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Move On

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged #forgettingthepast, #learningfromthepast, #lookingforward, #moveon, Regrets on November 21, 2017| 2 Comments »

phil

There have been days, months, even years when I might have wished for a redo of some part of life, my decisions, words or actions. These times have left me feeling the weight of regret, disappointment and feelings of failure.

As time passes, though, I am beginning to see that the mistakes, failures and disappointments have actually become something other than regrets.

Life, real life, is about moving from sweet to sour, hot to cold, smooth to prickly. Every stage teaching, stretching and introducing us to parts of ourselves we would never know otherwise.

The other thing I have come to know about my failures and regrets is that they are yesterday’s news. None of us can undo what has been done … to us or by us. But we can recognize that what is done, is done. It is in the past, and all we can do, from a forward-moving position, is to choose how to respond.

Those regretful choices, actions and behaviours in our lives can be opportunities to awaken each day with the God-given gift of a fresh start. But we do need to leave the past in the past, facing forward to the future to the now.

“I focus on this one thing:
Forgetting the past
and looking forward to what lies ahead.”
Philippians 3:13

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A New Commandment

Posted in GOD, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #anewcommandment, #byourlove, #jesusfinalwords, #jesusmagnumopus, #loveoneanother, #theywillknowwearechristians, Love on November 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »

New-Command

This morning I get to speak at our church, and so my post today is the ‘guts’ of that message.

Though out of season from the traditional church calendar, today I am going to take us back to Passover, specifically the Passover surrounding the final days of Jesus.

The message today comes out of the account of the Final Supper, is told from the perspective of John, and is recorded only in the gospel (the good news) of John.

Here is the setting:

Jesus is having a meal with his 12. And he decides that his dirty dozen need their feet to be washed.

Then there is Judas, who had all that Jesus offered to all of the disciples, but then the bread is dipped into the wine, and Jesus holds it out to Judas …

Can you imagine being Judas? Imagine looking into the eyes of Jesus, and choosing to take the bread, fulfilling the prophesies of the Old Testament, records of the Psalms and Zechariah. He CHOSE to take the bread. And, as soon as did, as soon as he made the choice, verse 27 tells us that “Satan entered into him.” So, Judas leaves to do Satan’s work.

Jesus is aware that the clock is ticking in regards to his human life. He is now with his 11 disciples, whom he is counting on to spread the news of who Jesus is, and who will give accounts of his arrest, his trial, his death, his rising from the dead and ascension into heaven. He knows that whatever he says may be the last of his words that these men hear.

He is about to share with them, his magnum opus … his greatest work yet. It is a testament or sermon, common in Jewish culture.

This reminds me of an annual practise in our household when our children were in elementary school. Each September we would get a notice from school … the earthquake preparedness notice. We would be instructed to put together, in a Ziploc bag a list of items (large garbage bag, nutritious snack bars, a deck of cards, a small toy, a water bottle, and a note).

That note … it made my heart stop every year. I would fill the plastic bag, ticking off every item on the list, leaving the note to last. And finally, after going to bed, after the house was dark and still, my quickened heart beat will force me out of bed, and I would boil the water, and stick a tea bag into it, then I would sit at the dining table, with paper and pen, and write what might be my final message to each of my children. And the tears would flow like the water in a spring brook … without choice, just flowing from a place higher up, that removed personal choice, from the action.

It was in the writing of those letters that what is really important, became really important to say.

Dear Cris,

I wish I was with you right now, but I am so glad that you can be with your school friends and your teachers who will look after you so well.

We are so proud of you. You have a heart for other people, and you do not care who they are, what they wear, how old they are … you just love people. Keep doing that, for that is what you were created for.

Be brave, like we know you are, my sweet girl, your daddy’s Red Rocket.

We are going to do all that we can to get to you, just as soon as possible.

Keep answering this question … you know the answer.

Mommy and Daddy love you, but who loves you the most?

It’s Jesus … don’t forget that. It is always Jesus who loves the most.

