Our church put on a yard sale for our youth to help support them on a trip this June to serve in Mexico. For those of us planning it, there are the nerve-racking days of wondering if we’ll have enough to sell and whether people will see the signs and socials to know it’s happening and stop by. Then it rained for days. A major and popular 10k race was happening this same morning just a street away from us. Will it work out as we hoped for our young people?
Long story short – we had plenty of stuff donations for the sale and we had a steady flow of shoppers all morning. Praise the Lord!
Early on in the morning, I was moving a rack of clothes and tripped. Down I went!!! Glasses on my face, pain in my side, and not able to stand right away. Embarrassing, right? However, some of the young people stayed right there as did a man visiting the sale. When I caught my breath, they all leaned in and helped me right myself. Thankful for people willing to serve…seriously! Back to the sale.
Briefly after that fall, I was recovering by moving slowly around the yard sale tables, doing the next thing, and a song I’d not heard before came through the nearby sound system. The words on repeat in the chorus were “You Catch Me When I Fall”. Wow!
Through my life, I have fallen a lot. Loose ankles. Not paying attention. Misjudging my surroundings. Bifocals. My kids regularly have tried to avert disaster by calling out, “Mom, don’t run.” Or here lately, now that I run less, in general, just “Mom, don’t fall”. That song reminded me of a God who catches us when we fall. He doesn’t always keep us from falling, but He is there with us when it happens.
No broken bones. Just bruised ribs and pain in my side where I hit ground.
Then, you won’t believe the next song: “All My Life You Have Been Faithful”[“The Goodness of God”].
For the rest of the yard sale, with every slow move, and every kind word from those around me, it was an opportunity to consider the goodness of God.
Then, as the time ran down, and we packed the treasures not claimed into our cars to take to local thrift stores…the drama continued.
I couldn’t find my car keys. They were in my pocket as I carried things to the car, and then they weren’t there. The car was completely packed. We searched it and searched it. We all looked everywhere around the parking lot, on all the tables, inside the church, even in the bathroom. Nowhere.
Dave had to return home in his truck to get my spare keys and bring them back. While he was away, I prayed…lamblasting myself for losing the keys. Thinking of what effort it will take to replace all those keys on my keyring. Sigh…
When he arrived back with my keys, I drove my packed car to my favorite Christian thrift store. Feeling the ache from the fall, I was thankful for the volunteers’ help in emptying my car. I told them I had lost my keys and would they watch for them as they went through all the bags and boxes of stuff.
With the last pile I lifted out of the back and into the arms of the volunteer, he said, “Are those your keys?” Yes, they were! Amazing! I could have danced around that parking lot if it didn’t hurt to do so.
On the way back home, my heart was so full – you know what that feels like! It’s not like I had trusted God with a cancer diagnosis, or a wayward child, or a big career change, or a rupture in my family. It was a fall and lost keys. Only. But…hallelujah!
Picking up lunch at a favorite restaurant for Dave and me, I just looked up at a sky with the sun breaking through the clouds of the last several rainy days. Saying out loud, to no one in the parking lot, “You are so good, God. Look what You did for me!”
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. – James 1:17
For most of 20 years, we lived in North Africa where a Thanksgiving holiday was a foreign concept. “Eid el Shukr” (“Feast of Thanks” in Arabic) was understood but not a day set aside. We, along with other expat Americans, brought Thanksgiving with us and invited our local friends into the experience. On the surface, American Thanksgiving has pretty much three constant components – food, family, and football.
Back in the States, the old traditions are changing and yet stay sweetly familiar. My Mom, who always laid out an incredible Southern-style feast on the kitchen counter at home in Georgia, is no longer with us. As with some of you, I’m sure, I miss her still every day and how she lavished love on us through these family times together. Our children are grown now and establishing their own traditions with more families and friends added into the mix. Each year, we find ourselves re-working our own traditions as well.
Thanksgiving is again, for many of us, all about food, family, and football…but there’s also another element…faith… I am grateful every day for the kindnesses of God and those he’s placed in our lives. Celebrating Thanksgiving allows us to put an exclamation point on being grateful. It’s not just about a table full of food, although food is clearly a focal point. Thanksgiving, even as a national holiday and not a religious one, focuses our sight beyond ourselves. There is an object in Thanksgiving beyond ourselves.
Over 50 years ago, a funky little Broadway musical was turned into a film – Godspell. It was an adaptation of the life of Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew. At that time, I was in the season of life that young people pass through of searching out what exactly I believed. It wasn’t going well at that time. Praise God, He did not forget me during those days when I had all but forgotten Him. Watching the film Godspell was one of the occasions God used to wake me up. There’s a wonder and delight in the young followers of Jesus in the musical. It reminded me of what I had once with God…and what could be again.
All the songs in the musical Godspell are lovely. Composer and lyricist, Stephen Schwartz, beautifully captured some of Jesus’ teaching and the depth of love and rightness between Him, His followers, and creation, in general. All Good Gifts, adapted from an old hymn, is one such song and is a pure and proper doxology of praise for Thanksgiving.
Worship with me.
All Good Gifts* We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land.. But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand.. He sends us snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain… The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain…
All good gifts around us Are sent from Heaven above Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love…
We thank thee then, O Father, for all things bright and good, The seedtime and the harvest, our life our health our food, No gifts have we to offer for all thy love imparts But that which thou desirest, our humble thankful hearts!
