One Word

Have you seen some of the facebook posts about choosing a word for 2015 instead of making and breaking resolutions?  The responses are interesting.  There are some folks who say they can't choose just one word and then list several wonderful attributes they desire, peace, truth, compassion, mercy, etc.  Most of those mentioned are admirable, but I don't think they are quite getting the purpose of the exercise.

The intention is to focus our thoughts and hearts on hearing the number one thing God is laying on our hearts.  We did this last year and Al's word was "wait," while mine was "presence."  For the whole year my intention was to be aware of how God was calling me to bring the presence of Christ into every place and situation I found myself.  Sometimes I did it well.  Sometimes I forgot, but it was a significant year of growth in realizing that is what I am called to do...bring Jesus, who dwells inside me, wherever I go, and then act like I believe Jesus would act.  One word.

So this year I believe my word is to be "attention."  I need to pay attention and give attention.  I need to give attention to those people and situations where I am being the presence of Christ.  I need to "give attention" to my mom, who is 91.  I need to "give attention" to my marriage with the added challenge of being in two different locations most of the time.  I need to "give attention" to my kids and grandkids, but I also need to "give attention" to the other people God places in my path.

I need to "pay attention" so that I don't miss the God sightings all around me, or the whispers of God that fill the air.  I want to expect to see God in an abundance of people, circumstances and places.  I want to learn all that God has to teach me as I move through my days.

I encourage you to meditate and wait on the Lord to see what one word He brings to your awareness. It is hard to focus and hold in your mind six or seven words for the year.  But I think if you will take the time to discern that one focus for the year you will find God at work in a multitude of ways, taking you deeper into his perfect plans for your life.

Do it with a friend/spouse/sibling, ect. so you can share the ways your word is showing up and guiding you through 2015.

Blessings, my friends!

Proverbs 4:20-23  My child, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.  Do not let them out of your sight, keep them in your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a person's whole body.  Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Bumper Sticker Theology

I'm going to keep this short so I don't rant...too much.

Today I was out running errands in the lovely snow and wind when I pulled up behind a car at a stoplight.  There I read a bumper sticker that made me start preaching to myself, since there was nobody else around to listen to me.  The bumper sticker read, "God, Guns and Guts made America great."

The Scripture that kept rolling around in my mind and heart was Micah 6:8  He has shown you, oh man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  I would prefer my bumper sticker to read, "Walking humble with our God, acting justly and loving mercy will make America great."

Listening on the Mountaintop

This past weekend seven of us gathered on a mountain top in southern Arizona.  We met there seeking to listen for the whisper of God, reflect on our life's jouney and share our stories.

The first day or two I was there I had to adjust to the beauty and stillness of the area.  We were at the Oasis Renewal Center near Sonoita, AR.  It is so different from the beauty of Holland, MI, and the rest of the midwest.  Scrub oaks and junipers don't compare to the oaks and maples that line our streets.  The rocks and sand and Cacti opened a different landscape before me.  But, by the second and third days I was soaking in the rugged beauty.  I knew that, like Jesus, I had been led to the wilderness; called to the mountains to listen, and to provide a process to help others listen for the Spirit as well.

We came together: a couple celebrating the long awaited first grandchild, and wrestling with what retirement was going to mean, a midlifing woman dealing with a midlife divorce and the big, "What's next?" question, a mom, facing a soon empty nest and a shift in her ministry focus, and a couple (Susan and David) who had heard God's call to open a retreat center in the mountains of Arizona.

We reflected on how God's grace had been active throughout our lives, shaping and forming us.  We shared our stories and encouraged one another.  We looked at those things that bring us great joy, and those that tear at our hearts.  We listened for the voice we are promised in Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the left or to the right you will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

We desired a greater awareness of how "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works, which God has created in advance that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10  We walked in the wilderness, we ate good food, we napped and rested, we allowed our souls to emerge and be touched by the One who had brought us here.

And God spoke in and through each one gathered on this mountaintop.  There was no single teacher or facilitator.  That was the beauty.  God used each one to speak truth and courage and peace, hope and blessing and a future into the lives of the others.  We had positioned ourselves on the mountaintop... we had slowed our pace and entered into the quiet...we wanted to hear the voice of God and feel the presence of Jesus.

By the end of the weekend all of us had discovered or clarified our mission statement for the next season of life.
     Ed and Christine:  To accomplish what God has prepared in advance for us to do by facilitating, nurturing, and sustaining God's Kingdom Workers.
     Lori:  To love and encourage women in a way that will restore hope, dignity and a passion to pursue Jesus.
     Cindy:  To provide training to help recently divorced, widowed and single women be more self-sufficient
     Susan and David:  To provide a retreat center where people can connect with God and connect with one another.  (a place where we could come to the wilderness, pray in the mountains!)

