Category Archives: Sacred Mundane

On a beautiful sunny morning, praising God for His beauty, asking God for your blessing…

“But let those who love You be like the sun as as it rises in full strength!”

Judges 5:31

 

• Our old kiddie pool busting open on the side. Sharing with Dutch about giving away his toys and how God always blesses a cheerful giver. Then immediately after Dutch giving a toy away the neighbors giving us a brand new kiddie pool as they are moving to another state. Whoa! Amazing provision and beautiful lesson for my boy. Thank you, Jesus, for Your beautiful presence even in the most mundane of places.
• Six of us snuggled into Mom and Dad’s motorhome. Kids sharing the table-turned-into-bed.  Too many giggles and not enough sleep but isn’t that what camping is all about?
• The little night-walker who wiggled her way into our bed every night. Not that I minded…
• Sleeping with my little ball of sugar nestled in my arms. That girl takes my breath away. Watching her sleep. Kissing her mouth, inhaling her apple-breath.
• Sitting up late in the darkness playing Scrabble with my man.  I must admit, the ipad has its value…
• Sound of pouring rain pattering loud on the metal roof. Thanking God that we weren’t in a tent…

• Gordy & Sandy showing us the pirate village. To my son, whose latest obsession is pirates (which he learned about on Veggie Tales of all places), this was a dream-come-true.  All afternoon spent exploring pirate ships and even getting his picture taken with a plastic sword. He even managed to rescue mommy from the mouth of a Great White Shark. Close call!

• Napping with my kids.
• Afternoon down at the beach, kids lost in their make-believe world. Damming up the small trickling river, creating pond for splashing, playing.  Heidi falling headlong into the water. Soaked. Daddy carrying her back to the RV for a warm rinse and dry clothes.
• Hobo dinner.
• Fresh blackberry cobbler.
• Arriving home with plenty of day left. Hum of lawnmower and washing machine, hanging clothes out to dry.
• Family trip to Spicer Brothers and a little ice cream treat…
• Waking up to the sound of pouring rain. Oops! Laundry’s still out. Collecting dripping laundry, sopping wet. Having to run the drain and spin cycle to even get it wrung out enough for the dryer. Gotta love Oregon summers…
• Riding with kids in an inflatable kayak … in the garage. No water necessary, all kids need is imagination.
• Finding fresh raspberries and basil on my doorstep.
• Husband who steam-cleans carpets while I write Bible studies. Dreams do come true. 🙂
• Doing a work-out video with both kids. Crunches with Heidi sitting on my stomach (that’s a challenge!).  Dutch telling me I needed to do the one-legged lunges with my eyes closed (“Because you’re advanced, mommy!”).  Both kids getting tired and just lying on the floor while I finished. They’re pretty wimpy and whiny, but hey, it was fun.
• Another day of rain … the gift is that we’re saving on our water bill?
• Looking forward to date night — free babysitter, free movie, and free popcorn… with the man of my dreams. DOES it get any better than that?
• Washing lettuce from the garden.
• A salad with a tiny bit of grit … reminds me that it’s fresh.
• Hobo dinner — a new hit with the kids. Dutch, “Can we have this for dinner every night.” Have I really found a meal he loves that doesn’t include bread?! Hooray!
• Realizing I’m going to run out of space on this list.  Too many gifts to count this week…
• Date night OUT with my man. It really is nice to get out of the house sometimes…
• The blessing of Bob Paskins watching out kids and the hilarious fiasco that ensued when Heidi woke up with a stinky diaper and was not a little surprised to find Bob instead of Mommy. Bob earns a prize!
• Blessed day with a blessed friend getting very pampered for a belated birthday.
• An entire cleaning bucket filled with assorted bottles of Mrs. Meyer’s Basil-scented aromatherapy household cleaners. This domestic diva’s dream come true!
• Getting affected. Being bothered. Letting ourselves be touched.
• 3.7 million opportunities for our glorious God to miraculously move.
• Jeff’s day off.
• Sweet morning coffee date with a dearest friend.
• Arriving home to hear happy shrieks of children running through sprinkler.
• Watching through the window — daddy wrestling little monkeys in the grass.
• Dutch’s ability to turn anything into a pirate ship.
• Packing the car for day at Detroit Lake.
• Taking a nap.
• Resting in grace.

