All posts by Jeff

Last night Jeff showed me a clip from a sermon by Matt Chandler.  I’ll never forget these four words now, which summarize the gospel, “Jesus wants the rose.” Watch it here:

So, back to 1 Samuel and our discussion of Saul and David.  The question of we’re headed toward is, “What was such a big deal abot Saul’s sin?”  (the “u” on my keyboard isn’t working so well and I’m pretty stubborn about not going back and revising these posts, so if there are some u’s missing, fill in the blank.  We might be talking abot “Sal” a lot, hahaaa).  Anyway, for those of you not familiar with the gist of the story, here we go.  Before we get to the question of Saul’s sin, we first want to see how Saul got to the throne in the first place.

Saul was Israel’s first king, a head taller than anyone else, and good-looking. According to studies the two key characteristics for successful leaders in the world are 1) height and 2) physical attractiveness. (Sad but true)  Sal (did you mentally stick the “u” in?)  had both going on. 1 Samuel 9:2 says, “There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.”  Did you catch that?  Not just handsome. The most handsome man in Israel.   He was a supermodel material.   And the nation of Israel was thrilled to have Mr. Calvin Klein himself leading them onward. I think we miss this little point when we read quickly through this account. Why does it matter?  Because they and subsequently you and I are really influenced by status, looks, charm.  In essence, we’re a whole lot like the world.  And it’s good to remember that while we no longer wear sandals and offer animals on rock altars, things haven’t changed a whole lot since the days of Saul.  The beautiful people still rule the world.  Saul was a celebrity.

The whole reason for wanting a King was so that they could be like the nations around them (1 Samuel 8:5). In fact, they decide Samuel’s no longer a good man for leading them because he’s too old.  Translated into Today’s Version:  “Samuel, you are old news and nobody is ruled by judges anymore and your sons did a garbage job of it anyway (which they did).  The new thing is to have a KING, that’s the thing to do.  We want someone new, attractive, successful, so that not only will we be like the nations around us, we’ll be cooler!”  Sound frightningly similar to how a lot of our churches choose their pastors and staff?  Or perhaps at least we can admit that that’s our default mode.  The coolness factor, the status symbols, the keeping up with the Joneses of the world.  We do it.  Celebrity status still rules, even occasionally in the church. 

So even though God warns them that having a king is not all it’s cracked up to be (1 Sam 8:10-22), they insist that’s what they want: “Tthe people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we may also be like all the nations” (vv19-20).  OH Lord protect us from insisting on our own way!  When You warn us, by giving us checks in our heart or by showing us a different path, or by sending us signs, when you do this, please by Your grace keep us from insisting.   I sometimes wonder how often God simply gives me what I am insisting upon in my heart.  God is such a gentleman, never forcing Himself upon us.  And I wonder how often He’s simply saying, as He did in verse 22 when He commanded Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.”  Oh Lord, please do not obey my voice!  It is a sad day indeed when God obeys the voice of a people who demand their own way. 

What do we insist upon?  Perhaps we don’t vocalize it, but the commentary is telling.  The people wanted a tall, attractive King because that would give them status in the eyes of the surrounding nations.  They were deceived into thinking that those qualities would ensure a happy Kingdom…that beauty somehow created peace. How sadly mistaken they were. 

What do I insist upon?  Am I deceived into thinking that a beautiful home will ensure peace?  A beautiful family?  A well-put-together life?  How am I influenced by the philosphy of the world? My prayer is that God would not obey my voice when I stomp my foot and demand my way, but that He’s soften my heart and graciously allow my lips to utter, “Thy will be done.” 

Do you ever have those moments when you sit back a bit soberly and think, “I really never thought I’d be this way” or “I never thought life would be this way.”  For those of you with kids, do you ever stop and think, “I never thought I would feel like such a failure.” 

