Somebody's baby

A sobering thought has been held captive in my mind in recent years.  I look at many of the people I see in the hospital, on the street, even the bitter individual you see often in everyday life.  I think about their day to day, what they must be thinking as they try to fall asleep, how they perceive their environment - all these elements contributing to how the world sees them on the exterior.

The harsh lines on their faces tell a story.  Begging for money or narcotics or attention - to feed something far deeper than physical need.  I can guarantee that none of these individuals planned to grow up to be in this position.  Sometimes I see the morbidly obese struggling to even change positions in a chair.  They look so uncomfortable all the time, persistently out of breath.  I can guarantee they didn't plan to get there.

What's so ironic is the common thread all of us share.  We were all someone's baby at one point.  Even if a child was born into a troubled home, the miracle of life still seems to change those parents' perception - even for a short while.  Someone used to hold each of us, not wanting us to face any harm.

To see the people in this light can help us show love in the most difficult situations.  Sometimes as I am being harassed by unruly patients or family members at work, I can sense another being in the room.  It's as if they are yelling at the disease or the pain or someone in their past.   I was just the next schmuck who crossed their path.  But I can definitely channel their angst to the only one who can bring healing.  A healing that far surpasses the efficacy of any morphine, relationship, or monetary amount.

When you begin to visualize the evil spiritual shield around the minds of many, you can see why some people are so vehemently opposed to messages of love and peace that bear the name of Jesus Christ.  Only through devoted prayer can that wall be conquered.  When the Western World is willing to acknowledge the spiritual war that continues even without their consideration, only then will the hope found through prayer be recognized.

"I don't pray to change God.  I pray to God because it changes me." (CS Lewis)

I would venture to say THAT is one of my missions here on earth.

My parents' mission letter!

Hello  friends, alumni, Facebook friends,   I wanted to share with you all what changes are about to take place in our life. As of December 21^st I will be leaving IRCS to go to work full time for a mission organization called TWR – Transworld Radio.  This is a ministry that broadcasts the gospel along with Bible study materials into areas where traditional missionaries are not always able to go. 

    As I walked through our Christian book store this weekend I was amazed at the amount of Bibles and study materials available to us.  We have so many translations available, audio, video , children’s Bibles,

Women’s Bibles, couples Bibles, Study Bibles, Spanish Bibles, Bible dictionaries, Commentaries galore,  Christian music cds, Christian movies, fiction books, Christian living books, devotionals etc…. Yet when we look around the world we see many areas where just to be in possession of a Bible is a criminal offense.  The shelves are empty.

So, Daryl, my husband, and I asked God if there was any way we could get involved in helping those people around the world with little or no access to His Word.  The option came to get involved with TWR.  We will be moving to the Pacific island of Guam in the new year to work at a station that broadcasts into China and eastern Asia.

Not everyone can pack up and move to the other side of the world to do this, but there is one way you can help.  We will be totally living on support from Christians who want to make an difference in this area of ministry. We are required to raise 100% of our support needs before we can leave.  Because Daryl is retired from the military we are able to provide 55% of this from the retirement pay.  We also have a generous contribution from our local church and commitments from friends and family.  We are so close to our goal.  We are currently at 91% of our monthly requirements.  Will you consider helping us with a monthly commitment to the ministry.  If not monthly would you consider helping with our moving costs with a one time gift.  If we work together, we can make a difference in our world.  Just think… where would you be is you never knew of God’s love for you!

Our website is http://www.twr.org/global_staff/renshaw/

Thank you for considering this.

Gaynelle

Naming the demon.

No, this is not Dan Brown, but I really wanted to share this.  One of the people closest to me in my life just received some abnormal test results.  The reality of no longer being invincible hit me like a ton of bricks.  I have to believe this is an attack. 

The reason I think this way is because of recent life changes.  It is highly unlikely that someone who is about to do something incredible for God would not be met with some resistance from the enemy.  Romans 8 (a heavily inked page in my Bible) talks about how the spirit groans, waiting for the redemption of the body.  Meaning that while our soul is already united with Christ, our bodies are still hanging out down here.  So vulnerable to attack.

