What is it about a day that starts out like any other day and then, somehow, somewhere, manages to take a sharp, nasty turn, in seemingly a moment, and completely turn into something other than goodly?
What is it about a day that makes it GOOD or BAD, anyway?
Today, I woke up, fairly rested, but with an achy back.
No biggie.
The house was a wreck from a culmination of three people living in it and no one cleaning all weekend.
Ticking time bomb.
The clothes dryer suddenly decided to stop working all together--the START button apparently "burned up" or something or other.
This is it.
Work is now piling up, and I now have an even MESSIER laundry room.
It's now I realize that the day is definitely going to go down as "one of THOSE days"...
And at the same time, I keep praying that it won't get any worse.
Should I hole up in the house, under a blanket and not come out until TOMORROW?
As I attempt to gather my resolve and push forward, making the best of it, I summon the energy to hurl myself at my daughter's messy room next.
But before I do, I pour myself a tall cup of coffee and sit down to blog at least the surface of my thoughts...
Monday, January 21, 2013
"We Need You, God"
We need you, God,
Every Man, Woman, and Child,
Every home and every heart.
Despite what we say, despite what we do,
We need you.
We need you in this country, God,
More than ever before...
These are desperate days,
And no matter what we say or do,
We need you.
Without you, our minds, our spirits,
Our homes, our villages, our country,
Lack substance, foundation, and
All our Man-Made brilliance shatters
Ingloriously on abandoned floors.
Oh, save us, Lord, and hear our cries,
The cries of our spirits, the cries of our hearts--
There is a numbness creeping through
Night windows, affecting the very air we breathe...
Save us, though not all know the need.
My heart screams with an intensity,
Something welling up from deep within:
"We Need You, Almighty God,
Maker of Heaven and Earth!"
[Please do not be long in coming.]
Every Man, Woman, and Child,
Every home and every heart.
Despite what we say, despite what we do,
We need you.
We need you in this country, God,
More than ever before...
These are desperate days,
And no matter what we say or do,
We need you.
Without you, our minds, our spirits,
Our homes, our villages, our country,
Lack substance, foundation, and
All our Man-Made brilliance shatters
Ingloriously on abandoned floors.
Oh, save us, Lord, and hear our cries,
The cries of our spirits, the cries of our hearts--
There is a numbness creeping through
Night windows, affecting the very air we breathe...
Save us, though not all know the need.
My heart screams with an intensity,
Something welling up from deep within:
"We Need You, Almighty God,
Maker of Heaven and Earth!"
[Please do not be long in coming.]
Monday, January 14, 2013
"Rage, Rage against the Dying of the Light"
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
...
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. ..."
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I have long loved this poem by the poet Dylan Thomas, but it has been on my mind quite a lot lately, and I'm not sure why. Maybe on some unconscious level it's because one of my close church friends is having a severe health crisis right now and we are all worried about her and her life.
Yes, we know God is in control. He is, after all, the Master of our Hearts and the Universe itself.
But, He's given us a "fight" within, a desire to live life as long as we can, to love this life He's given us with every ounce of energy within us...And when it comes to crises in our lives, we have to choose whether we are going to sit down and let life do what it will...or fight.
My friend is a fighter. She's always been a fighter and is known for saying, in circumstances of duress, "You better step back. I ain't always been saved." And though she says it with a smile and half-laugh, no one who knows her at all believes she's even remotely joking.
Because she is someone with a natural fight in her. She's an oldest child and she's had to fight for everything she's attained and accomplished in her life. It hasn't always been easy for her. Maybe that's why she knows the value of throwing a good fist.
While we can't literally "throw a fist" at the devil, my dear friend is someone who would spiritually throw as many punches as possible. When someone is sick, or in a crisis, she will quote the Word over them and immediately or stop and start praying--even sometimes in her prayer language. Honestly, my friend is one of those people who would come out swinging if and when she or someone she loved was put in a ring with the devil.
I admire the fight in her.
Yet even as I write this, she is no doubt in a hospital bed, probably finishing her evening meal, staring her thoughts and the enemy itself straight in the eye. I know she must feel all alone, though she knows people are praying all around the world for her...I know she would like nothing more than to get up and throw a few punches herself...and then looks at her body and realizes that the enemy of our souls does not play fair--and the enemy is out to kill us, piece by piece, snatch away the best of us.
It's always scary when it looks like the enemy is up a few points.
John 10:10 tells us what the enemy of our souls is all about. To steal (level one), kill (level two), and destroy (level three). It's a series of stages. He wants us all obliterated.
But the second part of this verse tells us about our Lord. What He is all about. "I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." That's the life and living our Lord came to deliver to ALL of us who have given our hearts and lives to Him.
It's clear in John 10:10 what the enemy's about--and his desire for every single Child of God. And we all have a choice. As children of God, we can sit there and take what the enemy dishes out...or we can RAGE against it, claiming the Promises of God over our lives.
Yes, the enemy is battling for her life. And, yes, he appears to have a point or two up on her.
