August 7, 2011 · 11:11 pm

One Thing


“Faith is the daring of the soul to go further than it can see.”—William Newton Clarke

In this post, I alluded to the fact that my family recently experienced a huge answer to our prayers.

My husband’s job was cut in February 2009. I know now why God instructs us to live only one day at a time. If He had told us that it would be 29 months until my husband was offered another full time job in his field, hope and joy would have fled, leaving only despair and despondency.

To us, it would have looked like an absolutely impossible mountain to climb when we compared our meager resources to such a lengthy amount of time.

However…we have a God who specializes in the impossible..and He was about to teach us an unforgettable lesson…one that would change us forever.

I will be writing future posts about the myriad of lessons we learned during this difficult (yet oddly joyful) season,  but for today, I just wanted to focus one one truth…

Your God is—and always will be—faithful to you.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful…(2 Timothy 2:13).

The word faithful in the original language is pistos and it means: “one who is worthy of trust.”

You cannot judge God’s faithfulness to you by your circumstances.

You cannot judge God’s faithfulness to you by your feelings.

You  trust that God is faithful because His Word says that is what He is!

Wherever you are today and whatever your situation is, choose to believe the wondrous truth that God is being faithful to you.

I promise that you will never believe that in vain. He always comes through… rarely in ways that we expect…but ultimately in ways that will delight and thrill our souls.

During this extremely rough season, I listened to Steven Curtis Chapman’s song “Faithful” from his album “Beauty Will Rise”  over and over again. Read the lyrics and be  blessed:

I am broken, I am bleeding, I am scared and I’m confused
But You are faithful; Yes, You are faithful
I am weary, unbelieving, Lord please help my unbelief!
Cause You are faithful, yes, You are faithful

I will proclaim it to the world; I will declare it to my heart
And sing it when the sun is shining…I will scream it in the dark

You are faithful, You are faithful!
When You give, when You take away
Even then, still Your Name is Faithful
Yes, You are faithful
And with everything inside of me, I am choosing to believe
You are faithful

I am waiting for the rescue that I know is sure to come
Cause You are faithful; yes, You are faithful
I’ve dropped anchor in Your promises and I am holding on
Cause You are faithful; yes, You are faithful

So faithful…

Though I cannot have the answers I am wanting to demand
I’ll remember You are God and everything is in Your hand
In Your hands You hold the sun, the moon, the stars up in the sky
For the sake of love, You hung Your own Son on the cross to die

You are faithful, yes, You are faithful
When You give and when You take away
Even then, great is Your faithfulness!
Great is Your faithfulness!

You’re faithful…so faithful…”

Be honest with Him. Tell Him how much it hurts and how bad it looks to you. Then find some verses that speak specifically about the fact of God’s faithfulness to you and hang onto them with all the strength you possess.

Then (and this is the hard part, but the payoff is enormous)…wait and watch what He does.

You will be amazed.

3 Comments

Filed under Devotions

Tagged as ,

August 6, 2011 · 8:32 am

Weekend Moment: Pittsburghese (Repost)


Since my family and I are back in my hometown for a little summer vacation, I thought it would be fun to re-post this tutorial on Pittsburgh. Enjoy! 🙂

Pittsburghese

Rate This

I was very blessed to grow up in Pittsburgh, PA.

It is a wonderful place and in this post, I alluded to the fact that it has a language all its own. It is called Pittsburghese.

I never thought I had any kind of accent until the day my friend Heather called me when we were living in Rhode Island and said, “Susan! I just heard a caller on Regis and Kathie Lee and she sounded EXACTLY like you!” It turns out that the caller was from my hometown and she did sound just like me!

If you ever visit, it’s important that you know the language of  the natives…so here goes:

Steelers = “Stillers”

Downtown = “Dahntahn”

If you want your kids to clean up their rooms, you say, “It’s time to ‘redd up’ your room!” (My kids still make fun of me every time I say, “Okay, it’s time to redd up the house!”) :)

Speaking of house, it is pronounced “hause.”

A rubber band = “gum band.”

Did you eat yet? No, did you? = “JeetJet? Nodju?”

Pittsburgh = “Pixburg”

Soda = “pop”

Giant Eagle (a local grocery store) = “Jynt Igle”

Out = “aht”

Northside = “Norseside”

(This one is for you, Ida Mae) : Iron = “arn”

She makes me say “iron” then collapses into a fit of giggles every time. :)

And…my all-time favorite:

You all = “Yinz”

I love my hometown.

