Confession 184: Summer is Short and So Is Your Patience

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As we are going to be gallivanting through the realms of Disney World this week, I asked my fellow bloggy writer and friend Amy Sullivan to guest post this week. Amy has devoted this year and her family to the practice of gracious giving.  And in the process, she has pushed me to think more of and attempt to do more with all that God has given to me.  This post will give all of us mom’s needing things to do a head start for the summer!!  Be sure to check Amy out at  Amy Sullivan!

When The Summer is Long and Your Patience is Short
After running through sprinklers loses its appeal and swinging and swimming grow old, your kids may be driving you insane  searching for something constructive to do during the lazy days of summer.
Seize this opportunity and bam! Hit your darlings with fun, service projects they can complete right from your home.
Check out a few favorites:
Make a Child Smile. Write letters and send words of encouragement to children who are chronically ill.
Plan an Almost Sleepover. Kids from every state in the USA are participating in an Almost Sleepover to help raise money for your child’s local charity of choice. Discover the details and start planning your own sleepover.
Feeling crafty? Check out one of Craft Hope’s latest projects. In Project 12, kids make bracelets to send to kids in Russia, and Project 13 encourages crafters to create security blankets for tornado victims. Not crafty? No problem. Step-by-step instructions are available.
Too little to craft much? Color A Smile collects and distributes crayon drawings to nursing homes and Meals on Wheels programs across the country.
Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. – Martin Luther King Jr.
Here’s to helping raise souls generated by love and filling our summer days with purpose.

Confession 183: Little Hugs

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One of the things you may or may not know about me is that I love shopping.  Don’t worry, I’m not talking about some sort of Confessions of a Shopaholic syndrome.  I never go into “cool” stores.  If Kohl’s doesn’t sell it, then I’m not interested.  And, I refuse to buy anything full price.  That said, shopping can be a recreational activity for me.  So, this past year has been difficult as my shopping ability has been limited to the max.  No money = No shopping.  On the plus side, it’s been an excellent lesson in discipline for me.  And, as Christian financial guru Dave Ramsey says, if you live like no one else now, later, you will be able to live as no one else.  That said, when I was invited to a “Lei Sophia” jewelry party, I knew I was in trouble.

As I was walking out the door of our house, my ever disciplined and self-controlled husband said to me, “Don’t take the checkbook!”  I was okay at first.  I kept reminding myself of our upcoming vacation my in-laws are taking us on and that spending $30.00 here would be $30.00 less to spend at Disney World.  But the more I looked, the more the shopping fiend in me said, “it’s only….., it’s only…..”  However, through it all I stuck with the plan.  I held my ground and didn’t spend anything.  And when the ticket numbers were called for the two doorprizes (necklaces, both) my numbers were called!!  Of course, I only kept one of the necklaces.  And I felt so guilty about not buying anything that I booked a Lei Sophia party for July.  But I have to say, as I slipped that necklace around my neck, I felt like I was getting a little hug from God.  It was as if God was saying, “I know you, my little girl, and I’ve got you covered.”  Silly…yes.  And, if my seminary professors read this they would absolutely cringe at my consumeristic, entitled, Westernized theology.  But in that moment, I felt God speaking.  And the message I heard was, “I love you.”

So tell me, has God given you any little hugs lately?

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 182: The Sentinel

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For mother’s day, I thought I’d write a tribute to my mom.  She’s impossible to shop for, always insists there’s nothing she needs.  So, I thought this might be a better gift.  I love you, Mom!!

When I look in my rearview mirror, I see her standing there, a silent sentinel watching, watching, until the van turns a corner and is out of sight.  It has been the same for seventeen years now, ever since I made that first trip from home to college.  My mom, standing on the front porch, watching over her children until she can no longer see them.  A touchstone, a reminder that no matter how far I go Mom is always there, the northern star on which I set my compass.

This is the woman who held my hair back and stroked my face with a cool washcloth every time I was sick, who woke me up with songs in the morning while her fingers gently rubbed my back.  The woman who made Cream of Wheat while singing the Cream of Wheat song on cold winter mornings, who made my lunch even when I could have made it myself, writing my name on the brown bag in black Sharpie marker in her flowing cursive hand.  Another reminder that mom was there, even through the emotional upheaval that is junior high.

This is the woman whose arms are always open to me, who showed me that it’s okay to just need a hug every once in awhile.  The woman who took my hand and led me to stand before my first casket, softly reassuring me that it was okay to cry as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.  “It’s not easy,” she told me over my grandfather’s grave.  “But in this culture, we bury our dead.”  We bury them, but we don’t forget them, making the rounds every Spring to resting places that would otherwise be long forgotten.