My kids aren’t even out of diapers so I can hardly claim failure, but lately I’ve wondered if I’m on the only mom who consistently feels like she has no idea what she’s doing.  And, whatever it is that I’m doing, I’m not doing it very well!  I’m sure a lot of it is the combined stress of a lot of things in our life, cramming a hundred things into the last 4 weeks before seminary graduation just being one of them.  But no matter what our life were like, raising small children is hands-down the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And I’ve only begun. 

Sometimes I feel like our life is so full that I’ve only a small scrap of energy left for training our children. So much of the day feels like it’s just reacting to miniature crises, correcting a wrong-course rather than actually steering the ship in any direction. 

Anybody else?

And even though I know it is gigantic no-no #1 to compare our children (or ourselves) to others, anybody ever look around and think, “Am I the only one who’s havin’ a parental MELT DOWN?”  I mean so-an-so’s two-year-old is reciting Scripture for crying out loud and mine is throwing himself on the floor because he wants to take the toy from the nursery home!  Good grief.

Maybe it’s just the season I’m in.  Joy was just saying the other day that when her son was small she didn’t notice the naughty things he did until they moved in with her parents. Then, in someone else’s house, SO many things seemed to surface. Oh boy! Yes!  In the course of a few weeks transitioning from one child to two, then to living in someone else’s house, I feel like I went from smooth-sailing suntanning on the cruise-ship deck to large-scale melt-down in no time flat. 

So tonight all I wanted to do was say, hey this is where I’m at.  I pray tonight for myself and for any of you out there who ever feel like this… Father, our Perfect Parent who perfectly models parenthood for us, please help us. Please give us grace, strength, and resolve. Please help us not to feel overwhelmed or discouraged, but challenged and bold. Help us to be consistent, help us to be calm, patient, loving, and firm. Help us know what to major on, what to let go.  Help us see our children’s hearts and help us to know Yours.  Please encourage all of us moms tonight who need Your touch.  And give our children obedient hearts. May their lives glorify You.  We love you and need You God. Please help us. Amen.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of days I read God’s Word and my mind is wandering, my heart is elsewhere, and sadly, I leave my time largely unaffected.  But so many more mornings I have to say I love God’s Word so much I feel like my heart will explode.  There are days and weeks I feel like I’ll burst if I don’t share the gems of His Word.  There are times I want to preach to the walls.  Jeff actually does this, he preaches to himself in the car. But then again he’s kind of an odd duck.

Right now I’m reading 1 Samuel and I’m intrigued all over again by the life of Saul.  Saul intrigues me this time around not by how disobedient he was or how crazy or how tragic his life turned out.  I’m intrigued by how much of myself I see in this first king of Israel.  I’m saddened by how I hold up his life and see my face popping up here and there. 

In our Esther study, Beth Moore was sharing about how the one thing that surfaced in her study that truly surprised her was how much she found herself actually relating to Haman, the ridiculously pompous proud villian whose life ends on the very gallows he built for his nemesis.  That’s stuck with me, and I too am finding myself looking at Saul like never before…someone with whom I can sadly relate. 

Here’s why.  What always intrigues me about Saul and David is how one’s sin caused him to be rejected by God (Saul) and how the other’s sin–a much “worse” sin–brought no disqualification in any way (David).  I mean, at a glance, it seems unfair.  Saul offered a peace offering unlawfully when he grew impatient waiting for Samuel to arrive.  So?  He was a little impatient right? Oh, and he spared the life of Agag king of the Amelekites and kept the choicest livestock instead of destroying it…but isn’t that a small detail?   David committed adultary and had a man murdered! I mean isn’t killing a worse sin than not killing?

There’s lots here and I hope to write more later because there is a lot in there regarding obedience.  But one thing that’s stood out to me today is their response.  After Saul is called out for his sin, he simply responds to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. (anybody smell an excuse and passing of blame there???)  Now therefore please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the Lord (Sounds to me like, “Can we please just pass over this and get on with things and how about if I use a nice spiritual sounding reason?”)  Saul never repented to God.  In fact, he never repented.  He said the words, wanting Samuel to hurry up and get on with the spiritual slap on the hand so he could go free and get on with this business. He had no intention whatsoever of actually changing his ways.