1 Comment

Filed under Weekend Moments

August 3, 2011 · 5:11 am

The Wagons Are Coming!


He was an old man, living alone in the midst of a famine.

His beloved wife, who had borne him two cherished sons, had been gone for many years.  One had followed his mother to the grave in a terrible accident and the other–his youngest Benjamin, the one he clung to with an almost desperate grip—was now far from home with the rest of his brothers.   He had no hope that he would ever see any of them alive again.

Day after day, the silence in his home must have been deafening. Every morning, he awoke and looked out the window to see the same scene…bleak, dry, colorless, and hopeless as the famine continued its’ seemingly never-ending stranglehold on the land.

The famine eventually reached his heart.

Is this how it would all end?

He would die alone? Forsaken by his God? His eyes never to rest again on the faces of his surviving sons? How had it come to this???

But then…one morning he saw something different on the horizon.

In the midst of the famine…and in God’s perfect timing…HOPE was arriving on the scene.

The old man could barely believe his eyes. His sons! His sons were coming home! 

And what was this? They were riding on wagons and the wagons were filled to overflowing with all kinds of wonderful things!

It was too good to be true!

Except it wasn’t.

A very good God was breathing new life into the heart and soul of an old man. And since He is a God who loves lavishly, the best was yet to come.

His son…the one who he thought had been killed…was actually alive and well! He was waiting in another land to be reunited with his father at long last!

In a glorious instant, this man’s life changed. He realized anew how faithful His God is and would always be. His ways are not our ways and this journey through earth is not without  tears and pain and searing loss.

Yet…God redeems…and restores…and replenishes…and lavishly loves. Joy reigns, faith is rewarded…and love wins. Always.

The above story is  true. The man’s name is Jacob and his story can be found in Genesis 25-49.

His was an extremely dysfunctional family, full of loss, betrayal, grief, anger, jealousy, confusion, bitterness. His sons were all jealous of Jacob’s favored son Joseph, so one day they threw him into a well, sold him into slavery, and told Jacob that he had been killed by a wild animal. Joseph’s life was filled with heartache after heartache…but God used it all and Joseph was promoted to second-in-command of Egypt.

It was because he was in this position of power that he could save his father and all of his brothers from the famine in their homeland. Once he was reunited with his brothers—who had come to Egypt seeking food—he obtained Pharaoh’s permission to load up several wagons, filled with the best Egypt had to offer and send them back to his father, complete with an invitation to come to Egypt in order to escape the famine and certain death.

Here is how Scripture describes the scene:

Joseph spoke to his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?” But his brothers couldn’t say a word; they were speechless—they couldn’t believe what they were seeing and hearing. 

“Come closer to me,” Joseph said to his brothers…”I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But don’t feel badly; don’t blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land for two years now; the famine will continue for five more years…God sent me on ahead of you to pave the way…to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt.”

“Hurry back to my father. Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says, ‘I’m master of all Egypt. Come as fast as you can and join me here. I’ll give you a place to live…where you’ll be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and anything else you can think of. I’ll take care of you there completely. There are still five more years of famine ahead; I’ll make sure all your needs are taken care of, you and everyone connected with you. You won’t want for a thing.”

…Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘This is the plan. Load up your pack animals, go back to Canaan, get your father and your families and bring them back here. I’ll settle you in the best land in Egypt—you’ll live off the fat of the land…take the wagons from Egypt to carry your (families) and load up your father and come back. Don’t worry about having to leave things behind; the best in all of Egypt will be yours.”

And they did just that…Joseph gave them the wagons that Pharaoh had promised and food for the trip. He outfitted all the brothers in brand new clothes but gave Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver and several suits of clothes. He sent his father these gifts: ten donkeys loaded with Egypt’s best products, and another ten donkeys loaded with grain and bread, provisions for his father’s journey back. 

…They left Egypt and went back to their father in Canaan. When they told him, ‘Joseph is still alive—and he’s the ruler over the whole land of Egypt!” he went numb; he couldn’t believe his ears. But the more they talked, telling him everything that Joseph had told them and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the blood started to flow again—their father Jacob’s spirit revived. —Genesis 45,  (The Message).

Is there a famine of some kind in your life right now? Does it look hopeless? Do you fear it will always be this way and nothing will ever change? Do you see no way out?

That is certainly how Jacob must have felt. Yet, as our pastor reminded us when he preached on this passage last Sunday, “God wants us to be at our wit’s end so we will relinquish it ALL and allow Him to be God. Sometimes we have to get to the bottom of the pit so we will look up!”

