Up, Up and Away!

            I think I can relate to Superman.  I know a truth, but I live among a people that I am trying to hide from.  Am I truly “not of this world”?  Have I really been given the mission “to be in the world, but not of it”?

I find myself doing things and thinking things with a power that is otherworldly.  I have been feeling more comfortable in my earthly clothes than in my super suit.  When Superman was in costume, or maybe it was what he was truly born to wear, he became a target and a magnet at the same time.  It wearied him, it can weary me.  Unless…  I live in the power of the One who sent me.

            I have had a mission ever since I was adopted.  Bought back from the Enemy with the blood of Jesus, I am infused with the life of God through the work of my Redeemer’s cross.  I have a mission to take the saving power of God to those who are dying.  But, I hear many confusing voices. I have rubbed up against some kryptonite.  It looks beautiful, but it is deadly to the soul of an alien.  It is even more seductive to those who once were bound to its lies.  Sin.  Bondage.  Death.  Only One has ever lived and walked and had no need of rescue; He always was and always will be the God-Man Jesus Christ.  But, oh, the power of this Man’s sacrifice has been given to me! Kryptonite, be gone!

            I am realizing that I can duck and hide in a phone booth or disguise my true identity. But big coke bottle glasses can only hide me for so long.  I need to become more comfortable with my super suit.  I have been placed here until my mission is complete.

 I have read and heard the stories of other aliens, of their glories and failures.   I know where every one of their stories ends… in the safety and love of their Father in Heaven.  Every one of them died in the preserving love of God. 

            I do not know what every day holds… the life I live is one of secret mission.  I await my instructions every day.  My enemies are standing by, just as I am.  But they will never have their ultimate satisfaction. One day I will get the call to come home.  Until then, my Father will protect my life.  And when I trade this dying body for one imperishable, the Enemy will feel the sting of the defeat he has already been dealt.  Another soul beyond his grip.

            So, I am getting a little more carless about my cape showing.  I know my disguise only makes other people more comfortable.  Even as I am all things to all people, I know that my super suit shows.  My disguise is getting thinner.  

            So, fellow aliens, do not hide your true citizenship, let it show.  You bear the name of Jesus.  Let your true identity out and be not ashamed of who you are.  You are not of this world.  You are going to be a little “Clark Kentish”, just a little odd.  The more you embrace where you are going, the more the things of this world will fall away.  The closer you come to the world that is not like this one, the more you will reflect its glory.

 When you get the call, go unashamed in the name of the Lord. He is with you, what can man do?  Sojourners are untouchable and have been set free from fear.  Just remember, steer clear of the kryptonite…

                                                        ~Your Fellow Sojourner

            [14] I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [15] I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.     

(John 17:14-19 ESV)

Get Down Low

                Most of the time, I do not look up until I have gotten down low enough.  When I am standing up, my eyes focus on what is right in front of me or in a downward direction.  The perspective is small and limited when I stare at the ground.  But, when I look up…  the possibilities are endless.

                Jesus would look for every opportunity to get down low.  He would crouch down to touch a child, to heal a leper, to feed the hungry, sleep in the bottom of a boat.  He knew that this is where His Father was.  His Father’s heart belongs to the lowly.  Jesus came that He might draw all men to Himself.   Where do we find Him?  When we are laid low.  The poor and humble get His attention.

  Recently, while we were at the park, my two year old son was enamored by some exceptionally tall pine trees.  He would throw his arms around the trunks, throw his head back and look up.  “Tall, Tall”, he would say.  And so I crouched down beside him and looked up to see what he saw.  My gaze turned from nothing but brown dry pine needles to a blue open sky with clouds floating past.  My perspective had changed because I had come down low.

                My son is a pretty friendly toddler. It was no surprise to me that a little boy about a year older than him decided to make him his playmate for the remainder of their time together at the park.  My son, blond and white, held the hand of a smiling black boy and together they walked in pure delight around the park.  Both of them were smiling and trusting one another completely.  There was no bias, no judgment, no fear. 

                As they walked around, another woman commented to me. “If we would all be like that.”  “Yes,” I said, “ like little children.”  She then said, “We have to come like little children.”  “Yes,” I said, “ that is how He wants us to come, like little children.”  Jesus was drawing me down low. 

