Simple Faith: A Lesson from Mary

Dear Molly,

Luke 1:26-38

When you first meet Mary you can’t help but fall in love with her simple, unassuming faith.  She doesn’t ask a lot of questions, unlike Zechariah, but believes everything the angel tells her will happen. Mary doesn’t wonder if at God’s ability to carry out His plan, but only her own ability to take part being a virgin.  

Mary must have known her whole life was going to be turned upside down with this unplanned and unexplainable pregnancy.  Surely she had a million more questions but she had even more faith to trust God to work out all the details.  She knew God enough to know He was trustworthy.  And she knew who she was and her part which was to serve Him (Luke1:38). 

I want that kind of faith.  I want to welcome God wherever He pops up unexpectedly, and to let Him have His way with my life.  I want to welcome Jesus into my world, let Him literally take over my whole life as He did Mary’s, and not worry about the details.  The problem is too often I question what He is asking of me.  I worry away the details.  I try to be God and make Him my servant instead of the other way around.     

Give me the simple, courageous faith of Mary, Abba, to acknowledge you as God and myself as your servant. Help me to do my part, no matter how big or small.

Looking-On-Us-Love: A Lesson From Elizabeth

Dear Molly (and anyone else who cares to join us), 

I’m excited to read through Luke again and to discuss together what we are learning about Christ’s birth.  I’ve decided to call these my “Dear Molly” entries since Luke is writing to his “most excellent Theophilus”! Silly, I know, but kinda fun!  If you want me to start addressing you that way we can discuss it at our next meeting! :)

Here are my thoughts thus far on Luke.  I can’t wait to get together and hear yours!

Day 1 – Luke 1:1 – 25

When I read this ancient story of infertility I can’t help but think of the hope it must bring to any couple that has struggled to have a child.  In Zechariah and Elizabeth’s case there was a purpose behind their years of heartache and waiting.  God had a very special child in mind for them, a cousin to Jesus who we know as John the Baptist.  And their years of waiting tilled the soil for their joy to be multiplied 100 fold to what it might have been had God answered their prayer for a child right away.  It also set the stage for this miracle that no one could deny, how else could an older man and woman conceive a child except by God’s design?  

I love how Elizabeth responds to her pregnancy in a very personal way with God.  She knows she is just a speck in the sea of humanity and this new life inside her is evidence that God has taken note of her.  Elizabeth acknowledges her lifetime of sorrow and praises God for personally answering her prayer when in her words, “He looked on me” (1:25).  She doesn’t just say “He heard me” implying that after years He finally relented.  She makes it more personal than that.  She knows that God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, looked at her!   God gave her His full attention, heard her heart’s cry and in His Perfect timing answered her greatest desire.

It reminds me of countless moments when my children ask for my attention throughout the day.  Almost every time I am busy doing something else.  So often I don’t even turn and look at them when they are talking to me.  I keep on doing my task and verbally acknowledge their request; but every once in a while I get it right.  I stop and stoop down and look them in the eye and give them my FULL attention.  I acknowledge their need, owie, request, frustration or whatever it is they are trying to tell me.  This is the picture I get when Elizabeth says that God “looked on (her).”  And it is the picture of God’s love that He has for you and me and the whole world that He wants to convey to us. 

As a Christian I believe everything has a purpose and God’s best plan is being unfolded, even if I can’t see it.  This story of infertility leading up to the miraculous birth of John the Baptist is a story of faith in God’s sovereign timing, His Looking-On-Us-Love and His amazing plan to rescue us all beginning to unfold. 

Adjusting My Grip

Ever since Heather died three years ago I have wrestled with fear.  Fear for the health and safety of my loved ones and myself.  Over  time God has gently revealed to me that behind that fear is an idol: something that I am holding onto more tightly than Him.  That idol is safety. 

 I know there is nothing wrong with enjoying this wonderful life that God has given to me, nor in praying for the health or recovery and well-being of my loved ones.  What kind of loving God would want to withhold those things?  But when I try to dictate the future, preferably that it will march on day in and day out for the next 60 years just as it has been up until now, I am not really letting God be in control and therein lays the problem. I wanted circumstantial happiness with my safety idol secure but God wanted to teach me how to have real happiness despite my circumstances. 

A couple weeks ago it looked like my near future as I knew it was about to take a turn with one scary phone call from my doctor.  Two days after that conversation I read, “Real happiness – that unshakeable sense of peace, contentment, and well-being – comes as we remind ourselves of the blessings we have in Christ and then respond with thankfulness,”  by Nancy Leigh De Moss in Choosing Gratitude.  This admonition became my lifeline in the following weeks as I did more tests and waited,  hoping for good news.  Whenever fearful thoughts crept in I would force myself to thank God for all I have in Christ which can never be taken away!  

During that time I contemplated my journey with fear.  I thought I had finally surrendered my safety idol and stopped living every day anxiously waiting for it to all come crumbling down around me.  And now it looked like what I had feared all along might be happening after all. Fear wrapped its fingers around my heart once again.  Had I really surrendered my safety idol or was I still stuck right where I was three years ago clinging to it more than to God?   

