Saturday, February 18, 2012
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
From Mom-Mom
Thank you, Julie. for the teacup parable. Simple but profound. It started me thinking about the way God has taught me different things over the years as he was molding and shaping, and polishing. (Still is, actually!)1. How at 18 our lovely, self-satisfied, safe, comfortable family was shattered when my brother died in WW 2 in June, and the following November, my Dad. I remember how I clung to the Psalms, and verses like, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." (His accident was stepping back on a loose board.) I was finding out the miraculous, living, power of the Scripture.2. Learning to get along with a husband who was so totally different from me. Having to learn I couldn't have it my way all the time, and to try to live to make another person happy, not me, me, me.3. Shelleys's birth with an abnormal hand, and finding out God could be wonderfully sufficient for her, and in the process bless us all.4. Christopher's diagnosis of autism, and then Jeanne's breast cancer. Oh my, God was doing so much shaping and molding in so many ways, (too many lessons to list), but finding God make His presence so real and so loving you could almost touch Him--how could your faith and confidence in Him not grow?5. Shelleys' divorce----again so much pain, but so amazing how God once again was sufficient, and powerful to work it out for good in so many ways, with a minimum of "scars" --- "beauty for ashes" instead. Makes us pray hard for Mary--we know what God can do!6. Then the more recent "shaping and molding"--Ward's illness and then my coping alone --- Oh my, the faithfulness of God is overwhelming-- defies finding the language for it all, as David says, "Some things are too lofty for me" ---"How wonderful are your thoughts and your ways past finding out"..Jeanne's RA diagnosis, Of course, mine and Shelley's big C in one year---It is hard to analyze just what God was doing in each of these cases, and how he is still working on that teacup-- but it was good to anticipate that He is making something beautiful out of that pitiful lump of clay, as only He can. I surely can't, no matter how hard I may try.Love, MOM
I'm a Little Tea cup
I'm a Little Tea Cup
Love this story or not, you will not be able to have tea in a tea cup again without thinking of this.
There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups.
Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked "May we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me, pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "Don't do that. I don't like it! Let me alone," but he only smiled, and gently said, "Not yet."
Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was made to suit himself and then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. "Help! Get me out of here!" I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, "Not yet."
When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! "Ah, this is much better," I thought.
But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. "Oh, please, stop it, stop, I cried." He only shook his head and said, "Not yet."
Then suddenly he puts me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering, "What's he going to do to me next?"
An hour later he handed me a mirror and said, "Look at yourself." And I did. I said, "That's not me. That couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!"
Quietly he spoke: "I want you to remember. I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind
when I first began with you."
The moral of this story is this: God knows what He's doing for each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect.
So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to "stink", try this.
Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup, sit down and think on this story and then, have a little talk with the Potter.
God Bless You!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Isaiah 54
I don't know if many of you follow my and Dave's blog, but we were recently told (after trying unsuccessfully to conceive and after some tests) that it will be unlikely that we will be able to have a child without fertility treatments. We have been quite shaken up about this and have been praying for a miracle as we're quite nervous about the "rabbit hole" of fertility treatments. (If you'd like more specific information we're open to sharing and/or we can send you an invitation to our blog.)
Anyway, the invitation here was to share what God is doing in/sharing with us. So needless to say, I have been quite discouraged (and lots of other emotions) lately. But, on Thursday, I was doing my regular Bible Study and had to look up Isaiah 54:11. It was a good verse, but I decided I wanted to get the context, so I decided to read all of Isaiah 54. And this is what I found:
Isaiah 54
1 “Sing, barren woman,you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,”
says the LORD.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.
4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
5 For your Maker is your husband—
the LORD Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
6 The LORD will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,”
says the LORD your Redeemer.
9 “To me this is like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
never to rebuke you again.
10 Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
11 “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,
your foundations with lapis lazuli.
12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children will be taught by the LORD,
and great will be their peace.
14 In righteousness you will be established:
Tyranny will be far from you;
you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed;
it will not come near you.
15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
whoever attacks you will surrender to you.
16 “See, it is I who created the blacksmith
who fans the coals into flame
and forges a weapon fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;
17 no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the LORD.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Good News or Bad News?
We just stumbled on a wonderful article in Christianity Today (Dec.) by Tim Keller, "The Advent of Humility" and I want to quote some of it because he explains it better than I can.