I can remember numerous times where I was paralyzed by some random health issue or fear when I was in the midst of doing something for the Lord.  Satan is not dumb.  He knows where he can get a foothold in my life.  Fortunately, I now know too.  He attacks my physical health.  Believing them to be coincidences would make me an idiot.  It was just too strategic to be happening by chance.   But I will say this.  Sure, I've had some injuries and minor illnesses, but for all to which I've been exposed over the years (scabies, lice, malaria, tuberculosis, a drug user's blood splatter in my eye, etc), God is still in control.  None of those events could ever come in my sphere without God allowing it.  Ultimately, He will receive the glory for protecting me from all the known demons as well as the unknown.

So now, it is so important to call out this demon for what it really is.  I can only imagine what sorts of trials CS Lewis faced as he penned The Screwtape Letters.  A whole book describing many of the ways demons are able to steer our focus away from spiritual things.  And no sooner does God enlighten us about what's REALLY going on, we are then able to trust that He is still in control.  No plague penetrates God's hedge without His knowing.  But praise be to God that His joy comes in the morning.

You spoke first.

You call forth with majestic wind

                                                With sweet fragrances of the green

                With the spoken, written, breathed Word.

And I will respond.

I will lift up my hands and my eyes to the heavens.

The ways we worship God are as infinite in number and unique in nature as each wave that curls over the last.  The strength of the tide or the storm is increased by the shortening of the delay.  One wave practically on top of the last - what incredible intimidation with amazement we feel as we stand on the shore!

Our worship has the static energy to create the same weather pattern.  Kinetic worship is that triumphant release of all the inspiration we have found and desire to give back to the Giver of all inspiration.  The longer we live in each day on earth without praising its Creator, the more static our worship remains.  The inspiration scatters and the practice is left off our day planner. 

All personalities have the potential to enter into divine worship in a number of ways.  As I stand in worship in the form of singing, my praise tends to splatter onto a canvas.  My spirit often takes the form of a paintbrush or a camera, and the imagery resonates long after the singing is over.  I am so thankful that God speaks beyond the written word!

The same phenomenon happens when I read the Scriptures.  This passage comes from Romans 8 (incidentally one of my favorite chapters for a number of reasons)...

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
 ²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 

Imagine yourself at the point of salvation, when you first believed that Truth was not only real but that you could know it!  At that moment when your spirit was 'redeemed' it was sealed.  It's as though the spiritual layer of the human essence was originally pointing toward the earth.  And at the point of salvation, it is peeled from the toe upward toward heaven remaining connected.  And our spirit now ACHES  for the time when the body will also be redeemed.  When it will be free from pain, cancer, aging, balding, wrinkling.  It will be free to run without ever tiring and free to stand in awe without buckling at the knees.    The spirit is willing, but the flesh is still weak. 

On my giant canvas, I see a vivid picture of my spirit able to reach from the loving grasp of Christ all the way down to my physical body planted on the church floor.  And I see the Holy Spirit both pleading my case in heaven while also whispering to me the sweetest prayers that I may then repeat to God.  The hand of my spirit is holding my physical hand.  And as I lift my hands, it reminds me that I am already connected to Christ.  It lifts me in a way no piece of human art work can portray..

We change, He never does.

I'm not a scientist.  I'm a nerd, and yet I cannot begin to sort out how old earth is.  6-10 thousand years.  Several million.  How old is older than dirt..

And yet all these ages are still younger than God.  Though outside of time, He stood before them all.

I've been reading in Exodus these last few weeks, and it's interesting to see just how much God reveals about Himself without us even asking.  Last night, I started reading about God giving the Israelites manna from heaven.  Given to them new each morning from the dew of the ground.  Just as Jesus taught the people to pray for 'daily' bread in the New Testament, God required the Israelites to come every morning for sustenance.

What else does God ask us to seek every morning (or whenever you wake).  Himself!  King David recalls numerous accounts of waking early in the morning crying out to God.  Though God does not always ask us to come in a state of hysterics, He asks us to come always.  To cognizantly come regularly.

It's so important to remember one important reality about God when studying the Bible - He doesn't change.  We change.  God is not confined to the Jewish man-made customs.  Before He created blessed Israel, He still reached out to humanity with the same guidance.  Guiding us all the while because He loves this world still.