                Life can be like an optical illusion.  We see one thing in the picture, but we try to turn it around to see something different.  Can this picture change?  Then Jesus comes and says, “Come down to where I am and let me show you what I see.”  He changes the picture right before our eyes.

                Nothing is impossible with God.  “Do not come and bother the Master” we want to say to ourselves, to others, with our self-righteous spirits.  “No, forbid them not.  For the Kingdom of God is made for such as these.”  He calls us to become like little children again and again.

                “Come, come on”, my son would call to the little black boy.  The other boy would run over and hold his hand without saying a word.  He trusted him.  And they would run off together.  M y son knew I was there.  He knew I would not leave him.  This was the source of his confidence.  No matter where he went or what he did, I would be there.  Reaching out his hand to this little boy was natural for him.  He could walk through the park without apprehension because I was watching and I was ready.

                My time came when the two playmates decided to follow the path outside of the playground gate and into the parking lot.  I came alongside them and turned them around.  They insisted on continuing along the path right into the parking lot.  I knew they did not understand the danger.  I was not angry, but I knew that I needed to bring correction.  They finally submitted and continued on with their play.  I followed them smiling, knowing that they could enjoy playing together because I was keeping them safe.

                Lord, Lord.  I forget that you are always watching and keeping me safe.  You turn my gaze upward to remind me. “Come, come on”, You say to me.  Keep me low Lord, so that my eyes are staid on You.  There, I can run in the paths of Your commands.  What have I to fear?  For you are with me.  And I become like a child again, knowing my Daddy is walking right behind me. ~ Your Fellow Sojourner

                 I lift up my eyes to the hills.

               From where does my help come?

                 My help comes from the LORD,

                who made heaven and earth.

                 He will not let your foot be moved;

                he who keeps you will not slumber.

                 Behold, he who keeps Israel

                will neither slumber nor sleep.

                 The LORD is your keeper;

                the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

                 The sun shall not strike you by day,

                nor the moon by night.

                 The LORD will keep you from all evil;

                he will keep your life.

                 The LORD will keep

                your going out and your coming in

                from this time forth and forevermore.

                                                       (Psalm 121 ESV)

It is Not Death to Die, Unless You are a Skunk

           I had been thinking recently about how to explain the gravity of death to my children.  How do you convey death’s seeming finality, its sorrow, and its eternal weight?  With Easter coming, I wanted to make the death of Jesus become more of a reality to them.  So, God provided a skunk.

            Earlier this week, Chris and I were observing the children playing outside on another beautiful spring afternoon when I heard my husband say, “I just don’t like the looks of it.”  Then I followed his gaze to a small, but brazen skunk nibbling on something among the pine trees directly across from the back porch.  I too did not like the “looks” of this animal.  It was not shy and looked toward the kids running not several yards away.  “I should shoot it, but it’s going to stink.”, he said.  “Go get your gun.  I don’t want it to bite one of the children or for them to come across its path in the woods.”   So, the family prepared for the death of the skunk.

            All of the children come inside, except for our oldest, who I think has definitely earned the right of passage to observe the shooting of a wild animal in our yard on the outside of the house rather than the inside.  Every face was pressed against the screen door as Chris loaded his shotgun.  He paused.  I knew what he was thinking.  I wish I didn’t have to kill this animal.  He is so cute.  He doesn’t know any better.  But as a father, he knew his children must come before the unwary nocturnal animal that had brazenly snuffled its way into our yard. 

            He took a breath, and carefully shot the skunk.  Or should I say, “blew it away”?  One moment the little critter was enjoying his last meal, the next he was skunk toast.  I immediately looked at our children, and I knew this was the moment I had been looking for to talk about death.  Their eyes were opened and they just stood there looking at where the skunk once was. 

            We later spoke with them about why we chose to kill the skunk and the dangers of guns.  We talked with them about learning to use a firearm safely and the importance of protecting one’s family.  But the one thing we wanted to impress them with was the brevity of life.  One minute a cute skunk was in our yard, the next, his body was being dumped in the woods with a shovel.  They all understood exactly what we were saying.  Life is short and you do not know when it will end.  Death can come suddenly, are you ready? 

