Take Two and Call Me in the Morning

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Take Two and Call Me in the Morning

It was mid-March 2019, and I had developed a skin irritation that was intensely itchy with a burning sensation. This, of course, was made worse by clothing that constantly touched it. Most may not give the matter much thought. Just call the doctor and take the given prescription. But no, not me. I’d had this type of irritation before.

The first time was during a bout of clinical depression which developed after the birth of my fourth child. The irritation wasn’t an actual rash although it came with severe anxiety as I obsessed over it. Through treatment for depression and anxiety, the “rash” disappeared….

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Getting a Grip in this Pandemic

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Getting a Grip in this Pandemic

This day in July 2020 is our reality. It is part of the journey God has ordained for each of us.

If we are believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may we live it out from our union with Christ. He lives in us, and we have the mind of Christ. Let us live with His indwelling attitude.

First posted in May 2020. But I fear we need this reminder again:

Brothers and sisters, we all need to get a grip! Our God owes us nothing! Absolutely zip! As Americans, as His children, as ____________ (whatever you may think entitles you).

All is pure gift! Absolute grace! Amazingly unconditional love!

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God's Amazing Timing Meets My Surprising Need

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God's Amazing Timing Meets My Surprising Need

LORD, who knew but YOU … that the boxes of cards and notes, received and randomly saved over years, actually decades, would hold healing for my soul all these years later?

Who but YOU could tell me that very morning, out of the blue,

Jan, today is the day to start going through those treasures you have had piled up for years — TODAY!

Wow! Yes, Lord!

And so I began.

Who knew but YOU that upheaval of a very dark kind would come to my soul that very night…

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The Key to the Christian Life

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The Key to the Christian Life

Christianity is a PERSON, not a procedure; the LORD, not a list! Not church attendance, not Christ-like qualities, not good works, not the Christian "to-do list" (which may vary depending on the group and "camp" you are in)...

Not evangelism, not mission trips, not a quality "quiet time," not Scripture memorization or Bible study...

Not spiritual disciplines, not prayer, not fasting, not obedience, not miracle-working faith...

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Keeping God's Word Fresh: a Guest Branch

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Keeping God's Word Fresh: a Guest Branch

If I want to keep my relationship with Jesus strong I need to keep the lines of communication open. We speak to God through prayer and He speaks to us through His Word and through the Holy Spirit. 

Sometimes it can seem like a chore, however, so I’m always looking for ways to keep the Bible “living and active”. 

I discovered a fun Bible last year. It’s called The ESV Journaling Bible. It has room on the sides to write notes or to draw or paint. I’ve always enjoyed drawing and painting as a hobby so what better way to elevate God’s Word! 

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Living the Colorful Life

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Living the Colorful Life

God lives a colorful life . . . or maybe better said, God lives His life in color!

All we need do is look around. Color is everywhere . . . in nature, in people, even in feelings, ideas, and circumstances.

But as Christians, who embrace a color-loving God who gives us fullness of life through the indwelling Spirit, we most often live inwardly in colors muted and shaded and not alive.

Why is that, I wonder? 

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You can take the Boy out of Minecraft, BUT . . .

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You can take the Boy out of Minecraft, BUT . . .

Last week I was with my dear daughter Beth and son-in-law Nate and their four darling kids. William (almost 5 y.o.) recently had discovered that he could “do” Minecraft. And so now he is eating and drinking and living Minecraft (much to my chagrin).

However, what mom and dad discovered is that when William is not cooperating, is disobeying, or is in any way defiant, removing Minecraft for a day or two can get across to him how unacceptable his behavior has been. And so it was, one of the days of our visit . . . no Minecraft for the next day.

As Beth and I were sitting outside the next morning enjoying our coffee, William appeared at the doorway describing in vivid detail his Minecraft dream. (I wish I could recount it for you, but I “glaze over” at the first mention of Minecraft or other video games.)

Oh well, so much for removing Minecraft . . . who knew. You can take the boy out of Minecraft, but you can’t take Minecraft out of the boy.

Then I realized . . . what a great illustration of a basic spiritual truth in our walk with Christ in grace:

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The unfolding Way...the unfolding Day...the unfolding Life

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First posted December, 2015:

These were my thoughts as I awoke early today. And it became a conversation with my Lord. Maybe this is for you too...

Let it happen... Let life unfold... Step into each day, each moment, and let it unfold before you...the moment...the day

 

But Lord, what about the preparing for what I know are my responsibilities? I don't want to be stressed, but how does that fit into my unfolding day?

I will unfold even the preparing before you, "This is the time...the way... for this preparing, for this scheduling, for this looking ahead... walk in it NOW!"

Yes, Lord! Is that how being "Ready for Anything" can be true? "Be it done unto me according to your word"...this way...this moment...this day...this life!

 

The skies don't seem to be as dark as usual The stars seem brighter then they've been before Deep within I feel my soul a stirring As though my hope has been restored

The shepherds say they've heard the voice of angels Confirming rumors spread across the land That a child protected well from Herod's anger Is our Father's Son, and the Son of man

Love is raining down on the world tonight There's a presence here I can tell God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel He's a Savior we have been praying for In our humble hearts He will dwell God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel

I feel compelled to tell all who will listen That peace on earth is not so out of reach If we can find grace and mercy and forgiveness He has come to save, He is all of these

Love is raining down on the world tonight There's a presence here I can tell God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel He's a Savior we have been praying for In our humble hearts He will dwell God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel

Love is raining down on the world tonight There's a presence here I can tell God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel He's a Savior we have been praying for In our humble hearts He will dwell God is in us, God is for us, God is with us

You're the Savior we have been praying for In our humble hearts You will dwell You are in us, You are for us, You are with us, Emmanuel

The Unfolding Rose ... My Unfolding Life

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The Unfolding Rose ... My Unfolding Life

I am a June girl. My birthday is in June. And so I have always loved my traditional birth flower, the rose! Yes, I adore roses — especially pink or red.