All good gifts around us Are sent from Heaven above.. Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love..
I really wanna thank you Lord! All good gifts around us Are sent from Heaven above.. Then thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love..
Food – Family Favorites in Mom’s Kitchen Football – on T.V. or out on the street with cousins and friendsFamily – Time together…savoring every minute
Happy Thanksgiving…
Oh…just in case Thanksgiving is a struggle…and it isn’t all happy family fun…I pray you take courage and rein in your heart to remember that God sees and loves you. We can be a Thanksgiving blessing to each other…if you’ve read this far…you are a blessing to me. Wish you were at our table…maybe one day you will be. You are definitely welcome at God’s table.
Before the throne therewas a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” – Revelation 4:6-11
After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell face down before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” – Revelation 7:9-12
It wasn’t my time. A few days ago, I turned into a neighborhood street near my house. On a fast errand, I returned on the same street within a couple of minutes max. There across the street was this huge fallen tree! It was a moment for me to think about the reality that a few seconds later entering that street or earlier returning, and my car could have been under that tree.
You can imagine, it gave pause. Thinking of all the times we are slowed down by red lights or long store lines or the distracted driver slowing us down. I believe in angels. How God protects us through these heavenly messengers who don’t make themselves known to us, but who may very well sometimes protect us from all sorts of calamity. I say sometimes, because we all know (and may even be experiencing right now) hard situations that God did not prevent. Yet, He knows and gives grace and works all things out for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).
In the midst of every day life…both magnificent and mundane…God reminds us of Himself and the grandness of this life (and the next, of course). We forget…or we don’t notice…our heads too often down, looking at screens, rather than up and around at the beauty of God and those He places in our lives.
Sunday, our worship team closed out the service at Movement Church with the song Holy Forever. It is a familiar song but hit me different that day. It was a tiny snapshot of what it will be around the throne of God in eternity. All of us, singing, agreeing on the majesty of holy God.
What does it mean that God is holy. Got Questions, an online ministry, answers that question beautifully. Here is an excerpt:
“The holiness of God refers to the unparalleled majesty of His incomparable being and His blameless, faultless, unblemished moral purity (Isaiah 6:1–5; Revelation 4:1–8). Unlike His created beings, God is eternal, preeminent, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He was, is, and will be before all things. He is ageless, tireless, and faultless. He is beyond full human comprehension. Indeed, our language lacks the superlatives necessary to justly describe Him. Drawn to Him for His unequaled goodness and majesty, the psalmist wrote, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1, ESV). Nothing or no one satisfies like God, for He is altogether lovely to behold. Earthly treasures will pass away, but the Lord is our great reward and inheritance (Joshua 13:33)…God is holy. In Him, there is not even the faintest trace of evil. He is impeccably pure, wholly without fault, and uncompromisingly just. God cannot lie. He cannot make wrong decisions. He is blameless, timeless, and sinless. To the lost the holiness of God is a dreadful matter, but to the redeemed the holiness of God is our greatest good.”
Pastor, writer Scott Savage has written a beautiful review of the song Holy Forever. He references songwriter Chris Tomlin‘s story behind the song. Tomlin wanted to communicate 3 elements, in particular: God’s transcendence, the idea of “eternal worship”, and God’s faithfulness in the face of our failure.
Savage goes on to say:
“If you need a reminder of God’s transcendence in your life, I want to encourage to get into God’s creation. Stargaze, hike, or get out on the water. Put your phone away and get alone, or get with people who will help you connect with God, not distract you from God.
Be quiet before God – really listen for His still, small voice. Read Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. Listen to the song “Holy Forever” and meditate on the bigness and holiness of God.
When you do, may you find your heart reset and your viewpoints recalibrated in light of the glory, majesty, and transcendence of God.” – Scott Savage
One day, it will be my time…as it will be for all of us. What an amazing grace to stand before the One True God, in the righteousness of our Savior Jesus Christ, and be welcomed Home.
A thousand generations falling down in worship To sing the song of ages to the Lamb And all who’ve gone before us, and all who will believe Will sing the song of ages to the Lamb
Your name is the highest Your name is the greatest Your name stands above them all All thrones and dominions All powers and positions Your name stands above them all
And the angels cry, “Holy” All creations cries, “Holy” You are lifted high, holy Holy forever
If you’ve been forgiven, if you’ve been redeemed Sing the song forever to the Lamb If you walk in freedom, if you bear His name Sing the song forever to the Lamb We’ll sing the song forever and amen
And the angels cry, “Holy” All creations cries, “Holy” You are lifted high, holy Holy forever Hear Your people sing, “Holy” To the King of kings, holy You will always be holy Holy forever
Your name is the highest Your name is the greatest Your name stands above them all All thrones and dominion All powers and positions Your name stands above them all, Jesus Your name is the highest Your name is the greatest Your name stands above them all (Oh, stands above) All thrones and dominions All powers and positions Your name stands above them all
And the angels cry, “Holy” All creations cries, “Holy” You are lifted high, holy Holy forever (We cry, “Holy forever”) Hear Your people sing, “Holy” (We will sing) To the King of kings, (Holy) holy (Holy forever) You will always be holy Holy forever
1) Good Friday – Holy Week 2024 is coming to an end. Every day, I join many around the world reflecting on the events and meaning of each day of that last week of Jesus’ earthly life. Up through the crucifixion and onto Resurrection Sunday. You can read my countdown here.