            Jesus alone knew when and how He would die.  He spoke of his death constantly to his disciples.  He let them know that He must die in their place to deliver them from sin and death itself.  Without His sacrifice, we would all be under the wrath of the Almighty God of the Universe.  He had to die. 

            We do not know when or how death will come.  For some, death will cause an agony of both body and spirit.  For others, even though their bodies may be racked with pain, their spirits will be at peace because they have hidden their life with Christ in God.  For them, it will not be death to die, but life eternal. 

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” John 3:14, 15

            

You Don't Know What You've Got Till Its Gone

              Tonight we were serenaded by a very bad rendition of “Happy Birthday” in English followed by a very cool rendition of “Happy Birthday” in Chinese.  Our twins, Liam and Winston, turned 5 today.  All they wanted was to “go to Chinese” and to have a birthday cake (one chocolate cake with black icing and a spy on top, the other vanilla with green icing and a tractor on top – I had to talk him out of the blueberries and pudding on top as well) and of course, presents. 

                So, we returned to a familiar place for our family, the Chinese buffet.  Chris and I could predict what would happen.  And as always, we were right.  We were rock stars from the moment we walked in.  Why you might ask?  The reason is because of our children.

                The phenomena began with my first pregnancy,  when we still had money to eat out more often.    Whenever we would go to our favorite Chinese restaurant, the owner had to come out and talk with us.  He made a prediction “It will be a boy.”  Followed by a familiar admonition ,”You have more, lots more!” 

                As God added children to our family, it was only at Chinese restaurants that we gained instant celebrity status.  All the young girls and women would flock over to our table and touch our children and giggle and talk in rapid Chinese to one another.  And if you think that wasn’t bad enough, enter twins.  Twins took it up a notch.  All of the women who worked in the place would pile out, to come and see “the twins”.  We were just hoping that they would invite us back after they saw the mess we left behind.

                Chris and I started to connect some dots and we came up with our own theory.  Could this theory be substantiated by others?  We do not know, but we still hold to our “Children in a Chinese Restaurant” theory.

                We knew of China’s one child policy and could only imagine the pain and heartache this evil policy must cause in China.  (Article on China's One Child Policy)  But, we are not in China.  We are in America.  So, here where we have freedom to have as many children as the good Lord gives, why the awe in these Chinese people?  Could it be that they are seeing something they would never have seen in their native land?  A table filled with children, all from the same nuclear family?  Could there be a longing in their hearts to be parents that are flanked by children instead of doting on the one prince or princess the government has allowed them to raise?  Could it be the longing of an unfulfilled heart? 

                As I watched my sons blow out their birthday candles tonight, I had a thought.  Do I celebrate children like these Chinese people do?  Do I shake my head in awe and cluck my tongue because there are no words to describe the amazement of it all?  Do I see them and cherish them for the miracles that they are?

                Something else happened tonight.  First, a woman who was sitting near by came up to me and said, “I have been watching your beautiful family.  I knew they must have a mother who spends a lot of time with them.”  My response, “Really?!”  I know my faults and I certainly do not mother my children as I ought.  The second intriguing thing about tonight was how the Chinese woman who hovered over us tonight called me “the MaMa” in a very honoring way.  She chatted away with me and always wanted to know if I was ok and singled me out.  She even told me she was my friend.  It was her way of saying, “Blessed are you among women…”  She was rising and calling me blessed. 

                I find it interesting that all of this comes tonight, as I have been feeling increasingly defeated as a mother.  I need much reforming in my life and I know that my children suffer the brunt of my lack.  I need to see my children through the eyes of the Chinese, who are watching their sons and daughters be thrown away. 

                I am so ungrateful for the blessings in my life, including my own children.  This is one of the greatest sins, ungratefulness.  To despise a gift that has come down from the Father of lights grieves me.   So, as I feel the daily temptation to fight for my own life instead of serving the life of another, let me remember Lord.  Teach me to let the little children come.  Do not let me come to see what I have been given until it has gone.  Let me live with my children today and let the thankfulness of a grateful heart permeate all of me.  Let me rise in the morning and agree that yes, I am blessed.