This is the woman who taught me that in our house, we do the right thing, no matter how hard, no matter how popular.  The woman who stayed up nights with me, watching while I finished countless papers and projects, who would not let me put off until tomorrow things that could be done today.  The woman who trusted me enough to make the right decisions, but who left post-it notes on the bathroom mirror late at night instructing me to wake her up so she could make sure the choices I had made were, indeed, the right ones.

When I look in my rearview mirror, I see my mother.  She is always there, watching, waiting, letting me go, with the knowledge that her lessons and her love will carry me wherever I need to go.

Thank you, Mom.  I love you!
Sara

Confession 181: One Week Later

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On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”….A week later, his disciples were in the house again… John 20:19-22, 26

 It’s been one week since Easter Sunday.  One week since the church was full of people smiling, laughing, embracing and singing.  One week since the pews overflowed and the balcony door was thrown open.  One week since the “hallelujahs” and “amens” filled the air and we celebrated God’s victory over the grave.  One week…a lot can change.  On Easter Sunday we celebrate our salvation, we commemorate our freedom from a life of sin and death.  On Easter Sunday we take hope in transformation, both of ourselves and the world through the love of Christ.   On Easter Sunday, we BELIEVE.  Yet, as my husband asked the congregation in his sermon this morning, “Where are you today?”  Where are you one week later?  Do you still believe?

Look carefully at the Scripture passage above.  On the first day of the week, the disciples had a transforming encounter with the risen Christ.  They had been given the gift of the Holy Spirit and were commissioned to go forth and continue the work Jesus began.  They were excited, they celebrated, they BELIEVED!!  Yet, one week later… Do you see it?  One week later the disciples were locked in the house again!!  They had SEEN Jesus, they had TOUCHED Jesus, they had IMBIBED the Holy Spirit and they still didn’t believe enough to LEAVE!!  The disciples were stuck in the muck of their fear and despair.  The chains were broken but they couldn’t bring themselves to open the door and step outside.  A world was waiting, and they were hiding out.  Praise God they didn’t stay stuck in that room forever.  Jesus came back (he always comes back) and sent them forth once again.  But we do the same thing, don’t we? 

For some of us, we find ourselves longing for the freedom Christ brings but are too afraid to step out of ourselves to claim it.  For others of us, we profess to believe in the transforming love of God but fail to take that love out to a world in need.  We leave the miracle of the Resurrection behind us in the sanctuary until next Easter rolls around.  Yet when we do that, we miss the entire point of the story.  Christ didn’t live, he LIVES.  HE LIVES!!  It is now up to us, his disciples, to act like it.

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 179: Hope for the Journey

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I have to be honest, I’ve been a bit down lately.  I’m entering into my second year without a contracted full-time job.  I interviewed for a job in which I thought God was opening a door only to find it wasn’t so.  I’ve been surrendering and re-surrendering to God’s plan but have no clear idea of what that plan might be.  I’m tired of pinching pennies and living paycheck to paycheck.  And, I miss shopping.  Materialistic?  Probably, but true.  And yet, I’ve learned a lot about myself and my priorities through this process.  I feel like God is teaching me some good lessons about what is important.  Furthermore, God has provided for all of our NEEDS.  He has been faithful, and I am trying to be so as well.  Although this season of my life is lasting a bit longer than I expected or desired, I know God’s plan will be revealed in HIS time.  The pieces will all come together and I will look back and say, “Wow!  God is so cool!!”

And so, God led me this morning to an encouraging Word, more hope for this journey.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation…He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  Colossians 1: 15,17

Did you get that last part?  In HIM, all things hold together.  I don’t know what you’re facing in your life right now, but Paul is clear here that God’s got it covered.  So if you’re feeling tired, overwhelmed, defeated, or anxious–if it seems like life is falling apart–take heart!  God is holding it all together!!  And, unlike us, his hands are big enough to do it all!!  God is not going to drop the ball when it comes to yours and my life!  Where we see one big mess, one impossible hurdle to overcome, God sees a master plan coming together.  I love those t-shirts that say, “Work in Progress”.  I think I need that phrase stamped on my forehead! 🙂  God is constantly working in our lives.  So, I’m surrendering once again to God’s will today and I am taking hope and comfort in the fact that HE is holding it all together.

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 178: The Sacrifice of Love

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It’s been quite the week–and it’s only Wednesday!  God and I have covered a lot of ground in the past few days, and I’m excited to share it all for you.  But this week, I need the Easter journey.  So, I’m re-posting a blog from 2011.  It’s just a few simple thoughts on the importance of Holy Week.

Easter is coming!!  Share the good news!