He closed his sermon by reminding us to “Watch for the wagons!  Watch for all the benefits God is sending to us through Christ. Watch for God’s grace, love, faithfulness, and mercy in the midst of it all! He is going to do something so special that you could never imagine!”

Your God would ask you: “Is My hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?”–Isaiah 50:2

 Nothing is impossible with your God!

He will always send the wagons in one way or another…in His perfect timing. And He always does “exceedingly abundantly above ALL that we could ask or think!” (Ephesians 3:20)

As we left church on Sunday morning, I smiled at my husband in the summer sunshine.

“The wagons are coming!” I reminded him. His smile matched mine, full of hope.

I was determined to believe this as fact, despite the evidence to the contrary. I would not lean on my own understanding of things. I would trust my good God, knowing that He was at work in our situation in ways I could not see. In the meantime, I would live each day to the fullest, on a never-ending hunt for joy in the midst.

And three days later, the wagons appeared on the horizon.

Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him and He saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in our salvation. —Isaiah 25:9 

8 Comments

Filed under Devotions

Tagged as , , , ,

August 2, 2011 · 2:20 am

Let Me Count The Ways…


I recently heard Beth Moore recount to her audience all the reasons why she loves Jesus so much.

It was a long list… evidence of a wounded heart that has been touched by the Healer, leaving her transformed, whole, radiant and supremely grateful.

If someone were to ask you to do the same thing, what would you say?

He is everything to me. He fills my life with exquisite beauty and joy.

The story He is writing with my life often takes my breath away, leaving me stunned and full of wonder.

He speaks to me through His Word, giving me guidance, comfort, and precious promises that He invites me to cling to when life gets scary.

He laughs with me (oh yes, you had better believe it…Jesus laughs! I love  those times when I can just feel His smile).

I enjoy seeing His fingerprints and creative genius all around me…the golden sunshine,  the singing of the birds, the delightful & infectious laughter of a child, stars shining like diamonds in the night sky, the sheer power of a storm, the faces of those I love, the churning of the ocean and the peaceful stillness of the lake, the furry face and unconditional love of my dog, the intense bold colors of flowers, the refreshing feel of a summer breeze.

He has lovingly shown me my broken places and has never turned away in disgust. Rather, He invites me to bring them out of the darkness and into His light…and He has—miraculously and wondrously— healed me.

He picks me up when I fall.

He has chosen me to be His bride…wonder of wonders!

He fills me with His courage when I am afraid.

He has taught me that I do not need to hate my weaknesses (and there are so many). Rather, He asks me to embrace Him in the midst of my weakness so that He can show Himself strong and mighty.

I have walked with Him long enough to know that He can redeem and resurrect anything. Nothing—no thing—is impossible with Him.

I read Psalm 103 the other day and was struck by the astonishing and beautiful portrait  the psalmist painted with his words as he described Jesus. :

Jesus…

forgives all my sins

heals me

redeems my life from the pit

crowns me with steadfast love and mercy

satisfies me with good things

renews my energy

works justice on my behalf

 abounds in steadfast love for me

 removes my transgressions as far as the east is from the west

 shows compassion to me 

 knows how fragile I am

  establishes His throne 

 rules over all. 

He is magnificent!

This day, why don’t you try writing out a list of all the things you love about Him?

I promise that it will lead to a day filled with joy and thanksgiving!

He is so worthy!

Leave a comment

Filed under Devotions

Tagged as , ,

August 1, 2011 · 4:45 am

These Are The Days


My grandma was a wise old soul, took me by the hand not long ago
Said, “Son what’s your hurry? Boy, slow it down
Taste the wild honey, listen to the sound
of the wind that’s blowin’ through the trees, rivers flowin’ to the sea…
Life’s for livin’, child, can’t you see?”

These are the days that we’ll remember
These are the times that won’t come again
The highest of flames becomes an ember
And you gotta live ’em while you can

So take ’em by the hand, they’re yours and mine
Take ’em by the hand and live your life
Take ’em by the hand and don’t let them all fly by
—These Are the Days by Keith Urban

We had a reminder of the brevity of life last week.

My kids play in a band called New Horizons through their music school. It is a national organization, dedicated to providing the opportunity for people who have always dreamed of playing an instrument to make that dream a reality. Most participants are 55+, but exceptions have been made for Josh and Julia. Their experiences have been invaluable and the people involved are absolutely wonderful.

The sad and unwelcome news came on Tuesday that one of the band members had died suddenly. Her named was Lyndel and she was only 54 years old.

