Slow, Still, Wait.

A few years ago my family started taking vacations. Though we had been married almost fifteen years, it was not until that point in our relationship that we had the desire, finances, and ability to align our schedules to take a significant trip together. Since then, we've been all over the United States and twice to Canada. I love to see landmarks and experience once in a lifetime moments.

We've also been working on capturing these moments with photos. I don't want to be that mom who takes pictures of everything their child does (you know that parent, right?), but I don't fully trust myself to remember it all. As I type these words, I look to the corner of my living room where many of these photos are hung.  My mind goes back to those moments when...

My son lost his tooth at a baseball game.

My family got free ice cream.

My son ordered strange food at a restaurant.

We toured a battleship.

My husband and I ate at a restaurant with a fantastic view.

Dee Strange-Gordon picked my son out of the crowd to give a baseball.

Both times my sons pretended to be chased by a dinosaur.

As I approach forty (ten days, and counting), I find myself slowing down.  Not slowing down as if my battery was running out of juice - though that's certainly happening more - but as if I don't want to run through life as fast.  Perhaps that's what happens when you realize it's possible you have fewer years in front of you than behind you.

I mentioned to a friend this week my reluctance to turn forty.  He reminded me that I may want to reconsider my stance; turning forty, after all, is better than the alternative. Point taken.

Yet even in my slowing, I find it hard to be patient. I remind myself that some things just take time. Patience is a work of the Spirit in me (read: here). When Jesus told His disciples to wait, they started asking Him what He had planned (read: here). The disciples weren't the only ones to struggle, think Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Aaron, and all the Isreaelites in the desert for that fact.

Instead, I seek to live in patience.  To worry less about what is happening around me, and to allow my paitence be a holy act of commitment to God. I will wait.  I will be still.  I will not be upset. I will not allow sin to win.  As the psalmist wrote:

Be still and wait patiently for the Lord to act.
Don’t be upset when other people succeed.
Don’t be upset when they carry out their evil plans.
Turn away from anger and don’t give in to wrath.
Don’t be upset, because that only leads to evil.

(Psalm 37:7-8, NIRV)

The People in My Neighborhood

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.  (Galatians 6:10, NIV)

This week in my group Bible study, we discussed the idea of using the gifts God has given each one of us. I've been enjoying The Weekly Faith Project, but this week's study challenged me deeply. The author approaches the idea from the standpoint that we should be serving where the things that bring us joy meet the needs of those around us. That intersection should be our passion.

Things that Bring Me Joy
I was hesitant to literally make a list of the things that bring me joy because I couldn't understand how the things I like to do are related to serving God. (If you can already see where I'm going, please stop rolling your eyes at how widely I missed the point.)  I have a very narrow view of what it means to serve God, at least in practical application.  When I think of the women at that Bible study, I think of women who have served God by loving me: by leaving me special voicemail messages, giving gifts to my children because they were thinking about them, by allowing my family to repeatedly use their home, and by simply sharing one of a kind friendships over the years.  None of these are traditional means of ministry, and yet each woman (and their spouses, too) has uniquely served God by showing my family these kindnesses. As the Spirit spoke and my heart was convicted, I jotted down a quick list.  I like writing, cooking, traveling, gathering, organizing, and meeting people.  Obscure as they are, these are things I love.

The Needs Around Me

Again, I was hesitant to make a list of needs because I didn't want to write down generic, universal needs.  It turned out that most of the other woman also thought of these things that we all need: love, forgiveness, acceptance, and so on.  For me, writing down these types of things made me painfully aware of the fact that I was not immediately tuned in to the needs of those around me.  If resources were fully available and I had to chose a way to serve someone right now (and I mean literally right now), I'm not sure I'd know what to do.  Perhaps that is because this is hypothetical, but it seems more likely to me that I wouldn't know what to do because I am not in touch with the needs of those around me.  It makes me sick to my stomach to think about this. So I took a step back.  Who are the people around me?

I began to think, really think, about who I encounter in my daily life.  I broke it down into a few categories:

• The people closest to me are the people I care most about and love deeply.  They may be friends or family, and some of them are people I don't see regularly.  These are the people I would feel comfortable asking for anything if I needed it.
• The next closest group of people are casual friends, those who most of us would call acquaintances.  Some I have not known very long, and so the relationship is not very deep.  Some I have known a long time but because of the nature of our relationship we are not deeply bonded.  For most of my life, colleagues would have fallen into this category, but to varying degrees.
• Beyond them are the most distant person who can still be called a friend.  They are people I know of, know in part, and have met sometimes repeatedly with no significant relationship being formed as a result.  I'm calling them friends of friends, although sometimes these people are relatives who I have an undeniable connection to despite essentially being strangers.
• The last group of people I know are the random people I meet - maybe once at a party, as a client, or sitting next to them in a waiting room.  The other group of people I include here are the regular strangers we see - the guy in the grocery store who restocks produce, my dry cleaner, or the couple who walks their dog past my house.