Do you hear our song? …

A, you’re adorable, B, you’re so beautiful, C, you’re a cutie full of charms …

Love you, to the moon and back,

Momma and Daddy

In John 13:33-35 (The Message), Jesus gave a new command to his followers (aka. those who would be the early Christian/Christ-following, yet imperfect) church:

“My children (he starts with “my children” … he is coming from a parental perspective, a perspective of limitless love, care and concern, just like my earthquake notes to my children), I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. Let me give you a new command (here it is, what is most important becomes the only message when it might be the last): Love one another. Now repeat after me Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another ponder those words … now look around this room of believers … he, the Christ, who died for you, and me, is calling his disciples, is calling us (his church), to love each other as he loved … his love was self-sacrifice, it was his death.

Then he finishes his last testament with these words:

This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

You know what I am hearing right now?

“We are one in the spirit
We are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity
May one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love”

“This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples
—when they see the love you have for :

The poor?

The unborn?

The drug addict?

No, when they see the love you have for … one another, each other.”

The Matthew Henry Commentary speaks to that verse:

“if the followers of Christ do not show love one to another, they give reason to suspect their sincerity.”

When the world outside of our church doors sees and hears of divisions within the relationships of Christ-followers, it makes the world doubtful of our authenticity, doubtful of the difference that Christ can make in the world. Jesus knew that this would be the case, and this is why he reminded his followers, all of his followers, in the form of a new commandment … love one another.

If we cannot get this one commandment right, the world will never fully see that we are followers of Christ, no matter how much we do for the poor, the unborn, the addict or any other person of need.

It is important that all members, like the disciples, who were the first followers of Christ, love one another. This speaks to the world more loudly than whether or not we are members, if we have ever taken part in communion or how we were baptized.

By loving each other we mirror the way Jesus lived, we show his unique, sacrificial, undeniable Christ-like love to the world. If we do not show love to one another … are we truly His followers, His church?

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Broken Bread

Posted in Faith, WONDER, tagged #brokenbread, #judas, #judasbetrayal, #judaschoosethebody, #judaschoosethebread on November 16, 2017| 2 Comments »

Holy Thurs- Last Supper 1

” … dipping the piece of bread, he (Jesus) gave it to Judas,the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.” John 13:26-27

I’ve read it before, probably dozens of times, and accepted it as a historical event. As with most historical events, I did not consider the the account as more than a moment in time, I did not consider it as an intimate, emotion-filled, relational moment in time.

When, at the Last Supper, Jesus offered the wine-soaked bread to Judas, he knew that he was holding out his body, broken and blood-soaked, to the one who, would betray him. He knew it because shortly before he said, “this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me'” (v. 18) and “after he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me” (v. 21).

Jesus is having a meal with his 12. And he decides that his dirty dozen need their feet to be washed. “my concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene.”

Then there is Judas. Judas had all that Jesus offered to all of the disciples.

Jesus came for the chosen, no longer just the Jew, but the Gentile as well. Being chosen was no longer a result of cultural blood, but of acceptance of sacrificial blood, spilt for us all. His blood is what binds us all together, and his blood came not from his cultural ancestors, but from love.

And then the bread is dipped into the wine, and Jesus holds it out to Judas …

He offered up the broken bread, and he offered up his broken body.

And, as soon as did, as soon as he made the choice, verse 27 tells us that “Satan entered into him.”

So, Judas leaves to do Satan’s work.

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The Culinary Miracle

Posted in life, The Hubby, WONDER, tagged #cookingfordummies, #roastbeef, #successfulwife, #theculinarymiracle, #yorkshirepudding on November 14, 2017| 3 Comments »

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As I bent to look into the oven, I closed my eyes, and whispered, prayerfully, “please let them at least look like Yorkshire Pudding”

and they did!

Only twenty-eight plus years into our marriage, I finally made a roast beef dinner to write home about (and not with laughing emojis, either).

To make a roast beef dinner has always been an anxiety-ridden attempt for me.

First, because is is hubby’s most favourite meal … ever!

Second, because I did not grow up eating roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding.

