Love Lives On

I was sitting at my desk feeling thankful, and blessed, and humbled by the blessings I have been given by God just a few minutes ago, when movement at the window caught my eye. I looked over to see a Monarch butterfly flutter in and out of view three times before disappearing and, as always when I see a butterfly, I thought of my mother.

Even though it has been nearly seven years since my mother passed away, I still think of her every day. Whenever I see a butterfly, though, I feel the warmth of her love inside me because I know she is living on in eternity and that the love we have for each other has no ending in time. My mother loved butterflies and in her home she had a collection of ceramic flowers with butterflies resting on the petals. The flowers were all different, and so were the butterflies. I confess that I never asked her why she liked that image so much, but it has become one of the lasting images I have of her.

Butterflies signify change, and the metamorphosis from one form to another, just like our re-creation from human body to heavenly body. Their beauty is a reminder of how beautiful our own heavenly bodies will be when we return to unity with our Lord in heaven. We cannot imagine it, but I know that the difference will likely be as stark as the difference between a caterpillar and that Monarch flying outside my office window.

Coming Back Home

Sometimes I spend long periods of time studying my Bible. Then, I'll go on "vacation" and get engaged in other things. Before long, I realize - as I have recently - that something good is missing from my life.
When I read my Bible daily, I get comfort and wisdom all wrapped up in one package. There are many scriptures that bring me great job; others leave me puzzled and musing for the rest of the day.

I am finding that need to be back "home" in the scriptures where I can gather up courage, rest in comfort and grow in faith. I'm curious how you cope with these peaks and valleys - or do you? Would love to hear your comments.

Christmas Day & the birth of Jesus

Every year I hear a lot of talk among friends, family and on TV about whether December 25 was the actual birth date of Jesus. There is always discussion about the date being taken over by early Christians from a pagan festival that used to be held on that day. Debate swirls around which calendar, Gregorian or Julian, should be used to calculate the date. And there is talk about whether Jesus was actually born in the Spring, or maybe 3 years earlier than we thought - and on, and on.

I have come to realize that it doesn't really matter. Our Christmas Day, December 25, is the day we set aside every year to celebrate the birth of our Savior. It makes no difference whatsoever whether he was born in winter or mid-August. To me, it is the symbolism of the light of Christ coming into the world that is important. It is important that we set aside a day to worship by celebrating Christ's birth. We use the occasion to share our joy by giving gifts to others - again a symbol that reflects the gifts of the Magi.

I have learned to tune out the debate over which day Jesus was born and focus on what is really important: the fact that our Lord sent his only son to us, in human form, as an immense act of love and compassion.

Merry Christmas.

Plucking out sin from my life

So this morning I was doing the same thing a lot of women do - tweezing out a few stray eyebrow hairs. Most women in our culture, and even some men, are familiar with this exercise because it is part of what we do to maintain our looks. While I was doing it, I observed that as I have gotten older I have had fewer and fewer stray eyebrow hairs to worry about. I thought about that, and it occurred to me that after a while, I guess you totally kill off the root of the hair and it is gone forever. And that got me to thinking about sin.

The allegory came to me right there in front of my magnifying mirror: plucking eyebrows is like getting rid of sin in my life. When I recognize there is a sin, and I really want to get it out of my life, it takes repeated work to do it. It's hard to make a change to a habit and if the habit has roots in me, then it will take a little plucking to get it all out. It grows back quickly and easily and there I am again the next morning, staring at it in a magnifying mirror. But at least I see it, and if I focus my efforts on getting rid of it, eventually I don't have to do it every day.

Of course, in this story, I don't really have tweezers to get at my sin, I've got prayer. I pray and God answers, that is how it works. Sometimes the answer I get isn't the one I expected, but I always get an answer. Many times the answer is "keep at it, I'll do my part if you do yours." As I pray for strength to remove a particular sin from my life, I am taking the most direct action I can to pluck at the roots and I know, eventually and with God's grace, it will be gone for good.

It's a Good Morning!

Every morning on the hour, our local Christian radio station plays an upbeat, impossible-to-forget song by Mandisa, who is joined by Toby Mac. The song is called "Good Morning" and if you haven't heard it, you should go to iTunes or Pandora and find it and listen to it. I guarantee it will lift your spirits.

The song is such an inspiration to me that I have it programmed as my alarm ring tone for my phone so that I am sure to hear it every single day. I find something so uplifting and energizing about the song, and such a great reminder of God's forgiving spirit, that I really want to start my day off with those sentiments.

It is one of those songs that sticks with me all day long. I don't know if Mandisa hears this a lot, but I just can't get it out of my head once I've heard it. I truly do "wake up singing" - in my head, at least.

I can carry the message of God's love around in my head all day long just because of a catchy tune. But it is the fact that I am being intentional about filling my head with that tune that makes it an effective way to smooth out the day ahead and create a bit of a glide path for me to launch my day.

So thanks, Mandisa and Toby Mac, and thanks to The Promise radio station, for bringing me such a wonderful way to start my day.

A Dry Season

It's been a dry season for me, this summer. I find that the busy daily life I lead interferes with the deeper spiritual connections I want and need. I also have a million excuses for not doing the work I need to do that will correct the situation.

Today, I am thanking God for my blessings, and for his mercy and his forgiveness. I know this season will pass but I am grateful for a God who understands what it is like to be human. 

Good Morning Lord!

Good morning Lord! It is an amazing, beautiful day in your Kingdom here on earth. I am overwhelmed with the majesty of the sun filtering through the leaves, the birdsong, the smell of freshly-mown grass, the light touch of a breeze on my cheek. Everything about this morning is perfect and I can't imagine a moment more amazing.

But I know there is a place even more beautiful and it has me grasping at the edges of my imagination. How can heaven be even better than this? And yet, it is. It is better because you are there. There is warmth and love and acceptance in every atom. Peace, at last, and no worry about sickness, war, injury, death, money or the daily ins and outs of earthly life.

As beautiful as this morning is, Lord, I know you have a better place in store for me. I am awed by the thought and grateful for such a blessing beyond my ability to speak or think.

Good morning Lord, and thank you.