Power Of A Moment

My son plays in a band called New Horizons. It is an international organization that was established for the purpose of giving adults who have always dreamed of playing an instrument an opportunity to do just that.

At 16, Josh is the youngest member of the band but he loves it. He enjoys the people and it gives him another venue to play his beloved oboe.

This past Saturday was their first concert of the year and it took place at the local Veteran’s Home.

The band arrived an hour before the show to practice. Some of the residents came early so they could listen in, including one man who seemed particularly excited to be there. He asked the aide to wheel him right up front and his face was wreathed in smiles.

However, it soon became apparent that he didn’t understand that the band was only practicing. As soon as they would begin to play, he moved  his arms enthusiastically, as if he were conducting. But when the band would stop in order to go onto the next piece of music, he would drop his hands back into his lap and plead loudly, “Continue! Make melodies!”

When this happened a couple of times, an aide walked over to him and explained that the band was just practicing and the concert would begin soon enough. He waited patiently from that point until the concert began. Once it did, he continued to “conduct” with abandon and joy. The look of sheer happiness on his face was wonderful to see.

I was particularly intrigued when these two women were wheeled into the room…

What beautiful faces of two brave women who chose to step up and serve our magnificent country during WWII.

In a room full of mostly men, their lights shone brightly.

I so wanted to hear their stories but uncharacteristic shyness kept me in my seat. Instead, I asked one of the aides where the women had served. I was told that some were nurses, some served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, and one of the women was actually a gunner on a battleship!

Amazing.

The room was full by the time the concert started.

When the band played the service anthems for each branch of the military, the veterans were asked to raise their hands when the song representing their branch was played. Hands shot up proudly all over the room.

As the first strains of “National Emblem” filled the air some felt the need to stand (most with great difficulty) and salute the flag at the front of the room.

Tears filled my eyes as I watched these great American warriors proudly salute. I felt so honored to be in the same room with these incredible men and women. My father served in the Korean war and both of my uncles saw combat in World War II. They are my heroes.

Will America ever see such a spectacular generation again?

I wanted to personally thank and shake every single veteran’s hand once the show ended.

Someone I was thrilled to meet was the “conductor.” His name is Robert and he served with the Navy. I was able to shake his hand and thank him for his service.

He was very intent to meet the band’s conductor, Mary.

He thanked her over and over again for coming to the home.

I am continually amazed at the power of music to unite people, to soothe, to bring joy, to cause one to go back and relive times that now exist only in the memory.

It was a wonderful way to spend a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. I am so grateful for the band members for giving of their time and talent to bring such joy to these men and women who have given so much.

“Freedom isn’t free.” —Anonymous

Today…

***I was blessed to wake up and see these visitors in our back yard:

The poor turkey was mightily strutting his stuff in pursuit of a female. Sadly for him, she was not interested in the least. Deflated, he lowered his feathers and disappeared behind the rock wall at the edge of our property.

This doe stood completely still for at least 5 solid minutes. I ran to get my camera, thinking she would be gone by the time I got back but  there she stood, as if to allow me to get a good shot. The only thing that moved was her head, as she surveyed her surroundings with an alert eye. Every time the shutter on my camera clicked, her head would snap back in the direction of the sound. It seemed as if she was looking right through the sliding glass door at me, despite the fact that we were 65 feet away from each other.

We have all kinds of wildlife meander across our property: black bears, turtles, foxes, coyotes.

I am still waiting to see a moose!

***I am missing a lady who was very special to me.

Her name was Carolyn and she was like a second mother to me. She and her husband Dale lived next door to our family for over 40 years and we loved each other through thick and thin. Our parents were the best of friends and their kids were like siblings to my brother Jeff and me.

Carolyn left this earth three years ago today.

Life just isn’t the same without the phone ringing and hearing her say, “Hi Suz!” Or getting a handwritten recipe from her in the mail. (To the end, she remained an optimist that I would one day love to cook. 🙂 ).

On my wedding day, she looked right into the video camera and said, “I love that girl like she was my own daughter.”

I loved her too.

***I still can’t quite believe that my son attended his first Driver’s Ed class last night. I am wondering where the time has gone. How did he go from this:

To this…

so fast?!

***I will be cheering Josh and Julia on at their track meet…

***I am looking forward to getting out on the lake with Doug on this…

***I am so happy that my oldest friend in the world finally joined Facebook this week. 

We grew up next door to each other. I love him like my own brother.  His work takes him all over the world now, so far from the little dead-end street where our lives began. Months (and sometimes years) may go by until we are back in our hometown at the same time, but when we are, all that time melts away and the familiar rhythms return.