                                                                                 ~Your Fellow Sojourner

My Own Tilt-A-Whirl

               Every morning I wake up and find myself on the same merry-go-round.  My hands gripping the bars, my feet planted firmly, my eyes closed and my head dizzy from spinning.  Is this my choice?  Have I stepped on willingly – thinking this would desensitize me?  Was I drug onto this platform beyond my will?  Did God pick me up and place me here?  Did I cause all of this somehow?

                I smiled when I heard someone say that answering the questions will not bring the healing that you seek.  Relief.   My God does not rely on my asking the right question, to finally give the right answer, in order to unlock the cure.

                The “answer” to all of the “whys” stands in the center of history.  All of my history, my entire existence, is incarnate in this one place. The cross stands, with the god-man, Jesus Christ, heaving for another gasp of life-giving air, the very air He created.  He spoke my name on that self-sacrificing moment of redemption.  He knew I would be given a gift – and He intended to keep it until that day.  The day I would fall into His embrace.  When it will finally be finished.

                It is not a spinning world that I cannot control that has me in its clutches.  No.  There is a campaign of stealth that has been released upon my very soul.  Did God really say?  An overt operation to entice me into becoming a double agent.  To be caught in my own game – making no impact one way or the other.  To live in a “no man’s land”.  No ground gained.  No lives saved.  No rescues made. Lukewarm.

                But when I awake from this spinning stupor, and I am reminded by the Captain of my soul of the battle that I am in, an emboldening truth begins to course through my veins.  I look down and see my sword,  bloodied from the past days’ fight.  It bears the evidence of what is truly at stake, what really matters.

                “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Mk.8:36   “But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” Is. 50:7   My rock, the rock of my salvation.  My name forever etched in His hands.  He closes them in a fist – holding me – keeping me from the terror of the night and the arrow that flies by day. 

My sin.  Yes, my sin.  But oh!  This sin is not forever.  It is not my master any longer.  I am reminded of Who has become sin for me.  Sin for me.  Why?  Why, me?  Didn’t you know Lord?  Know that I would run after so many other lovers?  Try so many other drugs to fill my veins, drugs that promised a faster and more lasting serenity?  Why?

                All for love.  Love that wooed me while yet an enemy.  Love that took me by the hand and led me to the same lesson over and over again.  Love that waited while I sold myself for another cheap lie.  Love that ran to me the moment I faced Him again in my shame.  Love, love that will never let me go.  Therefore, I will never be put to shame.  Not for us, but for Your glory, Lord.  

 So, today, I fall back and let go of the merry-go-round.  I am waiting to feel my back hit the hard dusty ground.  But, it never comes.  I fall, but I am caught.  I am lifted up. I see clearly.  The dust filled air, full of lies, is clearing.  My feet are strengthened.  My hand grips the blade ever tighter.  I am compelled by a power not my own.  I run.  I run again, not afraid to fall this time.  He speaks to me in a gentle voice that buoys me up when I need Him.  And oh, how I need Him.  Every hour I need Him.

                 ~Your Fellow Sojourner

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;

No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

Refrain:

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;

Every hour I need Thee;

Oh, bless me now, my Savior,

I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;

Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;

Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;

And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;

Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.

~Annie S. Hawks

Living With Myself

            I remember the moment I first realized that I was not a freak of nature, but that God had created me the way I was, on purpose.  It was a liberating thing to read about one’s self, identifying with the detailed description of my “makeup”.  It set me on a journey.  A journey to understand more about myself and other people.

            As a new wife and a new teacher, I was reading all I could about learning styles. I came upon a book by Cynthia Tobias about the unique way people learn.  The author was giving people “permission” to be who God had created them to be and to learn more about how “fearfully and wonderfully” God had made them, particularly in their minds. 

            Now, it has been some time since I have read and studied learning styles, personalities, and left versus right brain tendencies, but I have not forgotten the basics.  I am being reminded as of late, just how incredible our Creator God is when it comes to the height of His creation, people. 

So often, we take the information we learn about ourselves and others and assign labels - good and bad.  Labels say, “I have checked this person out and have decided that this is the most significant thing about this person – no need to get to know him for yourself, it has already been done.”  We all do it- giving labels to people.  She is an addict.  He is a bum.  That child is a future felon.  She is snooty. He is a genius.  She is perfect.  Those people are ignorant and simple minded.  The labels have no end.  Man even searches for “cures” to help those who have been labeled by society in a negative way.  Take this pill.  Take this course.  Believe this mantra.   Follow this person.  Remake yourself. 