Third, because hubby has taken me to homes where the perfection of the roast beef dinner would make Julia Child weep like a baby. I mean how can a woman possibly compete with the culinary expertise of women with wrinkles, calloused hands and support hose?

It’s not that I am a novice in the kitchen. As a matter of fact, my turkey dinners are pretty amazing (if I do say so, myself), complete with stuffing that makes even the most disciplined diner, undo the bottom on their pants), I make a chicken curry that makes one’s taste buds sing in Eastern dialects, and I can create the most tasty hamburgers themed Mexican, traditional, Greek and Italian.

But roast beef success had failed to be mine.

This weekend I so wanted to make his taste buds dance. I knew that the only way to this man’s heart is beef gravy poured into stiff, well-raised Yorkshire Puddings, so I determined to win this man’s full attention with a culinary miracle.

I did what any (desperate) woman would do in my place … I Googled:

“melt in your mouth roast beef”
“Yorkshire Pudding for dummies”

And I did exactly what they told me to do.

And it worked!

Those Yorkshire Puddings stood more than an inch over the rim of the muffin tins (in the past they were never even visible at the rim). The beef so tender and juicy. The gravy was the icing on the … Pudding.

Ah, now I can fully and confidently walk, with my head held high, on the arm of my well-fed hubby.

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Dear Sir, I Remember

Posted in canada, WONDER, tagged #dearsiriremember, #greaterlove, #remembranceday, #wearapoppy, Thankful on November 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »

remembrance day

Dear Sir (who I never met, and whose name I will never know),

It is that time of year again, as a fellow Canadian citizen, to be thankful and to remember those (such as yourself) who gave their lives, so that I could live my life in freedom.

I have a good life.

I am married, and have three grown children. My youngest just turned eighteen (eighteen … if my son were to have been eighteen in the early 1940s …), and two daughters who are twenty and twenty-five (you might have had a girlfriend, a wife?).

I work in a high school, assisting students to do the best work they can on their assignments and tests (if you had not gone to war, would you have worked a trade? gone to university?).

My husband and I own our home, on which we often spend our time, cleaning or fixing up each spring and summer (did you help your parents on chores around your home growing up?).

My husband coaches community football to young men who are sixteen to eighteen (I wonder, did you play football, or other sports).

I love to garden, and read, and write (what did you like to do in your spare time?).

We are involved in our church …

did you attend church?

did you know the one who gave his life for yours?

the one whose sacrifice of great love mirrored your own.

I need to be honest with you, sir, I live a pretty ordinary life. I have never saved the life of another. I have not invented or discovered a cure for a life-threatening disease. I can be apathetic, sarcastic and down-right lazy at time. I have been known to spend far too much time on frivolous time-wasters like social media and Sudoko.

Was it worth it? You giving your life, so that I could live my days taking your sacrifice for granted?

I am thankful, sir. I am thankful when I hear or read of one, a kindred spirit of yours, who died a hero, stepping in, stepping up to give their life for another. I am thankful when this November 11 day rolls around each year, when the familiar, pin on that red poppy pokes at my arm, when the planes fly over, the songs are sung, the guns fired, the prayers offered and the silence …

Sir, please accept this letter of thanks. Please receive it as a love letter, from one who is undeserving of your sacrifice.

Your friend,

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Surpasses All Understanding

Posted in Faith, GOD, life, WONDER, tagged #mypeaceileave, #notastheworld, #surpassesallunderstanding, peace on November 9, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Screen_Shot_2017-03-02_at_07.53.10

“He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

… we say amen, but we pray that his power will not have to be made perfect in our weakness.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:2-3)

… we smile outwardly, while inwardly praying that it will just be a quiz.

” In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b).

… we squirm, wanting to shout “but I cannot handle the trouble I already have!”

Sometimes the promises in the Bible sound more like curses, than blessings. Maybe they are both. Maybe they go together … one a reality of living in a sin-filled world, and the other a salve to soothe that reality.

Or maybe the tough realities of living this life bring us to confront what only God can give,

peace.

Peace is not just freedom from conflict. As a matter of fact, the peace that Christ offers is a peace during conflict, and struggle and pain.