The blessedness of possessing nothing

Re-reading AW Tozer's book titled The Pursuit of God with a couple other leaders from the Gathering ministry.  His words are so fresh, even though they were written decades ago.  So raw.  So honest.  I pray the words of his prayers at the end of each chapter as if I were their author.  Thank you God for Tozer's servant-heart.

This chapter was about the struggle to be free from possessions.  How it is possible to own many things/ideas and be blessed with friends/family, and yet your heart possesses none of these.  And if something is to gain access to our heart's pedestal where we have rightfully placed God, we oftentimes find God Himself breaking that idol on the floor.  (Just as He did when the Philistines captured the Arc of the Covenant and tried to incorporate it into their temple worship with their other gods.)

When we pray for God to purge unwanted baggage from our spiritual bodies, so often, it is difficult to remember how painful purification is.  I see it as similar to cancer.  Caught early, it is typically a simpler procedure with minimal side effects.  But once cancer gains access to a blood supply, it grows quickly and spreads to distant sites.

If something sits next to God in our hearts, He being the Great Physician, must excise it from our spiritual flesh.  And like our physical bodies, the painful incisions cut away at our own tissue as well.  There is not exact cutting in cancer.  Unfortunately, we will lose function in organs and extremities because the cancer has eroded them.  Or, in order to ensure all the cancer cells have been removed, healthy tissue is removed as well.

So in our times of purification, be encouraged by prayers for renewal.  Because unlike the human hands that slide the scalpel in the operating room, God is able to do abundantly more.  In the same way he can create matter out of nothing, He is also able to make us like new. 

He gave me a new song to sing

I woke up one morning recently, and I made a very startling reality.  I don't want to be a nurse practitioner.  In fact, the day to day of it started to make me cringe.  What?

I am a few thousand dollars too late to make this discovery, but it is so true.  Saying it was so real, and I don't regret the realization.  But then, fear came over mean like a tidal wave.  I found myself in sobbing last night because I couldn't think of anything that would make me happy.  A very sobering reality.  But God broke through.

He made the waves.  The tidal waves.  And He curls the waves around His finger just as easily as He smooths the sand.  So I know He can handle this.  He's taking me somewhere I have yet to know.

God loves me.

He came.  He met me.  He held me. And He's lifting me!

I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
² He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
³ He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the LORD.

What good is a heart that can't be bruised?

So, it's not a secret that I work on a heart unit at the hospital.  I sometimes see patients after they've had open heart surgeries, and one of the most important concerns after surgery is to rest the heart and the surrounding connective tissue.  No strenuous activity, no lifting, and we even give them meds to make sure they don't strain on the throne.  That's how Elvis died.  Forget what you think you heard.

All these activities could lead to complications, such as separation of the sutures.  So, they give them these little slings to wear around their shoulders that they squeeze together in the front to keep from stressing the skin when they move around.  They're called "Heart Huggers".  Am I alone in thinking that's an adorable name?  Yes?

I think we have internalized supports we use when our heart is damaged by encounters with other people.  And unless you can call the demon by its name, you will only see the symptoms.  I don't even think everyone's problem is the same (or even similar).  But I think the various symptoms can manifest with a different diagnosis.

In medicine, a patient's diagnosis might be chest pain or shortness of breath upon arrival.  But that is just a preliminary diagnosis.  Chest pain and SOB (yes, we abbreviate it all the time.  yes, I still giggle about it after 4 years in nursing) can be caused by so many things.  They're just symptoms.  In the same way, depression, anxiety, serial dating, inability to commit, binge drinking, lying, cheating, laziness... they're all caused by something else. 

Pain is not a diagnosis.
Pride is a diagnosis.
Selfishness is a diagnosis.
Sinful human nature is a reality.

So once we determine the causative agent or vessel, we can operate.  We bleed.  We hurt.  And then we heal.  Because the alternative is an emotion heart attack and death of cardiac tissue.  It turns emotionally stiff.  And that sucks worse.