Just the week before, the band had played a lakefront concert on a beautiful summer evening. Lyndel’s ever-present smile was captured on photos as she played her French horn.

She had no way of knowing that would be her last concert.

One of her mourners made this comment: “Lyndel was always a giver of light. Her beautiful smile, her kind words, her laughter always brought brightness to every situation.”

Another said, “My heart dropped when I heard you were gone. Even though its been many years since I knew you, I remember that you were always kind to a geeky freshman. May God hold you always in the palm of His hand.”

Hers was obviously a life very well lived. I especially loved that an act of kindness to this self-described “geeky freshman” was remembered nearly 40 decades later. Our lives have the potential to powerfully influence those around us. Let’s take every opportunity to speak words of life.

On Friday night,  my family and I were visiting with friends at their lakefront home. One of our friends stopped by after Lyndel’s memorial and told us about the service.  She related that although there were certainly sadness and tears, there was also much laughter as Lyndel’s friends and family shared funny stories from her life.

As I sat around the table, surrounded by friends and the sound of the summer rain falling outside, I was reminded anew of life’s fragility.

I became fully present to the moment. My eyes lingered on each face…fellow travelers who are all on a pilgrimage to Jesus. We attend the same church and do life together. We share laughter (lots of laughter 🙂 ), heartache, struggles, victories, and stories.

Our children…most of whom are teenagers…could be seen in the next room playing video games, talking, and eating burgers and chips. Fresh faces, full of hope and promise and life.  Outbursts of laughter and silliness were frequent.

An ordinary Friday night…and yet not.

There are no ordinary days.

Each day is precious. There will never be another one like it. We dare not take a single second for granted.

Early tomorrow morning, my family and I are headed back to my hometown for a visit. I will treasure every moment.. I will  fully enter in to each day. I will leave no kind word of appreciation or admiration unsaid. I will laugh. I will fully relax with those who have known me my entire life. I will most likely gain five pounds as we eat at all our favorite places…and it will all be worth it. I will revel in being back “home” for a little while…where memories fill my mind and heart at nearly every turn.

But most importantly, I will celebrate the dear ones who have graced my life in such rich ways.

These are the days that I’ll remember.

6 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , ,

July 28, 2011 · 11:36 pm

At The Track


I love people-watching.

I find people absolutely fascinating, which I suppose is why I enjoy writing about them and  why I chose to get  my graduate degree in counseling.

This summer, my son and I have been spending our off days from the gym walking at the high school track and I am constantly intrigued by the people I see there.

Some examples:

***Today, there was  an older couple (I would say they were in their 70s). Both were obviously in excellent shape. They each had the long, lean muscled look of runners. The husband alternated his time doing wind sprints, stretching, then finally doing several laps around the track. His wife had apparently recently suffered something akin to a stroke.

She circled the track while holding onto ski poles, her body leaning slightly toward one side. Her husband would periodically come alongside her and rub her back a couple of times while speaking what I am guessing were words of support. It was obvious that this effort took a lot out of her, but the determined look I saw on her face as we passed each other told me that she was willing to do the hard work it took to regain full health.  Her spirit shone. Finally, once her workout was over, she headed slowly down the hill to the elementary school in the direction of the swings on the playground.

As I rounded the corner and saw her, a big smile broke across my face. This seventy-plus woman was swinging high and fast with a look of absolute joy on her face. Her body knew no limits on that swing; there was no evidence that there was anything wrong.

It was a reminder to me that a little child still lives inside all of us. Taking the time to enjoy a swing is a good way to tap into that part of us that still delights to play.

Eventually, her husband finished his workout, then made his way to his wife. She brought the swing to a stop, reached out for his hand, then the two of them walked hand-in-hand to their car together. Sweet.

***There are the high school football players who gather on the field around the track, full of testosterone and athletic grace, running play after play in anticipation of another winning season.

Big dreams live in a small town.

***Speaking of football, as we walked around the track one evening, a father and son arrived. The father looked like a former football player. He carried a ball, a towel, and a couple of waters. His son followed his dad at a distance, head hung low, shoulders stooped. His body language screamed, “I don’t want to be here!!!” The dad appeared utterly unfazed as he began to put his son through a workout. The son obediently followed his dad’s instruction, but it was clear his heart was not in it.

Our children are not extensions of us. They are their own people, with their unique hopes and dreams. Whose dream was being played out there?

***A teenage girl comes by herself nearly every day to practice lacrosse. She stretches, sprints, handles the ball and her stick over and over again, making it look effortless.  She doesn’t appear aware of anyone else at the track. Her focus is absolutely laser-like.