• Twenty-four pounds of fresh, local, organic strawberries.  Food heaven.
• Hike down along the river to George Rogers Park. Picnic in the grass. Four happy-tired bodies, quiet on the drive home.
• God-planned evening, divinely-orchestrated with dear friends, unknown to each other but known by God, sharing in common the African continent in the hearts.
• The prayer of faith.
• Getting to be on the giving and receiving end of God’s amazing provision. How fun is that?
• Date-night.
• Sunny Saturday evening at Mary S. Young down by the river. Kids splashing, digging in the mud. Oops, both slipped. Soaking wet and covered in mud. Recipe for happy kids.  Picnic in the park. Heidi devouring Macadamia nuts.
• Splashing through the fountains at Hammerle.
• Surprise bday party BBQ out in the country. Kids eating ribs, licking fingers, slurping up bowls of homemade ice cream. This is summer!
• Sun-kissed faces.
• Getting going on Galatians. I always drag my heels, feel inadequate, then read the Word and remember that’s the whole point. I am and He’s not.
• The gospel, the power of salvation (Rom 1:16).
• Laundry hanging in the sun.
• Clothespins, little shorts, tiny t-shirts. I love summer laundry.
• Community Group family of faith. Love them.
• The gift of another head under our roof — kids so happy to have an aunty here. A smile in the morning, she fills us with her contagious joy.
• God always providing for every need.
• Quick impromptu ministry “meeting” that speaks life and encouragement to my heart.
• Early morning prayer meeting. I love this time and these women so much!
• Genuine love.
• Starbucks date.
• Generous friends.
• Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of child training.  This is all going to pay off, yes? Believing this is a gift I will enjoy someday…
• An amazing answer to prayer for a friend — over and above what she ever imagined. Rejoicing with you, Debra.
• A house with room enough for mentor meetings, premarital counseling, friends sleeping over.  Praying that wherever we downsize still has room for all of this…
• A fun day meeting up with a friend who all-of-a-sudden has 3 children aged 3 and under!  A beautiful adoption story. Her life (and home) are an inspiration!
• Managing a full day of playing and monthly Winco trip and Trader Joe’s and Azure pick-up without a single melt-down moment … the kids did pretty well too. 😉
• Quiet, clean house. Resting children, resting mom.
• Eating a huge salad by myself on the couch.
• White vinegar. Who knew it’s the most versatile substance on earth?
• Spell-check. Icannot spell versatile on the first try. Ever.
• Heading to the Beach!
• Camping … with a motorhome. (My favorite kind)
• Unplugging.
• Studying Galatians.
• Standing fast in the gospel.
• Talking to myself instead of listening to myself.
• Persevering in the battle of the mind.
• Choosing love.
• Receiving grace.
• Fixing our eyes on the cross.

I think we’ve finally found our pace.

{at least for now}

This fall will be three years that we’ve been at our church/job, and although of course we have our good days and bad days like any other family, I feel like we’re finally in-stride with our family’s pace. I stepped away from my role as Director of Women’s Ministry and now get to focus on leading Bible study, and we’ve whittled down our evening commitments to only 3/week. Mind you, I love our commitments, but when there’s too many of them we begin to resent the very things we love.

Thinking about this pace that feels so good reminded me of a phenomenal book, Margin, that I read a few years ago. If you’ve never read it, check it out! A few thoughts from the archives…

Americans have reached an all-time high point for depression, anxiety, suicide, stress, burn-out, abuse, and divorce.  While life-expectancy is at an all-time high, perhaps quality of life, that is happiness and contentment, is at an all time low.  Something is wrong. Perhaps it is that we have reached a limit and we’re in desperate need of margin.

