they too were to separate, like Roxanne and her husband.

Recently, Joe was able to convince his superior (and himself) that he needed to personally check on the running of the office in Vancouver. The office which Roxanne was responsible for. So they were able to spend his two days there together, without raising an eyebrow. Of course neither one of them admitted to their self that they both had intentions that were anything but platonic. After arriving the day before, when Roxanne picked him up at the airport. The only time they had spent apart was during the night. Now, only about twenty-four hours after Joe touched down in the city, they were kissing, passionately, in his hotel room, admitting the desire they both had been feeling for the other.

This expression of passion felt so good to Joe. It was something that he and Joy had not shared in a very, very long time. And he could tell that Roxanne was fully responsive to him.

Again the noise from his cell phone, another text was coming in.

“I really do need to check this.” Joe said, with great regret. He walked away from Roxanne, who was standing by the door in his hotel room, to the table where his phone was lying. When he picked it up, he saw two messages, both from Joy, his wife, “love you” and the second, “Mom is in the hospital. It’s been an ordeal. Text me when you have a moment.” His heart felt like it was stopped. He kept reading those two words, over and over. “Love you” was not something that Joy had said to Joe is so long, it was something Joe had not said to Joy in as long. It was something he almost said earlier to Roxanne.

“Are you going to leave me here at your room doorway, or do you want to invite me in to stay?” Roxanne said, purring.

Joe read the two words again, and a feeling of dread, a feeling of regret gripped his being. He had made such a big mistake, and he had been moving towards an even bigger one. What would Joy think? What did he do? What would the girls …”

“Hello … Joe, you do remember that I am still here?” Roxanne asked cheekily.

“Uh, Roxanne, I need to go home, it’s an emergency,” Joe stood, grabbed his carry on bag and started filling it with the contents of a dresser drawer. He did not face or even glance up at Roxanne, who was standing there, but just moved around the room, filling his bag.

“Do you want me to drive you to the airport?” Roxanne asked, with great pleading in her voice.

“No, I will take a taxi.” Joe replied, still not making eye contact with her.

Roxanne turned, and walked through the door, shoulders hanging.

She did not even ask what the emergency was. Joe pondered, as he packed up his laptop.

He grabbed his bags, checked out of the hotel, and hailed a taxi to go to the airport. Joe was heading home … needed, and … loved.

Unfading – Part 1

Unfading – Part 12

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Jesus Gives a Test

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged Disciples, Feeding of the Five Thousand, Jesus, John 6, Miracles, Reliance on God, Sustenance, Testing on March 14, 2012| 4 Comments »

I re-encountered a teaching the other day that gave me a fresh perspective on the way Jesus thinks and teaches.

The teaching was on the story of Jesus feeding the crowd of five thousand (John 6:1-15) with five barley loaves and two small fish. The crowd had gathered after seeing and/or hearing about his miracles of healing. He had healed the blind, the mute, the lame, the leper and the dead … definitely the stuff of attention getting!

As this crowd was forming near Jesus and his disciples, he says to Philip, “where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 6:5) Now, I was not there, and have never been to the Sea of Galilee, but I am pretty sure there was no 7 Eleven near by, or even a bread vendor. Jesus really is asking a redundant question, because what he is doing is testing Philip, not asking for a suggested shopping place.

The following verse confirms this, “he asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do” (John 6:5). This was the unit test, and Jesus was looking to see if his followers had been paying attention.

The first response came from Philip, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (vs.7). Philip was being practical, I like that. Sadly, it did not reflect the unit teaching on the power that Jesus had, through his father, to do all of the miracles he had performed. So, sadly, Philip pulls off a fail.

The second response came from Andrew (Simon Peter’s brother), “here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Now he is offering a solution that is practical, but he is not sure how so little could meet the needs of so many. Hum, maybe pass him, but just barely a pass (or, if I was punny, I might say, ‘barley’ a pass … but, I digress).

Then Jesus gave instructions to his disciples about how to go about sharing the small offering, after he gave thanks for it. He gave thanks because he knew who the small answer to prayer was from. He also knew that any offering, no matter the size, that was in the hands of the redeemer, could be multiplied exponentially.

When the masses were satisfied, Jesus gave further directions, “gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted” (v. 12-13). The disciples did as they were directed (maybe with their heads hanging, for not paying attention to the miracles performed in recent days), and when they were finished they had filled twelve baskets with the left overs! They were given more than they ever hoped for or dreamed. And that is the abundance that God lavishes on us.

It is easy to read this story and, like when I was a kid, focus on the bread and fishes. I think though that the lesson had less to do with the sustenance that food provides, and more to do with reliance on our heavenly father that sustains us in daily life.

Too often we hear of a need, and our response is towards the practical. We listen to the person, we give them money, we invite them to church, we help them find professional counseling, we bake them a cake, or take them a casserole. Maybe what we should do, first, is take their need to our heavenly father, and ask Him to provide the sustenance that satisfies.

“Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that.
Work for the food that sticks with you,
food that nourishes your lasting life,
food the Son of Man provides.
He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last.”
John 6:27

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Faux Perfection

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged Adolescents, Beauty, Faux Perfection, Girls, Insecure, Isaiah 43, lies, Perfection, Teens on March 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“I am so fat.”

“I am ugly.”

“I hate my nose (substitute any other body part)”

“I am so flat.”

These are the “truths” that many, if not all teen girls believe about themselves. Most often these “truths” are not truths, but lies that have grown from a near microscopic-sized seed, planted by someone else, who had had no idea how immense the growth would be.

The growth of that seed results in the decay and destruction of the heart and soul of young and developing young woman. As it’s lies take root in the young lady, it pushes aside and alters the intended growth and development of that young lady. She becomes something that she was never intended to become. She increases in insecurity, she decreases in her understanding of her own abilities and value. She looses her own self in the lie.

Sometimes the far-reaching growth of these lies completely envelopes her heart, and changes the path of her life. Sometimes it hides deep within her, and the cracks it creates in her soul make it difficult for her to live with herself, even though the damage done is not seen by the eyes of anyone around her. Sometimes, it’s damaging overgrowth forces her to look for ways to escape who she thinks she is, and she does things to her body that can damage her and change her life forever.

Teen girls are the masters of comparison. They compare themselves with other girls. They compare themselves with celebrities on the covers of magazines. They compare themselves with girls who have a guys hand to hold.

As I walk the halls of the high school where I work, the church I attend, the malls where I shop, and the house where I live, I see the eyes of the girls who believe the lies. In those eyes I see the insecurities that have taken root from the lies that have been believed … hook, line and sinker.

It breaks my heart to see these broken vessels. Not because they are not beautiful, but because their ability to see and know their own beauty, their own abilities, has been suffocated by the lies.

If I could tell a teen girl anything, it would be that they are a one in a million gift. That the package that they contain, that they are, is of more value than any rare jewel. That, as they live their life as the precious gift that they are created to be, they are empowered to unwrap each layer of their gift, to reveal the purpose, and passion and beauty that only comes from within.

I would tell them : “Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. I have loved you with an everlasting love…I hold you in the palm of my hands. In my sight you are precious…do not be afraid I am with you.” Says the Lord God. (Isaiah 43:1-4)

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