I marvel, having never known that complete and total dedication to anything when I was a teenager. I admire her determination. How wonderful to have discovered a passion at such a young age.

***But my absolute favorite thing has been walking that track with my son (and sometimes my daughter joins us too). We have walked miles and miles, sometimes in the early morning but mostly at night as the sun slips slowly below the mountains, painting everything with a soft orange-pink glow.

I am a mom of two teenagers and I love that we can share so much laughter.

They ask me to tell them stories from my life and I can sometimes see the light dawn in their eyes as they get a glimpse of “Susan” and not just “Mom.”

I have been able to share honestly about some of the mistakes I have made…things I wish I had done differently. It is deeply humbling…but necessary in striving to keep the lines of communication open.

Forty-six year olds really do remember what it was like to be thirteen and fifteen. 🙂

I encourage them to stay physically fit all their lives and extol the many benefits of regular exercise, just like my dad did for me.

They sometimes laugh at my dorkiness but assure me that they love me anyway.

We share prayer requests, concerns, dreams, matters of the heart.

I know they don’t tell me everything…but I rest in the fact that their God, who created them and loves them more than I can conceive, knows it all and I pray for His protection and guidance over their sweet lives.

I have treasured these days with all my heart, knowing that in a few short years, they will most likely leave our small town to begin their own journey.

And I hope that long after I’m gone, Josh and Julia will remember this summer when we circled  round and round the high school track , making memories and sharing laughter and lives.

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

July 27, 2011 · 4:58 am

Never Forgotten


A woman told a true story in church a couple of weeks ago that I can’t get out of my mind.

Her husband works for a Christian camp in our area and it came to the attention of the staff that one of the campers had a unique story.

Apparently, this teenage boy lives in California. His mother had searched the internet for a camp that was as far away from California as possible. She found this one and sent him across the country by himself for a week.

Obviously, no one knows the particulars of this story or why this boy’s mother wanted to send him so far away to spend a week in the company of complete strangers.

As it turned out, this boy heard about Jesus’ amazing, unconditional love for him during the week at camp…and Heaven celebrated as one more soul personally met his Savior and began walking with Him.

I could not help but think of this young man when I read these words today in my Bible:

The people of Zion said, “The Lord has turned away and forgotten us.” The Lord answered, “Could a mother forget a child who nurses at her breast?  Could she fail to love an infant who came from her own body? Even if a mother could forget, I will not forget you.” –Isaiah 49:15-16

Nobody has had a perfect parent.

In fact, some parents have been downright horrific. When I worked as a therapist, my clients went through boxes of tissues as they sat in my office, broken and emotionally crippled from the wounds inflicted by the very people who should have protected and loved them.

However, this verse clearly states that our Heavenly Father never abandons us, never gives up on us, never forgets us. We are always and ever on His mind and nestled firmly and forever in His heart.

This young man may have felt abandoned by his mother. He was out of her sight…but He was always in the loving sight of God…and God was waiting for Him in a cabin in the mountains of New Hampshire at a summer camp. New life was born. ..and a soul sang.  He who was once lost was now found and enveloped in the matchless, unconditional love of  God.

Regardless of who your parents were, meditate on the timeless truths about your Heavenly Father:

*He invites you to call Him “Daddy.” (Romans 8:15)

*He calls you the apple of His eye (Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalm 17:8)

*He is a Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5)

* He lavishes you with His perfect love (I John 3:1)

*He gives every good and perfect gift to His children (James 1:17)

*He knows the exact nature of your needs (Matthew 6:32)

*He has compassion on you (Psalm 103: 13)

*He is ever merciful (Luke 6:36)

*He has given believers (us!) as gifts to His Son Jesus (John 17:24)

*He will never turn away anyone who comes to Him (John 6:37)

*He protects you (John 17:11)

Remember, these are not just words…these are the  eternal  truths of God’s heart that He has graciously revealed to us in His Word.

He sees you.

His heart is tender towards you.

You are deeply loved.

Leave a comment

Filed under Devotions

Tagged as , , ,

July 24, 2011 · 9:26 pm

The Gift of Friendship (Re-post)


(In honor of the fact that my dear friend Ida Mae is visiting me today, I wanted to re-run this post. I wrote it very early in the blog’s history, so it will be new to many of my readers. Enjoy! 🙂 ).

“Are we not like two volumes of one book?” –Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

My friend Ida Mae is one of my heroes.