As this image of who I know began to form, I heard the theme song from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood in the background.  There were no strangers to Mr. Rogers, only friends he hadn't yet made.  While that idea of a neighborhood might be oversimplified, it doesn't have to be as complicated as we sometimes make it.

I return to the original question: what are the needs of those around me and how do I use what I enjoy to meet those needs?  I'm not sure I'm much closer to the specific needs of those around me.  I'm not sure I want to list them here even as they come to mind.  For now I am content with knowing that my eyes have been opened to another way of serving God. I pray my eyes see the needs of those around me and that I act every time I can.

Click HERE for other posts inspired by this devotional.

What I Heard: Peacemakers

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
(Matthew 5:8, NASB)

I hate to say that there are parts of Scripture that I like more than others.  I suppose it might be more accurate to say that there are parts of Scripture that I favor more than others.  The stories and ideas that speak to me most draw me in, while other parts do not receive the same focus.  For years I was fascinated by Genesis.  I still consider it the Bible's soap opera, filled with enough betrayal, love affairs, and scandal to give Days of our Lives a run for its money.  For a while I couldn't get out of Hebrews.  The way the author tied together the Old Testament and New Testament kept me turning back to its thirteen chapters.  Most recently I have been captivated (no pun intended) by the Israelite's escape to freedom, what we call the Exodus.  However, the Beatitudes do not get this same attention from me.  I have often turned to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, but those first few verses in Matthew 5 get moved past quickly.

Yesterday was the first Sunday we met on our church campus for three months.  Everything about it was different - the format, the expectations, and thanks to a flood in our sanctuary even the location.  Yes, for the first time that I can ever recall, we held our Sunday morning service al fresco.  When I was a teenager we held our Easter sunrise service outside, but the main service was always held in the sanctuary.  Even in the late 1980s, when our sanctuary received a significant remodel, services were held inside - sometimes with blankets because it was cold and there were no windows, but always in the sanctuary.

To grossly oversimplify what my pastor taught: We are not called to be peace-experiencers, we are called to be peace-makers.  There are four common expressions of peace making:

1. We make peace with God.
2. We make peace with others.
3. We help others make peace with others.
4. We help others make peace with God.

I won't reiterate the details of his sermon, but if it becomes available on our church's YouTube page, I will link it here.

As I thought about what I heard, I wondered what practical actions make peace?  In other words, how do I actually make peace in all or some of the above capacities?

Walk in Peace

I cannot overlook the fact that peace is an attribute of God; Scripture makes that clear when it says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-25).  I was recently reminded that fruit does not exist for the the tree that produces it, but it does exist to grow new plants and to nourish the animals that eat from it.  Similarly, I do not experience the fruit of the Spirit for my own benefit.  It is for those around me.  If we are believers, people of the Spirit, we should walk in the Spirit, and that includes walking in peace.

    Another passage that has often drawn me in is the book of Malachi.  How can you not be intrigued by a prophet whose message from God was that He'd rather we shut the doors of the temple than perform useless rituals.  I believe that before the quarantine, but after three months of doing "church at home" I understand it a little more.  For three months I have had few, if any, questions about why the cups at the church coffee bar are a certain size, why the bulletin does or does not have particular information, or why we don't host a certain event.  I still believe that corporate church body has a special place in ministry, but I'm learning so many things were useless fires. Later in Malachi we read about the job of the priests.  We read "true instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity" (2:6).  As a priesthood of believers, I believe we are also called to speak truth and not wickedness.  When we walk in peace with God, many will follow.

Speak Peace

Have you ever noticed that words have meaning in Scripture?  There may no better example than Genesis 25 when Jacob tricks his father into giving him the blessing that was intended for his brother.  When Esau learns that he has been tricked (again!) by his brother, he asks his father if there is a way to make things right.  I feel bad for Esau.  Sure, he hadn't made the best decisions, but he was duped by Jacob.  We might have found ourselves advocating for Esaus.  Isn't there any way for Isaac to take back the words he spoke over Jacob?  We understand the circumstances and the deceit (this is some of that classic Genesis scandal I mentioned earlier), but there would be no blessing for Esau.  What had been spoken would stand.  I too need to remember that my words aren't "just words" as if they have lesser meaning than other action.