For those times when I can't sleep

In the game of life, I've missed a load of metaphorical free throws.  Brick shots all over the place.  Wikipedia even defines me as a "bricklayer".  How lame am I for wikipedia-ing "brick shot"?  I wanted to make sure I've been pronouncing it correctly all these years.  It could've been break shot or brig shot.  I have poor hearing.  And I wanted this post to portray accuracy.

But one area where I hit the money every time is creativity.  I know what it's like to be weird.  I won spelling bees, played in the marching band, had knobby knees (where your knees are the fattest part of your leg).  I even had this metal rod contraption that sat ON TOP of my braces... it seriously made me look like a bulldog.  All this suffering has given me ample material with which to work.  During all my times of questioning meaning in life, we often need to pitstop at the eerie gas stations on the road of life.  Oftentimes, we discover more than just a sale on slim jims.  Below are some thoughts I have collected during those sleep-wake moments when right brain rules...

1. What if the blinking hand at the crosswalk has been gravely misunderstood?  What if, instead of telling us to halt from entering traffic, it was just trying to get five up top?  What rejection it must feel!

2. If I was a petri dish, I would get really squirmy about questions related to meaning in life.  People would always be scraping things on me.  And ultimately, my purpose is to allow nasty fungi and opportunistic bacteria to breed on me. 

3. Why are we ok with calling that which spins above our heads fan "blades"?  Is no one else concerned with conspiracy?

Waiting for inspiration

I refuse to write fluff.  Will return when inspiration comes.  Stand by.

God is proclaimed throughout Creation BY Creation

Each time I enter a different climate, looking at the landscape, it's cool to see the different ideas of our Designer.  There are a few destinations in particular that reel me in more than others.  For starters, anywhere with a cliff.  Something dangerous looking.  Yeah.  So it's no wonder Ohio and I are not on speaking terms.  But God even put beauty in places I wouldn't imagine.  Rows and rows [and rows] of corn can actually be charming :)

If I was given the pencil and paper to sketch the design of the universe, I would need more than a week.  I would need more than a lifetime. And I have this habit, when I'm sketching or painting, where I will get about 3/4 of the way through.  I love it.  Best work ever.  Then, I'll mess something up.  I'll draw a line too bold in a dark paint.  Or something to the same degree.  Then, I toss the canvas.  It's ruined.  Ruined.  (I can be dramatic too, I suppose).  I refuse to hang something on my wall with a big gaping mistake.

And creating it was just the beginning.  After two wardrobe malfunctions  (Adam and Eve) in the garden, God still allowed His workmanship to hang on His wall in His office.  I bet God's office is cool. 
1. Ergonomically sound desk chair. 
2. A bike lane available all the way to the office. 
3. A coffee pot that brews the equivalent of milk and honey (not something that tastes like some beach ugly's old cigarettes).
4. The most epic Pandora radio station..

Unlike me, God didn't mess up His masterpiece.  The masterpiece messed up His masterpiece.  But He still smooths out the crooked lines and paint drips and makes it beautiful again.  When his Son Jesus came to earth, that's what He was doing.  Pulling ugly paintings out of the trash and trying to put them back on His wall.  And He does it beautifully. 

John doesn't write further than a few verses into I John before he explains the procedure.  Christ came.  He did some sick-amazing things.  We all stood is awe.  Then, the next appropriate thing to do was write about it so others could stand in awe as well.  He can't help but proclaim the good news about God's desire to put us back out in the exhibition, all dazzling and REnewed.

Grace and Mercy

God is abounding in grace and mercy.  I am testament to this.  Well, we all are.  But let me be a little narcissistic as it is my website.

I'm a grad school student.  I just moved to Washington DC area.  And I am coming off a hot mess phase of life.   I always assume moving is a snap.  Then I move, and I remember why it is NOT in fact a snap.  Saying goodbye, quitting your job, moving, moving fees, finding a place, finding a roommate.  And then there's second semester starting too.  Everything must be rebuilt.  And this time around, I didn't believe I was doing such a great job at the transition.

I have been feeling so frustrated about what a horrible attention span I have lately.  I mean, yeah, it's funny to be called Short Bus and Windowlicker on the job.  But at the end of it all, this was getting frustrating.  Not the name-calling, but the constant flighty tendencies.  I was seriously beginning to believe I was aging (mentally) at a horribly fast pace.  Not a pleasant thought.