In 1997, our son Josh was a toddler  and I was pregnant with Julia.  We were new to town and I was desperately missing  my friends in PA and CT. We decided to visit a church in Narragansett one Sunday and that is where Ida Mae and I first met. It didn’t take long before we were talking daily on the phone, which would inevitably result in gales of laughter. Oh, the laughter…the kind where tears stream down your face and your stomach muscles hurt.

We complete each other’s sentences, can read each other’s minds, and joke that we are so similar that surely we must have been separated at birth. Although I left Rhode Island eleven years ago, our friendship has continued unabated.

The first time we went out to dinner with our husbands, we spent most of the night discovering even more things that we had in common…including the unlikely fact that at one time, we were both bitten on our behinds by a German shepherd and as a result, live in fear of this particular breed! After listening to this for quite a while, Jim turned to Doug and said:

“Hey Doug, when you mail a letter, do you put a stamp on it?”

“Why, yes, Jim, I do!”

“Me too!”

Wise guys. 🙂

For the record, here is one of my favorite photos of the four of us: Jim, Ida Mae, me, and Doug:

Our adventures always seem to end in laughter.

In particular, there was one afternoon when we went with Jim and Doug to see Mission Impossible. Like all good girlfriends do, we left the movie at one point to go to the ladies room together. The moment we hit the lobby, we began to talk a mile a minute and our chat continued the entire time we were in the restroom. As we were washing our hands, we suddenly noticed that there were urinals present. Our eyes widened with surprise and we said said to each other, “This must be a uni-sex bathroom!”

Because who wouldn’t come to that conclusion???

Until we came into the lobby and saw a man standing there, arms crossed. Unsmiling and clearly not amused, he said, “Ladies that is not a ‘unisex bathroom.’ You were in the men’s room!”

We laughed so hard that we could not even go back into the theater for at least 10 minutes.

When Ida Mae came to visit me in Florida, we decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory one evening. As usual, the line was a long one, so she volunteered to leave our names with the hostess and we sat down to wait our turn. When the hostess finally stepped forward with two menus in hand, she called out “Bubbles Yablonksy, party of two?”

To my great dismay, Ida Mae jumped up and propelled me forward.  “That’s us, Bubbles!” she said loudly, barely able to contain her laughter at the quizzical looks of our fellow patrons.

Laughter is the constant thread that runs through our friendship and I treasure that.

Yet, as we all know, life can be hard and we have also shared many tears as well. We have been there for each other through the death of our fathers, health scares, heartaches, parenting difficulties, hospitalizations, moves, job layoffs, etc.

Jim and Ida Mae have four children and two of them have special needs. Their  two oldest, Meagan and Andrew are now in the their 20s and are accomplished young people. Emily and Daniel are both school age.   I have watched in amazement as Ida Mae has selflessly served as  caretaker, absolutely fearless and tireless advocate, nurse, head cheerleader, and  above all, loving mother to Emily and Daniel. Their needs are vast and numerous and at times, can be overwhelmingly heartbreaking. Their pain pierces Ida Mae’s (and Jim’s) heart like a knife.  Sometimes there are just no words. Only tears and anguished prayer.

Yet, my friend is a fighter. She clings to her God tenaciously and chooses to believe His promises even when she doesn’t understand.  She does not indulge in self-pity; she revels in the privilege of being a parent.  She would be the first to tell you that the joys of parenting special needs children far outweigh the hard times.

Emily and Daniel both have a light that I have rarely seen in other people. They know they are loved unconditionally. They take the greatest joy in the simplest of things.   Daniel has a delightful sense of humor. He loves swimming, playing outside, popcorn, wrestling with his older brother Andrew, and can recite entire scenes from his favorite movies. Emily  is a people-person who has never met a stranger. She is passionate about  motorcycles, Nascar, and chicken nuggets…not necessarily in that order. 🙂  Both have won gold medals in the special Olympics. I consider myself all the richer for having known them.

Emily proudly displaying her new Nascar outfit

Daniel

Over the years, Ida Mae has taught me what it means to live like Christ: to lay one’s life down for others. To serve. To love. To give. To pour out one’s life like a drink offering. To trust that we are always in the loving care of our Heavenly Father, no matter what our circumstances may be.

This weekend, Ida Mae told me that one of her favorite songs that she turns to again and again when life is hard is a song by David Phelps called “No More Night”. It is a daily reminder that this life is not all there is. There is coming a day when all tears will be wiped away by the nail-scarred hand of our Savior forever, all will be healthy and whole, and the very heavenly air we breathe will be joy. I’ve included the link to the song below and I hope it blesses you.