"Humility is a byproduct of belief in the gospel of Christ. In the gospel, we have a confidence not based in our performance but in the love of God in Christ. This frees us from having to always be looking at ourselves. Our sin was so great, nothing less than the death of Jesus could save us. He had to die for us. But his love for us was so great, Jesus was glad to die for us...
There are two basic narrative identities at work among professing Christians. The first is what I will call the moral-performance narrative identity. These are people who in their heart of hearts say, 'I obey; therefore I am accepted by God.' The second is what I will call the grace narrative identity. 'This basic operating principle is, 'I am accepted by God through Christ; therefore I obey.'
People living their lives on the basis of these 2 different principles may superficially look alike. They may sit right beside one another in the church pew, both striving to obey the law of God, to pray, to give money generously, to be good family members. But they are doing so out of radically different motives, in radically different spirits, resulting in radically different personal characters. When persons living in the moral-performance narrative are criticized, they are furious or devastated because they cannot tolerate threats to their self-image of being a 'good person'. But in the gospel our identity in not built on such an image, and we have the emotional ballast to handle criticism without attacking back. When people living in the moral-performance narrative base their self-worth on being hard working or theologically sound, then they must look down on those who they perceive to be lazy or theologically weak. But those who understand the gospel cannot possibly look down on anyone, since they were saved by sheer grace not by their perfect doctrine or strong moral character."
This is the same liberating message Laddie and I learned from reading TrueFaced by John Lynch. I believed in grace for everyone else but realized I was still trying to earn God's favor and didn't really believe He loved me just like I was. I knew God "loved me" intellectually but in my heart I wasn't accepting His unconditional love for me personally. This kind of unconditional love goes against human nature and it takes supernatural understanding. In TrueFaced we were struck with this quote, "Nothing I can ever do will make Him love me more and nothing I can ever do will make Him love me less." We both realized that we didn't believe that was true for ourselves (we believed it for other people). We now realize we could NOT love God and others until we truly believed that He loves us totally and unconditionally (1Jn.4:19 "We love because He first loved us") Now we are beginning to understand grace! Accepting grace for ourselves filled us with love and gratefulness to God. Now we can love God and obey out of love for Him rather than obeying to gain favor or obeying out of fear.
The gospel is not "good news" if we are living in the moral-performance narrative. It's a heavy, heavy weight to carry - all the guilt and self-loathing because you can't measure up to what you think you should be. I am finally being freed of living under the fear of the devastation criticism used to bring. The fear of finding out I was a "bad person" or accidentally exposing myself as a "bad person" was a prison of sorts. When I could finally say and believe "Yes, I am a bad person (and so is everyone else!)" I was freed and I could accept my failures and be transparent and less self-protected around others. I don't have to live in bondage to caring about what others think of me anymore. (In the situation above, having to look humble!) I am learning to accept myself with all my imperfections and trust God to help me overcome them. I don't have to do it myself.
Another quote from the article,
Lewis speaks of 'the unsmiling concentration upon Self, which is the mark of hell.' The gospel, however, creates a gentle sense of irony. We find a lot to laugh at, starting with our own weaknesses. They don't threaten us anymore because our ultimate worth is not based on our record or performance. Martin Luther had the basic insight that moralism is the default mode of the human heart. Even Christians who believe the gospel of grace on one level can continue to operate as if they have been saved by their works. In 'The Great Sin' in Mere Christianity, Lewis writes, 'If we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good -- above all, that we are better than someone else -- I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the Devil.' Keller goes on to say that this kind of humility is missing in the church today. -a great article! Please read it.
Is the gospel really good news in my life or a cruel task master- bad news? Ask God to reveal how much He loves us individually and to help us truly believe the "good" news applies to me. We must allow God to define us (we are loved, chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven -Eph.1) and not others' opinions and our own expectations of ourselves! Then we begin to allow Him to help us overcome our sins with His help and quit trying to do it on our own which is doomed to fail.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Family prayer for 2008
And in knowing Him better we would have a greater appreciation of His love for us and a practical ability
to show love to those around us.
May God have mercy on us.
Laddie asked for us to pray this for our family in 2008 and I cannot believe how He has been answering this for us in miraculous ways! I would invite our extended family to pray this for all of us this year!