“It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father’s will—and it was his love for sinners like me.” – D.A. Carson
And as You speak A hundred billion failures disappear Where You lost Your life so I could find it here If You left the grave behind You so will I I can see Your heart in everything You’ve done Every part designed in a work of art called love If You gladly chose surrender so will I I can see Your heart Eight billion different ways Every precious one A child You died to save If You gave Your life to love them so will I
Like You would again a hundred billion times But what measure could amount to Your desire You’re the One who never leaves the one behind – Hillsong (So Will I (100 Billion X)
Here’s Nathan’s rendition on classical guitar. So moving!
3) How to Know a Person – How to really know a person? David Brooks’ book delves into that so practically. I hadn’t heard of this book until someone I follow on social media described it as a masterpiece. then I caught Brooks’ interview on The Next Big Idea podcast.
So far, I love everything I have heard and read about this book. A few quotes from the book follow:
“The real act of, say, building a friendship or creating a community involves performing a series of small, concrete social actions well: disagreeing without poisoning the relationship; revealing vulnerability at the appropriate pace; being a good listener; knowing how to end a conversation gracefully; knowing how to ask for and offer forgiveness; knowing how to let someone down without breaking their heart; knowing how to sit with someone who is suffering; knowing how to host a gathering where everyone feels embraced; knowing how to see things from another’s point of view.” – David Brooks, How to Know a Person
“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them,” George Bernard Shaw wrote, “but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.” – David Brooks, How to Know a Person
“On social media you can have the illusion of social contact without having to perform the gestures that actually build trust, care, and affection. On social media, stimulation replaces intimacy. There is judgment everywhere and understanding nowhere.” – David Brooks, How to Know a Person
“As the Harvard psychologist Robert Kegan has observed, what the eye sees more deeply the heart tends to love more tenderly.” – David Brooks, How to Know a Person
Brooks offers story after story of human connections, the kind we all long for…and how they happen. With curiosity and care and a measure of intentionality. Get the book!
4) Scruffy Hospitality – Hospitality follows along the same thinking as David Brooks’ book on knowing people. When we put out the welcome mat for folks, we gain as much as we give, and it doesn’t have to be perfect.
“Scruffy hospitality means you’re not waiting for everything in your house to be in order before you host and serve friends in your home. Scruffy hospitality means you hunger more for good conversation and serving a simple meal of what you have, not what you don’t have. Scruffy hospitality means you’re more interested in quality conversation than the impression your home or lawn makes. If we only share meals with friends when we’re excellent, we aren’t truly sharing life together.
Don’t allow a to-do list disqualify you from an evening with people you’re called to love in friendship. Scheduling is hard enough in our world. If it’s eating with kind, welcoming people in a less than perfect house versus eating alone, what do you think someone would choose? We tell our guests ‘come as you are,’ perhaps we should tell ourselves ‘host as you are.’” – Jack King
I was reminded of this sort of hospitality when a neighbor dropped by recently without notice. I felt a bit embarrassed by the piles of books on my coffee table and the general messiness of the kitchen. I was cooking for a special occasion, and the counters were full of preps in progress. She wasn’t bothered by any of it, and we had a great visit.
Just today after a meal shared with extended family, we were sitting and talked, and I noticed how dusty the floor was in the afternoon sun – the areas that don’t get “swept up” by sock-clad feet. Sigh… Even as we were visiting, I pulled out the dust-mop and tidied up the floor. It didn’t bother our visitors, but it did me, once I saw it. Couldn’t unsee it.
The important thing is to keep inviting folks into your home, into your welcome. The condition of the house is secondary. There are too many folks out there eating alone because we want the comfort of our own homes without the work of making them presentable to others. Since COVID, also, we seem to have gotten out of the sweet habit of gathering, like we once did. Worth re-visiting.
5) Flowering Trees – We’re in Springtime here, and the flowering trees and bushes are giving us quite the show! I remember with great delight the fragrance of flowering Jasmine when we used to live in North Africa. For a brief time, the Viburnum bushes with new blossoms gives that same intoxicating smell. Everywhere you look right now, trees are like watercolor paintings with flowers popping and new leaves unfurling. Spectacular time of the year!
So much more…but with this being a special week of celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah…will close here. Thanks for stopping by. It means so much.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:5-11
They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. – Revelation 4:10-11
During the season of Lent, leading up to Good Friday and Easter (Resurrection Sunday), I am inspired by reading, listening to music, and studying the beauty with which God surrounds us (including the sacred arts). Biola University combines all three resources for worship in its Lent Project which we can access online. The Arcabas painting above is the capstone of the March 21, 2024 devotional. The painting title is “The Humbled and Exalted Christ”. Christ is shown with the crown of thorns set painfully on His head prior to His crucifixion. Then, upon His resurrection/ascension, the angels are shown crowning Him with the golden crown as King of Heaven.
Below you’ll find excerpts from this day’s devotional written by Dr. David Merrill, theology professor at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology.