When everything is going along swell I am lulled into a false unconsciousness that it will all carry on like this forever.  Then a phone call awakens me to the frailty of it all I’m challenged once again to let God be God, even if I don’t always like the paths He chooses. The test comes in mastering my grip; my hands must be open enough to trust God with the unknown and yet firm enough to keep the precious moments from slipping through my fingers unappreciated. If I hold onto life too loosely I let the days fly by without stopping to enjoy and give thanks; I don’t remember how sacred they truly are.  Yet if I focus too much on the frailty of life I let fear steal the freedom to enjoy it. In holding on just right I can enjoy with gratitude the gift of life and loved ones while trusting His plans above my own for tomorrow and the next.

In the end all the medical tests came back the way we had hoped in case you are wondering!  I’m grateful for the lessons learned in gratitude no matter my circumstances, my faith grown and my relationships strengthened through the process of learning to adjust my grip. I by no means have these things mastered and I know there will be many more opportunities and lessons ahead on this journey called life!

Gobble. Gobble....Oink???

We recently had a marital disagreement over the main course for the upcoming holiday. One of us wants turkey, the correct and traditional centerpiece for Thanksgiving, and the other one of us wants ham.  To solve our stalemate we cast the votes wider including other loved ones who will be joining in the feast.  Since I lost the vote and I'm a sore loser and I'm the one cooking I might just make both anyways!  Even if some strange taste buds would turn down a tasty post holiday turkey sandwich, this is one turkey no one can turn away from.  I couldn't resist making them for my son's kindergarten class snack today.  And even though I hate to say it, I'm now one of those moms who bring in unhealthy treats to get get everyone else' kids all sugared up before heading home.  Sorry.  I didn't even splurge for the low-fat sandwich cookies...I know, I'm horrible.  But these little gobbler's aren't and I know you will love making them too!  

I got the idea out of my son's Clubhouse magazine from Focus on the Family.  And because I believe in giving credit where it is due, it was sent in from the Mickelson family in Washington state.  There are 20 sugared up and elated little 5 and 6 year olds at my son't elementary school today thanks to you Mickelson Family!  

To make them here are a few tips:

• Warm the cookies in the oven a bit to make the easier to separate
• Grab and extra jar of frosting for sticking the "feathers" and "face" on the turkeys
• Don't get distracted by putting your 3-yr-old to bed halfway through the process so you can just get-er-done in peace and let the giant pot of rice crispy, marshmallow and butter mixture cool too much and harden into one giant round glob.  This makes forming the little balls a lot more difficult but not impossible. 

Ingredients

• 4 Tbls butter
• 10 ounce bag marshmallows
• 6 cups rice crispy cereal
• chocolate frosting
• candy corn - different flavors/colors make it even more fun!
• chocolate sandwich cookies

Fall Picture Update

Harvesting Pumpkins from our garden.

Anniversary 3 day Getaway - Yay!

Our new little boy scout.

Remembering how fun boxes can be. 

The only girl kid we will ever have.  Ha ha!  JK  Visiting our good friend's acreage - their newest addition is a herd of goats!

Fall Conference was a blast!

These two spend LOTS of time together this semester!  Yay for Molly!!!

Thrift Store Prom at Fall Conf.

70 Students from SDSU, 450ish staff and students all together - a new record!

We enjoyed seeing our very own nephew at this years Fall Conf.  I didn't remember him being soooo tall!

Our first snow.  Thankfully it all melted!

Rocktoberfest Party at Molly, Morgan's etc.

Raking in the loot.

Battery Box Tears

Grief is so irrational sometimes.  I can walk past the rocking chair Heather and her husband gave us as a wedding gift a thousand times and not shed one tear.  And then today when I opened a cupboard to put something away I saw her name and address written on a box that holds our batteries and immediately burst into tears.  Even though with the passage of time I have gotten more used to her not being here my heart never stops missing her.  Upon further inspection of the box out of pure curiosity I see it was shipped to her at our old address in Madison that we shared years ago from her very best friend in CA. I wonder what treasure was inside.

Why would one little cardboard box that I can’t even remember acquiring somewhere along the way trigger such tears?  And yet as I fix my tea while writing this post and think of all the times Heather would pour herself a cup of plain hot water to warm up I just smile and laugh at her quirky ways?  Grief doesn’t make much sense to me.  But it does make the Gospel make more sense.  When I think of how God’s heart broke with the words, “What have you done? Why are you hiding?” upon discovering Adam and Eve had welcomed sin into His Perfect world, and with it death to everyone, I hear the agony behind those words deep in my heart.  I feel the pain of Heather’s loss – He felt the pain of every loss.   

It makes the Gospel that much more precious to me, knowing that not only does it bring new life and hope for the here and now through a restored relationship with my Creator – it brings forever life on the other side of heaven.  I can’t wait to see Heather’s smiling face again when I get there.  And in the meantime I’ll keep smiling over her funny ways and crying over her absence at unexpected moments.  And even though I would take her back a thousand times instead, I’ll embrace the lessons I’m given from her loss.  Understanding God’s heart in the Gospel a little bit more is one of them.  Thank you, sweet friend…I miss you.