Working from home (and anywhere with wi-fi), it would seriously take me hours to focus in on my school texts.  I'm not going to lie.  The nerd in my was stoked to learn about Cytochrome P450 1A2, 3A4, skippitybop.. but toward the end of the semester, there were some courses that were kicking my.. aspirin.  Hard.  And truthfully, I KNOW I could have applied myself more.

So why did God still give me grace?  I'm ok with going through the ringer, but I'm extremely humbled when I think about how I don't deserve to be here.  And I am so thankful for that.

He is the Wonderful Counselor

"Let's talk about you, all about you."  I cannot think of many people in life who would not be inwardly thrilled to hear this.  Some may feel awkward momentarily.  But when they realize this statement was meant with no ill intent, they would probably ease up as well.

Fact is, it excites us when someone takes an interest in the happenings of our life.  When we realize someone wants to invest in us, it's a joyful feeling.  I don't know many people who would not benefit from 60 minutes on a therapist's couch (and that's not saying I think the world is crazy).  I just know the nature of man.  I will say this though, as a nurse, I have found that the most brilliant minds often have already been diagnosed with mental illness.  Their brilliance may never be realized with that in their medical history.

God desires to pour into each of our lives.  Commandments from God were not written down because He is a sadist.  Think about the 10 Commandments, the love commands (love God, love your neighbor), the command to be fruitful and multiply..  Hardly intended to ruin lives.  Yet why is this so offensive to so many?

I recently wrote a letter to the president of the ACLU.  It wasn't a piece of hate mail or anything like that.  I offered my congratulations on rising to such a high place and commended her for her courage.  And then I told her about God.  How God is a loving God, desiring to invest in our individual lives.  How the 10 Commandments were meant to keep the peace, not create a battleground.  I finished it with this: If the world could know all this about the nature of God, those words in the 10 Commandments wouldn't be so offensive.  Then, I offered my assistance if she needed anything from me (not that I am really in a position to help unless she needs help controlling her blood pressure or something!)

God is the ultimate 1:1 help.  He sits patiently and listen to our cries and holds His children.  And He doesn't stop there.  The humanist approach to psychiatry/psychology almost forbids giving "advice" to patients.  "How does that make you feel?"  God steps in because He knows His children need Him. We need an intervention, not just a good listener.  And He is able to be both.

He does this because He can.  And He does this because He loves us.  All of us.  He is outside of time; so He's not going to tell you that your time is up and to please schedule next week's appointment with the receptionist.  He is the Wonderful Counselor.. mighty God... everlasting Father..Prince of peace..  (Isaiah 9:6)

The Span of His hand is as vast as the universe.

Friends, this will be a succinct, laceless post today. My Internet refuses to work at the house (even though it has 5 bars); so I'm typing from my iPhone. I know, it's a rough life. Pardon my spelling errors today (and today only). I made a commitment to write about God's many attributes over the next 40 days in memory of His 40 days on earth after rolling away the stone (Great, now I have a Mumford and Sons song playing in my head).

But Internet woes aside, I have found God to be both logistical and timely. It's my blog; so I can write about 2 character traits if I want. I can write about 10 if I wanted.

Logistics. I can appreciate this one. Growing up, I was an imaginative little kid. My friend Steven, Emily and I once planned to tie a bunch of balloons on a chair and fly. Oh, to soar far above Woodbridge AFB, maybe even make it to Bentwaters down the road. We aimed high. Pun intended.

Never once did we consider the flight and wind patterns, the fact that 3 kids and a thousand helium balloons and a lawn chair might look a bit suspicious, how we would go to the bathroom, and how we would get down when it was lunch time. None of that mattered because we were Ballers. We needed a logistical mind to come in, to make sure all those deets were covered.

Thank God that I don't run the world. I'd eff it up pretty quickly. God gives us a purpose and a path. Instinctively, I'm gonna look down and see a rickety rope bridge, and tell God, "Yeah right."  But He's got all that covered. As The Span of His hand is as vast as the universe, He can surely catch my lanky self IF the ropes break. Plus, He's already walked the path; so He knows where the road narrows, when the weather is going to get turbulent, and when I'm going to take pit stops to buy my slim jims and cheese puffs. He's made the way, and He will see us through to the end.