And don’t forget to celebrate your friends today. They truly are gifts.

2 Comments

Filed under The Gift of Friendship

Tagged as , ,

July 22, 2011 · 9:03 am

What Do You Know? Part 4 (The Best Is Yet To Come)


“…I can hear it in the distance and it’s not too far away

It’s the music and the laughter of a wedding and a feast

I can almost feel the Hand of God reaching for my face

To wipe the tears away and say,

“It’s time to make everything new…make it all new.”

—-Steven Curtis Chapman, Beauty Will Rise

This life is not all there is.

This present world is a mere shadow of the glories that are to come in Heaven.

Contrary to popular myth, Heaven is hardly a boring place, where we sit atop clouds and strum harps all day long. Our great and beautiful God is many things…but boring? Never!

In Your Presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand, there are pleasures evermore.–Psalm 16:11

In fact, “our desire for pleasure and the experience of joy come directly from God’s hand. He made our taste buds, adrenaline, sex drives, and the nerve endings that convey pleasure to our brains. Likewise, our imaginations and our capacity for joy and exhilaration were made by the very God we accuse of being boring. Are we so arrogant as to imagine that human beings came up with the idea of having fun?”—Randy Alcorn, Heaven  p. 394

Obviously, an in-depth study of Heaven is beyond the scope of this humble blog post. However, I would ask: How much time do you give to the study of the place where you will spend eternity as a Christ follower?

God tells us in His Word that compared to eternity, this life is a vapor, a puff of smoke, a mist (James 4:14). If all we do is concern ourselves with just this temporal world, that isn’t very wise, is it?

When we travel to someplace new, we tend to do all kinds of  research about where we will be going. Why would we not do the same for the  glorious place that will be our eternal home?

So, with the help of two excellent books on the subject: Heaven by Randy Alcorn and Heaven: Your Real Home by Joni Eareckson Tada, I would like to just list a few of the highlights of Heaven:

1) Above all, we will see Jesus—God in human form— face to face in all His glory.

“…And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, all arrayed like a bride beautified  and adorned for her husband. Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne, saying…’See! The abode of God is with men and He will live among them, and they shall be His people and God shall personally be with them and be their God. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish, sorrow and mourning, nor grief  nor pain anymore for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away. And He who is seated on the Throne said, “See! I am making all things new!”—Revelation 21:2-5

“Being with God is the heart and soul of Heaven. Every other heavenly pleasure will derive from and be secondary to His presence . God’s greatest gift to us is, and always will be, Himself.”—Alcorn, 

We will look into the very eyes of Jesus. And He will be glorious and dazzling in beauty. (Revelation 1:10-16) So dazzling in fact that there will be no need for lamps in Heaven…because the Light that will blaze from Jesus will absolutely fill every single square inch of that place. (Revelation 21:23).

We will live all eternity in His Presence and we will never learn all there is to know about Him! There will never come a day when we say, “Well, that’s it. I’ve finally discovered everything there is to know about Jesus.”

Jesus is infinite. In Him are “endless treasures”  (Ephesians 3:8). We will always be discovering new facets to Him who is the source of everything good and beautiful and joyful.

And because He is infinite, Jesus will be with me at all times and He will be with you at all times. We will not have to wait while He visits another part of Heaven. He is ours…and we are His…for all eternity.

2) Heaven will be a pure place of perfection. There will never again be sickness, death, disease, darkness, confusion, jealousy, chaos, pain, betrayal, poverty, shame, burdens, fear, no more sin and no more curse. We will, for all eternity, breathe the air of joy and peace.

3) You will have a resurrected, physical body, just like Christ does (Philippians 3:20-21).  That body will be beautiful…because everything is beautiful in Heaven.  After His resurrection, Jesus was seen in a real, glorified body. He walked, talked, even cooked some fish for the disciples. The Bible speaks often of the fact that we will eat in Heaven (imagine how incredible the food will be!).  Your body will never get sick or wear out ever again. Your mind will be renewed: whole and peaceful, filled with light and joy.  You will retain your identity (the disciples recognized Jesus after His resurrection).

And best of all, you will be physically reunited with fellow believers who have gone on ahead of you. Death for the believer is never a permanent goodbye…it is a temporary “See you later!”

And I don’t know about you, but I am so excited to finally meet the people whose lives played out across the pages of Scripture and have inspired me so often: King David, Moses, Abraham, Queen Esther, Mary Magdalene, all the disciples, etc. Can you imagine?!