Margin is defined as the space between your load and your limit. On a piece of paper, the margin is the white space between the written words and the edge of the page.  As a grader in seminary, let me tell you that my #1 pet peeve in grading is opening a paper and seeing that the student has done one of three things:  used size 10 font instead of 12, snuck in 1.75 line space instead of double, or changed the margins ever so slightly so the words creep over dangerously close to the edge of the page. They might think I don’t notice…but after reading 25 of them, I notice!  And far from being impressed by their covert ways, I am annoyed because what this tells me is that they were incapable of completing the assignment in the given space.  So, they have to cheat by doctoring margins.  That bugs me.  I have been known to write across the top of the page, “Ah!  Give me some white space!”

So we have done this with our lives. In the name of diligence, we have clicked on those margins and dragged them closer and closer to the edge of the page, instead of simply acknowledging the appropriate boundaries necessary for mental, emotional, physical, financial, and spiritual health, and respecting those boundaries.  Instead we have arrogantly assumed that the rules of margin aren’t for us, and we’ve packed our lives to the point of breakdown.

If you’re not convinced that this is an epidemic, check out these stats from the doctor who authored the book:  “Adjusting for population growth, ten times as many people in Western nations today suffer from unipolar depression, or unremitting bad feelings, without a specific cause, then did half a century ago.  Americans and Europeans have ever more of everything except happiness.”  In one morning, nine of the eleven patients this doctor saw where on antidepressents.  We are truly living in a “deteriorating psychic environment.” He observes that “millions of suburbanites seem to find that ‘the good life’ is only endurable under sedation.”

Not only are we sad, we we are overfed, under-exercised, sleep-deprived as well.  We are in more debt than ever before.  We have less leisure time, even though it was predicted in the early 20th century that by this time we would be down to a 2-3 day workweek because we could produce all that we “need” withing that amount of time. Ha!  Whoever predicted that took no classes in human behavior.  We don’t work for our needs. Instead, the workweek has risen rapidly over the past 20 years:  “The average work year for prime-age working couples has increased by nearly 700 hours in the last two decades.”  Exhaustion, burn-out, stress, and mental breakdown have become the norm.

I know it’s not simple, but I pray this weekend you and your family can enjoy some white space.

We’re actually camping at the beach right now — sand in our toes, smoke in our hair and s’mores in our teeth.

A little white space is good for the soul. Thanks for reading — happy weekend.

• Napping in the grass outside Buckingham Palace (above), sunshine spilling over us, resting our weary feet, soaking up God’s grace.
• Blessed {Single-Minded} singles, eager for the gospel, warm and inviting toward us. Finally getting used to their accents and being able to carry on a conversation.
• Having the honor of teaching Expectancy without Expectation to the group on Sunday.
• A sweet time with the ladies, talking about beauty.
• Jill sharing her heart, letting me peak into her journal. A brave, beautiful soul. Blessed because she let me in to see.
• Many many English meals.
• Plenty of “refreshments.”
• A barefoot walk in the sunshine through the breath-taking High Leigh grounds. The weight of speaking responsibility lifted, my heart soaking up the goodness of God.
• Instant coffee packets. It might not taste that great but it sure is convenient!
• Electric tea kettles.
• Crammed in the backseat of mini-cars … several times.
• Re-Hope church plant in Glasgow. Singing Revival in Belfast worship songs at the top of our lungs with dear Scottish saints. Church full of arms stretched out to our Lord. Overcome. Wow.
• Singing Matt Redman and Tim Hughes worship songs … they sound so beautiful sung with the right accent!