Finally, God is a timely God. I had it in my head that a particular situation was supposed to happen in a particular sequence. I had a strategic plan, and I sure didn't need God to mess that up. But thanks that He did. He started giving me a hard time from Monday night. Stripping away each brick I had laid. Then, He put a chapter in the Bible in it's place. Or a friend's advice. Or a little chat with Daddy Ren. We don't have lengthy heart to hearts often. We have an unspoken bond more often. But God knew I needed a word. Good thing He knew. All this to say, my plan for success was another lawn chair situation, in need of a side cooler and an outhouse attached. But He knew I wouldn't listen to logic all at once. That would be silly. So over the course of a week, He has cleared plan A, and replaced it with Plan "Awesome".

My God, You're Beautiful

Immediately, as I thought of the title of this post, I was reminded of my mom's obsession with Keith Green when I was a kid.  She had his records (yes), tapes, and CDs playing all throughout the house.  Until my sister Emily broke the needle on the record player.

But Mama Renshaw's quirks aside, God really is beautiful.  We see glimpses of it in nature, ideas, people, miracles.  I'm a miracle myself (but that story, another time).

Today's post cites my college roommate Jessie.  An genuine example of God's beauty displayed.  She was such an open vessel, willing to be used by God.  It manifested in her writing, her deep friendships, her generosity, and her many artforms (dance, painting, writing).  We are all blessed by her willingness to share vulnerable thoughts and writing with the world.

This summer, Jessie is on her way to Italy to serve in a dance ministry.  Italy - the hub of such art movements as the Renaissance and modern fashion.  (side note: she is still needing support, so please give to her cause!)

When I think of the beauty of dance, the first partystarter, King David comes to mind.  Coming home from battle, he's swinging his arms in the air.  I imagine he probably did a running-man ALMOST as good as my own.  Royal garments rockin' all around.  Completely undignified, but God liked it anyway.  God doesn't require us all to dance in pirouettes and pas de bourree to put a smile on His face.  And it was God alone who David desired to please.

Not even David's first wifey Michal would stand between David and his first love.  Lesson to the wise, don't make fun of your husbands dance moves lest ye be punished by God Himself..

For the non-KSV story of David's Ultimate Dance Party Royale, see II Samuel 6

Worthy

I can remember my thoughts about moving to South Florida back in 2005.  Palm Beach is a high fashion region with a lot of old money.  Celebrities, politicians, and old money millionaires and billionaires have these gigantic homes all throughout the island (though they seldom even come to reside in them).  Flagler Drive (named for Henry Flagler) runs along the sea wall and intercoastal waterway.  The island's famous shopping street boasts all the famous names in the fashion industry, and it can be a bit overwhelming to walk down the street; so I just occasionally included it in my running route.  Just to give you an idea: the local Palm Beachers protested the introduction of a Starbucks onto the island because they were fearful of all the riff-raff it would invite.  And my new school was less than 2 miles away.  I didn't trust myself not to be consumed by my own thoughts of "have and have not".

In all the external beauty of perfectly manicured lawns and symmetrical palm trees, God still whispers to His people, calling them to a higher purpose.  Sitting there with my big sunglasses and new spring season sundress, reading my Bible, I began to see just how easy it is for something else to take the place of God.  The dress wasn't the problem.  It's just fabric.  It was my cold heart in the middle of the 90 degree heat.  Even 100% humidity couldn't soften a spiritual stone.

The same God who has all authority to tell those palms to grow high into the cloudless sky, to set one salty wave on top of the next, to pass the time on the clock at Tiffany's - He also has the power to tear down all these things if He so chooses.  Driving back to Palm Beach County after Hurricane Wilma, seeing all the palm fronds laying in the street, the street signs hanging diagonally, it was a lesson in the fleeting nature of "things".  If we cling too tightly to the creation, the Creator often needs to remind us who and what is ultimately worthy.