What about David? Though David too wants to ignore his sin with Bathsheba, when confronted (as Saul was) by the prophet Nathan, David says a lot more than “Ok then, fine, can you please pardon my sin so I can get on with life?”  Psalm 51 and Psalm 32 give us an in-depth look at the tremendous grieving David does.  His heart is broken. His spirit is contrite.  If you didn’t just now, take 30 seconds and read Psalm 51 and 32 and think about David’s response. Here is a man who is truly grieved by his sin.

Are we?

Way too often I’m Saul.  WAY too often.  When I’m short with my husband or thinking critically of someone or focused vainly on myself, when I’m walking in ways that are not pleasing to God, I’m so quick to think, “We’ll I’m human! Sorry God!”  In essence I’m saying, like Saul, “Ok can we just get on with it?”  I’m not saying that everytime we have a sinful thought we need to pull over the car and start weeping…but what if we did?  What if we DID take sin seriously? What if we DID confess to one another? What if we DID grieve, actually grieve over our sin?  Would our hearts change? Would our life be more impacting? Would the world look on and be amazed?  Would we sense the presence of God more than ever before?

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.  Psalm 51:17

Hooray!  It’s been decided.  The $1000 raised from the clothing fast will go to dig a Jesus Well for “untouchable” Dalits in Asia. Here’s more information on such wells:

Most of us take for granted the water which flows freely from our taps. But for many villages in South Asia, this basic life necessity is often in short supply. Village wells may dry up—especially during drought season—and it is not unusual for families to walk several miles just to find water for their household needs.

If you are a Dalit, one of Asia’s “Untouchables,” you will likely be barred from drawing water from the village well at all because of your inferior social status. And Christians suffer too, as persecution commonly comes in the form of banning them from the local water source.

But God is providing Jesus Wells for such communities. Bearing a plaque with the inscription of Jesus’ words in John 4:13-14 about offering eternally satisfying water, each well is a tangible expression of Jesus’ love. The well not only provides families with life-nourishing physical refreshment, but also points them to the true source of Living Water.

Imagine the joy of Christians in Asia—as well as “Untouchable” Dalits—when a Jesus Well is dug in their village! Not only are the believers encouraged in their faith, but by God’s gracious provision, hundreds of communities have been transformed—for now and eternity—through the Jesus Wells outreach.

So little, just $1000 buys such a Jesus Well. How awesome is that?!  Let’s pray that the Source of Living Water would be real to those who thirst, that God would meet those who don’t know Him, both in Asia and here in our communities.  Feel free to browse the Gospel for Asia website for more fun ways to give in the name of Jesus. 

Goodness dear ones!  Life is a blur right now and I’m missing you!  I feel like God has me in stinkin’ boot camp, stretching me and challenging me — no, those words are too light — demolishing me.  Last week we moved in with the Dombrows, our church moved, and I sat down and realized I have the most insane amount of stuff to get done before May 15th graduation.  One night this week, in an absolute heap of tears while Jeff was gone, I actually went downstairs to where Joy was sitting on the couch, walked up to her when she looked up I collapsed onto the couch and into her arms and sobbed, “Will you just hold me?”  Sweet girl hardly even knows me and here I was bawling into her arms.  Even though I’d be lying if I said that having a newborn and a toddler living in someone else’s house was a walk in the park, I’m seeing God’s hand on the situation as we are seeing each other in real life, praying for and rejoicing with and living life with each other.  And I must say if Dutch and Heidi turn out HALF as amazing as their two children I will be a happy mama!  (Dutch is in heaven with two playmates and a doggy!) My prayer is that this experience would make us better prepared and able to serve Christ together for the LONG haul.

And I now have dozens of hours of research to do, my end of the year comprehensive internship paper, one more seminary teaching time, speaking at our church’s women’s luncheon, papers to grade, diapers to change, middle-of-the-night feedings…yikes!  I think I cried every day this week.