    In Malachi we see also the power of words, and the prophet goes so far as to say that the priests "have wearied the Lord with [their] words" (2:17). They preached a wrong gospel, saying that God was happy with evildoers. This is a just one point in a long list of grievances against the priests, but again it shows that our words matter because the represent our hearts. As Jesus would say it, "his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart" (Luke 6:45).  So when mouth speaks defensively it reveals the state of my heart.  When my tongue is patient, it reveals something too. It is equally important to remember that silence can be the loudest message we speak.

Make Peace an Offering

We sometimes get tripped up in the word offering.  Among believers today, the word is mostly used for the money we give to our local house of worship.  In the Old Testament, there were offerings given for many reasons.  When I think of offerings, I think of the sin offering because that tends to get talked about more, but the peace offering was distinctly different (you can read about all the offerings in Leviticus 1-7).  The peace offering was voluntary and was given when someone fulfilled a vow, when they wanted to give thanks to God for a special blessing, or just because.  It could be given by an individual or collectively.  The peace offering is unique in that it is the only offering in which the giver, and his friends or family, ate the offering.

    There is no one application of a peace offering that would fit everyone's life. We all live in different communities and are presented with unique opportunities. I do not know what your day will look like tomorrow.  I don't even know what my day will look like tomorrow.  However, I know I will be presented with opportunities to make peace, perhaps even situations when I don't want to make peace. I pray that God will give me the wisdom to see these moments and that He will give me the strength to make peace when I don't want to.  Not for me.  Not for the other person.  May the peace I make be an offering back to the God of peace.

FMF: Perspective

I delayed participating in the Five Minute Friday writing community today because I couldn’t wrap my mind around what to write about. I suppose you could say my perspective wasn't right.  However, as He often does, God spoke to me when I least expected Him.

In my sociology class we’ve been learning about social standing. Sociologically, your status is the various characteristics that make you who you are. It's the "position a person occupies in a particular setting." For example, at home I am a mother, so I behave as one, but in class I am a student. I do not act like a mother in class because my position is different. Most also have a master status, something that carries across all social settings, such as "male", "felon", or "doctor".

In the New Testament church, the believers were struggling with the conflict between their statuses. The previously-Jewish believers and the previously-gentile believers were arguing about what mattered and what didn’t. Paul wrote to the church in Galatia that "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28, NASB).

If we are believers, out master status is found in Christ. All of those other areas of our life shape us, but the single identifying factor is that we are believers of Christ. In that regard Christ has redefined our perspective of ourselves.





This post is a prompt from Five Minute Friday and was written in approximately five minutes. For more information, visit fiveminutefriday.com.

Joy...

The Bible makes it pretty clear, if we have faith in Christ, there should be joy in our life.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "Always be joyful."
• Galatians 5:22 says "But the Spirit produces the fruit of... joy..."
• Nehemiah 8:10 says "...Go and enjoy good food and sweet drinks. Send some to people who have none, because today is a holy day to the Lord. Don’t be sad, because the joy of the Lord will make you strong."
• Psalm 47:1 says us to "Clap your hands, all you people. Shout to God with joy."

So I turned on my new $1 TobyMac CD and listened to some Funky Jesus Music. And there was definitely some joy after that.

But how do we reconcile these instructions with real life? Like today, when I had carved out a rest day. I haven't been feeling well for a few days, and with nothing on the calender I knew today was the right day to hang out around the house, relax, and work on somethings I'd been postponing. One of those things: Laundry.

I was on my third load - and if I do say so myself - really rocking the laundry, having actually folded and put away most of the two previous loads I'd done, when I heard that ominous sound of water flooding. We've been having a problem with water coming out of our toilet (yes, toilet) when we wash laundry, but had pretty much determined it only happened when we washed large/heavy loads.

The plumber is already scheduled to come out on Monday, but that didn't help today when that water started flooding.

As I ran to the laundry room I realized, to my horror, that there was only one way to get the mop... by walking through the flood. Yes, by walking through the toilet flood. Ugh!

So where's the joy in that?

I couldn't change the brokenness of my equipment, or the sewage water all over my floor, or even the fact that I was going to have to clean it up on a day off. The only thing I could change was me.