“We see the reality that it is here in Christ’s humiliation, there is exaltation. Here slave and king, heaven and earth, God and man are brought together…The incarnation, suffering, and death, form the basis of his exaltation. What is also won of course, is our salvation and healing, for “with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). In gathering humanity and death into himself he defeats death and gives us new life…this truth must find a home in our own hearts. For what we exalt in our hearts becomes lord of our lives and what we deem as beautiful governs our loves and desires, and thus directs our lives.” – Dr. David Merrill
1 Crown him with many crowns, the Lamb upon his throne. Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own. Awake, my soul, and sing of him who died for thee, and hail him as thy matchless king through all eternity.
2 Crown him the Lord of life, who triumphed o’er the grave, and rose victorious in the strife for those he came to save; his glories now we sing who died and rose on high, who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.
3 Crown him the Lord of love; behold his hands and side, rich wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified; no angels in the sky can fully bear that sight, but downward bends their burning eye at mysteries so bright.
4 Crown him the Lord of years, the potentate of time, creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime. All hail, Redeemer, hail! for thou hast died for me; thy praise shall never, never fail throughout eternity.* “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” – John 6:68-69
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as we look intently into Your face and attend to Your crucifixion, may You be exalted in our hearts. May our affections be captivated by Your beauty, and may we come to find that life is truly found in You alone. And where our loves have become captivated by the beauty of other lords, draw us back and lead us along the ancient path, the way of the cross. Amen. – Dr. David Merrill
Crown Him with many crowns, The Lamb upon His throne. Hark! How the heav’nly anthem drowns All music but its own! Awake, my soul, and sing Of Him who died for thee; And hail Him as thy matchless king Through all eternity!
Crown Him the virgin’s son! The God incarnate born, Whose arm those crimson trophies won Which now His brow adorn! Fruit of the mystic rose, As of that rose the stem; The root whence mercy ever flows, The Babe of Bethlehem!
Crown Him the Lord of love! Behold His hands and side, Those wounds, yet visible above, In beauty glorified: No angel in the sky Can fully bear that sight, But downward bends his burning eye At mysteries so bright!
Crown Him the Lord of peace! Whose power a scepter sways From pole to pole, that wars may cease, Absorbed in prayer and praise: His reign shall know no end, And round His piercèd feet Fair flowers of paradise extend Their fragrance ever sweet.
Crown Him the Lord of years, The Potentate of time, Creator of the rolling spheres, Ineffably sublime. All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me; Thy praise and glory shall not fail Throughout eternity.
Crown Him the Lord of Heav’n, Enthroned in worlds above, Crown Him the king to whom is giv’n The wondrous name of Love. Crown Him with many crowns, As thrones before Him fall; Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns, For He is king of all.
Crown Him the Son of God, Before the worlds began, And ye who tread where He hath trod, Crown Him the Son of Man; Who every grief hath known That wrings the human breast, And takes and bears them for His own, That all in Him may rest.
Crown Him the Lord of life, Who triumphed o’er the grave, And rose victorious in the strife For those He came to save. His glories now we sing, Who died, and rose on high, Who died eternal life to bring, And lives that death may die.
Crown Him the Lord of lords, Who over all doth reign, Who once on earth, the incarnate Word, For ransomed sinners slain, Now lives in realms of light, Where saints with angels sing Their songs before Him day and night, Their God, Redeemer, king.
[Before jumping into this, let’s take a moment to give space for those who tried for a long, long time…and then felt there was no recourse but to give up. I have given up, too, in some situations, with some relationships…either because I lost hope, or heart, or strength, or opportunity, or time. We all have such stories. Today, let’s pause and consider the large and life-affirming possibility of just NOT giving up.]
Have you said any of these things recently? “I quit!” “I’m tired of trying.” “I give up.” “It’s not fair.” “It’s not worth it.” “Why do I have to do everything?” “It won’t last.” “There’s no use.” “I’m just not good at it.” “What difference does it make?”
Words matter. They can move us toward positive outcomes or negative ones. The negative affirmations above, spoken or just thought, sound true. Some may even be factual. They move us to action. The problem is when we are moved to act in ways that make things worse instead of better.
Whether it is your job, a lifestyle change, or relationship…we choose whether to be proactive or reactive. Whether we give up or keep at it. Bit by bit. Day by day.
All of life is a journey. We move toward one another or away. Our temptation is to self-protect…or protect someone we love thinking it requires pulling away from someone else. We can give up without even realizing it. Just in the disappointment…the distancing. We pull away from possible solutions. They are just too hard. Or are they?
When we get to the point of giving up, it’s not just giving up on that person, but giving up on ourselves in relationship to that person. Maybe even giving up on God to help us repair the rupture, thus opening one between us and Him.
You may think I am philosophizing or making this too simple. Believe me, I totally get how complicated “not giving up” can be. And painful. And even isolating. However, giving up is more isolating…and potentially more painful. We can bury the pain, cover it over, but it’s still there.
Now, we may not be able to restore the relationship…or heal a family wounded by rupture…but when we quit on them, the door to repair, from our side, closes.
The day will come, I am hoping and believing, with God’s help, that we will see good come through this hard place. For me, I am NOT giving up.
Stories of feeling the need or desire to quit abound. It may be your story as well. There is no blame here. No shaming whatsoever. It’s what we do with our stories that matters.