But what God’s been minstering to me (along with a million other things, did I mention I feel like I’m in boot camp?!) is that ALL of this is HIS. This is HIS seminary education, His women at our church, HIS work.  And the beauty is that in my weakness His strength is made perfect.  When I walked downstairs and crumbled into Joy’s arms this week I sensed, however oddly, I sensed God’s good pleasure on my life. I sensed somehow He was pleased with my utter helplessness, exhaustion, and absolute utter dependence. I can’t say I’m enjoy this. One day this week I actually just sat in my car all by myself and cried. But I love that somehow God’s voice becomes clear when we are desperate. God’s presence becomes so tangible I can feel it.  And in the midst of this He’s teaching me some awesome things from the life of Hagar…more to come.

Anyway, no “big idea” here in this post. Just had to let you know I’m still alive and ask that if you would, will you pray for me this next month as I finish seminary and fulfill different responsibilities?  I graduate May 15th, so I would welcome prayer.  We’re also asking God to please sell our home in Corvallis so that we can find a place of our own, so would you join with me in that as well?  THANK YOU to you who have been helping so much the past six weeks.

Oh! And…yes, I finished the clothing fast! My brother (who matched my donation) is deciding where our $1000 donation will go. I’ll keep you posted! And yes, I went shopping on Friday and scored some killer deals.  Still need to buy socks…

The other day a dear friend was over with her two small boys (Just now Dutch looked up from his excavator and dump truck and sounding exasperated said, “I’m trying to work!” haahaa).  So she came over with her boys who are almost two and almost four, and we watched in amazement at the blur of blond-hair whirling around the house chasing, wrestling, playing trucks and trains and zoo animals. 

Near the end of the visit, the almost four-year-old came up to me and said with a huge grin, “I’m getting a dinosaur for my birthday!”  My eyes widened and I looked at his mom.  “He’s been asking Jesus for a toy dinosaur for his birthday,” she explained.  “Yeah,” he chimed in, his eyes sparkling, “I’m getting a dinosaur!” 

That’s stuck with me all week.  It’s been an emotional roller-coaster of a week. We move tomorrow. Our house is in boxes. Tuesday was probably the most discouraged I’ve felt in a loooong time…and unfortunately for Jeff I decided it was his fault. 😉 Our hot water was out, things were crazy at home, and basically I was just a big mean person.  I felt confused by conviction, wanting to surrender everything to God yet feeling discouraged with even how to do that.  Everything just felt awful. 

Then Wednesday our house sold (that we’ve been praying for more months to sell!). Yeah, talk about swinging up to the heights of celebration!  It’s amazing–though we try not to be influenced by circumstances, let me tell you I certainly am!  We were bouncing off the walls we were so excited.  This meant we could try to buy a house! This meant an end was in sight to the craziness!  YIPEE!!!  Now all we can say is how faithful God is, how good He is, how amazing He is (and He IS!). 

Yesterday in the midst of my enthusiasm, a totally discouraging curveball came our way.  Within the hour I was back down the dumps of discouragment…no, actually I was angry.  Fuming is more like it.  I felt like after committing to do good it had got me stabbed straight in the back. Rather than keeping my eyes fixed on how good and gracious and faithful and wonderful my Heavenly Father is, I was stewing and frustrated.

Jeff was just the solid pillar that I needed. And he reminded me, “Hon don’t let this steal your joy.”  And I knew that’s what I was doing, letting a circumstance steal my joy. So, I turn the only place I know to turn: God’s Word. I opened my BIble to where I was reading in the NT and guess where I was?!  Luke 6: 

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.  To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer your other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.  And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.  If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to recieve, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Ouch. Yeah, I like to be good and gracious and giving to those who are good and gracious and giving to me.  Ouch ouch ouch.  This is a wonderful passage to read.  Cloaks and tunics don’t mean much to us.  Sure I’ll give someone my jacket or t-shirt. No big deal.  You can even slap my cheek if you want.  No biggee.  But what if “cloak and tunic” did mean something. Much more. Much much much more.  What then?  What about when the nice flowery passage might cost you something?  Grr… Ok, Lord.