Sara

This past Sunday marked the beginning of what we in the Methodist church simply refer to as “Holy Week”.  For us, it is the most sacred time of year, the week in which we walk with Jesus from his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, through the valley of the shadow of death, to emerge once again victorious in resurrection.  We mark the week with services on Thursday, Friday and Sunday in order to remember and commemorate the Last Supper, the Crucifixtion and the Resurrection.  It is so tempting to run from the celebration on Palm Sunday to the pure joy Easter morning brings.  However, when we do that, when we don’t walk with Jesus through the valley, we miss the whole point of Easter.  Easter doesn’t begin with the empty tomb (it doesn’t end there either, for that matter).  Easter begins with Jesus’ willing walk to the cross, through torture, humiliation and agonizing pain.  We need to bear witness to that part of the story, painful though it may be, to understand the full meaning of the sacrifice of love God made.  And, we need to understand that we, like those who lived two thousand years ago, are culprits in the crime.  We, like the soldiers, have mocked Jesus.  We, like Peter, have denied him.  We, like Judas, have betrayed him.  We, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, have failed to recognize him. (See Rev. Adam Hamilton’s book, 24 Hours That Changed the World)

I would challenge you, as you continue through this most Holy of weeks, to spend some time in the valley with Jesus.  Walk through the darkness of Thursday and Friday.  See Jesus’ anguish in Gethsemane.  Watch as he is beaten, humiliated and mocked.  And finally, bear witness to his death on the cross, realizing that it was because of us, and for us, that this sacrifice was made.  Then, and only then, can we rise on Sunday morning and sing with joy, “Because he lives, I can face tomorrow….”

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 177: Surrender

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One of the things I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is surrender.  You may have heard the old hymn, “I Surrender All”…”all to Jesus, I surrender, I surrender all.”  About a week ago, I sang a new song.  I don’t remember the name, but I wrote down a few lyrics that seemed to bore their way right into my heart.  In my journal I posed the following questions to myself:

1. Can you abandon your heart to God?
2. Can you truly say, “all I have is yours”?
3. Can you surrender all to God?

If I abandon my heart to God, if I freely give him all I have, if I completely surrender myself to his will, then that means all of the desires of my heart, all of the plans from my life, all of my hopes and dreams need to be left on the altar before him.  Everything I want to achieve needs to be let go of so that I may pick up and carry the desires of God’s heart for me, the plans HE has for my life, the hopes and dreams HE has created for me when he knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

“For I KNOW the plans I have for you….” God says through Jeremiah.  “…plans to give you hope and a FUTURE.”  The problem for me comes when that future is not part of the future I had envisioned for myself. When God says no to my plans, it stings a bit.  And I stubbornly cling to what I want to achieve rather than open myself to what God would have me achieve.

We live in a culture that thrives on ambition and the desire to achieve.  Be the best.  Work hard. Gain wealth and status.  Compete.  Dominate.  Like anyone else, I want to be successful.  I want to have a thriving career, to be respected in my field, to accomplish things and to have some financial security.  Yet, interestingly enough, God seems to want something different.  I can’t help but think back to Micah 6:8.  What does the Lord require of you?  To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.  Walk Humbly….Surrender All. I think the two are bound together.  To walk humbly with God is to accept the desires, plans, dreams he has for your life and to follow him, freely, wherever than may be.

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 176: Fear What?

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My oldest got a new bike this Christmas–a big boy bike with a helmet and training wheels.  He was hesitant at first, but got the hang of it quickly.  We rode as much as we could as weather permitted, and Garrett flew.  He was fearless.  It was exhilarating.  Then came “the fall”.  On an uneven bit of pavement, Garrett toppled to the ground and skinned his bony little knee.  Enter fear.  Where was there was joy and freedom, now there is fear and frustration.  Garrett is convinced if he rides his bike he will fall and get hurt.  Nothing Chris or I say or do makes a difference.  He’s stuck in a fear block.

It occurs to me that we, as adults, can run into the fear block when it comes to living out our lives.  Fear has got to be one of the greatest weapons Satan uses against us.  Fear immobilizes us, takes away our freedom and robs us of our joy.  It worms its way into our minds, telling us we can’t, we’re not good enough, we don’t know how, we’ll get hurt.  Satan uses fear to keep us from doing the work that God has for us to do.

Yet here’s the truth I’ve found in my own life.  God asks us to take our fear head-on and plow through.  God tells us to get back up on that bike and keep going.  When Elijah was hiding out in a cave because Jezebel wanted his head (literally) God found him and told him to head back down the mountain.  God wants us to take a leap of faith so he can show us his power and his love.  God doesn’t want us to live bound up in fear, but rather, to live a life of freedom in him.  And to live freely in him, we must learn to become fearless.

My memory verse for the week is from Exodus 14:13-14.  Priscilla Shirer used it in her “Going Beyond” event last week and I am taking it to heart.

“And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid!  Stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord is bringing to you TODAY!  The Lord WILL fight for you; you need only to BE STILL!!'”

Blessings and Peace,
Sara