But she's a fighter. She's not looking at the score, anyway. She's Promised. She's a Child of the King. He called her "just as she was"--with the kind of fight inside of her that it takes to meet the enemy square on.
And so she has a choice. To Rage or Not to Rage.
My guess? She'll RAGE.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
...
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. ..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I have long loved this poem by the poet Dylan Thomas, but it has been on my mind quite a lot lately, and I'm not sure why. Maybe on some unconscious level it's because one of my close church friends is having a severe health crisis right now and we are all worried about her and her life.
Yes, we know God is in control. He is, after all, the Master of our Hearts and the Universe itself.
But, He's given us a "fight" within, a desire to live life as long as we can, to love this life He's given us with every ounce of energy within us...And when it comes to crises in our lives, we have to choose whether we are going to sit down and let life do what it will...or fight.
My friend is a fighter. She's always been a fighter and is known for saying, in circumstances of duress, "You better step back. I ain't always been saved." And though she says it with a smile and half-laugh, no one who knows her at all believes she's even remotely joking.
Because she is someone with a natural fight in her. She's an oldest child and she's had to fight for everything she's attained and accomplished in her life. It hasn't always been easy for her. Maybe that's why she knows the value of throwing a good fist.
While we can't literally "throw a fist" at the devil, my dear friend is someone who would spiritually throw as many punches as possible. When someone is sick, or in a crisis, she will quote the Word over them and immediately or stop and start praying--even sometimes in her prayer language. Honestly, my friend is one of those people who would come out swinging if and when she or someone she loved was put in a ring with the devil.
I admire the fight in her.
Yet even as I write this, she is no doubt in a hospital bed, probably finishing her evening meal, staring her thoughts and the enemy itself straight in the eye. I know she must feel all alone, though she knows people are praying all around the world for her...I know she would like nothing more than to get up and throw a few punches herself...and then looks at her body and realizes that the enemy of our souls does not play fair--and the enemy is out to kill us, piece by piece, snatch away the best of us.
It's always scary when it looks like the enemy is up a few points.
John 10:10 tells us what the enemy of our souls is all about. To steal (level one), kill (level two), and destroy (level three). It's a series of stages. He wants us all obliterated.
But the second part of this verse tells us about our Lord. What He is all about. "I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." That's the life and living our Lord came to deliver to ALL of us who have given our hearts and lives to Him.
It's clear in John 10:10 what the enemy's about--and his desire for every single Child of God. And we all have a choice. As children of God, we can sit there and take what the enemy dishes out...or we can RAGE against it, claiming the Promises of God over our lives.
Yes, the enemy is battling for her life. And, yes, he appears to have a point or two up on her.
But she's a fighter. She's not looking at the score, anyway. She's Promised. She's a Child of the King. He called her "just as she was"--with the kind of fight inside of her that it takes to meet the enemy square on.
And so she has a choice. To Rage or Not to Rage.
My guess? She'll RAGE.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
"When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be"
There's a great poem by the Romantic poet, John Keats, called, "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be," and it's a title that was forever imprinted in my brain from the first second I heard it.
As life goes on, there are moments that we encounter that are very sobering. Moments that remind us that we are not going to live forever, that we only have so much time to be on this earth.
These days, "when I have fears that I may cease to be," they center around my daughter, Psalm. I want to see her grow up, help guide her, teach her the Bible, to pray, to lean on God, to do what's right and trust God for EVERY area of her life--including school, jobs, men, etc. I just want to be there for her, when she needs me.
One of my dear friends from church is struggling with her health right now, and it's in these moments that we are challenged to pray more, believe more--and it's also a moment to do inventory and realize that life can change drastically at any moment. We just don't know what the future holds...
"But we know Who holds our future."
And I thank God for that! There is so much I want to do, have yet to do, for God, my family, myself. But no matter what, I totally trust God. There's SO MUCH I want to experience yet in my life, but I know that He will take me when it's my time--and not a second before.
That's what gives me great comfort "when I have fears." And that's what keeps me reaching, taking bigger steps when I feel like I can't reach out anymore, take one more step...
I am so thankful to be a child of God.
As life goes on, there are moments that we encounter that are very sobering. Moments that remind us that we are not going to live forever, that we only have so much time to be on this earth.
These days, "when I have fears that I may cease to be," they center around my daughter, Psalm. I want to see her grow up, help guide her, teach her the Bible, to pray, to lean on God, to do what's right and trust God for EVERY area of her life--including school, jobs, men, etc. I just want to be there for her, when she needs me.
One of my dear friends from church is struggling with her health right now, and it's in these moments that we are challenged to pray more, believe more--and it's also a moment to do inventory and realize that life can change drastically at any moment. We just don't know what the future holds...
"But we know Who holds our future."
And I thank God for that! There is so much I want to do, have yet to do, for God, my family, myself. But no matter what, I totally trust God. There's SO MUCH I want to experience yet in my life, but I know that He will take me when it's my time--and not a second before.
That's what gives me great comfort "when I have fears." And that's what keeps me reaching, taking bigger steps when I feel like I can't reach out anymore, take one more step...
I am so thankful to be a child of God.
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