The Grand Obsession

It's only been very recently that I've joined the great virtual pinning phenomenon known as Pinterest. (Anybody heard of it?) In all honesty, I really do enjoy scrolling through all the miscellaneous photos, videos, quotes, and links that are to be found in its endless archives. Being the EXTREMELY visual person that I am, I get a big kick out of browsing through the mass of digital files. Dreamy photographs, breathtaking scenery, adorable puppies, clever quotes, interior design ideas, fashion that I'll never afford...

*sigh*

*forces attention back on blog post*

Ahem.

Like all the other new trends popping up in the world of social networking, Pinterest has its pros and cons. You can use it as a tool to share God's truth (which, I might add, pertains to every aspect of life) and have a little fun on the side, or you can sit there for hours having fun and subsequently rationalizing your horrendous waste of time by saying you were doing it for the common good (of whom, I'm not entirely sure...). Or, you can kind of skip through it blithely, pinning here and there, enjoying yourself, giggling at the cute puppy faces, sighing at the wedding dresses...

Ah. The wedding dresses. And the guy in the tux. Now comes the entire point of this discussion. :)

Pinterest (and Facebook before it) seemed to brimming with photos from girls dreaming about their future significant other. They might look like this:

 Or maybe they're focused on things a little more spiritual, like this:

Or this:

But they're all pretty much the same. Same overall message: boy meets girl, boy smiles at girl, dear-future-mister, holding hands while the sun is going down behind them...

Now, come on, girls. You know you like this kind of stuff. I'm right there with you. I think it would be AMAZING to have a hidden photographer waiting to snap a shot of the moment when my future husband proposes to me. And I certainly think there's nothing more important in a man than his relationship with God and a love for His Word.

But isn't a whole album entitled "Here Comes the Bride" or "We Can Dream" featuring photos like this just a little...much? Even a considerable smattering of such futuristic pins in any album might be a bit over the top. Think about it. Does the word "obsession" come to mind? For me, it definitely does. We want to find our soul mate, somebody we can love and be loved by, a good and godly man that we can share the rest of our lives with. It's a natural desire and a beautiful one, placed in our hearts by the God Who the very source and fuel of pure, perfect love. Nevertheless, I would suggest that perhaps there's something wrong when we plaster our lives with dreamy reminders of our romantic aspirations - however spiritual they may be.

My father, one of the wisest people in my life, once noted that humans are created to be obsessed. It's built into us just like love and fear and joy and all of the other emotions that make us what we are. We were created to be obsessed with our Creator. However, because our world is fallen and sin has defaced its beauty, we tend to be obsessed with everything BUT our Creator. Like fashion, electronics, trends...our future Mister...

Are you getting the idea? Instead of being obsessed with dreaming about whoever God might have in our future, why not celebrate the beautiful life He has already given us - and be obsessed with Him?

John Piper put it well: "He is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him."

Make Him your grand obsession. He'll take care of the rest.

A Bit of This and That

So I don't currently have much time to write a decent post on anything, but I figured a few graphics might suffice. Now, they're not the greatest, and none of them correspond to the others - making them a kind of random mash-up - but you might appreciate them all the same. There are four 100x100 icons, two 500x250 banners, and a 1024x768 wallpaper. Enjoy!

As Surely as the Dawn

They go by various names.

"Dry seasons."

"Times when God is silent."

"Days when your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling."

"Spiritual deserts."

But whatever Christian lingo we end up tacking on to these scenarios doesn't really make much of a difference. We've lost a certain vitality, that power-packed edge that seems to fuel our Christian walk, and we want it back. God seems far away; we can only attempt to re-live the times when we'd open our Bible and get that soul-zap of encouragement.

I've recently been sloshing through this scenario, and while it hurts, I've committed to hold fast to the truth. What more can a child do, than trust in the unchanging character of her Heavenly Father?

Nevertheless, I've needed some encouragement. And God knows that. He led me to this passage:

“Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces;
    now He will heal us.
He has injured us;
    now He will bandage our wounds.

In just a short time He will restore us,
    so that we may live in His presence. 

 Oh, that we might know the Lord!
    Let us press on to know Him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
    or the coming of rains in early spring.”

{Hosea 6:1-3}

As I read this, I can only sit and contemplate in awe. Hosea is issuing a challenge - "Oh, that we might know the LORD!" - that echoes in my heart. The mental picture created in my mind is one of a race (cliche, I know, but it fits perfectly). Your breath is being snatched away, your muscles are screaming, your head is pounding - but you press on. The finish line is ahead; why on earth would you stop running and forfeit a chance to win? 