We will keep you posted on the next opportunity(next spring?) to join us...we definitely long to do this again!  But you don't have to live on the mountains.  Gather some friends and let's come together to listen for God's voice.

Celebrating Young Love and Old

Last weekend we were graced with spending time at 2 weddings and hanging out with lots of young people!  WOOHOO!  You know who you are..the De-Icing Queen, commissioner of DC flag-football, and all the rest of these great young people pictured.  Just being with these people breathes new life into my being.  These young people get together everytime one of their own is getting married.  It is a joyous time.

Young Love...
Fall beauty reigned, lovely brides and handsome grooms, amazing friends at both weddings blessed the young couples as they began a journey of hope and faith and love.  Both couples were prayed over, food was eaten, toasts were made and songs were danced, sung and played.  Together we celebrated the promise of young love...one week ago.

Old Love...
Today we spent time with our friends Ron and Shirley.  Ron and Shirley have only been married about 10 years.  They said goodbye to their first mates several years ago after loving them until death parted them.  Then...God gave them each other for a new season of life.  They have loved and worked well together in this second season.  It has been fun visiting their orchards when the cherries and apples were hanging from the trees.

Now Shirley is in the final stages of ALS.  She has been battling this horrible disease for 3 years. She will die soon.  Today she could tap her head against a pad that would beep to let Ron know she wanted to communicate something.  She communicates with eye contact. That and a little wag of her finger is the extent of her control over her body.  Oxygen machines help her to breath.  Ron wipes the tears that fill her eyes as we pray together.

Ron said their day is 24 hours long, because she needs care around the clock.  He reads books to her, and they watch movies and tv programs together.  Yesterday they took a little ride in their van to see the colors...and they love each other.  They love each other so well!

This is what it comes down to.  They have both been care-givers for their first spouses, and now they are living this journey together again.  And they love each other so well!  They are an inspiration to all lovers.

None of us knows what love will require of us.  In that bedroom today God's grace was thick upon them.  You don't love that well in your own strength.  You pray for the grace and strength needed for each day.

When you see that lived out you get schooled in what true love looks like.  Thank you Ron and Shirley.  Young love is a beautiful, wonderful thing.  It's the beginning steps on the journey, til death do us part.

Stories from the Bathroom Floor

I knew Jesus most of my life, but I didn't fall in love with him until that night as I was lay on the bathroom floor.

So went the story of one of the young women who is a part of a writer's group that I facilitate at Hope College.  She told two stories from the bathroom floor.  One was when she was making bad decisions in high school and was vomiting up the alcohol she had been drinking.  The other was of a night at college when she broke up with a boyfriend and was emotionally crushed, overwhelmed and vomiting her pain, disappointment, and confusion.

There are lots of places and times we perceive would be good places to run into the arms of Jesus, but heaving into a toilet on the bathroom floor is normally not one of them, and yet...She felt God's love in the arms and words of friends who reached out to her.  She felt God's assurance and presence and love as she "Sobbed her insides out."  And in that place she went from knowing about Jesus to falling in love with Jesus.

Here was a Jesus who loved her in the midst of her messiness.  Here was a Jesus who embraced her in her smellyness.  And she couldn't help but fall in love with such a love.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

                                                              S. Trevor Francis 1875

So when was a time in your life when you went from knowing about Jesus...from believing in Jesus... to falling in love with Jesus?  When did you realize that Jesus was in love with you?  And I pray that for all of us it happens over and over again.  Sometimes in the midst of our messiness, but sometimes when we are overwhelmed by creation, or flooded with the warmth of friendship, or caught up in the glory of pure worship.

I realized it once again when I sat in that room with a group of college young women who shared their stories of life, and growth, and fear, and faith, and God working in all manner of ways to call them into a life lived for God's glory.  I was blessed.

Homecoming with a Purpose

Two weeks ago I celebrated a “Homecoming” of sorts. We didn't have to worry about the weather,or if we would win or lose.  I didn't need a homecoming dress or do.


I had a date with 13 women, 11 of whom had been good friends and co-laborers with Christ when we were pastoring at Southridge Church in Portage, MI in the 1990's.


WOOHOO, JOY!!


17 years have passed, but it was one of those magical moments when all that time just evaporates away.