But as I prayed and asked God to change my heart, somehow by some miracle giving me a heart of love and grace, I was reminded of the little boy whose eyes sparkled with joy as he told me he was getting a dinosaur for his birthday. 

Of course he’s getting a dinosaur.  Later his mom said, “We’re so excited to give him a dinosaur.  it’s been so sweet to see him asking Jesus.”  Now yes, there will be plenty of times when this little boy won’t get what he wants.  But with his precious little childlike faith, which totally surpasses my own, he looked forward with delighted anticipation of the dinosaur he was getting.  He didn’t stress or worry. He didn’t check his parents’ checkbook to see if they’d purchased it yet. He didn’t fret about the economy and whether there would be money enough in his parents’ account. He didn’t shop online to make sure the dinosaurs didn’t get sold out.  He didn’t look frantically for coupons on the newspaper for discounts on dinosaurs. He just asked Jesus, and waited patiently, know the character of God and the character of His parents.  And of course I thought of Matthew 7:11

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

God is not my genie. He is under NO OBLIGATION whatsoever to grant any request I ever ask.  In Christ I have all I ever could need.  But I can also rest assured, just like the four-year-old boy, that what we ask for will be provided. It might not be in my timing, and it might not be exactly how I want it to look. But it will be good.  Because God is good. Because His character is good. Because He is always doing that which glorifies Himself. Because the best place for us to be is right in the center of His will.  Because joy and pleasure and true riches are found in Him.

So by faith today I’m just saying, as best as I know how, with a sparkle in my eye, that I’m getting a dinosaur.  Not sure when, and not sure what my dinosaur will look like. But I bet he’ll be big and scary and awesome because that’s the kind of Daddy I have.  I’m sure thankful for the inspiration of children…and speaking of, I have one on my lap right now who wants to read a fish book. Time to go…

I remember a pastor joking once that he was reading a book and it was so convicting that he had to quit reading it.  I can totally relate.  It’s like sometimes my soul is craving that truth, that hard truth that kicks my teeth in and brings that true repentence, and yet I hate it too. I hate conviction because there is one thing that repetence always requires: change.  The word repent literally means to change direction, as in a military term where you stop, turn around, and march the opposite direction.  I hate stopping and changing directions.

We had a VERY convicting sermon this weekend. VERY convicting. Too convicting. Usually when Pastor Joel is gone I only go to Saturday night service (confession!), and use the opportunity get a break on Sunday morning, but this time I had to be there again to get every last tidbit.  We heard from Pastor Chuck Bomar of Colossae Church.  The topic was hearing God’s voice, and the gist of it was that we might say, “I want to hear GOd’s voice” or “I just want to know what God’s will is so I can do it.” 

Really?  Do we really want to know what God’s saying so we can do it?  Really? 

He used an excellent illustration from Jonah, and how often we use the “counsel of circumstances” to lead our path instead of God’s voice.  God tells Jonah to go to Ninevah. But going to Ninevah is neither desirable nor comfortable, so perhaps Jonah tells himself that’s not really what God wants him to do.  So he goes the opposite direciton and perhaps he says to himself, “Well I’m going to go in this direction and God can always stop me if it’s not His will.” (sound familiar?)  Then he finds a boat and pays the fare and gets on it.  Perhaps he says, “Hey! There’s a boat ready right when I need it. That’s God providing for me, right? And look, I have the fare to pay! That’s God providing for me financially, right?  Great confirmation. Here I go!”  So as long as things are going great Jonah continues living in the dilusion that perhaps he is ok (Now Scripture doesn’t say that Jonah tells himself these things, but by way of illustration it’s powerful because we do things like that all the time. We look at circumstances and assume that if it “works out” then it’s God’s stamp of approval.) 

How did things “work out” for Jesus? Paul?  Stephen?  Peter? I’ll give you a hint. It starts with an “m”. Martyrdom. Yeah, circumstances didn’t “work out” how we might think. That’s not how they determined God’s will. 