God is worthy of all our praise, dear friends.  Praise for his new mercies every day, for the beauty of His creation, for allowing us to take part in His purpose here on earth.  One day shortly after Wilma, I decided to make something of the disaster.  So I picked up a few pieces of the debris on my run.  Now, on my wall back in Florida, there still hang two palm fronds with these words of encouragement: Though sorrow lasts for the night - His joy comes in the morning!

So now when I can get back to Palm Beach island, and walk down Worth Avenue again (even the name asks you to determine who/what is worthy), I can now appreciate the beauty we can make in this short life while also praising the One who allows us.  Because He loves us all.

He is faithful even when I'm not

My God is able to carry me through the deepest valleys and the murkiest water.  I cannot describe how absolutely drenched in sweat and tears I've been about a few situations in my life as of late.  And yet I can still hear God saying, "Katie, I got this.  I'm God for crying out loud."  (KSV - Katie Standard Version)

The idea of faithfulness is similar in structure to "fidelity".  We harvest many of our words and ideas from the Latin root "fidel":

Some good (semper fi, fidelity, confidence..)
Some needing assistance to return to good (yes, Fidel Castro's mother had the best of intentions when she named him)

So no matter the situation, no matter how far we feel from God's presence, we need only turn around to see He has been faithful and remained all along.

Psalm 139 - Read it.  Have a good cry as you read David's description of God even being with him in the farthest reaches of the seas.  It's a must read.

My God, How great Thou art!

God is a God of Truth

Friends, there is a Truth, and it can be known!

I still struggle with some major debates of the faith, and while I know my salvation is assured, I have been desperately trying to work through some questions I have.  No, I have not arrived at the upper rungs, but God's promise is that He will reveal His mysteries in His time.  In Paul's letter to the Philippians (chapter 3), he describes the goals he is set to achieve.  The goal for the heavenly call of God in Jesus Christ.  And here is the verse that drives home the point (that God will reveal all things to us in time).  3:15 states, "Let those of us who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this to God will reveal to you."

Some of the best advice I've received about the function of the church is this: Unity in the essentials.  Liberty in the nonessentials.  And CHARITY above all things.  Friends, here on earth, we will most assuredly get some doctrine wrong.  But don't let these hang-ups stand in the way of seeking Truth and Love.  Charity above all things.

Shoutouts to Philippians, Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Isaiah, and the gospels.  2011 has been a year of indescribable joy for the growth God has permitted me through His ultimate authority.

Brought to you by the letter "N"[earsightedness]

Driving up the GW Parkway yesterday, I had to adjust my focus.  Thank goodness I did.

The depressing reality is this:  the word Heroes is only one letter off from Herpes. 

In the US, I would certainly prefer a higher incidence of herOes flare-ups to the latter.

How to make anything a spiritual metaphor

I just came home from a run.  I don't have asthma, but...

I was thrilled to have the coffee all ready for me upon my return.  Latest and greatest according to Pretentious Coffee Drinkers:  add cocoa powder to the coffee.  Some say that's a mocha, [and they would be correct].

Reaching in the refrigerator to acquire the milk to complement my Honey Nut Cheerios, I instinctively retrieve a bottle of Bud Light Golden Wheat instead.  Slightly embarrassed, I quickly make the exchange before Jordan (the dog) sees my fumble. 

I then begin to think metaphorically about a spriritual life application.  What's the message behind all this?  I create a list to stay organized, making sure to indent at the appropriate places.  Arrows thrown here and there.  You can even let the arrow refer back to the original statement.  It's allowed.  I highly recommend it to all you simple folk who see things as coincidences, without correlation.  Those ideas don't exist in my world.

What if...

1. The beer represents the old life.  Wake up, find yourself craving the dog that bit you.  Wondering if it would taste good over oatmeal.  Would it satisfy my grain requirements for the day? 
2. The milk is a step in the right direction.  Healthful food.  It's stood the test of time, being paired with Cheerios since General Mills and his men survived the winter with the supplication of a single "O".  It's the greatest history lesson never learned.
<WAIT, milk?  Doesn't the NT refer to milk as something for spiritual babies?  I am NOT a mere babe.  I'm a grown woman. 
3. To be a real spiritual giant, you HAVE to eat beef at every meal.