• Late-night tour of University of Glasgow. Looking out over the city. 10pm home and collapsing into bed, exhausted.
• Sleeping in until 10!  Twelve hours of sleep. We needed it. Waking refreshed and excited for the day.
• Day spent with church-planters Scotty & Monica Burns. Hearing their amazing stories of God’s provision. Built up in my faith, amazed at God’s grace.
• Indian food.
• Brian Luse at the Glasgow airport with the biggest smile you can imagine. HE, in himself, was a gift. Though we hardly knew him before, you can’t not love this guy.

• Five beautiful Luse children all winning my heart. Caileen snuggled on my lap within 5 minutes. Four of them reciting the Shema (Deut 6) in Hebrew and English after dinner. Wow! [I’m applauding them above]
• Playing Snakes & Ladders.
• Personalized plastic letter necklaces for Jeff and me.
• Scottish dinner! Sausages and fresh fish BBQ’d on the grill donated by Willamette Christian Church.
• Butterscotch-chip cookies.
• Late night with Brian & Shauna. What a gift they are.
• Recounting the story of why we’re attempting to sell our house. It helps so much to tell the story. Helps us believe again, reminds our own hearts why we do what we do. Dear dear saints who cheer us on and encourage us. So thankful.
• Playing soccer in the yard.
• Loch Lamond — beautiful. Day walking the Scottish countryside and enjoying the park.
• Eating haggis. (It was disgusting … but it’s still a gift that we got to try it!)
• Skype every night with the kids. Crying afterwards … I love those little monkeys more than life itself.
• Arriving back in London after an hour delay and miraculous (no really, miraculously) catching our bus into the city. Collapsing into our seats, exhausted and ready for an adventure.
• Finally arriving at our hotel late Tuesday night…. the sketchiest, dingiest hotel I’ve ever seen. BUT, we were together and that’s all that matters, yes? Happy Anniversary!
• Day in Oxford with Dale Gibson’s daughters and their families. A true gift.
• Climbing to the top of Magdelan tower. Overlooking all of Oxford. Breathtaking.
• Homemade curry chicken and a ride back to the bus station — a HUGE gift!
• Discovering a food-coop store. A bag of apples and bottled water for the morning — a gift!
• Instant coffee in our hotel room. Nothing’s ever tasted better.
• The trek up several flights of stairs to the only shower in the hotel. I’ve never appreciated a hot shower so much in my life. Oh the amazing wonder of a hot shower!
• Seeing everything new, through the eyes of KP Yohannen and his fellow missionaries. No shoes, no spare clothes, no food, no money, traveling to hundreds of villages to preach the gospel. I pray to remember this always … keeps life in perspective.
• First (and only) day on our own in London, seeing MANY sights in one day. Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathdral, the church of the holy sepulchre, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, walking across the Thames, London Eye, Hyde Park, Buckingham palace, the Old Bailey (Rumpole’s stomping grounds!). Full full day. Good and tired.
• Attending Evensong worship at Westminster Abbey. Wow.
• Resting under a tree when it started to rain.
• The tube.
• Double-decker buses. Wishing Dutch were with us.
• Being so tired our dingy and stingy hotel room looked gloriously comfortable!
• Yakisoba.
• Sleeping great every single night despite our tiny, dilapidated bed. Another miracle — so thankful!
• Amazing day together on Friday. Long morning spent at Starbucks outside the British Museum (nothing like some Pike Place coffee to make me feel at home!). Rest, no rush, able to see, refocus, correct our compass, plan for the future, pray, get in God’s Word. Ahhhhh…. just what we needed. Thank you Lord!
• Venti coffee with real cream.
• Day spent at the British Museum. Unhurried.
• Amazing statues from China in the first century AD, when the idea of hell was introduced to their culture (wonder where that might have come from in the first century AD?!).  Two sculptures, one holding a book of “good works” (TINY) and one holding a book of “evil works” (HUGE). Wow. Amazing to see that every culture, at the heart, knows that humanity needs a Savior. More on this later…
• Pad Thai and Curry. Delicious!
• Super fun “blind double-date” with blog-reader Brie and her fabulous fiance Jamie. Drinks overlooking the Thames, walk along the pier, sweet fellowship and encouragement in Christ. A sweet fresh reminder of the fellowship we share in God’s Spirit.
• Feet up, laptops out, logging in to record the sweet events of our trip. Three more days here, out to south, where Jeff will preach at Calvary Chapel Leatherhead.  A quiet end to a busy and blessed trip. So thankful for every moment of it. And so thankful to return home.
• Anticipating the taste of Oregon water. Nothing so delicious in all the world …
• Times of refreshing.