We were a gaggle of midlifing women, all searching for God's plans and purposes for our “Second Adulthood,” those years 50 and beyond. We laughed, shed a few tears, shared a few stories and listened for the Spirit to speak through God's Word, through one another and through our own lives.


It was a unique group in that we were simply 14 friends, gathered in a home.   It wasn't an official church function, we were limited in size by the space in the living room. It was just right!


We didn't worry about who would be voted queen, however Shari did win the title of “Coffee Lady,” because of her job at BiggBy coffee near the campus of Western Michigan University. She works the 5am to 2pm shift, where she starts everyone's day off with a smile, a greeting and great cup of coffee. (Personally I'd pay for the coffee just so I could see Shari each day:) Everyone knows her, loves her and gets encouragement from her.


She told one story of a woman in line who was looking for something in her purse, and in frustration said, “Sweet Jesus!” to which Shari responded with a smile saying, “Yah, he really is, isn't he?” The woman looked up at her, laughed and said, “I need to go back to church!”


My goal in all the retreats I do is that we will be inspired, not only by each other's stories, but by our own story as we see how God's grace has been at work in the past, preparing us for all that God has in store for us in the future.

A couple of lessons from my homecoming:

1. I want to be a “Coffee Lady” like Shari; bringing the light, love and joy of Jesus into the ordinary places of life.
   
2. Some of the best Midlife Momentum events happen when you gather a few friends in your living room and invite Jesus to speak into your life. I would love to do that with you!
   

Let's put it on the calendar. God will show up!

So think about it...who are the people in your life you would love to spend a day or weekend with, exploring what abundant living will look like today and tomorrow. (facebook me)


Hebrews 10:23-25 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

An 8 mile an hour day

Last Friday Al and I had the opportunity of joining Gerald and Cheri on their yacht as they cruised down the Illinois River.  This was one little leg on their journey through the Great Loop, which is taking them from Florida, up the east coast, through the Great Lakes and then down rivers, back to the Gulf Coast.

We met them in Joliet early Friday morning so we would get through an open bridge before 7:30.  Next we headed for the first lock.  The lock dropped us 35 feet down to continue down the river. Then we cruised at about 7-8 miles an hour about 17 miles to the next lock.

It was a warm muggy day, but it felt great on the boat.  We watched the herons and egrets and pelicans along the banks.  We waved to the men working on the barges we passed, and to those working the locks and bridges...this is called river etiquette.  It was peaceful and relaxing.  Gerald and Cheri are new friends and wonderful hosts.

THEN we arrived at the second lock and learned much more about river life, and the pace you can move.  It took 3 hours before it was our turn to get into the lock and lowered to the next stage.  For 3 hours we circled and floated.  Nothing to do about it.  It just takes this long.  Once we got into the lock it took an hour for the gates to open and let us out.  There was a huge barge on the other side of the gate, and the tug was in the lock with us.  We had no idea why it was taking so long...but it did.

Finally 4 hours later we were back up to speed...8 mph.  It felt like we were really moving along.  It was delightful.  We shared a good lunch, took a nap, watched the river life, and shared conversation.

We were trying to make a 5:00 docking deadline.  It was going to be close, and then at about 4:40 a storm blew in.  Cheri, in her bright yellow raincoat, was outside trying to lasso the posts(I'm sure there is a better term for this), while Gerald was manuevering the boat to keep it from hitting the dock and a large branch that was sticking off of the dock.  We made at least 3 passes attempting to get close enough.  Cheri is outside...the wind is whipping, the rain is lashing, the lightening and thunder are cracking...it was very exciting!

Finally we had success as Gerald got us close and Cheri pulled us in at about 4:55.

What an interesting day.  I am still processing what I learned and experienced.

We did learn that there is another world out there on the river.  Not just the jet skiers, fishermen, and recreational life. There are people who live at an 8 mile an hour pace, and just maybe there is a lot to learn about our own pace.  (It strikes me that "In the fulness of time" Jesus came, when there were no cars, or planes, mass communication, multi-media, etc.  He walked with his disciples day after day.)

We also learned once again that we are not in control.  You have to go with the flow, or be satisfied to do circles and float for a while...that's just the way things go.  And sometimes God knows that is exactly what we need.

We learned that life is better when everybody uses river etiquette, works together, and appreciates one another.

We learned that it takes lots of help from others to navigate the ups and downs of life...on the river.

We learned that there is a lot to learn!  And it is good to take some time to find out about what is out there, around us, behind the scenes, making life happen.  We are dependant on those who live the 8 mile an hour life for many things in life.  We are all connected.

We learned to take a chance, make a friend, enjoy the ride, watch the beauty, wave at people, thank God.