Steadfast Love.

As I sang the first line of O Come All Ye Faithful at my church’s annual candle light service a thought hit me like a ton of bricks. I had always considered myself faithful but really I’m not. Well, I am in the marital sense. I mean I do not serve the Lord as faithfully as I’d like or as I ought.

I’d proved this fact the night before working in the school’s concession stand with my husband; just the two of us. I love my husband. He is delightfully ADHD. And bossy. And has a lot of energy. I am ok with who he is and I never want to stifle that in him. But let me tell you that night in the concession stand I sure was tempted to. I will not bore you with the details because they are ugly; and most of the ugliness was reactionary and came from me.

What I learned that night is I am not as faithful to my beliefs under stress, or when I am angry as I expect myself to be. To tell the truth and much to my annoyance I am still mad at him, and I am mad at myself for not conducting myself in a Christ like manner. I am disappointed in me.

The week before, during, and after the concession stand incident there has been a theme that has looped itself through my conscious and subconscious thought process. It was sparked when a friend of mine posted on Facebook she had the privilege of reading Lamentations 3:22-23; 31-33 at a funeral for her dear friend.

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness

³¹ For the Lord will not
    cast off forever,
³² but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
    according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
³³ for he does not afflict from his heart
    or grieve the children of men.

 (ESV)

I am sinful, I miss the mark, and I fail. Nonetheless His steadfast love never fails.

Please don't misunderstand what I am saying. I have always known I am not perfect and I fail, however, I have never been so acutely aware of the fact that I need a Savior as I am this Christmas season. His mercies are new every morning not because I quit sinning, not because others need His mercies, but because I.am.a.sinner. Failure is part of the human condition from which I am not exempt. 

I love how The Message interprets these passages from Lamentations, and I’m throwing in a couple of extra verses because I love how it reads.

^22-24 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
    his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
    How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
    He’s all I’ve got left.

^28-30 When life is heavy and hard to take,
    go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions:
    Wait for hope to appear.
Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face.
    The “worst” is never the worst.

^31-33 Why? Because the Master won’t ever
    walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
    His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
He takes no pleasure in making life hard,
    in throwing roadblocks in the way:

God’s love can’t run out, it can’t fail, it will never dry up. His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness even when I’m not faithful!

I am going to take some time this week to go off by myself, to enter into silence, bow my head in prayer, not run from or ignore this state I am in, and wait for His hope to appear.

This video is a song from the 70’s that has been playing in my mind. It is a great throwback and has an awesome message.Here’s to a great 2014 and the awesome fact His steadfast love never ceases!

Diligence in the Pit Stop.

We recently hit a yellow-caution light on the parental go-kart track of life. Thankfully it was a regrouping pit stop/wake up call and not a complete spin out. These warning flags are part of parenting and are to be expected. While we were dealing with the details the word impressed upon my mind was diligence, and how it pertains to parenting.

When I think about the word diligent my mind always goes to Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (AKJV) I was curious how and where else diligence is used in the Bible. What I found has deeply moved me.

What I found when used throughout the Old Testament (Hebrew) the word diligence conveys something done as a willful conscious effort with all one’s might and power until the task at hand is done; much like the rebuilders of the wall in Ezra and Nehemiah. Some of the men were set to work at rebuilding the wall, defensive weapons in one hand building tools in the other. Some were set to be the guards, or the watchmen, they were to be on the lookout for enemies who were threatening the destruction of their hard work.

In the New Testament (Greek) the word diligence conveys a work or labor that is painstakingly, even elaborately, examined or investigated. It conveys a sense of urgency, and providing on the behalf of someone else.

A good example of this is 2 Corinthians 8:11-12 (MSG) “So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started…You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it.”  Paul was urging the Corinthians to put to action their good ideas on the behalf of others.

When you bond the O.T. idea of zealous, willful, guarding, watching, perceiving, one-step-ahead-of, protection and warning with the N.T. painstaking, elaborate, examining, careful handling and the desire to be at one’s best on the behalf of and in action for another you get a parent.

Am I the perfect parent?! Goodness no! Will I always be a step ahead of or aware of everything which takes place in the lives of my kids? No! Are there days parenting gets exhausting? Yes! But by the grace of God and a little help from others I will strive to be diligent and continue to steer them in the direction they are supposed to be going.

  

This experience has been a good reminder that although my children no longer require the constant supervision they did as littles they still need me to be their ‘watchman’ to help them become the men they were designed to be.

The Big Reveal

I am obsessed with HGTV. I enjoy watching House Hunters because I am intrigued by how inexpensive housing is in other parts of the country. However, my favorite shows are the ones where they completely remodel an old junker to something completely fabulous in 30 to 60 minutes. For some reason (maybe because my homes have been in a perpetual state of remodel my entire married life) it gives me a sense of closure a sense of completeness. I can watch these shows back to back to back.

I am fascinated by the big reveal at the closing of these shows because I like to watch the looks of awe on the part of the home owners. Inevitably their newly finished home goes beyond their wildest dreams and expectations. A great portion of the time these people are overwhelmed with emotion at the greatness which lies before them. Some even become apologetic for arguing with and not wanting to relinquish control to the designer. I, however, am a mere observer watching these designers work their miracles.

As the Christmas season approaches the name for Christ which is foremost in my mind is Emmanuel ~ God with us. I love this name for Him and am reminded of a song we used to sing at church in the 80’s simply titled Emmanuel.

Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
His name is called
Emmanuel.
God with us,
Revealed in us,
His name is called
Emmanuel.

Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
Your name is called
Emmanuel
God with us
Revealed in us,
Your name is called
Emmanuel.

(posted from Lyrster.com)

There is that word reveal.

I have been mulling over this word reveal for the past six weeks and what it means in light of Emmanuel being revealed in me. Am I an accurate revelation of Christ?

When people are around me does my life reveal the emotion inducing design revealing awesomeness that Christ is? When people are with me are they able to observe an everlasting-chain-breaking love? Are they able to rejoice and become emotional because of what they see the Master Designer can and will do with their lives? Kind of like the emotional people on HGTV?

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying I am Christ. Nor do I believe that every single second of every single day is going to be a mountain top experience with Christ where I shine His love perfectly. There are days that are going to be rotten. Kind of like the remodeling on HGTV where they hit dry rot, or mold, or knob and tube wiring that has to be replaced. What I am saying is I am, as Christians we are, the vessels through which the Designer is choosing to reveal Himself. My words, my actions, the freedom I am to live and walk in are the revelation that He is Emmanuel God with us!

He can take this old junker heart of mine and redesign me so He is revealed in His awesomeness; if I will relinquish control to the Master Designer.

I leave you with the song God With Us by Mercy Me.