Attorney, writer, coach Marelisa Fabrega offers 8 strategies for not quitting. Her commentary is thought-provoking so don’t miss reading the article. I’m listing her strategies and adding my own quick thoughts.
Adopt an “I Won’t Quit” Mindset. Make that decision ahead of the situation. When Dave and I began talking about marriage together, we both stated pretty emphatically that, for us, divorce would be off the table. I grew up in a blended family and divorce impacted all my brothers’ adult lives. With Dave, it was extended family who experienced the pain of divorce, and his family felt that pain. Marriage has had its hard seasons for Dave and me, but we fought through together. [Not everyone gets that opportunity as the other spouse can ditch the marriage without your input. I get how painful that is.] Whether in marriage, friendships, work, or physical/mental health, an “I won’t quit” mindset gives you fortification in hard situations.
Watch Someone Else Persevere.It is a beautiful and poignant thing to watch when loved ones refuse to quit. I’m not saying to be a doormat or to continue to take terrible abuse. What I’m talking about is when people keep pressing forward in tough work or relationships when everything in their being and all those around are screaming, “Quit!” Two women come to mind here. One friend went though a struggle early in her marriage when her husband had an affair. All our friends (but me) advised her to divorce him and make him suffer for what he did to her. I asked her, “Do you still love him? Because if you do, and you could imagine being willing to take him back…wait.” She did love him and she decided to wait. He came back, wholeheartedly repentant. They went on to have a beautiful marriage, children, and now grandchildren. Another friend is in the furnace of a difficult relationship right now. I am watching her persevere. She has strong faith in God and a few deep friendships who are cheering her on. I believe she/they will make it.
Call Someone. This is huge! I’m thinking have more than one person you can trust to be with you (and for you) in this arena when quitting feels like all you want to do. If you’ve already decided up-front that you want to not give up, these friends and family can stand with you when the battle has exhausted you. They are for you. Hopefully they are also for your spouse and family member. It’s better to have folks who are fighting for you AND for your relationship. Not out of some scruple or moralistic platform, but because it’s your life and your battle. It’s what you want. [That may change at some point down the road, and if it does, these same people who love you will still be there.]
Go Back to Your “Why”. It’s extremely important to have a why for not giving up. A list of why’s, even better. I have loved ones very close to me who, if treated badly or served poorly, will determine not to trust an individual or business anymore. They just won’t go back. This is a much smaller situation than a deteriorating relationship. However, I’ve never understood the why and, after reading Fabrega’s piece, I plan to ask. These same people do not quit on family relationships, for which I’m grateful. So…we need to go back to our “why’s” of staying in relationship, or in a job for that matter.
Find a Different “How”. If a difficult boss is blocking the way for you to succeed at a job you once loved, figure out a respectful work-around. If the approach you have always used for managing conflict in your marriage isn’t working, think of a different way. If you continue to struggle with managing a healthy lifestyle or avoiding cycles of anxiety/depression, seek help (counseling, coaching/mentoring, medical advice, support groups). Find another way forward. Outlast the person or problem.
Succeed at Something Else. If you have been immersed in a painful situation, determining not to quit, you may just need a respite. A brief reprieve. A focus elsewhere for a few hours or days will be refreshing. Not seeing success in an area important to us colors how we feel about our self globally. Even when success isn’t visible to us, it may be coming, so we don’t give up. For that second wind, we might be refreshed by setting our sights on areas where we are seeing success (work, health, hobbies). Preferably, we do both – staying in the battle and interspersing life-giving activities.
Use Failure as a Stepping Stone. No retaliation. No victim mentality. You have already made the decision of what kind of character you want in life. Keep growing. Don’t let failure define you. It actually may not even be your failure at all. So, as much as you can yourself, live the life and be the person you want to be. It is a journey after all.
Keep Chipping Away. Like Fabrega has already said so well…keep going. Keep doing what you know is right. This is part of your story. Whatever happened in the relationship or work situation, you are making a future for yourself, and maybe for your children or family. Again, who you are is much more than what you’ve come through. – How to Not Give Up – 8 Strategies For Not Quitting – Marelisa Fabrega
9. Look for Beauty. It is there. Just outside. Or just there within reach. Just in all the reasons you are you.
I’ve read all of psychiatrist Curt Thompson‘s books and he has inspired me to look for the beauty in front of us even in situations where we feel like giving up. He inspired Bill Haley to write an essay on beauty. Here is an excerpt:
“Etty Hillesum, a young Jewish woman from Holland, wrote one of the most truly amazing things I’ve ever read. The context of her words makes all the difference. She wrote them while imprisoned at Westerbork transit camp waiting to be taken to Auschwitz, where she died in 1943 at age 29. Her diaries and letters were compiled intoAn Interrupted Life.
A very hard day. But I keep finding myself in prayer. And that is something I shall always be able to do, even in the smallest space: pray. And I know for certain that there will be a continuity between the life I have led and the life about to begin…
I often walk with a spring in my step along the barbed wire and then time and again it soars straight from my heart — I can’t help it, that’s just the way it is, like some elementary force — the feeling that life is glorious and magnificent, and that one day we shall be building a whole new world. Against every new outrage and every fresh horror we shall put up one more piece of love and goodness, drawing strength from within ourselves. We may suffer, but we must not succumb…
What kind of people do we choose to be? With all my heart, I want to be one who is not giving up. My family (immediate and extended) knows I am for them. Also, hopefully other folks as well – friends and neighbors. I’m not going anywhere. This is not just a commitment. This is an issue of character that goes way beyond any circle I’m a part of. It’s the kind of person I want to be. It’s not a small thing. I get it. Probably a God-sized endeavor. God is for all of us. He does not give up. He is not going anywhere. He is in the room…and He is staying.