When his mother died, I flew home to honor her life. He and I stood just outside the viewing room, greeting visitors. Without fail, every time one of the parents of our neighborhood friends arrived, we said (almost in unison), “Hi Mr. _________ or Hi Mrs._________.” There we were, in our mid-40s, still  reluctant to call them by their first names. 🙂

You know how the time flies
Only yesterday was the time of our lives
We were born and raised in a summer haze
Bound by the surprise of our glory days
—Adele

There is something so special about childhood friends who have known you through the good and bad, your worst days and your best days.  We share an unbreakable bond.

***I am wondering what has become of my mind. 

Since I turned 47 years old last month, I seem to be forgetting things right and left. Just this morning, I was walking on the high school track after dropping the kids off, and I was thinking how great it was to have a free morning.

At that very moment, I remembered that I did not, in fact, have a free morning…the previous week I had agreed to meet a friend  this day….in 15 minutes!!!!

I rushed home just in time for her to arrive. I immediately apologized for the fact that she had to see me in sweats and no makeup because I had totally forgotten that she was coming!

On the other hand, I may be losing my mind but I am apparently not losing my looks. Just yesterday, I was talking to a beautician who works at a local spa and she expressed amazement when I told her that I had just turned 47. She said she never would have guessed.

So there’s that.

Happy Thursday everyone! 🙂

Photo credit: DIZ

Jesus Christ was without a doubt the most shattering Person to ever walk the face of this earth.

Through the four Gospels we get a thrilling eyewitness account of His life when He lived in first century Judea.

As God in human form, He raised the dead to life.

He cast terrifying demons out of people.

He restored withered limbs.

He healed diseases.

He calmed ferocious storms with just a word.

He welcomed people from all walks of life to come to Him…from the religious elite of the day, to terrorists,  to tax cheats, to prostitutes and adulterers.

He gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf.

He gave the paralyzed the power to walk.

He fed 5000 people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.

He faced extreme torture and a horrifying criminal’s death on the cross with astonishing bravery, dignity, and supernatural peace.

And on the  third day, He triumphed over death itself and burst from the tomb, fully ALIVE forevermore.

To know Jesus is to be totally and completely transformed…to be encompassed in an eternal, divine love story for the ages.

To know this Jesus is to know JOY.

To know this Jesus is the very reason for our existence.

To know this Jesus is to “have and enjoy life, in abundance, to the full, til it overflows.” (John 10:10).

***

This past Easter weekend, a certain church felt it necessary to feature explosions and armed rapelling commandos during the service, leading one terrified member to frantically text her friend in another state with the following words: “Guys on stage with assault rifles, weird vibe, please pray for us.”

This friend then called the police, who rushed to the church, only to find that the pastor had staged a fake raid for a theatrical lesson on Christ’s resurrection. A statement by the unamused police lieutenant suggested that in the future, the pastor let the attendees know when fake weapons are being used.

You may wonder what in the world such a thing had to do with the glory and power of Christ’s resurrection.

Absolutely nothing at all.

It was simply a cheap, pathetic ploy to generate buzz, to fill seats, to prove how “cool” they are to the unchurched. At one point, the pastor actually said how neat it was to “blow up things in Jesus’ name” and how the creative team at the church “could teach Vegas a lesson.”

Because that is what you want to ask yourself when you attend a church service: “How does my church compare to a show in Las Vegas?”

This entire scenario really got my blood boiling.

Why?

Because such ludicrous and idiotic behavior mocks the sheer beauty, simplicity, and power of the Gospel. It is as if the pastor feels that he has to jazz up poor, boring Jesus by staging these ridiculous stunts. This is not the first time this church has done something outrageous in an attempt to prove how “hip” it is to the surrounding community. Case in point: some recent series were entitled: “Dropping F-bombs” and “Sexpectation.”

This is nothing but  a perversion of the gospel, pandering to man’s flesh, and playing to the lowest common denominator in our society.

In his excellent book Unfashionable, author and pastor Tullian Tchividjian warns against the church trying to copy the culture: “Christians make a difference in this world by being different from it, not by being the same…we need to remember that God has established His church as an alternative society, NOT to compete with or copy this world, but to offer a refreshing alternative to it. When we forget this, we inadvertently communicate to our culture that we have nothing unique to offer, nothing deeply spiritual or profoundly transforming. Tragically, this leaves many in our world looking elsewhere for the difference they crave…the more we Christians pursue worldly relevance, the more we’ll render ourselves irrelevant to the world around us.”  (pp. 22, 15-17).

I realize the tone of this post may sound like I am angry but the truth is, I am heartbroken. I know that there were unbelievers in that church auditorium that Easter. What  message does that send to them? That you should come to church to be entertained by explosions and gimmicks, a pale imitation of a Hollywood action movie set?

Jesus does not need special effects!

I would like to ask that pastor a question. If the people who were alive and actually interacted with Jesus when He walked this earth  and saw Him do all of the things that I listed at the beginning of this post still turned away and refused to walk with Him…what makes him think that all of this manufactured razzle-dazzle will be successful at reaching a stone-cold heart?