 God has labels too.  His labeling machine has very different words however.  Lost.  Found.  Sinner.  Redeemed.  Heavenly.  Earthly.  Faithful.  Idolater.  Sick.  Healed.   Empty.  Abundant.   These labels comfort me and discomfort me.

            God has come throughout history to those who have been labeled and gives them a different label- His label.  Scripture tells about the “erasing” that God’s labels do when He replaces the lies of this world with the truth. Just ask Gideon, David, Paul, Mary, Moses, Ruth, or Rahab. “The old is gone, the new has come.”

            I couldn’t find where I fit in to this culture’s accepted lists in many areas of my life.  In fact, it only got worse.  I became more and more “unacceptable”.   But as I find the culture increasingly scratching it’s head at me, I see more and more of the creative genius of my God.

 I smile at how “crazy” my brain works sometimes.  My mind randomly and abstractly processes information.  It is a beautiful dance of color and passion.  I can be having a serious conversation with someone and a song from my childhood will go dancing through my head and I will remember a story surrounding the song and share it in the conversation.  Or, I will be making dinner and a quote from a book will come to my mind that I must find and read it before I can even concentrate on the rest of the meal. It all makes perfect sense to me. 

 Now, do not get me wrong, there is much to be said for self-control and dying to one’s self.  These godly traits will always supersede my interesting brain J  God has given us the ability to make choices that align with His will and His word.  He brings order, clarity, and discipline into our lives.  But, I find that He is teaching me that the way He has made me fits into His grand design for this world and its people.

  He derives much glory from the way that He has knitted me together, even from the time I was in my mother’s womb.  I am His creation, made in His image - these labels I will gladly wear!  He is the potter, I am the clay.  He will mold me according to His will, and it will be amazing. 

So, as I grow older, and hopefully less foolish, I am trying to see people without any labels, except one.  People – a unique creation of God in need of seeing themselves the way God sees them.

                                                                                  ~Your Fellow Sojourner

  Watch the way one young man "sees" himself.

A New Handshake

I learned a new hand shake on Sunday.  No need to speak the other person’s language to show friendship with a hand shake.  Laughter, and trying to learn the new way of saying “hello” crossed all cultural and language barriers.  I could not understand his name and so his cousin finally just gave up and said, Zacchaeus .  I said, “You mean like in the Bible?”   “Yes!”  I had just met the Guatemalan Zachaeus – cool!   It was an example of how God has been bringing a passage of Scripture to life for me.

                 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:31-40

                When I heard this read recently, I cried.  Why?  Because I was thankful – overwhelmingly thankful.  Not because someone has treated me with kindness or that I am in need like those in this passage, but because I am privileged to give.  Having eyes that see need and hands that give without thought and feet that travel to those who are “the least” is a gift.  I cried because I have been a recipient of this gift to give.  Just as we cannot come to God on our own, He must call, and just as we cannot do anything on our own but must rely on the One True Vine, we cannot give without seeing like Jesus sees – He gives us sight, His sight.

The more weighty reason for my tears was another realization.  In serving and giving to those who are helpless , I am serving Jesus.  He is leading me and giving me opportunity to serve Him, Him.  The One who gave up all to come and save me – the helpless one.  Giving up, He gave to me.  Now I give back to Him what has already come from Him!  What a joy!       

“ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”(Philippians 2:3-8 ESV)

But where is the glory in all of this?  What is the point in it all?  In all of this giving and serving and dying to self?  The point is that it is worship.  Yes, worship.  I am a worshiper.  Worshipping is in our makeup, our DNA.  We will worship something or someone.  The One who made me to worship has given me a way to worship Him through this gift of giving.

”Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. “(Philippians 2:9-11 ESV)

And so, as I hugged Guatemalan Zachaeus goodbye, I was smiling from ear to ear.  He came to my house – mine!  And I received him joyfully with a new handshake and pistachios.  I had experienced the gift again. 

”And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”  So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.”(Luke 19:5-6 ESV)

                                                                 ~Your Fellow Sojourner