It is “God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand (Philipians 4:7). His peace is other-worldly, not attainable from any other source.

As he was preparing his disciples for his death and departure from them, he comforted them with his peace, which is still available to us today:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

In the Matthew Henry Commentary, it reminds us:

The legacy that is here bequeathed Peace, my peace.

Peace for all that is really and truly good
Peace for reconciliation and love
Peace with God,
Peace with one another
Peace within ourselves
A tranquillity of mind arising from a sense of our justification before God
It is the counterpart of our pardons
It is the composure of our minds
This Christ calls his peace, for he is himself our peace
It is the peace he purchased for us and preached to us, and on which the angels congratulated men at his birth.

May we reach out for that source of peace … the peace that is available to we mere mortals, beyond anything we could ever imagine.

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Invisible Wounds

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged #godsavesyourtears, #godseesandcares, #invisiblewounds, #mentalillness, #notallinyourhead, #silentlyinpain on November 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Though unseen to the naked eye, though not coverable with bandages, though no cast can hold all the pieces in place, and it is more difficult to rationalize taking a sick day, we all have had experiences or exposure to the invisible wounds in life.

hidden wounds For some they are the hidden illnesses, with debilitating pain, causing physical exhaustion.

For some they are the internal, chemical imbalances of the brain, bringing with them a heavy sadness that just will not lighten up.

Then, for others, the wounds are not only invisible, but also unrecognizable, undiagnosable, leaving a person to conclude that no one believes them, that it’s all in their head.

In his book, The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis has said, “Mental (or all invisible) pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “my tooth is aching” than to say “my heart is broken.”

To add to the wisdom of Lewis’ quote, “the frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden” making the load heavier, to the point of exhaustion, physical illness, and even incapacitation from daily activities.

David, in Psalm 56 (v. 8), was in danger. Though this was an outward physical danger, with regards to be being pursued by one who wanted to kill him, his expression of how he felt and responded to this threat was one that those with invisible wounds would be able to relate to:

“You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn
through the sleepless nights,
Each tear entered in your ledger,
each ache written in your book.”

We see in this verse that David knows and understands that the one who loves him most keeps his tears of pain (both physical and mental), and that every ache is recorded in a ledger … meaning that God sees, he knows that the pain is real.

In this God is verifying that it is not all in his head.

In this God is verifying that it is not all in your head. He sees, he keeps track, he records each tear, each invisible ache. Those wounds are not invisible to God … YOU are not invisible to God.

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The Church is a Not a Building

Posted in community, Faith, FAMILY, GOD, life, WONDER, tagged #loveoneanother, #thechurch, #thechurchisnotabuilding, calledout on November 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Screen Shot 2017-04-24 at 6.53.18 PM This past week was one where I came to understand and appreciate afresh the church as the love story that God intended.

Loving and sincere well wishes to hubby, after his resignation, from people near and far.

Visits from caring people, when one of a family member spent a few hours in hospital.

Messages from my co-ordinator at work, letting me know that there was someone on ‘back-up’ should I need to stay home the next day with my sick loved one.

True care for each other amongst our kids, all dropping everything for each other.

Offers of prayer from all around the world.

In the Greek and Hebrew language the word church is translated as meaning called out or assembly. In neither case does it refer to a building or institution, yet that is often what we think of when we hear or say the word, church.

The early church came together (assemblies) to worship the God who had come, clothed in human skin, to redeem his creation.

In John 13:34-35 (The Message), Jesus gave a new command to his followers (aka. those who would be the early Christian/Christ-following) church:

“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

The Matthew Henry Commentary speaks to that verse:

“Before Christ left the disciples, he would give them a new commandment. They were to love each other for Christ’s sake, and according to his example, seeking what might benefit others, and promoting the cause of the gospel, as one body, animated by one soul. But this commandment still appears new to many professors. Men in general notice any of Christ’s words rather than these. By this it appears, that if the followers of Christ do not show love one to another, they give cause to suspect their sincerity.”