When we have people coming back to church to see how that service will top last week’s extravaganza,  those are not people who are truly seeking Jesus. They are not people whose eyes have been open to the fact that they are guilty in the eyes of a holy, righteous, and just God and are desperately running toward the shelter of the  Cross, which is their only hope of salvation from His wrath against sin. These are not people who are overwhelmed by the glorious beauty of His grace in taking the punishment that was due them.

They are exactly like the people over 2000 years ago who followed Jesus just because they got a kick out of all the miracles. And when the excitement wore off, when Jesus began to tell them that to follow Him meant dying to self in order to fully and truly live, they faded away because they were too enthralled by all the shiny objects this world has to offer.

And it broke His heart (John 6:57-68).

Followers of the risen Jesus spend a lifetime being totally captivated and enthralled and transformed by the sheer beauty and wonder of the Gospel. He offers fullness of joy and pleasures evermore (John 16:11). The riches He offers are described as: “boundless, fathomless, incalculable, exhaustless” (Ephesians 3:8).  He promises to do “superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare ask or think, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams” (Ephesians 3:20). His grace is “immeasurable and limitless” (Ephesians 2:7). He has delivered and drawn us out to Himself out of the control and dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of Light (Colossians 1:13). He rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17) and eagerly awaits the coming day when He will “present us unblemished, blameless, faultless, before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation, with unspeakable, ecstatic delight” (Jude 24).

No, this Jesus does not need any “help” from earthly and slick marketing schemes.

This Jesus stands alone in all His transcendent beauty and magnificence.

Now He is the exact likeness of the unseen God (the visible representation of the invisible…For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities; all things were created  and exist through Him…and He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things are held together. —Colossians 1:15-17

Photo credit: TMurph51

A friend of mine told me a story today that I just loved. She has given me permission to share it on her behalf.

Shortly after becoming a believer my friend Ann (not her real name) attended her first Mary Kay retreat. She was just beginning her career as a consultant and was excited—if a little nervous—about the weekend.

Shortly after arriving, the ladies were instructed to dress for dinner. Apparently, MK consultants are to wear dresses or skirts much of the time and Ann was dismayed because she had only packed jeans.

She was very upset and shared her dilemma with the other ladies.

Before I go further, I have to share that Ann is always dressed to the nines.  Even when she wears jeans and a sweater, she looks perfectly pulled together; whereas  I would look like a scullery maid in the same outfit.  And don’t get me started on her fabulous jewelry. She sat in front of me on our first Sunday at our church and I spent the entire time admiring her beautiful earrings that sparkled and shone in the sunlight that streamed through the stained glass windows. She really is a marvel.

So, she is very particular about what she wears and was a little nervous when several women immediately jumped into action to offer her  borrowed outfits.

Before she knew it, Ann was being offered a lovely skirt and jacket that matched perfectly.

Just as she began to fret about what shoes she would wear (she is very particular about her shoes) someone handed her a pair of cowboys boots, which she loved.

As they headed out for dinner, one of the ladies noticed that Ann seemed somewhat hesitant, despite her fabulous outfit. After receiving an inquiry, Ann admitted that she wished she had packed some more jewelry, as she only wore a simple pair of turquoise earrings and she is known for her striking jewelry.

Without hesitation, this lady removed a silver turquoise cross from around her neck and gave it to Ann to wear. It perfectly completed her look and Ann was able to walk into that dinner with confidence.

Despite being a relatively new believer, she knew that Jesus was the one who had ultimately worked on her behalf that evening. He knew how important her appearance was to her and that she needed to feel confident as a professional in this new situation. A different outfit would have been easy to supply but the one Ann received was perfectly tailored to her taste and her personality.

Jesus does things like that all the time. He deeply cares about every single facet of our existence, no matter how small. Nothing concerning us is trivial to Him. (Psalm 139:1-18). He loves to answer our prayers in ways that will delight us if we leave room for Him to work as only He can.

That was an evening Ann would never forget.

She was reminded of that night earlier this week.

The same woman who lent her the turquoise cross became a good friend to Ann. She is moving away and called Ann to tell her she was coming by to leave her something. Ann wasn’t able to get to the door when her friend arrived and by the time she made it to the front door, the car was  gone. However, there was a gift hanging on her doorknob.

It was that same turquoise cross from that evening all those years ago.

Tears sprang to Ann’s eyes as she held that cross in her hands.

It was another message from her Savior that came at just the right time.

Ann had experienced a disappointment recently. As often happens, her timing was not Jesus’ timing and she was learning to live in that tension where we so often find ourselves as we follow Him.

The cross she held in her hand was a reminder that just as He had taken care of her that long ago night, He is still in full control.

So, if you are in a place where you are awaiting God’s movement in your life, take heart.  As John Piper has said, He is always at work in a thousand different ways that we cannot see.

His timing is perfect.

He knows what He is doing.

He is so good.