So all of this to say that I’m convicted about how much of my motivation and direction seeking is at the heart purely selfish. I look for things to line up in a way that seems good for God and good for me…ok mostly for me. And quite honestly, right now I’m so tired that I feel like I don’t have the strength to be unselfish.  Anybody ever feel like that?  Last night I told Jeff, “OK, so my desire to have a beautiful home where we can just settle down and never move again is probably selfish. But I’m so stinking tired of moving and trying to be strong and packing up these STUPID boxes that I don’t care of it’s selfish, I’m too tired to be unselfish.”  Anybody? 

So in the midst of my “too tired to be unselfish” feelings, God throws me a challenge today (I hate that!).  I really have to be vague about it but hopefully I can convey the gist.  What if God called us to give up something that we really want/desire for our family so that someone else can have what they really want/desire?  And what if that thing is really big?  And what if that other person actually has a face and a name and is someone that I don’t think deserves it?  (I know, I have an ugly heart) What if that other person is a thorn in my flesh?  It’s one thing to give of our money to some precious bright-eyed shoeless orphan in Africa or to some charity and increase our tax deduction.  But what if we need to give in a way that doesn’t gain us any warm fuzzy feelings or decrease our taxable income.  Giving in a way that actually deprives us of something so that someone else, whom we might not even have the warmest feelings toward, can have what we don’t.  What then?  And what if my sense of entitlement is screaming at the top of its lungs that that just wouldn’t be FAIR? 

And as soon as my ugly heart utters the word, “fair,” my vision scans to my sweet Jesus, hanging on the cross, bleeding, dying, weeping, suffocating.  Fair.  Unfair.  My utter wretchedness. My undeservedness.  I am the thorn in the flesh of His brow. And yet He suffered.  Oh Jesus help us.  Help me.  Change my heart.

You know I don’t know exactly what God will ask us to do. But I do know that today, and any day, that God issues us a challenge, I pray that He would give me and grace to respond,”Yes, Lord.  Thy Kingdom come, my kingdom go.  Not my will but Yours be done.” It’s so easy to say. So hard to do. 

So while I hate conviction, I’m thankful for it.  And thankful for His grace, and thankful for–as Dutch’s children’s Bible calls it–His “never-failing, never-changing, always forever love.”

I think I spend a huge portion of my life singing the wrong kind of Hosanna.  The other morning at church we sang, “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.”  Hosanna means “Save us!”  As Palm Sunday approaches we think of that first century day when the multitudes waved their palm branches and lay their clothes on the road crying out those very words, “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 21:6-11).   I think how interesting it is that as we sing the very words from the first century, so we make the same mistakes they did as well.  See, the disciples and the multitudes were expecting Jesus to establish an earthly reign.  They wanted an earthly Kingdom. They wanted freedom from the oppression of the Romans. They wanted Jesus to forcefully seize control of the political realm and establish an earthly reign in Jerusalem.  And this kick-off event of the Passion Week reveals their anticipation that Jesus would indeed be their new king.  They wave the branches and lay down their clothes, getting ready for Jesus to take over and reign.

But then He goes and dies instead. 

See it’s easy for us to think how foolish they were. All along Jesus kept emphasizing that His Kingdom was not an earthly one. He kept upsetting their expectations.  Kept turning everything upside down. The least is the greatest. Humble yourself to be exalted.  When asked by Pilate if He is king of the Jews, Jesus responds plainly: “My Kingdom is not of this world.”  But no one seemed to understand all this until He rose.  Then as He meets once again with the disciples, after His resurrection, He opens their eyes, and “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). They finally get it. 

Do we?

His purpose all along was to reach down to earth that He might bring deliverance to His people and populate The Kingdom of Heaven.  We know all this right? I mean we know that Jesus isn’t running for President of the United States of America.  We’re going to heaven, and this isn’t it.