I read an interesting and, quite honestly, rather disturbing portion of scripture this morning.  Second Samuel chapeter 21 gives an account of how David avenges the Gibeonites, righting Saul’s wrong.

There’s a famine in the land for two years so “David sought the face of the LORD,” basically saying, “Uh, something’s not right here. What’s going on?”  and the LORD said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gigeonites to death.”

Now, the Gibeonites are a curious group.  When Joshua and his guys first inhabited the promise land, the Gibeonites got scared that they’d get wiped out, so they pretended to be from a land far far away, wearing old worn out clothes and bringing moldy bread, and asked the Israelites to make a treaty with them and deal kindly with them. The Israelites didn’t seek the Lord to ask His counsel, but made the treaty, and then and only then discovered that the rascals were their next door neighbors that the Lord had intended for them to destroy.

So, basically what they had done was agree to share their promised land with these tricksters for all time.  And because God honors a vow, the treaty would last for all time. Never were they to slaughter the Gibeonites. Well, Saul, who is famous for not following directions very well, had put some Gibeonites to death during his reign.  We’re talking a long time ago. David wasn’t even around then so it obviously wasn’t his fault.  So it kind of seems strange that God’s allowing this famine because of a sin that some dead king did a long time ago.  So David goes to the Gibeonites and asks them, “How can I make it right by you?” and they respond that they want some of Saul’s blood.

So, David agrees to avenge the Gibeonites by executing seven descendents of Saul.

Wait, what?

That’s the part that really trips me up.  So these seven men, grandsons of King Saul, who probably didn’t even know the guy that much, are executed because of some stupid thing their grandpa did? That’s harsh.  So I’m not going there, but the point seems to be that sin is a big deal, and often requires restitution.

Now we know we’ve been bought and redeemed by Christ, but I wonder if there is a principle here for us?  Because when David did that, and avenged the Gibeonites, it says, “And after that God responded to the plea for the land” v. 14.  Hm.

Who do I need to avenge?

I just wonder if maybe God thinks it’s important for us to be mindful of ways that we need to make things right.  So I prayed and asked God if there was anything I needed to make right, so that a spiritual famine would not take place in my life.

I was reminded of two things:  Jeff and I had decided to support some certain missionaries several months prior but then things got super busy and crazy, and I realized that we never followed through and called the mission agency.  That might seem small, but if those missionaries were counting on our contribution, we were essentially robbing them, not letting our yes be yes.  This passage showed me that in order to make it right, we should not just start now, but pay back the months we’d neglected.  In essence, righting the wrong we’d overlooked.

Secondly, God brought to mind a very difficult relational/business situation we’ve been in. The other person, through an amazing change of heart, chose to bless us.  We have an opportunity to make a pretty significant choice to bless her back, and in light of this passage, I think any measure is worth being upright before God and man.  Thankfully we don’t have to find anyone’s sons and have them hanged.

I know Old Testament passages like this can be confusing. I still don’t understand why God would let those seven men die for sins they didn’t commit. But I also know He sees stuff I don’t. But what I love is when those old dusty musty stories come alive with conviction and truth for today.  Because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  And now I need to go, I have some checks to write, some ways to make it right.

[From the archives, May 2009]

Are there any things that come to mind that have perhaps slipped by that you can make right today? A follow up, a phone-call, the simple words, “I’m sorry”? It feels so good to keep a short account with God! Thanks for reading.