"Let us press on to know Him."

I could sit here, clacking away at the keys, delivering my thoughts on this sentence...but is there really anything more that needs to be said? Hosea doesn't engage in in-depth philosophical language. "Just. Do. It. Press on."

"Let us press on to know Him."

What I do gain from this is the awareness that Christian life is not - has never been - easy. The subconscious assumption that salvation is the gateway to an early spiritual retirement is a lie. Children of God are called to a great adventure, an epic trek, which includes (cliches again; beware) mountains and valleys; streams and deserts; sun and rain - the instruments by which God refines us into the image of His Son. 

"Let us press on to know Him."

He will come. As surely as the sun rises in the morning, as surely as it rains in the early spring - He'll come. He'll restore.

"Let us press on to know Him."

 If you're dealing with a similar situation, I hope these musings have encouraged you. Breath deeply, and take a moment to listen to this song (performed by Brooke Fraser and Darlene Zschech). Your Heavenly Father is faithful; He'll come. Just trust.

My Frame

 This bit of rambling poetry (if that is what it may be called) was prompted after peering closely at the heart of a beloved sister in Christ and seeing the struggle that lay beneath the surface. Like the rest of us, she was battling for her identity in a world that refuses to give a satisfying answer. Her war is our war - a war from the beginning of time that we wage against "evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). We must remember in the midst of it all that our "real [lives are] hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3) and that in Him is life, and life abundant (John 10:10). Isn't that the heartbeat of grace?

My Frame

With one eye I seek Your glory;
The other craves the glitter
Of a world that is fading.
One foot
Firmly planted in the Kingdom,
The other
Scuffing about for a softer ground.
But I'm not a demon,
Masking the truth with lies and telling myself
With one breath
That I'm "all in,"
Then mumbling a straddler's half-hearted prayer.
God, You know me.
You know this fragile frame,
Dust to be caught on the softest wind,
In a moment blown away.
Help me to know myself,
To look past the veneer of stereo-typed humanity
And see the war that rages in my very soul.
Teach me the meaning of words that only my ear seems to know,
Words like "grace"
And "freedom"
And "forgiveness"
And "redemption";
And oh, teach me how to understand Calvary!
Show me that grace is my gift and my responsibility,
That I should not "use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh"
But "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly" before You.
For when my days are done
And my number of breaths spent
Then before whom else will I stand,
To whom else will I be called to give account,
But my Savior
And my God?

Happy Memorial Day!

I try not to be guilty of flaunting my ignorance, but I recently did so in a conversation with a friend. We were discussing, of all things, the importance of Memorial Day. In the spirit of revolting against meaningless traditions (which, you'll admit, do exist in the trappings of American life), we both casually shrugged off Memorial Day as another excuse for grilling hamburgers and taking trips to the lake. (And has anybody else walked up their driveway to get the mail, only to feel like an idiot when the empty mailbox reminds you that, hey, it's another government holiday?)

But I was wrong. While Memorial Day may seem to be a generic re-run of July 4th, it isn't.

Since its establishment as a national holiday on May 5, 1868 (under the name of Decoration Day, due to the fact that observers decorated the graves of dead soldiers with flowers), Memorial Day has been the herald of heroes who loved their freedom, their country, and their families more than life. Their courage and sacrifice give us the freedom to grill those hamburgers and take trips to the lake and grumble when the national postal service decides to take a day off.

We're remiss if we just glaze over the holiday with red-white-and-blue tablecloths and potlucks. The very, very, VERY least we can do is pause and thank God for the heroes that lived and died for the United States of America.

So, then:

To all the families who have lost loved ones in the fight for freedom: thank you. To all the heroes who fought long and hard and survived to share the victory in this life: thank you.

John 15:13 says it best: " There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." Happy Memorial Day!

(For more information on the history of Memorial Day, check out this site: http://www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp).

What's On Your Tongue?

 I know firsthand the fine line one often has to walk when it comes to communicating with others. Words, phrasing, context - it's something akin to tiptoeing through a mine field. Since verbal communication is arguably still the most important way we interact with others (despite the overwhelming popularity of tools like Facebook, Twitter, and...oh yes...Blogger), it's often the hardest to navigate peacefully. All too often, we open our mouths and subsequently find ourselves victims - or perpetrators? - of unkind speech. We never meant to say that...or did we?