But how mixed up I become! How often I seek the wrong kind of salvation. How often I forget that Jesus didn’t save me in order to set up a glorious happy Kingdom here in this life, on this earth.  This earth and everything in it is passing away–merely a breath.  I spend probably 90% of my life and time and energy praying and thinking and asking for blessings here on earth. And don’t get me wrong, I want to receive them! But how much better to pray, as one godly professor of mine put it, “Thy Kingdom come, my kingdom go.”  Yes, God loves to do miracles such as provide houses, lower interest rates, give jobs, heal sickness, and answer the multitudes of prayers that we offer up to Him.  But I need to be reminded that I’m not on this earth to be special, I’m here to be useful (thanks Beth Moore for reminding me).  It’s fun to be God’s chosen princess, to believe in Him and be the recipient of amazing blessings. But I”m not here on this earth to experience earthly deliverance from hardship, I’m not here to sit with my hands open and just receive His treasures and sit around and look at them and celebrate how fun they are. I’m here to work! I cry, “Hosanna–Lord save me!”  and if I were really to spell out what they means in my heart it’s probably, “Hosanna–Lord save me by providing a house for me and by giving me more sleep and by making my husband really happy all the time and by giving us a wonderful marriage and by making my children behave and not embarrass me and by making it so we don’t have financial stress and by helping me lose those last ten pregnancy pounds and by making me not so stressed and emotional.  Yes, Lord! Save me!”  Ugh. See my point?  Anybody else feel so consumed by triviality that the Kingdom of God becomes the last thing on your to-do list?  Just like the multitudes two-thousand years ago, I think perhaps I sing the wrong kind of Hosanna. 

Two weeks from today is April 1st, 2009.  Big deal, right? It’s a big deal to me!  As many of you know, on April 1st of last year I began a one-year clothing fast.  Click here to read the details.  It began a one year series of LiveDifferent Challenges, which I admit have sort of petered out over the past couples months as my LiveDifferent Challenge was simply to survive this crazy season of life!  But the first challenge was to go without buying any clothes for one whole year.  The humorous part was that right after beginning the fast, I got pregnant! Then, I became a Pastor’s wife in West Linn of all places, the capital of all Well-Dressed-dom.  But, I am excited to report that I’ve kept it!  There are many many generous friends to thank, who helped me out a little by getting me a few cute items here and there for birthday and Christmas.  But as far as the requirements went, I kept it, and I can now say with all confidence and conviction … that I loathe every single piece of clothing in my closet.  And, I pretty much need to burn my sock drawer.

Really though, it’s been a great journey. I’ll write more later about what I’ve learned, but I wanted to write two weeks in advance to extend an invitation and allow you some time to think about it.  As part of the fast, I decided to donate, at the end, $500 (estimating that that’s probably what I would spend on clothes for a year) to Gospel for Asia to buy livestock or supplies for those in need.  I also issued an challenge for anyone who was willing to match me dollar for dollar to do the fast. My brother matched the donation, so now I’m excited that on April first $1,000 will be donated! Yay! 

But as I went to the Gospel for Asia website today, I had a blast looking around and thinking about all the fun things we could buy for people in need.  Click here to see their donation website.  And as I looked around it dawned on me that perhaps others would want to join with us and contribute to the April 1st GFA contribution. You don’t have to do $500.  Even a dollar can buy something.  For example, a few Christmases ago, per my brother’s request, I bought two chickens and two rabbits for a family in Asia for his Christmas present.  With $1000 we could buy two water buffalo!  For a little more we could buy 3 cows!  Or, if we had another $200 in donations we could even buy a motor-scooter which could provide transportation for two missionaries.  So many possibilities!

So, I invite you to check out the donation website and see if there is something on there in your price range. And if God puts it on your heart, join with us these last two weeks and let’s celebrate the fact that God has abundantly blessed us, and given us so much that we’re able to give to others.  If you’d like, fast something for the remaining two weeks (i.e. lattes or sweets or gum or eating out), and give that amount that you would have spent.  Whether it’s $1 or $100, two weeks is easy and you never know how much you can bless something in need.

Two more weeks to think about it and decide.  And I’ll admit, April 1st you might be able to find me perusing the clearance section at Nordstrom Rack… 🙂