So imagine my delight when my darling husband “showered me” with roses this year. There was a pop-up bouquet of cut paper loveliness in a card; then a smiling delivery person carrying a vase filled with perfectly formed hot pink roses framed in baby’s breath on my doorstep; but most special of all, John’s message filled with scripture and poetic metaphor celebrating not only my love for roses, but also my obsession with a significant life-changing word, “unfolding.”

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Remembering my Dad

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Remembering my Dad

I'm so thankful for the man that GOD chose to be my earthly father. I wish I had had more time to get to know him as a person. He died young ... just 60! Twelve years on earth less than I have had to this point.

Here are my reflections of my dad from a post a few years ago. I hit a grief that caught me by surprise:
An Unexpected Grief, first posted November 2016…

There I was, sitting at the stop light. All of a sudden, an overwhelming grief ... not primarily for my mom who died an exact year before, almost to the day. No, for my dad ... who had died in 1983 right before Thanksgiving.

But why am I grieving now ... why this year, when I hadn't thought of him at this time other years?

I tried to track my train of thought and realized that my thoughts had gone from grieving over my mistakes in my parenting to the difficulties in my own childhood home.

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I Have a Father

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I Have a Father

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. …As we come up to Fathers’ Day, I’m remembering this song. Its a heart-warming reminder of my True Father, and it grabs my grieving soul with its moving music and lyric.

You see, the beautiful person deep inside my earthly father had been often obscured by the abuse of alcohol that trapped his soul and body. (Remembering My Dad)

Oh how sad and painfully tragic! Oh how I miss the real Daddy whom I truly loved yet often “hated” at the same time.

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A Spiritual Father: Abba's Child

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A Spiritual Father: Abba's Child

We are not cowed into timidity by death and life. Were we forced to rely on our own shabby resources we would be pitiful people indeed. But the awareness of Christ's present risenness persuades us that we are buoyed up and carried on by a life greater than our own.

The Christ within who is our hope of glory is not a matter of theological debate or philosophical speculation. He is not a hobby, a part-time project, a good theme for a book, or a last resort when all human effort fails. He is our life, the most real fact about us. He is the power and wisdom of God dwelling within us.

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A Spiritual Father: Bread for my Soul's Journey

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A Spiritual Father: Bread for my Soul's Journey

One of my spiritual fathers was still alive on this earth when I first "met" him. Henri J. M. Nouwen (January 24, 1932 – September 21, 1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest and writer who authored 40 books on the spiritual life.

Our "meeting" came in two ways. A mentor friend of mine pointed me to Nouwen's classic work, The Return of the Prodigal Son. This is an amazing book based on meditations on Rembrandt's painting by the same name. (See my previous post for a favorite quote).

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A Spiritual Father: a Modern-day Prophet

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A Spiritual Father: a Modern-day Prophet

My husband John and I were students at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in the mid-1970's.  It was during our student days at Moody that we were introduced to A.W. Tozer.  My impression of Tozer at that time was that he was a somewhat controversial Chicago pastor of recent years who had a unique gift for being very sound biblically but at the same time shaking up the conservative evangelical "troops." I bought a set of his volumes entitled, The Tozer Pulpit and enjoyed his fiery words.  He said such things as...

One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. . . .

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A Spiritual Father: Abide in Christ in Faith-filled Surrender

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A Spiritual Father: Abide in Christ in Faith-filled Surrender

How do I abide in Christ? How do I live the Christian life if it's by faith and not about "doing?" What is faith? These were questions that circled around, on and on in the midst of my confusion...that is until I "met" Andrew Murray.  Actually, I had read him early in my Christian walk, but that was during the time that "faith formulas" and "to do lists" and "theological systems" were more the answers to my quests than was Christ Himself (although I didn't realize it at the time).


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Spiritual Fathers: Dead and Alive

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Spiritual Fathers: Dead and Alive

I am writing to you, fathers,because you know him who is from the beginning. 1 John 2:13,14 ESV

Since the month of June is Fathers Day month,  I'm thinking about spiritual fathers.   I've been blessed to have some.  My life has been forever enriched by being "spiritually fathered" by these people of God.

So this month, I would like to share a few of them with you. But first, let's think together about "spiritual fathering."

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Holes in my Soul: Thriving, Not Just Surviving

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Holes in my Soul: Thriving, Not Just Surviving

Do you ever feel like there are holes in your soul? I do. In fact, right now I feel a bit like a piece of Swiss cheese. And I don't mean "baby swiss." No, the real holes kind.

The interesting thing is that nothing bad is going on right now in my life. It's all good stuff! But the constancy of the schedule with a newborn (darling first granddaughter!), a two year old (energetic boy, I might add!), two older boys (awesome, each one!), plus sleep deprived young parents (getting ready for a military move next month, I might add), and two aged, also sleep-deprived, grandparents (John & me!) has been hard and delightful at the same time. But to be honest, we adults are all living "on the edge" of something (I just drew a blank as to what).

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