Showing love to one another is the most distinctive action we can determine to do, in order to set ourselves apart, in order to be called out (to be the church).

By loving each other we mirror the way Jesus lived, we show his love to the world. If we do not show love to one another … are we truly called out? are we truly His church?

I am so thankful to be surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, who walk the walk, talk the talk, and be the church.

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The True Treasure

Posted in Faith, GOD, WONDER, tagged #martinluther, #openthebook, #the62ndtheses, #thebible, #thetruetreasure, #thewordofgod on November 2, 2017| Leave a Comment »

This week marks the five hundredth anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses, presumably on the door of the Wittenberg Church. To be honest, that was really the limit to what I knew of him until recently.

Though my knowledge is still lacking, I have grown in appreciation for his message in the 95.

In my quest to know and understand more about the history tied up in Luther’s most popular writing, I watched an interview with Eric Metaxis (author of “Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World”).

In the interview he stated,

“He (Luther) didn’t care what Luther thought. He cared what is true, what does God say, what does the Bible say? And if we find a place where the church has veered slightly from what the Bible says, we have to go with the Bible.”

bible

Luther knew that he, that humans, are not the authorities on truth. It is the Word of God, the Bible, which is our only source of truth.

An English translation of no. 62 of the 95 intrigued me greatly:

“The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.”

Luther wanted the the Church to realize and the world to know that the Word of God, the holy scriptures, were the the greatest treasure that we have, for it is in and through them that we are introduced to our redeemer who saved us by his grace.

Luther was not just pulling words or thoughts out of nowhere, for his sixty-second theses came from his intense study of and familiarity with the very Word of God. Such references as 2 Timothy 3:14-17:

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

There is not greater treasure in this world, and, unlike Luther’s world of five hundred years ago, we have that treasure in our homes, churches and in thrift stores. Now we just need to open it.

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Removing the Mask

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged #askquestions, #loveoneanother, #makeanefforttoknowsomeone, #removingthemask, #trickortreat, Halloween, relationship on October 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Tonight is the night for spooky costumes, trick or treaters and more candy received than dentists would ever desire people to eat.

atticus I have endearing memories of being at my grandmother’s house on Halloween night, helping her to hand out candy (and hoping she didn’t hand it all out, because I was more than willing to take it all off of her hands).

I remember her holding the candy hostage until the spooky visitor told her their name, and whether or not they lived on her her road (and, sometimes, who their parents were). She loved this opportunity to get to know her little neighbours.

I remember those dressed up like cute butterflies, pirates, firefighters and princesses. Then there were the ones that were taller, older, and had masks that completely hid their identity from us. Those were the ones that I felt more fearful and hesitant about letting into my grandmother’s home.

But, after my grandmother would ask her questions, once we knew it was the teen from the farm next door, or so-and-so’s grandson, or a stranger who slipped off their mask to smile and introduce themselves, all was well.

You see, the mask they were wearing was not who they really were, and once that mask was off, or the wearer identified, relationship entered the picture.

But, that was not the sole responsibility of the wearer of the mask.

You see, in my ignorance, I had pre-judged the individuals before my grandmother got to them. I saw them as scary, a threat, and I was wrong.

Last week I was wrong about someone, and I love it when I am wrong!

At the beginning of the school year I met dozens of students for the first time, and without intending to, I pre-judged them, according to their words and body language.

One student, in particular, I pre-judged as one who would not accept help, who felt they did not need help, who felt they did not need a learning support block.

In the past few weeks, I have seen a change akin to the metamorphic changes leading to the emergence of a butterfly from it’s cocoon. This student has accepted assistance, worked collaboratively with another student, and has even asked for help in understanding the next unit in a subject.

I was so wrong! And I am so glad.

So, was I just wrong? I don’t think so.

You see, what changed was that, in the beginning, I judged only from what I saw and heard. Much like the trick-or-treaters, when they first walked into my grandmothers house. It was not until I asked questions, in order to get to know this student, that I began to understand who this student really was … on the inside … under the mask that we all wear.

Relationship is what makes the difference in knowing and understanding people.

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