4). You will be busy in Heaven. We will all have work to do, but unlike here on earth, our work will be completely joyous. We will actually help God run the universe! We will reign with Jesus. There will be culture and creativity, science,  athletic events, art, and technology. There will be music, singing, and dancing, and laughing. We will still dream dreams…uncorrupted,  huge, beautiful, God-honoring dreams…and this time they will always come true.

5) Scripture speaks of  Jesus  awarding crowns to us for the lives we have lived on earth. These are probably not actual crowns, but as Joni writes: “Heavenly crowns must represent something He does, something He gives, as when He crowns us with salvation.(Ps. 149:4). “–p. 73

The crowns are:

*The crown of life—for those who persevere under trials (James 1:12)

*The crown of rejoicing—often called the “witnessing crown” —for those who introduce others to Christ (I Thess. 2:19)

*The incorruptible crown—those who are found to be pure and blameless (I Corinthians 9:25)

*The crown of glory….for Christian leaders who have faithfully guided others in the faith (I Peter 5:2-4)

*The crown of righteousness—for those who are actively looking and waiting for His Second Coming (2 Timothy 4:8)

Reading about this is so exciting! How we live our lives on Earth will have an effect on our lives in Heaven. This knowledge spurs me on to live every single day for His glory.

Does reading these marvelous things whet your appetite for Heaven? I would encourage you to dive into the study of Heaven on your own and allow Jesus to open your eyes to the wonder, beauty, and delights of your eternal home.

It. is.going. to. be. GLORIOUS!

For I am Christ the Savior’s own bride,

And redeemed, I shall stand by His side.

He will say, “Shall we dance?”

And our endless romance

Will be worth all the tears I have cried. 

—Joni’s Waltz by Nancy Honeytree

2 Comments

Filed under What Do You Know?

Tagged as , ,

July 20, 2011 · 10:58 pm

What Do You Know? Part 3 (No Fear)


Fear stalks all of us.

It is nasty, paralyzing, demoralizing, frightening, crippling, and dream-killing.

It is one of the things I have struggled with for much of my life.

Yet, as I have listened to Pastor Steve’s series, “What Do You Know?” I realized anew how often God directs us in His Word to not be afraid. (I have heard it said that the command “Do not fear” appears in the Bible 365 times..that is one “Do not fear” for every day of the year!).

God never tells us not to feel fear because we all will.

However,  we either let fear have the upper hand or we take our stand on God’s Word and refuse to live our lives controlled by fear.

I am making this choice today. If I let my mind venture into the land of “What if?” fear will overwhelm me.

But Jesus never invites us to journey to that place. In fact, He forbids it. It’s not real. If I choose to go there, I am placing myself in a position for Satan to terrorize me with all manner of scary scenarios. Nothing good ever comes from it.

So, I have made the deliberate choice to stop making the trip to the land of “What if?” and plant myself firmly in the NOW.

Now is the only place where I can encounter Jesus. And He is never the author of fear (that’s Satan’s specialty and he is a loser who has been thoroughly and eternally defeated by Jesus at the Cross. He can presume absolutely no authority over us).

Instead, Jesus always speaks courage to my heart, no matter how scary my circumstances:

“Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be struck with fear or seized with alarm.”–Luke 12:7

“Peace I leave with you, My own peace I now give and bequeath to you…do not let your hearts be troubled , neither let them be afraid.  Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.”–John 14:27

“God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven, and cringing and fawning fear), but He has given us a spirit of  power and love and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” –2 Timothy 1:7 

This is what I know. I am commanded not to live my one short life in fear.

In today’s “Daily Bread” devotional, the author said the following: “Only one thing will conquer our fears: tenacious faith in God’s presence, protection, power and promises.” 

His Presence: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”–Matthew 28:20

His Protection: It is the Lord who goes before you; He will march with you; He will not fail you or let you go or forsake you; let there be no cowardice or flinching, but fear not, neither become broken in spirit—depressed, dismayed,  and unnerved with alarm. —-Deuteronomy 31:8

His power: He gives power to the faint and weary and to him who has no might, He increases strength, causing it to multiply and making it abound. –Isaiah 40:29

His promises: …God Himself has said, “I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down (or) relax My hold on you; assuredly not!”—Hebrews 13:5

So, I ask you (and myself) particularly in light of that last verse, what in the world do we ultimately have to fear?

Not one thing.

Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God…will come and save you.” —Isaiah 35:3-4

7 Comments

Filed under What Do You Know?

Tagged as ,