You may say…well, you haven’t reached your breaking point, and you are right, of course. We can’t know what it will take for us to get to the place that we want to quit. Sometimes, we have no other option but to let go, because the other person is, or appears to be, already gone. My hope and resolve is to hold out as long as possible. Who knows what difference that could make? I’m holding onto that.
Hello, Dear Ones. As I write, Keith Jarrett‘s Shenandoah is playing in the background. Have a little sit with me, and let’s talk about birthdays and seasons. My birthday has just passed, and it was truly fine. Full of reflection of past years and wonder at the possibility of another calendar year added to my life.
Grateful.
Oh…there was a momentary pity party. A singular evening-long regret that I have not always stewarded friendships very well. Not sure that will be changing (sigh…) which then took me again to gratitude for the friends who have stuck with me through all these years. What treasures you are!
This birthday has unfolded…with cake, cards, family, and some of those faithful friends showing up anyway.
Life is such an amazing thing. In every season. As we get older, so many things change but our hearts don’t really age. We still long for closeness with those we love; we seek out purpose in our days; we pray to finish well. All the things.
A few hours ago, I had birthday lunch with a dear friend who is coming up on her 80th birthday. We both lamented that if birthdays punctuate life, then those celebrations ahead could barely count into double digits. Those times with family. Those opportunities of looking back and ahead. This beautiful woman with a heart full of love wondered aloud if she was/is doing what she was supposed to do with her life. I am so glad she trusted me with that, because it was my joy to remind her of the huge ripple effect she has across so many lives. All the good quietly overflowing from this servant of a woman. Continually.
My heart is just encouraged thinking about her…and inspired by the possibility of living life well at 80.
Another friend gave me a beautiful photo calendar. Every page has a picture of this tall, proud maple tree in our yard. She had taken a picture of the tree through all the months of this year – in all its glory, in every season. If that maple tree could talk, it would not lament one season over another one, I don’t believe. Oh, it may remember most gladly the leafy summers or its deep red Fall foliage, but each season has its own sweetness, its own beauty.
As happens, I find, one experience flows into another, deepening the lessons we’re meant to learn. Facebook Memories today took me to a blog I read 10 years ago written by Amanda Hill. She wrote about “glory days” and reflected on seasons, using the example of the towering oak eventually ending up in bundles of firewood. Here are the last few paragraphs – so worth your read:
I am not good at letting go. I hold onto old pictures and handprint wreaths and have all kinds of problems letting friends slip away through the years. I want to hold onto them like warm blankets, safe and folded, loved and cared for, put away in a cedar chest. I want to hold onto a better time or a better place when secrets were yet unearthed and I was an oak who protected. I want to go back to a time when I didn’t believe anyone could really chop me down.
And yet sometimes we have to be stripped down to be built up again. Ripped into bundles and packaged differently and oftentimes devalued in the world’s eyes to realize what our true worth is. A piece of wood cannot again become a tree, but it can light a glorious blaze of sacrifice…
This is a worthy calling as great as a tree standing tall, for “we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.
Don’t look backward. Let the past slip through your fingers like fine sifted sand, knowing that God will reshape, and reuse, and redirect into something magical. Your glory days are ahead. Brilliant blazing bursts of light that will dance and spit and pop with fire.
Burn bright. It’s what you were born to do. – Amanda Hill
I’ve embraced this birthday with peace and even joy. Thankful for the life that’s been given to me. All of it.
Every birthday. Every season. With still many adventures ahead.
Our kids grew up with “Calvin and Hobbes”(1985-1995) created by Bill Watterson. Last week, on the Facebook page Everything Calvin and Hobbes, an essay was posted detailing Calvin, as an old dying man having his last visit with his friend Hobbes. It reminded me once again of all the seasons, before children and after, and relationships that weave together to make this wonderful life in all its hard and good. Thank You, God.
Thanks also to any of you still reading this ramble. Wish you could come by to share the last piece of my birthday cake.
[Some of our raised beds, winterized, resting and waiting their replanting]
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” – Genesis 8:22
To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot. – Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
[I’ve written about seasons many times. If you have time…catch them again here.]
It’s winter here. Although our garden is quiet now, the promise of Spring is still visible.
[Japanese Maple seeds][Daffodils coming up]
[My beloved irises pushing through. Mom’s favorite flowers, thus they are mine as well.]
Most all my life, I’ve had the pleasure of living in four-seasons places. Except for Egypt when all the seasons we knew were hot and then a little less hot. Still the beauty surrounded us there…different yet still a witness to our Creator God.
Seasons aren’t just studies in the growth cycles of plants, trees, and produce. They also mark periods in our lives. Some more fruitful than others. Some more filled with wonder and joy. Others remembered with some measure of regret and disappointment.
God is not surprised or taken aback by any of our seasons. He was there for all of it, and He loved us through every season.