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness," the famous actress Audrey Hepburn once said in a long dialogue summarizing how to be a beautiful woman. I find it interesting that she got the whole thing rolling with a adage on how to properly use the words sitting on the tip of your tongue. At its heart, Audrey's suggestion was more than a feel-good, look-better-by-being-nicer, pop-culture-morality quip. Instead, it almost directly mirrored a characteristic of one of the Bible's most famous characters: the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. 

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.

{Proverbs 31:10}

Substitute "woman" for "wife" in the above verse (because to be a virtuous wife, one must first be a virtuous woman), and it's immediately apparent that Proverbs 31 isn't just the go-to chapter for wives and homemakers-in-waiting. It's a set of guidelines for every daughter of the King who wants to live to please her Heavenly Father and shine as a light in this very dark world. (If Proverbs 31 is a new one on you, then take some time here and now to read verses 10-30. Go ahead. The rest of this post will still be here when you're done, I promise.)

I've known about - studied - the virtuous woman for years, but recently one of her characteristics - the one Audrey Hepburn mentioned -  jumped out at me in a way I couldn't ignore.

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness.

{Proverbs 31:26}

Nope. Can't ignore it. If it said something like "She wants to say wise things and when she speaks she tries to say nice things that don't offend people," then I could just move on to verse 27 (which, incidentally, would also need a rewrite, since I can tell you down to the tiniest detail what the bread of idleness tastes like). But it doesn't say that. It doesn't mention trying, attempting, wishing - it talks about doing. 

"She opens her mouth with wisdom..." The heart of this kind of woman is so bent on seeking and applying God's wisdom to her life that when she opens her mouth, wise words practically fall out. She has intentionally focused on becoming wise - reading and obeying God's Word, interacting with older believers who share with her from their depths of godly wisdom gained by experience, etc. - and not without results. What's in her heart is coming out. And it's looking - errr, sounding - good. Her speech is reflecting the heart of a wise God.

"...and on her tongue is the law of kindness..." Notice that Solomon (the author of Proverbs) didn't say, "She tries to say kind things" or "She says kind things" or "On her mind is the law of kindness." No, indeed! First of all, kindness isn't expressed here as a wishful thinking process. This gal actually is kind. She actually says kind things to actual people in actual scenarios with actual results. (Getting the picture?) Her desire to be kind has made the trek from her head to her heart to her tongue.

Second, notice that what's on her tongue is vividly described as "the law of kindness." Now, when you think of the word "law," you probably think of police officers, the Ten Commandments, and court rooms. That's exactly the idea implied here. The virtuous woman has a tongue that's ruled by kindness, just as our roads are ruled (in a loose sense) by the police officers patrolling them. Hers is a tongue whose every word is dictated by the God-given laws that make kindness what it is: "of a sympathetic or helpful nature: of a forbearing nature: gentle: arising from or characterized by sympathy or forbearance : of a kind to give pleasure or relief" (Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary). 

I don't know about you, but I get the message. God has a heart for women - and men and children - to be intentional about guarding their speech and using their words to bring Him glory. This includes everything from the obvious, like obscenities and their derivatives, to the subtle, like snapping back at another person or (*gasp*) gossiping.

Why don't you do what I'm doing: surrender your tongue to God's law of kindness and ask Him to control the words you say (Psalm 141:3)? Make a resolution to be the kind of person who opens their mouth with wisdom and has the law of kindness on their tongue. It's not easy, but you can depend on God to help you every step of the way. He is faithful!

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

{Psalm 19:14}

Diamonds and Spiders' Webs

When an April rain shower meets hushed sunlight and the radiance of God's incredible world, I can't help but snatch the camera and snap a shot or two.

Days like these take my breath away, and I inevitably find Maltbie Davenport Babcock's song "This is My Father's World" running through my head again and again:

This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father's world: I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; his hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world, the birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lily white, declare their maker's praise.

This is my Father's world, he shines in all that's fair; in the rustling grass I hear him pass; he speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world. O let me ne'er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.

                   This is my Father's world: why should my heart be sad? The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! God reigns; let the earth be glad!

 This world bears His glory, and we are witnesses to it with every waking moment. That's certainly something to celebrate. Delight in His handiwork!

 "For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature...." (Romans 1:20).