A few weeks back, I heard the northern Irish singer/songwriter Benjamin William Hastings for the first time. He was one of the songwriters on “So Will I”. His song “Seasons” is a beautiful description of what it is like to be patient in our seasons, both with ourselves and with our God.
“You’re the God of seasons, I’m just in the winter If all I know of harvest is that it’s worth my patience Then if You’re not done workin’, God, I’m not done waiting.”
Whatever your present season, keep tilling the soil of your life (and that of your children), keep counting on God’s promises, keep trusting Him for the harvest. “Like a seed, believe that my (your) season will come.”
Like the frost on a rose Winter comes for us all Oh, how nature acquaints us With the nature of patience So like a seed in the snow I’ve been buried to grow For Your promise is loyal From seed to sequoia I know
[Chorus] Though the winter is long, even richer Is the harvest it brings And though my waiting prolongs, even greater Is Your promise for me, like a seed I believe that my season will come
So like the low winter sun So it is with Your love As I gaze, I am blinded In the light of Your brightnеss So like a fire to the snow I’m rеnewed in Your warmth Oh, melt the ice of this wild soul Till the barren is beautiful And I know
[Chorus] Though the winter is long, even richer Is the harvest it brings And though my waiting prolongs, even greater Is Your promise for me, like a seed I believe that my season will come
[Bridge] I can see the promise, I can see the future You’re the God of seasons, I’m just in the winter If all I know of harvest is that it’s worth my patience Then if You’re not done workin’, God, I’m not done waiting Well, You can see my promise even in the winter ‘Cause You’re the God of greatness, even in a manger For all I know of seasons is that You take Your time You could have saved us in a second, instead, You sent a child
[Chorus] Though the winter is long, even richer Is the harvest it brings And though my waiting prolongs, even greater Is Your promise for me, like a seed I believe that my season will come For one day, I’ll see my tree ‘Cause I believe there’s a season to come
[Outro] Like a seed You were sown For the sake of us all And from Bethlehem’s soil Grew Calvary’s sequoia, ooh-ooh-ooh*
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—none can compare to You—if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count. – Psalm 40:5
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. – Job 5:9
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. – James 1:17
Wonder has been my word for 2023. Some of our days can seem mundane until we shake off the mental fog and clear our eyes to what is most real – that God is ever present and moving in our lives and through our circumstances. Wonder at that!
From “In the beginning, God” (Genesis 1:1) through the cross of Jesus when he prays“Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing” to his apostle John’s inspired revelation of what is to come – it is all God and He calls us to Himself.
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just.” – Revelation 19:1-2a
If we miss the wonder of God, it is because we have filled our minds with humans as our idols. Frail, faulty humans. We judge God by those persons whom we, at some point, deemed worthy of a pedestal of honor. Should they fall or falter, we then pull away and think they represent a God who fails. Not so!
What is Christianity? If you think Christianity is mainly going to church, believing a certain creed, and living a certain kind of life, then there will be no note of wonder and surprise about the fact that you are a believer. If someone asks you, “Are you a Christian?” you will say, “Of course I am! It’s hard work but I’m doing it. Why do you ask?” Christianity is, in this view, something done by you—and so there’s no astonishment about being a Christian. However, if Christianity is something done for you, and to you, and in you, then there is a constant note of surprise and wonder. John Newton wrote the following hymn: Let us love and sing and wonder, Let us praise the Savior’s name. He has hushed the law’s loud thunder, He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame. He has washed us with his blood. He has brought us nigh to God. See where the love and wonder comes from—because he has done all this and brought us to himself. He has done it.So if someone asks you if you are a Christian, you should not say, “Of course!” There should be no “of course-ness” about it. It would be more appropriate to say, “Yes, I am, and that’s a miracle. Me! A Christian! Who would have ever thought it? Yet he did it, and I’m his.” ― Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas: the Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ
The wonder of God is that He is so many things that we are not, and yet He gives us a way forward to be more like Him, through the work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. How long-suffering He is; how loving!
Anyone who reads this blog probably knows (or has heard of) the old song “Count Your Blessings”. It is a sweet reminder to exercise our gratitude at all the Lord has done in our lives – “raising my Ebenezer” so to speak.
[I’ve written many times in the past on “stones of remembrance” – raising my own Ebenezer to a good and faithful God.]
Just one example of the wonder of God in my own life is portrayed in the picture below – of my beautiful mom, and precious daughter, and me. My mom had such a hard first marriage that I don’t remember her ever praying a husband for me. Until I was 5 or 6, we were unchurched. Mom had to work so hard providing for us in our childhood that weekends were her catch-up time with house, errands, and us. Church just didn’t happen. Then when neighbors drew us in and church became a beautiful thing in our lives, we all came to faith (and Mom back to her childhood faith which fast became a deep adult walk with God). She gave me a long look into the love of God and the difference knowing Jesus made in a person’s life. I did finally marry and remarkably had children, all of which points to God and His kindness. This picture of us three – all three safe and secure in His love and promises speaks to the wonder of God in our lives.
Just one glimpse of His wonder. Just one on a long list and counting.
God is worthy of our awe and wonder. No matter the situation we find ourselves. He is doing something beyond our imagining. Even in the broken nature of relationships in this world, even in the winding down of all that surrounds us…God is present. We can lean on Him and take hope and courage in Him.
Worship with me to singer/songwriter Brandon Lake‘s Count ‘Em. Get ready for some hard-hitting, Scripture-packed joy at the wonders of God!
Oh-oh-oh, oh Oh-oh-oh, oh
You got thunder in Your vocal, You got flames in Your eyes You got wonder-working power pouring out of Your side Checked the tomb all the way through, the grave was empty inside Ain’t no other pull the greatest miracle of all time
You got power, demons cower when they hear Your name called You got power that still towers, make Goliath look small You got power to devour any counterfeit roar Even Your tongue is a sword, count up the score, You are the Lord
Holy You are the Lord Holy You are the Lord Holy You are the Lord Holy
Hey, hey All those funerals You ruined when You made the dead rise Heaven’s healer using spit and mud to open blind eye You got wonders I can’t number, couldn’t count if I tried Called the doctor and the doctor said, “I’m giving new life Tell your enemies the victory is already here More than sixty thousand angels, just the tip of the spear” One day every knee will bow and every heart will be Yours This is the end of a war, count up the score, You are the Lord
Holy You are the Lord Holy You are the Lord Holy You are the Lord Holy
How many enemies ended on bended knees, swallowed up in defeat? Can’t count ’em How many raging seas opened in front of me? How many victories? Can’t count ’em How many prophecies no one would dare believe? Now it’s reality Can’t count ’em How many broken men given a second chance? See all the lifted hands Can’t count ’em
How many Thomases doubted Your promises standing here, now convinced? Can’t count ’em How many hospitals said it’s impossible? How many miracles? Can’t count ’em How many paralyzed living a different life? Go on and testify Can’t count ’em How many sinners saved? How many bodies raised? How many empty graves? Can’t count ’em
Oh-oh-oh, oh Oh-oh-oh, oh
You are the Lord Holy You are the Lord Holy You are the Lord Holy You are the Lord Holy*
In the early days of a new year, we give pause to possibilities of what’s ahead. Besides gym memberships, weight loss programs, and aspirations to spend more time with family, we could use a word of encouragement to move us forward. Debbie Macomber‘s One Perfect Word gives a strong case for choosing one word for the whole year. A word to dissect, and meditate on, and to make real in both our thoughts and walks of life. One Perfect Word. For the year.
For the last several days, I’ve been thinking about what word for 2023. Two years ago, I chose “compassion”. This past year, it was joy. Both of those words did inspire both thoughts and actions that elevated my life…and hopefully that of others.
This year, after praying and meditating, I chose the word “wonder”. The definition of this word is to be awe-inspired, to marvel, and to be surprised, even astonished. My little grandchildren have taught me great lessons on wonder as so much around them seems miraculous…and it truly is, when you think about it.
Instead of filling my thoughts and speech on the brokenness of this world, I will choose to wonder at the beauty around us, even in the hard. Wonder won’t be at the expense of responding to those in need, but I will study on how to see the wonder. For example, the wonder of a God who is both merciful and just. The wonder that we can actually come alongside someone and be a help…that we can forgive an offense…that we can give hope in a seemingly hopeless situation.
How does one decide on a word to cover a whole year? It might be an intentional decision or completely serendipitous? For me, it was through thinking of what might be lacking in my life and asking God to confirm. I thought the word would be perseverance, but in prayer and a series of rapid-fire circumstances, the word “wonder” came into focus. It seemed I would hear or see the word everywhere.
Christmas itself saturates us with wonder as we look deeply into what happened with the birth of Christ. What it must have been like for Mary when she realized the full weight of the Angel’s message to her of bearing the Messiah! For the lowly shepherds being the first to receive the good news of his birth. For us having the incredible invitation to be restored to an eternal relationship with the Lord! Whew!
In “O Little Town of Bethlehem” we sing, “O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.” It’s a bold image, but quite right. Every Christian is like Mary. Everyone who puts faith in Christ receives, by the Holy Spirit, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27, emphasis mine). We should be just as shocked that God would give us—with all our smallness and flaws—such a mighty gift. And so no Christian should ever be far from this astonishment that “I, I of all people, should be loved and embraced by his grace!” I would go so far as to say that this perennial note of surprise is a mark of anyone who understands the essence of the Gospel. What is Christianity? If you think Christianity is mainly going to church, believing a certain creed, and living a certain kind of life, then there will be no note of wonder and surprise about the fact that you are a believer. If someone asks you, “Are you a Christian?” you will say, “Of course I am! It’s hard work but I’m doing it. Why do you ask?” Christianity is, in this view, something done by you—and so there’s no astonishment about being a Christian. However, if Christianity is something done for you, and to you, and in you, then there is a constant note of surprise and wonder. John Newton wrote the followinghymn: Let us love and sing and wonder, Let us praise the Savior’s name. He has hushed the law’s loud thunder, He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame. He has washed us with his blood He has brought us nigh to God. See where the love and wonder comes from—because he has done all this and brought us to himself. He has done it.So if someone asks you if you are a Christian, you should not say, “Of course!” There should be no “of course-ness” about it. It would be more appropriate to say, “Yes, I am, and that’s a miracle. Me! A Christian! Who would have ever thought it? Yet he did it, and I’m his.” ― Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas: the Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ
I’m thinking God is preparing me for a year full of wonder…with eyes fixed on Him.
How about you? Is there a word…one perfect word you would desire as a focus in 2023?
